Quote:
Originally Posted by Alura  Jesus was a way-cool dude! It's his fan club that puts me off.
Mr. Alura |
I totally agree!
Cupl4fun, we most definitely would not run from you. We are sorta where you've been and are going, so, we'd feel right at home with you both.
Gator and I were both raised in the Baptist church of one kind or another. He mostly Free-Will Baptist and I mostly Missionary Baptist. We were married in a Southern Baptist Church. Started a teacher's training class before we were married and finished soon after. We taught all ages of Sunday School and Discipleship Training classes for over 20 years. I was Vacation Bible School Director and Sunday School Director at different times for many years apiece. Gator filled a few years as Sunday School Director himself. He is an ordained deacon. Get the picture? We were heavily involved in the church, raised our children in the church (and that is why they don't approve of our lifestyle and poly relationship). We were "brainwashed" for years and helped do the same to others.
The dissolution started setting in several years before we left the church. The judgmental people were the worst for us at the beginning I suppose. The "I'm better than you attitude" because I don't do this or this was probably next. Things like that and what you've mentioned yourself. It all was just so contradictory to the loving God me knew. To the Jesus that walked this earth as a human. We thought that it could be just some of the people in the church we had attended together since before we were married. Or that it was us because we were just so tired and stressed from all we did at church. We first tried to stop working in so many things. People just couldn't stop coming to us for that even though they were jobs we had given up. We decided to leave our home church. Where many of the most important things in our life had occured. We looked at and visited several other churches in our small town. Finally found one we thought the four of us could live with (us and the boys) and joined. At this one, our biggest disappointment was the pastor. He gossiped about other members to us on more than one occasion. While I know that pastors are just human also, I still had a problem with him preaching frequently against what he participated in often. Without ever apologizing. We just quit going then. Haven't been back since. We do miss the fellowship some.
For years while we attended church, Gator had these fantasies of sharing me with other men. So, we had gradually dealt with that and how it went with out beliefs. Once we left the church it was at least a year before these talks of his fantasies lead to us seriously considering swinging. We didn't really have trouble reconciling swinging with our faith. I had more of a problem reconciling our poly relationship with it. Go figure. The same with how I felt watching Gator do both. Him having sex with another woman was a hell of a lot easier for me than him loving another woman. That has been hard at times.
Anyway, I just felt the need to say you weren't alone and that I'm happy for you that you felt you could finally share it all with us. I understand how difficult that was.
Vol