[My3Sons]

Good for you! It will always be hard to leave a high-control environment, but so worth it. “Leaving” is a process so don’t be hard on yourself if it takes awhile to join in another Christian gathering in any official way. Pretending to be something you’re not is just being a Pharisee. One thing I have loved about reading the Bible since I’ve been “out” is having the RSV blinders off and seeing God’s Word through no lens but the Holy Spirit. And the Bible is full of “characters”, as we call them in the South. Yes, they were refined by the Spirit, but that didn’t change who they were, it just made them a beautiful version of the “them” God created them to be! I despise the sameness the the LC. My husband, who led me out, says many of them are like creepy Stepford wives - looking, acting, and talking alike. If God made lilies and roses and tulips and all sorts of mere flowers, wouldn’t He love and celebrate each of our uniquenesses as well. So, no more false guilt! You’re doing great!