Comments on: Knock Knock Girlfriend http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/knock-knock-girlfriend/ An online community sharing our lives and faith within a place of grace Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:29:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Leilane http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/knock-knock-girlfriend/comment-page-1/#comment-11390 Leilane Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:14:33 +0000 http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/?p=158#comment-11390 This post touched me in so many ways that I cannot even say. I am a member of Brazil's Army, and things here are worse than in USA. At the admission interview, they ask you about your sexuality, your faith and more. The secret service is really nosy, more than they are supposed to. A couple of men outed themselves and were put in jail in national TV. One of them has to get out of Army because he was not taking well all the names, pressure and humiliating that followed the outing. Besides my work, I was raised in Baptist Church, not very much accepting of things that involves sexuality and women, and I happen to fit both. I discovered myself as a lesbian at 21 (I am now 24). Since then, I have been struggling with my sexuality and faith. For starters, thought the hell was my destination, with mom remembering me all the time she could. Then, just accepted that I actually liked women and that was it. This year I stumbled through net searching for some christian lesbian chat and God got me here. Thanks God for this, because in a long time I finally feel relief and a large bit of peace in my heart. Coming out is not an option now for me, and maybe will not be in the coming years, but coming clean to face my God, my Saviour, my Lord, my forgiving and loving Father, is priceless and more than enough. For now. And I have to thank you again for helping that happen. My fiance and I are gonna take the bread and the wine tomorrow, together. She, for the first time ever. I, after more than 7 years of not feeling worth. This post touched me in so many ways that I cannot even say. I am a member of Brazil’s Army, and things here are worse than in USA. At the admission interview, they ask you about your sexuality, your faith and more. The secret service is really nosy, more than they are supposed to. A couple of men outed themselves and were put in jail in national TV. One of them has to get out of Army because he was not taking well all the names, pressure and humiliating that followed the outing.

Besides my work, I was raised in Baptist Church, not very much accepting of things that involves sexuality and women, and I happen to fit both. I discovered myself as a lesbian at 21 (I am now 24). Since then, I have been struggling with my sexuality and faith. For starters, thought the hell was my destination, with mom remembering me all the time she could. Then, just accepted that I actually liked women and that was it. This year I stumbled through net searching for some christian lesbian chat and God got me here. Thanks God for this, because in a long time I finally feel relief and a large bit of peace in my heart.

Coming out is not an option now for me, and maybe will not be in the coming years, but coming clean to face my God, my Saviour, my Lord, my forgiving and loving Father, is priceless and more than enough. For now. And I have to thank you again for helping that happen. My fiance and I are gonna take the bread and the wine tomorrow, together. She, for the first time ever. I, after more than 7 years of not feeling worth.

]]> By: joni http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/knock-knock-girlfriend/comment-page-1/#comment-953 joni Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:32:38 +0000 http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/?p=158#comment-953 Heather, I just wanted to add to what Anita has said to you here... you are not alone. God loves you so very much and there is nothing you can do or not do that would make Him love you any less or any more. He embraces you exactly as you are, right where you are. I'm still journeying with a lot of this myself... please know you are not alone in your questions and doubt. Thanks for posting what you did and I hope you will stay and read and find what so many of us have found in this place... answers, hope and peace.. friends.. truth... and a picture and understanding even more of who God is in our lives. Heather, I just wanted to add to what Anita has said to you here… you are not alone. God loves you so very much and there is nothing you can do or not do that would make Him love you any less or any more. He embraces you exactly as you are, right where you are.

I’m still journeying with a lot of this myself… please know you are not alone in your questions and doubt. Thanks for posting what you did and I hope you will stay and read and find what so many of us have found in this place… answers, hope and peace.. friends.. truth… and a picture and understanding even more of who God is in our lives.

]]> By: anita http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/knock-knock-girlfriend/comment-page-1/#comment-950 anita Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:17:10 +0000 http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/?p=158#comment-950 Heather-->I'm so glad you stepped forward to share this. It sounds like you're in a really troubling place that many of us have known intimately and painfully in our own lives at some point too. Heather, I hope you'll find some comfort and assurance in the words and experiences that are shared here by the other regular readers/contributors to this blog. We can't give you the answers for your own life but in sharing our own stories perhaps you'll see something that rings true for you as well. For the time being I'd just encourage you to again reflect on what it means to be a Christian and hold that piece temporarily outside this whole other arena of confusion and uncertainty you're experiencing. I've got to tell you, there's nothing I read in your words that suggested you aren't a Christian. We call ourselves Christians, not because of what we do, but because of what God did through Christ. Our sexual orientation has no power to undo what Jesus did on the cross. How meaningless would Jesus' death have been were it so fragile as to be so easily overridden? It is your faith in Christ that makes you a Christian and that you're concerned that how you live your life honors Christ speaks volumes of the authenticity of your faith. If you must, question whether homosexuality is sin or not sin, question whether you're gay or not gay, but I want to encourage you with everything in me to never question whether you are still His or not. In this time of uncertainty let Christ and Christ alone be your assurance. You are held within the love of God, as close to God's heart as you've ever been. Heather–>I’m so glad you stepped forward to share this. It sounds like you’re in a really troubling place that many of us have known intimately and painfully in our own lives at some point too. Heather, I hope you’ll find some comfort and assurance in the words and experiences that are shared here by the other regular readers/contributors to this blog. We can’t give you the answers for your own life but in sharing our own stories perhaps you’ll see something that rings true for you as well. For the time being I’d just encourage you to again reflect on what it means to be a Christian and hold that piece temporarily outside this whole other arena of confusion and uncertainty you’re experiencing. I’ve got to tell you, there’s nothing I read in your words that suggested you aren’t a Christian. We call ourselves Christians, not because of what we do, but because of what God did through Christ. Our sexual orientation has no power to undo what Jesus did on the cross. How meaningless would Jesus’ death have been were it so fragile as to be so easily overridden? It is your faith in Christ that makes you a Christian and that you’re concerned that how you live your life honors Christ speaks volumes of the authenticity of your faith. If you must, question whether homosexuality is sin or not sin, question whether you’re gay or not gay, but I want to encourage you with everything in me to never question whether you are still His or not. In this time of uncertainty let Christ and Christ alone be your assurance. You are held within the love of God, as close to God’s heart as you’ve ever been.

]]> By: Heather http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/knock-knock-girlfriend/comment-page-1/#comment-939 Heather Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:02:58 +0000 http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/?p=158#comment-939 I am Christian, and I have been attracted to several women and perhaps that many men, maybe. I don't know what I am. I feel lost. I thought when I got saved I would be delivered from this as I was mental illness and cigarrettes. It is confusing and disconcerting to react physically to a girl when there are rarely any men I react to. To be fair there aren't many women either. I don't know how to reconcile what I am feeling and being Christian. I am Christian, and I have been attracted to several women and perhaps that many men, maybe. I don’t know what I am. I feel lost. I thought when I got saved I would be delivered from this as I was mental illness and cigarrettes. It is confusing and disconcerting to react physically to a girl when there are rarely any men I react to. To be fair there aren’t many women either.
I don’t know how to reconcile what I am feeling and being Christian.

]]> By: Kimberly http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/knock-knock-girlfriend/comment-page-1/#comment-176 Kimberly Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:52:12 +0000 http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/?p=158#comment-176 Anita, I am really enjoying this "coming out" series and am taking it personally that you have decided to do a series like this right now. Thank you for the blackberry imagery. It resonates very deeply with me. It seems to be part of the indoctrination package that if there is any kind of struggle involved with the process, that is an idication the we are not "in God's will". I recently had a very dear friend email me and say, "you will never find peace so long as you continue pursuing this lifestyle because I believe you are outside God's will." My initial reaction was to curl up in a ball and watch movies all evening. Which I did. But one of the movies was "For the Bible Tells Me So", which was very empowering and confirming. When Desmond Tutu said he could not imagine a God who judged him because he was black, I just cried and cried. I'm on a tangent! Sorry. Anyway, thank you, thank you! Kimberly Anita,
I am really enjoying this “coming out” series and am taking it personally that you have decided to do a series like this right now. Thank you for the blackberry imagery. It resonates very deeply with me. It seems to be part of the indoctrination package that if there is any kind of struggle involved with the process, that is an idication the we are not “in God’s will”. I recently had a very dear friend email me and say, “you will never find peace so long as you continue pursuing this lifestyle because I believe you are outside God’s will.” My initial reaction was to curl up in a ball and watch movies all evening. Which I did. But one of the movies was “For the Bible Tells Me So”, which was very empowering and confirming. When Desmond Tutu said he could not imagine a God who judged him because he was black, I just cried and cried. I’m on a tangent! Sorry. Anyway, thank you, thank you!
Kimberly

]]> By: Susan http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/knock-knock-girlfriend/comment-page-1/#comment-175 Susan Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:50:50 +0000 http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/?p=158#comment-175 Anita, I love this line: You are hidden in Christ and it is Christ who defines you. That is so true, and well worth the attention of anyone in the closet, and as well as those of us who have already opened those doors. Keep listening for the call of your shepherd: you'll know him when you hear him say, "It's safe to step out into the light!" He won't lead you astray! Anita,

I love this line: You are hidden in Christ and it is Christ who defines you.
That is so true, and well worth the attention of anyone in the closet, and as well as those of us who have already opened those doors. Keep listening for the call of your shepherd: you’ll know him when you hear him say, “It’s safe to step out into the light!” He won’t lead you astray!

]]> By: Joni http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/knock-knock-girlfriend/comment-page-1/#comment-171 Joni Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:30:52 +0000 http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/?p=158#comment-171 Ok, tears... of course as the truth of your words sooth my spirit. Thank you. I needed to shift the focus of my eyes and that was just what I needed. oh dang girl, I do hope that one day that coffee will happen. :) Ok, tears… of course as the truth of your words sooth my spirit. Thank you. I needed to shift the focus of my eyes and that was just what I needed. oh dang girl, I do hope that one day that coffee will happen. :)

]]> By: anita http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/knock-knock-girlfriend/comment-page-1/#comment-169 anita Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:25:09 +0000 http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/?p=158#comment-169 Joni, I'm digging into John 11 at this very moment and as to your question, I would imagine anything is possible Joni. Coming out isn't something we do once and then it's done but I think we're coming out continually, not only to other people but to ourselves. I use to have wild blackberries that grew in my backyard and I remember one day working from early morning until dusk hacking down those wild thorny bushes, pulling up the roots by the handfuls, and carrying it all away. When the day was done I was thrilled with my accomplishment to have finally gotten rid of those gnarly wild bushes and have a cleared patch where I could plant bulbs the following autumn. I was so frustrated when later that same summer the bushes began to appear again, tiny new shoots breaking up through the soil. Likewise we have a lifetime of negative teaching and misconceptions around homosexuality and their roots go down deep, so that even after we've reconciled the biblical passages and are at peace, there are going to be little shoots that pop up occasionally that we need to look at and deal with. It's a long process but that's all it is...just a process, not a sign that anythings wrong or that we haven't done all that we could do. It took time for those teachings to take root and it's going to take time and intention to remove them one by one. And Joni, anytime we're within a couple hundred miles of each other, the coffee will be on me. You talk. I'll sip. Joni,

I’m digging into John 11 at this very moment and as to your question, I would imagine anything is possible Joni. Coming out isn’t something we do once and then it’s done but I think we’re coming out continually, not only to other people but to ourselves.

I use to have wild blackberries that grew in my backyard and I remember one day working from early morning until dusk hacking down those wild thorny bushes, pulling up the roots by the handfuls, and carrying it all away. When the day was done I was thrilled with my accomplishment to have finally gotten rid of those gnarly wild bushes and have a cleared patch where I could plant bulbs the following autumn. I was so frustrated when later that same summer the bushes began to appear again, tiny new shoots breaking up through the soil. Likewise we have a lifetime of negative teaching and misconceptions around homosexuality and their roots go down deep, so that even after we’ve reconciled the biblical passages and are at peace, there are going to be little shoots that pop up occasionally that we need to look at and deal with. It’s a long process but that’s all it is…just a process, not a sign that anythings wrong or that we haven’t done all that we could do. It took time for those teachings to take root and it’s going to take time and intention to remove them one by one.

And Joni, anytime we’re within a couple hundred miles of each other, the coffee will be on me. You talk. I’ll sip.

]]> By: Joni http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/knock-knock-girlfriend/comment-page-1/#comment-167 Joni Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:40:56 +0000 http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/?p=158#comment-167 I too await the coming posts on Lazarus. Anita, I've kinda been wondering if it is possible to be out of the closet in one sense and yet still have my heart completely in the closet in another sense. Hmm... I too await the coming posts on Lazarus.

Anita, I’ve kinda been wondering if it is possible to be out of the closet in one sense and yet still have my heart completely in the closet in another sense. Hmm…

]]> By: Heather http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/knock-knock-girlfriend/comment-page-1/#comment-166 Heather Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:51:08 +0000 http://www.sisterfriends-together.org/?p=158#comment-166 Thank You I will look forward to your coming posts. Thank You I will look forward to your coming posts.

]]>