Desiree Allen-Baker
2nd January 2008, 03:03 PM (15:03)
I realized I haven't properly introduced myself... so here I am. Better late than never. :p
My name is Desiree, and I am a single mother of two children, Ethan (who is 6) and Mary (who is 4); I have been attending services at Westminster Church of the Nazarene for the past several months. I have to tell you I'm so glad that I was open to receiving the nuggets of knowledge pastors have given me while I have been coming to WCON.
My religious background is Roman Catholic. I was baptized and received Communion in the Church and, while my parents weren't the kind of people who attended Church regularly, we were raised to believe what we were taught in religious classes. While the fellowship was nice when I was there, I didn't feel connected all the time. :) When I was a teenager, I attended a youth group at a different religious church with my very good friend Joy, and was "hooked" - I never had so much fun learning about God!! Unfortunately for me, I didn't think I could keep going - after all, I was Catholic!! (Even though I never really attended Mass, I still felt guilty thinking about breaking from tradition!!)
Then, when I was preparing to become a married woman, I decided to take the RCIA classes (adult ed) so I could be fully in sync with what God wanted for my life. I still had many questions about the religion, but thought this was what was right. I can't say I was completely ready for the change as I was living with my boyfriend/fiance and became pregnant while I was attending classes... but I was feeling lost and was desperate for some sort of guidance!! Because I became so sick while I was in my first trimester of pregnancy, I didn't continue my classes and we ended up getting married by a Justice of the Peace. Afterwards, my son was baptized in the Catholic Church when he was six weeks old "because that is what we have always done"! I am now seperated from my husband - we have been for the past two years - and divorce is the choice we have made as soon as we can afford to file.
My children live with me full time, and they see their dad maybe 6-8 hours a week, usually only on Saturdays. I am the only parent who attends parent/teacher conferences, I was the only parent who would take Ethan to baseball practice this past summer - I'm the parent who does the most for my kids, which can be so overwhelming at times!!
One day while I was on my way to work (feeling particularly tired) and was driving down 104th Avenue (the main street where the church is located), a sign I had seen a million times before finally caught my eye. It was an electronic sign that invited the community to attend an event at WCON, and listed the web address. When I arrived at work, one of the first things I did was to check out the website. Wow!! I was so impressed with the information on the site, and toodled around for a while, looking at every little bit that I could get to. When I came upon the staff pages, I was surprised to see my very good friend Joy as the Director of the Sunday School!! It was during that moment that I emailed Joy and asked her when I could come to "her" church. She was elated, of course, and told me about the service times, and the best time for my kids to come to Sunday School. I knew that Joy and her family were (are!) good people, and if Joy was able to speak so highly of WCON, I had to check it out. Also, some friends of my family, the Guildner family, attend WCON... so it was definitely decided.
After attending the church and learning more about the denomination, I have now officially "converted" to Nazarene.
My name is Desiree, and I am a single mother of two children, Ethan (who is 6) and Mary (who is 4); I have been attending services at Westminster Church of the Nazarene for the past several months. I have to tell you I'm so glad that I was open to receiving the nuggets of knowledge pastors have given me while I have been coming to WCON.
My religious background is Roman Catholic. I was baptized and received Communion in the Church and, while my parents weren't the kind of people who attended Church regularly, we were raised to believe what we were taught in religious classes. While the fellowship was nice when I was there, I didn't feel connected all the time. :) When I was a teenager, I attended a youth group at a different religious church with my very good friend Joy, and was "hooked" - I never had so much fun learning about God!! Unfortunately for me, I didn't think I could keep going - after all, I was Catholic!! (Even though I never really attended Mass, I still felt guilty thinking about breaking from tradition!!)
Then, when I was preparing to become a married woman, I decided to take the RCIA classes (adult ed) so I could be fully in sync with what God wanted for my life. I still had many questions about the religion, but thought this was what was right. I can't say I was completely ready for the change as I was living with my boyfriend/fiance and became pregnant while I was attending classes... but I was feeling lost and was desperate for some sort of guidance!! Because I became so sick while I was in my first trimester of pregnancy, I didn't continue my classes and we ended up getting married by a Justice of the Peace. Afterwards, my son was baptized in the Catholic Church when he was six weeks old "because that is what we have always done"! I am now seperated from my husband - we have been for the past two years - and divorce is the choice we have made as soon as we can afford to file.
My children live with me full time, and they see their dad maybe 6-8 hours a week, usually only on Saturdays. I am the only parent who attends parent/teacher conferences, I was the only parent who would take Ethan to baseball practice this past summer - I'm the parent who does the most for my kids, which can be so overwhelming at times!!
One day while I was on my way to work (feeling particularly tired) and was driving down 104th Avenue (the main street where the church is located), a sign I had seen a million times before finally caught my eye. It was an electronic sign that invited the community to attend an event at WCON, and listed the web address. When I arrived at work, one of the first things I did was to check out the website. Wow!! I was so impressed with the information on the site, and toodled around for a while, looking at every little bit that I could get to. When I came upon the staff pages, I was surprised to see my very good friend Joy as the Director of the Sunday School!! It was during that moment that I emailed Joy and asked her when I could come to "her" church. She was elated, of course, and told me about the service times, and the best time for my kids to come to Sunday School. I knew that Joy and her family were (are!) good people, and if Joy was able to speak so highly of WCON, I had to check it out. Also, some friends of my family, the Guildner family, attend WCON... so it was definitely decided.
After attending the church and learning more about the denomination, I have now officially "converted" to Nazarene.