Journey Stories

I have been asked many times to describe my journey to Orthodoxy, and every time I answer it seems to come out with a slightly different emphasis. I know many people who have had a “road to Damascus” moment, but I was (and am) too stubborn for that. I’m still working to understand my past and the ways, both great and small, that Christ was calling me through it all. So here is the latest version. I was born into an interfaith household: 50% semipracticing Jewish (my father), 50% ... [Read more]

Over the past five years, I have begun to recognize the grace which God has poured over my life from the very beginning. Becoming Orthodox has been the greatest culmination of so many difficult and beautiful events. At the same time, however, my baby steps in Orthodoxy are the start of a whole new journey which is both brand new and yet, at the same time, intimately familiar. I was raised by two loving parents, both of whom were the first Christians of their families. They became Christians ... [Read more]

When I was first asked to write about my journey into Orthodoxy, it was hard to pin down any one particular prompt that eventually led to my becoming Orthodox. Christianity has always been a crucial part of my life, but each tradition (or “non-tradition”) seemed to go about worshiping God and pursuing a relationship with Him in a different way. Some churches emphasized rules, other churches emphasized grace. Some explored the heart, others the mind. All of them had parts of the truth, but I ... [Read more]

I have gone to church from the time I was born. As a young kid, the first church I remember going to was the Assembly of God Church. We changed over to a Baptist Church when I was about 7 years old. Most of my life I attended various Baptist churches covering 8 different sects of the Baptist denomination. I was for the most part Baptist most of my life. As I relate my journey, it is important to remember I am only speaking for myself; and the problems and inconsistencies I saw in the ... [Read more]

Have you ever had a gourmet chocolate that you couldn’t wait to bite into? You just knew it was going to be amazing. The outside was beautiful, a dark deep color with just the right drizzle, and you could tell the inside was going to be delicious. Only, once you bit into it, you find it’s all wrong and the one you really hate? I think that was my life for a long time. My outside was all pretty and seemed right, but my heart and soul were empty. Let me back up and explain. I was raised in a ... [Read more]

It is a privilege to share our story with others; and, at the same time, it is daunting to reduce the events that have led us to Orthodoxy to a few words; but, we’ll try! By way of background, Patrick and I share a similar past. We were both raised Roman Catholic and attended 12 years of Catholic parochial school (he in Portland, OR; I in Santa Barbara, CA). We each have been married before; and, we each have three adult children (coincidentally, two girls and one boy). Also, we both have ... [Read more]

Looking back, I can see that the path that led me to Orthodoxy was one I started on when I was a child. My parents are wonderful, loving, Godfearing people, and they did everything within their power to raise me in a Christ-centered home and church family. I was raised United Methodist, and went to church with my family regularly while I lived with them in a small town outside of Corvallis. The church we attended since I was three-yearsold (and they still attend) followed a very traditional ... [Read more]

Despite a seven year enlistment in the Army, I have never been very good at getting in line; especially if the line isn’t moving. It is safe to say that I reject an overwhelming majority of ideas I hear. Sometimes that is based on the ideas themselves; sometimes it is based on who presents them. I suppose this is why I am so fortunate to have begun my journey to Orthodoxy in a somewhat anomalous community. God was very merciful to me in that regard. Growing up, I was not unfamiliar with ... [Read more]

Before the Glendi of 2011, the only exposure to the Orthodox Church I had had was from watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding. My mom had become Protestant in her teens, and my dad was raised Roman Catholic but converted to Protestantism in college. They had raised my three sisters and me in a strong Protestant home. We went to Cedar Mill Bible church every Sunday, my mom led a Bible study, and all of us daughters attended Protestant schools. My whole world was Protestant, and I had no idea there was ... [Read more]