I've had a couple requests to give a bit more information about my background.
I grew up in the Lutheran church. I will always be thankful for the things of Christ that were instilled in me during that time. Unfortunately, my interpretation of God at that point was that I could live whatever life I wanted during the week, because I could always be forgiven. While this may be true to an extent, I was taking advanage of God's grace and mercy. In college, I attended an Assembly of God church and later a non-denominational Charismatic church. It was at this point that my life began to be surrendered to the Lord. I was attending a Bible study and Keith was invited to attend. Keith grew up in the Catholic church as a child, but at this point was also attending a different Charismatic-type church. So Keith and I met and were married in 11 months.
We both wanted to move out from the city life "someday". We looked at a map of Minnesota, pointed to the Northwest corner and said to each other, "That would be a nice place to live." Neither of us had ever been there before. Although it happened much sooner than we expected, through many different confirmations, we purchased an 80 acre farm in Oklee, MN. We were out in the boondocks. It was difficult at first for me as I didn't know anyone and was pregnant with our first child, but we kept working at fixing up our "paradise on earth" and grew to love the place. Finding a church was more difficult. God was changing our hearts. We ended up going to another Charismatic church although it didn't fit us as well as it had previously. The people were very nice to us and took us in as part of the "family", but over time, it became more clear that this was not where we were supposed to continue to go.
A friend of a friend, as they say, invited us to visit Kitchi Pines, on the other side of Bemidji. At this point, Keith was working in Bemidji, which was a 60 mile drive one way. Kitchi was 87 miles from Oklee. Keith was hesitant to make such a drive, but after one Sunday, we knew that this was where we were supposed to be. The drive soon became a time for Keith and I to discuss the message and other spiritual issues. Our hunger for Truth intensified. God continued to change us and things that we had believed even before moving up to Oklee, were confirmed. We became members 2 1/2 years ago and this last summer we moved to within 5 miles of Kitchi. We now are close to church and Keith is closer to his work. It has been a good move. We are starting over in making our "paradise on earth".
Kitchi Pines, to my understanding, used to be part of a Mennonite conference, but have since left the conference due to concerns about the spiritual direction it was going. Kitchi continues to resemble a Mennonite church more than any other.
About Me
- Destination...Gloryland!
- I love the Lord and desire to demonstrate that love in my walk with Him. I am 33 years old and am married to the best man in the world. I am also a homeschooling mother with 3 children ages 5, 4 and 1. My husband is a wonderful, God-fearing man that loves me and our children dearly.
5 comments:
You and Keith are such an answer to prayer for my wife an I! Your journey and the story of it are tools that God will surely use for His kingdom building.
God Bless you and I know there have been struggles with those you have left. My prayer is that Kitchi will not become your anchor, but that Jesus will continue to be your all sustaining strength. God Bless You!
Thank you for sharing that, Heidi. Things have changed so much from when I grew up. Denominations aren't so much what they used to be. You have to look at an individual church, really.
Julana, yes, we are finding that as well. You have to ask more and more questions today to get a better understanding of a particular church's theological stand as well as how that stand plays out in everyday issues. The factioning of the Church as a whole seems to be getting bigger and bigger. How can we, as the body of Christ, be so divided? This is a discussion in itself...
That is an interesting and encouraging pilgrimage. I'd like to know more about what made Kitchi feel right for you.
Mike McG, I realize that most, if not all, people believe that their church is the most Biblically based church...otherwise they probably wouldn't be there. That said, when we came to Kitchi, we honestly felt that it is the most Biblically based church that we had ever been at. We believe in women having their head covered...because the Bible says we should. We believe in dressing modestly...because the Bible says we should. We believe in the husbands being the head of the home and women not teaching men in the church...because the Bible directs that. There are "outward" things that we are directed to do in the Bible that are rooted in the heart and obeying God's precepts out of love and gratitude is essential. I could go on, but I think you get the point.
But even more than that, there is a Biblical concept of the Two Kingdoms. There is the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of this world. As Christians, we are in the Kingdom of God, but we often don't act like it. We are too often consumed with what is happening around us to the detriment of not focusing on the real Kingdom that we belong. This realization manifests itself in conversations that center around how we can serve the Lord, praying for each other in areas of "dying to our flesh", discussing how to better serve and suppport our spouse, and studying the Word for application in our daily lives (for instance, what is a Christ-like response to a co-worker who is cras and disrepectful?).
There is accountability that we have never experienced before. Of course you can't make someone be accountable, but there is more of a willingness for us to be accountable to each other that was new to us. There really isn't the feeling of, "You don't talk about it and I won't talk about it, so we'll all be OK."
I could go on, but I think you get the picture.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
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