I grew up with self-professed atheists.

Let’s face it, the voice of a parent is powerful to a child.  

Their beliefs can become our beliefs very easily.  Children are impressionable; they are learning day by day based on their experiences and exposures in this world.  Holding the beliefs of a parent comes naturally; they are deeply ingrained in who we are.

As we get older, we naturally start to separate and form some of our own beliefs.  However, those beliefs that are part of who we are becoming still reside.  Because they are common to us, we believe they are true and accurate.  Why?  We simply don’t know better.

 

Unless…

Unless we are exposed or experience something so profoundly different from what we are taught that makes us wonder if there is more to the story.

My childhood was a big ole pit of dysfunction and unhealthy lessons.  It was wrought with abuse, fear, and deep hurt on so many levels.  Besides the lessons I was taught about there not being a God, there were so many more being handed to me on a silver platter.  For example,

“You are stupid, a dumbass.” “You aren’t worth….” “You will never amount to anything.” “You aren’t worth loving,” and on and on and on…

 

But there was something else in there too.

…my biological father’s side of the family.  My grandma and great-grandmother, aunts and uncles, and grandfathers.  There was exposure to a different way, a different thought process.  While it started out as minimal, it was still there and I guarantee you I would not be writing this today if it wasn’t for that small, miniscule exposure to something different.

For instance, for a year or so, I was able to have my grandma pick me up and take me to church most Sundays.  I was only allowed to go if I brought home the $3 from being a nursery worker to give to my mom.  I didn’t care, I absolutely LOVED playing with the babies and being close to them.  I didn’t learn anything really about Jesus other than simple Bible stories, but I was surrounded by people that treated me differently than what I was receiving at home.  And I LIKED IT!!

It was during this time, looking back, that I started to realize there was something more to the story of what I was being delivered in my home.

I didn’t believe in God until I was in my late 20’s and was smacked in the face by a two-by-four, and HARD!  It became so undeniable that I literally stood straight up and ran right out of the church, mid-sermon. {story for another day} [SIDE NOTE: Yes, I was at church, because my soon to be future husband, Jon, made me go every week, begrudgingly, whether I believed or not.]

It would be until my 40’s that I quit running from God, then shamed myself for wasting so many years.  That was definitely not of God, either.

 

To get to the point of this story…

You and I don’t have to be defined by the “truths” we were taught as children.  We get to discern which ones we want to hold onto and which ones we don’t.

I’m not going to sit here and say that it is easy to break away from the powerful voices that have taught us so much, that we believed every single word slung our way.  Yes, of course, there were some good and healthy lessons, even in the midst of abuse. They might be few and far between, but they are there.

 

One of the most powerful lessons I have ever learned is…

Each morning…

I sit in silence with God.  Some days, I hear things and others not so much.  Some days my brain is going at a warp speed and others nothing is there.  Of course, I have gone in cycles of doing this and when life gets overwhelming and busy, I might skip it, but it quickly becomes glaringly obvious…my life, simply put, gets turned upside down.

When I am consistent and spend even 10 minutes each morning, the voices I hear are much more powerful than anyone here on earth, in the flesh. He alone is the reason I am where I am today, nothing that has come through me has been of me, but of Him.

Questions for you:  Who are the powerful voices in your life?  What are you holding on to that you might need to release? What do you need to hold onto with everything you have?