Where I'm coming from and where I'm going...

I grew up in a Methodist church.  I did not like going.  I had one friend there, and the only other kids were my cousins who I did NOT get along with.  I feel like we went because it was expected of us.

I was confirmed in 7th grade.  I don't remember much about the classes at all.

I belong to a Lutheran church, now.  It is fairly large for our rural area, has a lot of young families and a great Sunday School program.  I hope to give Adam (and future kiddos) a very different experience from what I had.

We don't attend regularly.  It still seems like a "chore."  I'm going to try to change that attitude.  (I think it would help if our church had a coffee hour - what kind of lutheran church doesn't have coffee?)

I believe (or grew up believing...some of these beliefs are changing)

• God is a loving God...he only does "good" things
• Believing in God is enough to get you to heaven
• There's a reason for everything, but only God knows what it is
• God and science/evolution are not opposites  (is "mutually exclusive" the term I'm looking for?)
• Living a good life and making a difference in the world is more important than attending church every weekend.

The three biggest things that I want to focus on now are:

• having faith in hard times
• learning to trust God and give him my worries - I'm prone to anxiety.
• learn how to pray and recognize God's answers

I also need to get to know the Bible better.  Nancy suggested that I get a Bible in the English Standard Version. Any other suggestions?

And basically, I just have a lot of questions.  What do you believe about this, and that, and whatnot...

My "cheerleaders" here all have different religious backgrounds, but very strong faith, so I'm really interested to see what everyone has to say.  I promise, I won't always post 4 times in one day...I was just really focused on this yesterday!