Hi jan!! I would love to participate in an agnostic board!! The definition of agnosticism courtesy of Dictionary.com: ag·nos·tic ( P ) Pronunciation Key (g-nstk) n. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something. D

Hi Miss JM- You can put any Catholic guilt thoughts aside, there are no Catholic teachings that would object to this medical treatment. And just another thought--- God did not make us this way- we did. As Catholics we believe in free will. Our free will brought us to this place, and thank God that our free will and intellect rescued us from our wilderness. I have an Master's degree in theology and I am a certified lay ecclesial minister, and a candidate for chaplaincy certification through the USCCB. My surgeon is a faithful wonderful Catholic man of God. My evangelical family physician prayed with me before and after. (he is also my surgeon's MD) This surgery was my answer to prayers to God. I am sure of it. May God Bless you for your faithfullness to him and to yourself. Peace+ Laura D.

Did you get the private email I sent you Friday? Dawn

Hi Christal, I think I understand what you are trying to say and if I don't you can always point me in the right direction. I grew up in a family that didn't believe that God existed and I also lived with a very emotionally and physically abusive mom so when my favorite cousin got saved when I was 18, I had a ton of arguments of why she was wrong i.e. there can't be a loving God because look at what He let happen to me. If He was so loving why didn't He rescue me when I asked for help. Why did He let so many children live in abusive homes, I knew how bad it was because I worked at Children Services at the time. IMHO, My journey to finding a relationship to the Lord is full of preordained moments. The first would be coming home from rehab in Minnesota during my senior year and being terrified traveling alone on a grey hound bus in the middle of the night. I sat next to a girl who must have known how scared I was but she never pushed me in any way or asked anything other than the basics and she let me listen to her walkman all the way to Indiana about 17 hours to comfort me. I only listened to hard music but the only cassette she had was a Christian singer, named Babbie Mason, who is now one of my favorite people. I have since had the pleasure of meeting her, sharing my story, and getting my picture taken with her two years ago at a Women of Faith Conference. Something changed in me during that ride, my heart softened but I wouldn't fully realize the impact for many years. The next summer, on the way home from a weekend 12 step retreat, I had car trouble in the middle of night in the middle of nowhere with no help and was completely exhausted and fearful of falling asleep on the way home. The only radio station that would come in was a Christian radio station that shouldn't have been accessible since it was only a small local station very far from where I was. I listened to it the whole way home and by the time I got home, I knew I needed to find out more! Even though, I hadn't slept in over two days, I stayed up all day reading a Bible that my dad gave me after his mother passed away, which was something I had never done. I started realizing that every time I passed a church on my way that their bulletins seemed to "speak" to me. God has a sense of humor and sent me to work for the United Methodist Counsil to do data entry typing. Since I was so proficient at typing, they decided that I would be more useful in the transcription department. So here I am a girl that still doesn't believe in God but I am typing sermons 8 hours a day!!! After a couple of months, I asked my cousin to take me to church. The Bible says that inside everyone that there is a seed of truth and that they will one day be lead down a path where that truth is unmistakable. I hit that place a few weeks after attending church regularly. I do not believe that being a Christian is easier for most people because they turn things over to God. I am sure there are some people that use that as their excuse for not doing enough but that isn't my personal experience or the experience of most Christians I am familiar with). Imagine being a type-A personality (ME!!) and asking your children to fold the towels and expecting them to do it EXACTLY the way you want it done and watching them doing it wrong and resisting the temptation to grab that towel from them and say this is how you do it; how can you not understand that. It is similiar with God, you are sitting in the passenger seat and not always sure of the destination, you want to direct Him (or at least I do sometimes that isn't very easy. It isn't always easy to say I have thought this through and I know the best thing for me is.... but I will just let you lead me where You want me to be. I like specifics, I want to know when, where, why, and how about EVERYTHING!! This road of choosing to let another person guide your path is definitely not easy for me but I wouldn't change it for a minute. In my moments of despair, I have felt His loving arms wrapped tightly around me. When I had nobody to depend on, I was comforted with the knowledge that He was there and that He hurt just knowing I was hurting. Being a Christian isn't about being perfect or better than someone else, it is about being forgiven. Below is one of the best explanations I have seen. I appologize for the length of this reply, I tend to be a bit wordy. I will not be preachy, my personal motto is "People may not remember what you say but they will ALWAYS remember how you made them feel" and I will do my best to answer any questions that you have or find someone who can answer your questions. You can feel free to email me anytime. I sincerely hope that you find peace and comfort. When I say.... "I am a Christian" I'm not shouting "I'm clean living" I'm whispering "I was lost", now I am found and forgiven. When I say... "I am a Christian" I don't speak of this with pride I'm confessing that I stumble And need CHRIST to be my guide. When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and Need HIS strength to carry on. When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and Need GOD to clean up my mess. When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect. My flaws are far too visible, but GOD believes I am worth it. When I say... "I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain, I have My shares of heartaches so I call Upon HIS name. When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner *****ceived GOD's good grace, somehow. HOW DO WE KNOW HE LOVES US? READ ROMANS 5:6-11 "GOD DEMONSTRATED HIS LOVE FOR US... THAT WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS CHRIST DIED FOR US". I didn't think you soundy *****y, just hurt that someone used part of your post w/o your permission. Have a Blessed day, Amber

THANKS I WILL !!!!! THANKS FOR THE INFO!!!!! DO I SOUND *****Y UP THERE?