What a week
This is how is feels to be free!
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Well, let's start with the good stuff...I decided to add secondary education to my French major, so I'll be certified to teach pre-k-12th grade when I graduate. I'm really excited about it. I don't know if I want to teach as a career, but it'd be good to do when my kids are young so I can spend more time with them. I think this decision will help motivate me a little more to do my schoolwork. I know where I'm heading, what I'm working toward. Also, I realized this week just how amazing the Methodist Church really is. It really brings me to tears when I realize how perfectly it fits me. I love that we emphasize that not every has to have the same beliefs. I love the lack of judgment for each and every person. It's incredible to me how people respect your opinion, and what you believe doesn't affect how welcome you are. I've been reading stuff on the UMC website, and I absolutely love it: "United Methodists are never expected to agree with the church 100% because every United Methodist has a brain and is encouraged to use it."; "In the United Methodist Church, however, we strive to learn by reasoning together, and we’ve come to call this education without indoctrination." (The site is http://unitedmethodist.org/ if you want to check it out.) Which brings me to my next point, as Methodists we are encouraged to QUESTION EVERYTHING. Only by doing this can we understand what we believe. It is never wrong to ask questions. I believe this holds true for government, church, school, and organizations. Specifically relevant lately, I believe that people have the right to know exactly what goes on in the groups they are a part of. This to me is a given. I realized this week that there are actually those disagree with this. This comes as a painful discovery in a painful situation for me. I can't go into it all because I was asked not to discuss it, and I am going to respect that request. I will never, however, be shut up about my beliefs or my convictions. I have some hard decisions to make, and I pray that God will guide me in them. It's odd because I now have a sense of freedom I wasn't expecting. It's like now I don't have to worry about my opinions affecting certain decisions others make about me, because I already know what those decisions will be and it doesn't matter. I know this sounds awfully cryptic. I'm sorry about that. You're just going to have to trust me on this one.