I am a passionate follower of the Christian faith, and I totally accept you even if you are not, as I respect you as a person or couple. It is my personal belief, and you may have yours. Hence, I am not judgmental and will not “push” my religion on you, as some ministers might do.

That was not always the case for me. Growing up, I was raised and went to both grade and high schools as a Catholic. I remember learning that I was to love God and love other people. I married as a teenager, was divorced in six months and of course, according to the church, I could not be a Catholic anymore. I met some beautiful people in a local Baptist and Lutheran church’s and pursued my belief in God and personally accepted it. I read somewhere in the Bible that Jesus, the God’s son, came to earth to die for my sins so that even I could know God personally, and somehow it stuck with me.

Since then, I have been part of a few other “interfaith” churches that my heart felt more comfortable with, and they did not have as many “dos and don’ts” rules as you might find in some others. I struggled with the fact that my original church said, “If you don’t believe exactly what the church teaches, you will not go to heaven.” I thought, Geez, would the God I know not let me into heaven because I broke a couple of rules?” My relationship with Him did not allow me to believe that “No Way!”

After I finished college in the late 70’s, I worked as a musician, and I continued to be of my faith. Sometimes I backslid with various relationships and did not truly let God guide me. Finally, at some point in my 40’s, I figured out to ask God to forgive me and make Him the “helmsman” in my life. I didn’t get struck by lightning, nothing bad happened, but rather I just felt better about who I was on this earth. A few days later, when I went to a church service with some friends, I “listened” harder to the teachings of the Bible and realized that it was full of good information! Most of it made sense. Everything seemed to come together in my spiritual beliefs, and I found that by having a spiritual belief, it was so relevant to my life, and helping others to improve my life, so I started doing charity benefits, providing services to seniors. I started to understand that it is not only by my “good works” but by believing in something that I would have peace in my heart. When I consider the “standard” God set for us, I realize each day that I am nowhere near it, but I try each day. For me, it was all about accepting my imperfections and accepting His gift of love for us. I learned the following:

• God loves you and offers you a wonderful plan for your life if you listen.
• We are all sinful and separated from God. Therefore, we cannot fully experience God’s love and plan for his life until we accept His love.
• God has made provisions to forgive our sins. Through Him, you can know and experience this “real love” along with His plan for your life.
• To be a Christian, we must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
• I believe that we should not judge other people based on religion or lack of belief. I expect that also a “person” should not physically impose his/her beliefs onto someone else who is not asking for it. “I am me and you are you,” so all religions or spiritual attitudes are OK with me as long as they are not being pushy or in any way harmful.
• I believe that when you ask God for forgiveness for something that you know was wrong, He has already forgiven you.

So this is what I personally believe and that what is in the Bible is true (the King James version is my favorite).  I believe that a person can be made right with God by trusting in His one and only son, Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again. I accept and feel His love, so now, I do things out of “love,” hoping to please God out of gratitude for the forgiveness he has given me by my faith. It is a life for me of freedom and purpose.

After making some life mistakes and failing at marriage, it wasn’t until I entered my 50’s that I became spiritually stronger and even better prepared to give advice (when asked) on what a good relationship is made of; it is all about “love” and having a core foundation of what is good. I have 3 grown children and 3 grandchildren. What possibly more can I ask God to bless me with and to leave me feeling so content?

Now I am committed to my wedding ministry, “Two Hearts, One Love wedding officiants,” and if you say that you are in love with another person, I am unconditionally “in your corner,” as “love” is the essence of any spiritual belief. Whether you are practicing some religion or not, I recognize and respect your commitment to love.