Today I sit in my church waiting for the service to start and I see a young couple sitting in the front row and a wave of joy passes over me. I'll explain why in a second, but before I do I want to tell you a little story.
When I was young I was a devout follower of the Christian faith, went to church every Sunday, was a good young Christian. As I grew I realized there was something different about me, I couldn't put my finger on it but I was different from all the boys in my school and friends. Later on I would understand I was gay... Now I didn't have any gay friends growing up and there were none in my town that I knew of so I didn't have any reference point I didn't watch a lot of TV so my involvement with any buddy that was gay was little to none. So as I grow up I just knew that I was different. When I finally moved to California it all made sense… and by then I had been submerged into the underground. So needless to say church, religion, and spirituality had ceased. Fast-forward 18 years when I moved to San Diego and got clean my program called for me to grow, The only way that I knew to do this was to focus on my spiritual growth which led me here to Mission Hills United Church of Christ, a gay, open, and affirming Methodist Church. Now the reason why I am smiling and my heart is filled with joy is that I am now able to bring who I am into church , a church that loves me for who I am. I will eventually teach Sunday school here and be loved by the kids and adults alike. Thank you GOD for blessing me with this gift. I love seeing Two gay men or women in love and it is especially warming to see two of my own gender in love. I can only hope that I will find the same.
