Do you attend church? Why, or why not?

I have a friend who doesn't go to church because it's full of hypocrites. I agree. All churches are full of hypocrites. So are most work places. Most homes even. I have to admit that that was my response for a long time. That and the fact that you can have church under a tree just as well as in a building. I wasn't raised in church but I was raised by a woman who was and who made sure I knew who was who and what was what. We attended a local church sometimes on Easter and even went a few times afterwards but it always waned. When I was a teenager I went to church one Sunday with a friend. I fell in love with the service. Let me stress that it was the service I fell in love with not the people. I continued to attend without my family. I attended until I moved to Kentucky. I missed my church and even the people for a long time. I still do until this day. My parents got in church and were very pushy for years about me getting in. I resisted. I'll be honest a small part of me recognized it was because I was angry that they didn't go with me when I was younger. I went to church off and on. To wrap up a long story. A couple of years ago my mom and dad found a church they loved. They invited me but I refused. I was too busy. The kids went and they too fell in love with it. I finally went on Easter. I'll be honest. The feeling I got scared the crap out of me and I wouldn't go back. Things were really weird for me for a few months after me. I can't explain it but it was weird. I finally went back for my parents anniversary. Not to go in great detail but I've been going ever since. I will say that I don't really like many of the people in the church. Other's are right. They are hypocrites. They're a few that I really like. Overall, this question makes me realize that I don't go to church for anyone but for me. I love Sunday school more than anything. I love hearing the word and feeling the spirit within myself. Church is something that is personal for me. My kids sit with their friends. I don't fuss about it because again, it's something personal for me and I figure it is for them as well. I don't make any of them go but they go on their own. Church is a building. Service is something individually important in my opinion. I go because it's like a refuel for me. Church is a personal thing. If you go great. If you don't that's fine too. I am not religious but I have a relationship with Jesus. Any relationship is personal and what you do with it is your personal business. I can't tell a person what their relationship is and they can't tell me. I never push Church but I encourage people to search for that relationship.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Faithful Friends post, or share your (brief) answer in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Please rememberthat we aren’t judging others’ answers here… we are only sharing our own viewpoints for the sake of knowing how others live out their faith. Thanks! 

Another meme I like to read and decided to join in on (even if it's late in the day...like almost tomorrow) I following it on Should Be Reading I'm not really sure where it originates from but here we go.

All other things being equal–do you prefer used books? Or new books? (The physical speciman, that is, not the title.) Does your preference differentiate between a standard kind of used book, and a pristine, leather-bound copy?


I love old books. Leather bound books of any kind draw me to them. I love the feel the smell. The history contained in the book itself...not the words so much but what the book itself has gone through. As far as reading a book for the book's content I don't really care. I love old books for their aesthetic feel. When it comes down to it though as long as I can read the words, I'll take it new or old. If I love the book and want to keep it for future reading I love hardback books for the sturdiness. All in all though it doesn't matter to me as long as I can see the words and feel the pages.  


Now if you want to, leave me a link to your answer.

One of my first memories of books was a couple of LP records my grandfather sent me in when we were stationed in Spain.. They were recordings of Snow White and a tour of It's a Small World in Disney and the Haunted Mansion. The records covers contained read along books. I remember listening to the stories and pretending to read the words at the bottom of the pages. I loved those stories. I also remember how pro-book my mom was growing up Books were to be respected. Honored even. I remember her telling me books could take you to any place you want to go and they were an escape from the real world when you needed to get away from the here and now. When I got in school I didn't get a really good start at reading. My first grade teacher was expecting her first child and she wasn't really concerned with teaching us how to read. I did learn how to copy letters off the board and color between the lines. But as far as learning to read, it didn't happen. Thanks to that I hated reading all through school. It wasn't until I was a young adult that I started liking to read again.Now I wish I could just sit and read all day long. Life is funny like that, isn't it?