I once attended The Church On Brady, in East Los Angeles California, with my family. I will refer to it as Brady, from this point on, because I didn't see it as the "church", but as my family. We started attending when I was in the 5th grade and I continued there until I was 18, a year after I graduated high school (1980 - 1989). I did accept Christ and was baptized at Brady at a young age. Not until my high school years did I experience my "spiritual high" along with some of my peers that I am still in contact with today. The experience would be "overall" good. I did go through "trials", not with Brady, but with God, with myself. Those years, would make me who I am today, what I believe, how I live and how I am molding my own children.
I had always learned through Bro. Toms sermons and through others, Youth Leaders, Share Group Leaders, Peers, who would lead Sunday classes, Wednesday nights and any other activities or events Brady had to offer. At Brady, I always felt like, the Scriptures, the Bible, was the solid base of these teachings. It always made sense and it was always clear what God wanted, not man. In the future this would be hard for me, because I would not find another place to satisfy my spirit through sermons, etc.
The beginning "adult" years would be rough, but get me started on being who I am. I had gotten pregnant, was not married. I felt separated, disconnected, with my spirit. I was not living, how I was taught to. A couple of years would pass with this emptiness. Visiting different churches, even going back to Brady, which was now Mosaic, and not finding what I needed. I didn't stay at churches, where I couldn't make a connection with the teachings and God . It just didn't make sense to me, why stay where I wasn't gonna get fed spiritually. I finally did stay with one "church", but I still wasn't consistent in attending weekly. Then the light finally came on. What am I doing? I don't need a "physical" building to be right with God and I certainly didn't need other people to accept how I lived my life. I just needed myself, my spirit, my heart and my mind. What I needed was a "relationship" with God. Would God, accept this? Of course he did, God knew my heart and intentions, and over the years he has proven that to me, through my prayers. This relationship is what I had lost in those empty years. In no way am I perfect, (ask my husband!), but God knows that. I am not saying that we don't need to go to "church". We need to do whatever it takes to help us along in this life to be better people.
