The Purpose of The Book of Common Prayer

When I first started attending the Anglican Catholic Church, I was introduced to something that was completely foreign to me, that to be honest, I had never heard of.

The Book of Common Prayer.

Not even when I was in the Methodist or Presbyterian church, I don't ever remembering using or even hearing about a Book of Common prayer.

The more I started learning about Anglo- Catholicism, the more intrigued I was about this book.

Even more so when I found out that this book was one of the reasons why The Anglican Catholic church split from the Episcopal church in the 1970's.

The version we use is the 1928 version (the 1979 version is the most commonly used one in the Episcopal church.)

My husband had a copy of it from his old Episcopal days, and gave it to me. I instantly fell in love with it. The prayers in it were so poetic, and really can tug at the heart strings, especially the general confession.

When I told some of my old Protestant and Anabaptist friends about it, they seemed confused.

The most common complaint I heard about the prayer book was "Why do you need a book to tell you how to pray?"

I would quickly respond "Have you never had a time in your life where you just couldn't find the words to pray?"

This got some of them thinking I had a point. However, my Pentecostal and charismatic friends would dismiss this retort by saying "That's what tongues are for".

It got me thinking a bit. The go to answer I had was nice, but was that it? Is that what a church would split about?

I started digging in deeper in the prayer book. Then I noticed something I hadn't seen before.

The Liturgy.

The Liturgy ( or the order of our service) is in the book of Common Prayer. Everything from morning and evening prayers, to high mass, to high holly days mass, to weddings, to baptisms, to confirmations, to funerals. It's all there.

I brought up the subject up to a few of my fellow parish family members and one of them gave me the real answer I was looking for.

The way they explained it to me, was that the Book of Common prayer gives specific direction on how the service is to flow. If a priest were to go out of line of the prayer book, the Layman (Non ordained church member) is able to tell right away, and would be able to report it to a higher authority (Such as a Bishop) to get it straighten out.

Tat was the moment I was truly in love with this book.

I remember thinking, how many churches have I been in the past that could use a tool like this.

I wouldn't have to hear a sermon about tithing every single Sunday, if the book says that day is in celebration of the Trinity.

In fact, how nice would it be if I was able to report a couple to them to a Bishop, rather than just walk away, but that's another blog for another day.

So, in short, that is the purpose of The Book of Common Prayer.

If you don't know how to pray for something, the book can teach you how to. Which, surprisingly, prayer requires learning. It's not as easy as the Evangelical community makes it out to be. In fact, they have some of their own written prayers that most don't acknowledge as the same as the prayers we have in the prayer book.

The Sinner's prayer, for example, looks pretty similar to the Prayer of General confession, if you look at it.


At it's to help keep structure and order in the church, and to keep the priest accountable. Something, that I am sorry to say, seems to be dwindling in the mainstream protestant churches.

I liked what the archbishop once said about the Liturgy in the Book of Common prayer.

"The Liturgy works to where, even if you don't like your priest, it's fine, because he doesn't get to but in very often."

Now just by writing this blog, gives me an idea for my next blog.....BUT...that will have to be for another time.



The Lord be with you.

Submit to your Husband?

I heard this verse all my life. In sermons, in weddings, a church friend of my parents even made a piece of art work as a wedding

present for me when I got married.

And you know what? I've always believed it. I believe that the Bible is 100% inspired by the word of God. Always have, always will.

BUT, I do earnestly believe that the Bible is something you study, rather than just read. It's one of the reasons why I enjoy the Anglican Catholic church so much because I have never got a better Biblical education anywhere else.


So what about this verse? We all know it. A lot of atheists love to use it as an example on how "Backwards" Christianity is. A lot of strict fundamentalists love to use this verse as a way to silence, and yes, control their wives.

So let's take a look at the verse in question.

" Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body."

Eph. 5:22, 23.

Pretty straight forward. It's understandable that someone who may have very little Biblical education may see this as Wives being completely submissive in every aspect and has no say.

But, let's keep reading.

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church"

I find it very odd that this bit of scripture isn't quoted nearly as much as Wives submitting to their husbands.

So, what does it mean for a wife to submit to her husband?

The best way I explain it to people is, that my husband is the priest of our home. He's to lead us in worship to God and following the will of God in all things.

I remember listening to a Roman Catholic priest on the radio and he said he would hear complaints of married men saying there wives were not submitting to them. The priest flat out said

"She doesn't have to submit to you if you are not following God's will."

I'll give an example. As I mentioned in previous posts, when my husband told me he felt lead to the Anglican church, I was being hard headed and hard hearted. I didn't want to leave the Evangelical church that I had been attending for a few years and loved dearly. But after a while, I knew we could not go to two separate churches, and if this was God's will, I needed to do it.

I submitted to my husband because he was following God's will. So we go to mass almost every Sunday mass together, side by side, and just as our priest leads the whole congregation in worship, my husband, as he sits/ kneels/ stands by my side, leads me in worship.


In Every other aspect, we are equals. I've we need to spend money on something, we discuss it with the other. We are mapping out our future as a team. There is no Dictatorship in our marriage. If one day he started walking around with an iron fist, I would remove myself from the situation till he got his act together. And our priest and his family would ask him why is he being an idiot.

But I know my husband would never do that, because he loves me deeply and he knows what his role as a husband is. Remember the rest of the verse?

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;"

He is to love me as Christ loved the church. So what did Christ do for his church?

HE DIED for his church! I honestly can't think of a more pronounced example of submission in history?

Christ loves his church. There is a reason the church is called the Bride of Christ. Christ and his Bride, is a wonderful example of a Husband's treatment to his wife.

Orthodoxy teaches this. Husbands, treat your wives as precious gifts from God. Protect them and lead them in the Lord. Wives, cherish your husbands, and follow him, because he is following Christ.

I don't see this view as a dictatorship at all. I've seen dictatorship. Go to a real strict IFB church. Or one of those "everyone is going to hell except us". You'll see it for sure.

I see nothing wrong with my husband being the priest of our home. We are equals, but we are also different. Orthodoxy and Traditional Anglicanism acknowledges the different roles of men and women. But the different roles have nothing to do with superiority vs. inferiority.

Because God sees no one more superior than over the other in his children.

The Lord be with you.

Memes, Pics, Tweets, Vlogs, and Such

 I probably won't have a lot of time to blog as much as I would like in the next few weeks to come.

Along with blogging, another hobby of mine is acting, and I am in a Murder Mystery Dinner theatre production with a local community theatre and I'll be in rehearsals a lot for the next few weeks until after September 20th.

However, I still will keep up with my other ways of social media, so you can keep up with me that way.

Yeah, this post is a shameless plug, I know.


You can follow me on INSTAGRAM

TWITTER

YOUTUBE (Though I don't vlog much)

And you can also follow a Facebook page that myself and two other people from my parish started. It's a meme page specifically for the Anglican Catholic Church ( A.C.C.)

Anglican Catholic Church Memes


Short blog, I know. I hope to post something this weekend, before my schedule gets too crazy.


The Lord be with you.

Communion: Real or Symbolic?

When I was 17 years old and attending the Presbyterian church, I was best friends with a Roman Catholic girl.

One day, my friend invited me to a special class that her church was having in regards to the different books and tools they use during mass.

I thought it would be a lot of fun. I didn't know much about Catholicism (Aside from what I had seen in movies) and I thought it would be really cool to learn about how they worshipped.

At the time, all the different items and prayers was a bit overwhelming to remember. But one thing that did stick out that the Deacon (Who was leading the class) said was this:

"One thing that makes our communion different from the Protestants is that we believe that the bread and wine are Christ's real Blood and not his Symbolic. For Christ said himself "This is my Body and Blood."

At the time, I couldn't believe what he just said. "His ACTUAL body and blood? That's not possible. Jesus just meant it figuratively. This guy does NOT know his Bible very well".

Well, it took almost a decade for the Teenage know it all to finally  realized that the deacon actually knew what he was talking about.

When I started attending the Anglican Catholic Church, Father nick brought up the subject of communion (Or Eucharist as it's more commonly known in the more liturgical church) and explained that In The Anglican Catholic Church, it is believed to be that it is, in fact, real.

I pondered this a bit. When I was in the Charismatic church, I was told Catholics only knew tradition and religion, and not the Bible.

But I knew Father Nick knew his word. He's a former priest of the Roman Catholic church, and left when he saw the corruption. Hence why he became an Anglo Catholic.

And from what he explained, every tradition in the Anglican Catholic church had a Biblical reasoning for it.

I later also learned that it wasn't just the Roman Catholic or Anglican Catholic church that held this same belief.

Episcopalians and Lutherans hold the same belief. So, I decided to research myself. Does the Bible say that the bread and wine (Or crackers and grape juice) is the ACTUAL body and blood of Christ.

I obviously started with Luke 22:19.

"And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Only thing was,  growing up, I was taught that the "Do this in remembrance of me" part was Christ telling us, it was symbolic. So I kept digging.

John 6:52-58
"The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread^[a] the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”



That hit me. Christ said that it was, indeed, his body and blood.

It took me a while to comprehend. I would talk about this subject with some of my Evangelical friends, and most of the time would just scoff.

"Come on, April... We're not ACTUALLY eating Jesus! That makes no sense!:
"

And it didn't to me, for a while anyway. but then I remembered the old testament.

As a way of repentance for the Jews of the old testament, they would slaughter an animal. Sometimes cows, sometimes lambs,

 The reason why we no longer need to sacrifice our animals was because Christ was the ultimate sacrifice. He was the lamb of God.

In old testament times, after they slaughtered the animal, they wouldn't just throw it away. they feasted on the lamb. Lamb's and cows were considered clean. It was one of the reasons why They could not slaughter pigs and other animals considered unclean.

Christ was the purest lamb and we consume his body and blood as channels of grace through him and into ourselves.


So when does the bread and wine stop being bread and wine?

Well, different denominations have different theories.

In the A.C.C., it is believed that when the Priest lays his hands on the cup and bread and says "This is my body/ blood" then it truly becomes so.

It's one of the reason why we bow towards the altar before we take our seats in the pews. On the altar, is, for lack of a better term, a safe, with the pre transubstantiated bread. It's kept there for safe keeping for when the priest needs to give the Eucharist at a moment's notice.  We bow to show our respect because the presence of Christ is in the Sanctuary.  We kneel while taking communion as a sign of respect because we are eating Christ's body and drinking his blood.

I hope this clears some things up for some of my Evangelical friends out there.

Also, I just started up a Twitter Account. You can find me @vieledanglican .

May the Lord be with you.




 

Praying to Saints?

So since I've been open about praying the Rosary, I've had quiet a few people express concern that I am "Praying" to saints.

I've mentioned in a previous blog that I am not praying to the saints but asking them to pray for me.

That blog can be found HERE!

Still, I have a lot of friends and family still convinced that I am praying to saints, and therefor, seeing them as gods.

This is FAR from the truth.

I want to make it very clear:

I pray TO God. Every Anglican does. If you pick up any Book of Common prayer, every single prayer is directed to God the father almighty.

so, what's the point of asking saints to pray? Why not always go directly to God?

well, let me ask YOU a question.

Have you ever dealt with something that burdened you? Maybe a particular sin you can't seem to shake?
 Or maybe a health issue?

Or a death in the family?

Sure! We all have. Now let me ask you this:

Have you ever gone to your family, friends, or fellow church members and asked them to pray FOR YOU?

I know almost everyone of my Christian friends do, because I see it on their Facebook statuses daily. You'll even see a prayer request on my wall on occasion.

So why ask them to pray for you if you can just go directly to God?

See the similarities?

Whenever I speak to a saint, I never ask them to deliver me or to cure me. I always ask them to pray for me.

Examples:

"Holy Mary, Mother of God (Again, Mary is the Mother of Christ who IS God. She is not the Mother of the father or the Holy spirit), pray for us sinners now and until the hour of our death."

or
"Saint Zachary, Patron saint of Peace, pray for us." etc.

Any prayer I send up to ask for forgiveness, healing, or strength, goes to God directly.

Another question I get constantly is "Is it Biblical"?

Actually, Yes! There are quiet a few passages in scripture in which it mentions the prayers of the saints in heaven.



  Hebrews 12:1
" Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us^[b] and persevere in running the race that lies before us "

Key words there being " Great Cloud of Witnesses". So that tells me, that all the saints that enter heaven (canonized or non) are looking over us.

 Psalm 103: 20-21
"Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will!"

Psalms 148
"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host!"

In the book of Revelation, John sees that "the twenty-four elders [the leaders of the people of God in heaven] fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (Rev. 5:8). Thus the saints in heaven offer to God the prayers of the saints on earth.


 Angels do the same thing:

(Rev. 8:3–4).
"An angel came and stood at the altar [in heaven] with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the
smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God"

The Rich man in the book of Luke called out to the Father Abraham to intercede on his behalf.

Luke 16:24
"The rich man shouted, 'Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.'


So we do have some strong Biblical evidence that the saints pray for us and that the saints on earth asking the saints in Heaven to pray.


The church in heaven is very much alive. The saints that are in heaven are in heaven with God. They have achieved enteral Life. They are just as much apart of the Body of Christ as the church here on earth.
 
More so, even, since they resonate in the same Domain (Heaven) as the God-head (Trinity).

So if I am willing to go to my earthly mother and ask her for prayers when I am dealing with something difficult, why wouldn't I be willing to ask my spiritual Mother Mary for prayers?

 Now does this mean that every single Anglican asks the saints for intercession?

No. We have a lot of people who refuse to participate when we meet in the Archbishop's office on the occasional Sunday of reciting the Rosary.

Is it nessicary to be an Orthodox Christian and to ask the saint to intercede?

Of course not.

Why do it?

Well, besides Biblical evidence, I see it strengthens my relationship with Christ when I communicate with his family members.

Here on earth and those I shall meet in Paradise when that day should come.

It strengthens my prayer life, and there for, my faith. It what works for me and many other, but not everyone has to.

If you choose not to, that's fine.

Just please keep in mind, that those that do, are not worshiping the saints.

Before I go, I do want to leave a great Spoken Word by Father Pontifex, a Roman Catholic priest, who does great justice with this subject.

The Lord be With you.

How Orthodoxy Helps my A.D.D.

So I went to visit my grandmother's house a few days ago, and the subject of the Rosary came up.

My Grandmother is a Methodist so, she was a bit concerned when she heard that I was praying the Rosary almost on a regular bases.

I explained to her that the different prayers come from scripture as I have mentioned in a previous post.

She's still doesn't get the Rosary, but she told me something that made me think a bit.

She said she was having a conversation with one of my aunt's about me prying the rosary and my aunt told her this:

"April likes praying the Rosary, the written prayers, and the structure of the Anglican Catholic church because it's organized, and the organization helps her focus better with her A.D.D."

It got me thinking.

You see, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder around the age of seven. This thing has been a pain in my butt ever since.

School was awful for me. I'm was a smart kid, but you couldn't be able to tell by my standardized tests scores. I was always losing books, binders, papers, and homework assignments, I could never keep my room or my backpack clean, and it always felt like a million different things were going on in my head all at once.

In fact, if you notice any spelling errors or grammar mistakes in this blog, that's due to my A.D.D.
I know my grammar (I actually did really well with English and Grammar at school) and yes, I know how to spell, but when I'm writing, it just doesn't come out.

If anyone wants to volunteer to be my editor, let me know.

The medication they put me on helped me focus a bit better, but around the age of 11, they noticed

that it wasn't really having an affect on me anymore.

They tried different medications, and all they ended doing was making me fall asleep. So I stopped taking medication and learned how to control in on my own.

And for the most part, I have. Though there were times that I found it hard to pay attention.

It's hard for my mind not to wonder while I'm sitting, listening to an hour long sermon. I just don't have to attention spam for that long. I would hate it if someone asked me what was the sermon was about, and I didn't really have an answer because I was of in my own little world. And I would feel bad about it because I was just sitting in church, not soaking in God's word.

However, things started to change after I started attending the Anglican Catholic.

In the Liturgy, I'm not just sitting there. Everyone is in full participation. You stand, you kneel, you ake the sign of the cross, you chant, your recite, you take communion, you are not just observing. Your there Getting fed the word of God and the Body and blood of Christ, but you are also in a full act of worship.

For my non liturgical friends may be wondering "What about the sermon?"

There is one. But it's only 15 minutes. Now when I first visited, I thought "How can you "get fed" in 15 minutes". Then I started really listening to the sermons of my priest and was blown away. You see, my rest can preach something, and later through out the week you'll still be thinking about it.

Now, not every priest is the same, when it comes to preaching, but so far, I haven't been disappointed by the 3 I have heard.

Even the crucifix's and the icons all around the sanctuary help me focus. It's easier for me to say my Hail Mary's when I'm looking at a statue or painting of Mary.

Or easier to say the general confession when I am looking at Christ on the Stained Glass window or on a crucifix.

The liturgy was something I had to get used to after being used to the loosey goosy of the Charismatic and Evangelical churches, but after a while, I noticed, I like the Liturgy better.

And I liked the fact that The Church understands that everyone's minds are different.

When I was going to the Charismatic church, my pastor at the time would kind of roll his eyes whenever the subject of A.D.D would come up. He didn't believe it existed. (Which I find funny, because looking back on those days, I'm almost convinced he has A.D.D. himself) and when his mother held a revival, I went up for prayer because I was having a very difficult time in school. In front of everyone she said

"You just need to study!"

OH REALLY? Wow, why didn't I think of that. Oh wait, I did, but I suck at studying and no one really taught me a good way to study until I started taking classes to get my G.E.D.

If it sounds like I'm bitter at the people, I'm not. I grew up hearing it all my life.

You see, I've noticed a pattern in some dispensational churches that mental disorders don't really exist.

In fact, a friend of mine who grew up in the Independent Fundamentalist Church was once told by a church member, that if he just had more faith, he wouldn't need to take medication for his Paranoid schizophrenia.

Yep, not even joking.

So you can imagine the joy I had when I heard my priest recently obtained his Master's degree in Counseling.

Anyway, I think I might be getting sidetrack, but at the same time, made a good point. (My A.D.D in action).

The structure and the devotions, and even the repetition of the prayers and services help me stay out of LA-LA Land, and focusing on God. I could sit down for an hour long sermon and not get a single thing out of it.

I wasn't involved, and certainly not paying attention, so what was the point of being there?

I feel like for the first time in my life, that I'm an actual Bible Student. I'm worshiping God, but at the same time, I've been getting a real education, and the devotions and written prayers assist with that.

Some people may find the Liturgy Boring, and redundant, but it has helped me so much with getting to know Christ and getting to know what it means to be his servant.

The Lord be With you.

Discovering My Spiritual Gift in a Perpetual State of Prayer

The past two days of been warring on me spiritually and emotionally.

No doubt you have heard about the terrible, senseless act of Violence that happened at an African- American church this past week.

Like many I was shocked and sadden, and felt anger.

I've seen it all through out my Facebook newsfeed.

Everyone has theories and is pointing fingers on who to blame.

I've been sad by the environment that I have seen. A Tragedy that should be uniting us, has causing division.

But this happens every time there is a tragedy or spark of controversy.

I used to jump right in and make my stance known.

I used to argue and post my opinions on the cause of things and get in arguments with people of opposing views.

This weekend, however, has been different. This weekend I was in what seemed like a perpetual state of prayer.

I have had my head covered almost the whole time, I found myself on my knees in prayer frequently, when I would pray the rosary I would find myself mentally and physically exhausted. I wept while praying.

And for the first time in my life, I took a fast.

This weekend, I finally figured out what I believe is to be my spiritual gift. Prayer.

You see, when I was in the Charismatic movement, I remember a woman tell me that she thought I was an intercessor.

I always wondered if that was true for many years, but this weekend confirmed it. In the past, I thought how silly. Not me being an intercessor, mind you, but that my gift was just to pray.

I know from experience that at times, prayer can seem like you are doing nothing useful. I thought "everyone prays. What makes intercessors so special?"

And it took me a while to figure out that it's actually a good thing.

You see in times like these, it seems like everyone has a hill to die on and grabs their sword to wage war.

Sad thing is, lately it seems, that they are not fighting their enemy, but their brothers.

Left vs. Right, White vs. black (heck, lately I've been seeing white vs white) North vs. South. Pro gun vs Anti gun.
And it's maddening!

But in the midst of all this turmoil, I saw the most beautiful sight that, again, brought tears to my eyes.

It was newsfeed from the courtroom. The South Carolina shooter was completely stone walled. No emotion, not the slightest bit of remorse and the families of the victims had to face him.

I don't know what I would do if I was in their position. Many people I know would have told this man that they hope he hangs and burns in hell for what he did.

But what they did was the exact opposite.

They told him they forgive him. They begged him to repent. They told him to search for Christ,

  This man took away everything precious they had. Their children, friends, relatives, and pastor, and their main concern was that he find forgiveness in Christ so that he may not perish for eternity when he leaves this life and goes to the next.

At the memorials, there were no riots, no shouting, or blaming. There was weeping, and candles lit, and prayers said, and human beings helping their fellow man in this desperate hour of need.

So I prayed more.

I have been praying for God's comfort and peace for the families, and for God to soften this man's heart.

And that's what I decided to do for now on.

I don't know what pushed this man over the edge. We still have many racist groups in the entire world, let alone this country. But many of them never kill or even think about killing. Many people I know hate their own brothers. I see it on their facebooks. The word hate to describe feeling towards someone is sadly more common than anyone would hope for, but they do not commit acts of violence.

So what did it? And what made him like a stone?

I don't know. This whole blame game, is not my personal fight. Maybe it's yours. and if it is, that's fine. Just please remember who the enemy truly is. And trust me, it's not your facebook friend that might have the confederate flag hanging in their living room. Or the leftist Liberal who wants to repeal the Second Amendment.

My personal feeling is that this young man may be suffering from some sort of demonic oppression, but again, that's my own theory.

All I can do is pray. Pray for peace. Pray for comfort. Pray for repentance. Pray for God's will.

I can't be on the world wide web's battle grounds anymore.

So, like a Carmelite nun, I cloister myself and find quiet and search for the peace of God.

I'm not saying everyone has to do this, but if you feel yourself angry about this whole mess and cannot seem to find peace, I would highly recommend a session of prayer.

And if you do feel that prayer is not enough, remember this:

God has given us two of the most powerful tools in his arsenal:

Prayer and Love.

Something I haven't seen a whole lot on facebook lately. just blame, anger and hatred.

I actually found a very useful prayer for this time:

Gracious God,
surround us and all who mourn this day
with your continuing compassion.
Do not let grief overwhelm your children,
or turn them against you....
When grief seems never-ending,
take them one step at a time
along your road of death and resurrection
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

May the Lord be with you. 

Five Styles of Headcoverings

So While at an Inquirer's class at church this week, the topic of Headcoverings came up.

Turns out there are actually quiet a few women at my parish who really want to practice headcovering while attending mass.

Not covering to my extreme, mind you, But there are some women who miss the days of hats and doilies.

I've been asked before "what do you think counts as a headcovering?"

It's simple...something that covers your head.


In 1st Corinthians, Paul doesn't go into a lot of detail of what counts as a headcovering, do we cover all of our hair, some of our hair, our necks, etc.

I think it's because God doesn't really care what you use. The point is not so much covering as it is a sign of submission.

And in that, we have freedoms and liberties to choose our own covering.

And trust me, there are PLENTY of coverings to choose from.

So, I'll go ahead and list some, shows some examples, and even provide some links to wear you can purchase your favorite style.

 

1. THE CHAPEL VEIL

(A.K.A The Mantilla)



 

This is probably the most familiar in any denomination in the more orthodox style churches.

Light weight, usually see through (typically lace) veils that you just place on your head (can be clipped in if needed).

To purchase this one, or see more in this style, check out Liturgical Time's FACEBOOK , ETSY STORE, And WEBSITE .

 

 

2. HEBREW TICHEL

A Headwrap traditionally worn by married Orthodox Jewish women (Though the tradition is becoming less with wigs) Tichels (Pronounced TICKLE) typically covers all of the hair as Orthodox Judaism teaches a Woman's hair is alluring and sensual.

You can however wrap it in styles that let some hair exposed. I have my very own tutorial on how to do such style HERE!

You can use pretty much any scarf you want to wrap your own tichel or you can find a wide variety of tichel scarves and accessories at WRAPUNZEL.COM 

3. HATS

Hats are a great to start off with, especially if you are concerned about looking different, and very traditional in the Anglican church.

Big ones, small ones, colors, shapes, etc. Hats can fit into any woman's style.

I personally have a more appeal to scarves because of the way the very and form to my head, but that's just me.

If you are looking for ornate and Unique, I highly recommend MS. PURDY'S

4. WIDE HEADBANDS

Simple, elegant, and easy to put on, the wide headband tends to be a favorite amongst headcovering women.

You can also just take a thin scarf and tie it around your head with the tails hanging or tied in a bow.

For various headbands, check out GARLANDSOFGRACE.COM .

 

5. HIJAB

(Full Veil)

My personal favorite and here's why:

It's the most modest, it's (in my opinion) the closets style to the original early church, and when I first started attending the Anglican Catholic church (while wearing the full veil) all of the female saints on the stained glass windows wear similar style coverings. Now this is not a style for everyone, but it's the style ,that when I wear it, as a full act of worship.

Some people have asked me if I am from the middle east while wearing it, but I have had a few people ask if I was from Romania, Hungry, and Greek Orthodox.

A long enough scarf can become a hijab with the help of safety pins.

For a tutorial on how I wrap mine, click HERE!

 

There are other various styles out there, but these are my five favorite and the five most used in the Headcovering Community.

 

Feel free to try any of them or create your own.

 

May the lord be with you.



Why I No Longer Need to Speak in Tounges

For the past month my mind was in a bit of turmoil on the subject of tongues.

 I remember first hearing about tongues by a teacher of mine that was part of the Holiness church when I was a Presbyterian.

I found it fascinating and wanted to try it for myself.

I would pray to God to bless me with the gift of tongues, but it never happened.

Then I went to the Charismatic church and I heard it spoken my second visit. I was in awe. I wanted to speak tongues so bad but it didn't happen.

Finally, after a year attending, it happened and I was filled with joy.

After that I prayed in tongues as often as possible.

But even during my time in the charismatic movement, I noticed some things that were a bit off.

People would pray in tongues out loud, they would before a large crowd without an interpreter. Which 1st Corinthians say is a no no.
(1 Corinthians 14:27-28)

When there was an interpreter, things were still off. Someone would say like they were saying the same five words over and over again, but the interpreter would give a long speech. Even then I wondered "How did you get that from that?"

After we left the Charismatic church and started to attend the Evangelical Baptist church, my family and I kept our praying in tongues private.

The church we were going to didn't necessarily have issues with tongues per se, but just ask not to do it aloud. It can cause division and distraction. We understood and kept it private.

When I met my husband, I let him know I was a firm believer in tongues... My husband on the other hand was a firm skeptic.

I waved it off at first. I thought "Well, he just never experienced it."

But he has. He's been in the Charismatic movement before and has seen people being "slain in the spirit" and "pray in tongues" and even then, after looking in the scriptures, he saw it was not Biblical.

I stopped bringing it up. As I was only using it as a private prayer language, I didn't see the fuss in it.

Even attending and then getting confirmed in the Anglican Catholic Church, I still had no issues with praying privately in it. But after attending the A.C.C., I noticed it kept getting infrequent. After my confirmation, it stopped all together.

Speaking in tongues didn't seem to enter my mind until last month, I saw a video by a Lutheran Pastor talking about Charismaticism on his channel called Worldview Everlasting.

In the video he explained about the beginning of the Charismatic movement (which only has been around since the early 1900's) and verses discussing that speaking in a "Heavenly Tongue" that sounds like gibberish is not exactly Biblical.

I was in shock. I talked to my husband.

My husband is a firm believer in tongues, but as he sees it, tongues has to be an actual language. The Lutheran Pastor even explained that the "Language of the Angels" that scripture at times refers to may actually be Hebrew. My husband even told me a story of a Friend of his Father's began to pray in Aramaic with two Arabian men. The friend nor my father in law heard the Aramaic, but the Arabian men heard it perfectly.

I did research on my own, but I still ended up confused. I came to the conclusion that speaking in tongues in a room full of people who all speak the same language is not Biblical. But I still wasn't sure about tongues as a private prayer language.

I didn't want to speak to someone who was one extreme of the argument or the other. I also wanted to speak to someone who KNEW their Bible.

There was one person I had access to that I knew that they knew their Bible cover to cover and knew how to dig deep.

The Archbishop of my church (who's office is located at my Parish. Thank God).

I set up an appointment with him.

When I finally got to sit down and talk with him, I was a bit nervous and rambling.

Though the Archbishop has never acted high above anyone, and is pretty laid back, at times, can make me a bit nervous.

This man is our Archbishop. The head of our church. Our Version of the pope. The highest authority in our church under God.

And yet he is one of the most approachable, easy going, and personable man I have ever met.

So I told him a bit of my background and asked him what his thoughts on tongues where.

I was mostly getting confused by scriptures 1 Corinthians where Paul was giving guidelines for the use of tongues (Guidelines that some in the Charismatic movement seem to like to ignore) but I was having a hard time trying to figure out if Paul was talking about tongues as the way I knew it, or foreign languages, as my Husband knew it.

He gave me a bit of context of the Corinthian church.

As he described it, the Corinths were eccentric. They were the Charismatics of the age. So Paul gave them some guidelines as to not go off the deep end.

He also explained to me that the way he saw it, that this language unknown to men is not Biblical.

This was the way he explained it to me in an email before we spoke in person:

" I do not think the idea of tongues as the neo-pentecostalists understand it is heresy. However, I also think the experience is not normative. The Corinthians, after all, were nuts. Where a church is sick, the charismatic movement can be a sign of health. Charismatics believe strongly in the reality of God, the power of God, and the goodness of God,  But by putting the premium on personal religious experience, the movement also tends to breed individualism, subjectivism, and factionalism. Where the Church is healthy and doctrine is balanced, therefore, the charismatic movement tends to be a problem. If you've benefited from it in the past, that's good. Your disappointment in most of the leaders you encountered is understandable - again, by emphasizing the individual and private experience, they set themselves up for a fall."


I told him about some of the major leaders of the Charismatic movement I had encountered and did research on and was almost heartbroken by what I found.

 But that is one of the issues I have with the Charismatic/ Evangelical movement. It quickly becomes about the individual leader and not the church on the who.

However, he also explained that maybe God lead me to that moment because at the time, I needed it.

As I mention in a previous blog, before I attended the Charismatic church, I was so close from walking away from God altogether and was ready to find another religion because I was doubting what I was raised to believe in and beginning to think I had it wrong this whole time.

The Charismatic movement saved me from leaving God. It was then when I truly started my walk with God. So, I needed to know God existed.

My Archbishop also explained to me that he believes that when we begin our walk with God, he gives us signs to show that he exists. But after a while he makes the signs infrequent because we need to be able to Walk by Faith and not by site.

I can't rely on that warm fuzzy feeling anymore because there are going to be those times when I still need to believe without relying on my feelings, but my faith.

It reminded me when I was covering my head full time. Covering one's head all the time is not a biblical command, however I was going through a transitional period to where I needed to remember God was always with me. After a while the headcovering became smaller then non existent outside church. Because I was walking by faith and no longer by feeling.


So, was I actually speaking in a language that God gave me or was it just some kind of gibberish

coming out of my own head?

Well, to be honest, I don't know.

And yet, I have peace about not knowing.

But I do know this. I know, that no matter what happens, God does exist, and he is with me always, even when it doesn't feel like it.

I also know that I don't have to "speak in tongues" in order to obey God and have a relationship with him.

I'm a big girl now, and I don't need daddy to hold my hand 24/7 to know that he still loves me and cares for me and is always watching out for me.

May the Lord be with you.

Call NO MAN Father?

NOTE:
This is a repost from a former blog I used to write on, but I have still been asked the question on why we call our priests Father.

 Though, one common question that has been popping up lately is why we call our priests "father".

So, I decided to repost it on this blog to clear up some things:

I get asked a lot by protestants why not call our Priests and "Father" instead of "Pastor".

In fact, many of them think it's a really bad thing that we refer to them as "Father".

For example:

 When my husband and I brought a Baptist friend of ours to our church for a visit, he asked "So what do I call your priest?"

(Note, for the purpose of this blog, I'm changing the name of our priest for privacy purposes)

We said "Call him Father Nate*."

He said, "I can't do that!"

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, I will only call my heavenly Father and my earthly father, "father".

I was a little confused, but so to not make him uncomfortable, we told him, that if he needed to address him, he could try calling him "Vicar".


I've actually heard this statement before and was a bit confused.

So, I decided to do some research.

You see, most protestants (particularly ones of dispensation theology) have this same philosophy. I wondered where, when I found a verse in Matthew 23:

"And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven."

Only thing is, if you take the verse THAT literally, then you shouldn't even call your earthly father, "Father".


However, that is not true, because the Bible references the male parent, as "father" many times.


Most famously is the ten commandments "Honor thy FATHER and mother".


To understand this verse, you must understand the context.

So what is the context?

Well, to find this out, I had to turn to the Roman Catholics.


I went online and found an explanation from a Roman Catholic Priest. Unfortunately, I can not find the article anymore, but here's what it said:


 "Jesus, in this context is using, a figure of speech known as a hyperbole.

Definition of a hyperbole is: exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

It doesn't mean that we cannot call our own earthly father, "father" because that would deprive The symbol of God's fatherhood meaning.

Jesus in this context is trying to make a point?

So? What's the point?

Christ was using this hyperbole as a way to show the scribes and Pharisees how sinful and proud they were for not looking humbly to God as the source of all authority and fatherhood and teaching, and instead setting themselves up as the ultimate authorities, father figures, and teachers.


He's telling us not to confuse our heavenly father, with any father like figure on this earth.

Because God is the ultimate authority above all."
So you can still call your earthly father, "father".

What about calling Priests/ pastors "father". Is it Biblical?


Actually, yes! It is Biblical to refer to a religious authority as father.

Where you may ask?

In Acts, The old testament prophet Abraham is referred as Father by Saint Stephen.

Acts 7:2
"This was Stephen's reply: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran."

And in Romans 9:10, Saint Paul refers to Isaac as "our father Isaac"

In fact, during Paul's Ministry, he himself is referenced as a father.

in 1 Cor 4:17, Paul refers to Saint Timothy as "my son whom I love".

In Titus 1:4, He calls Titus "My true son in our common faith".

 Neither of these men were Paul’s literal, biological sons. Rather, Paul is emphasizing his spiritual fatherhood with them.



Now, with all this being said, does that mean that every Christian in Every denomination call their pastor "Father".

No, not necessarily.

Pastor comes from the Greek word, "Poimen" which means "Shepard". And we all know the context



And if, you still feel uncomfortable using the term "father" when addressing a priest, that's fine. I do encourage that you continue to do research, but if you are more comfortable to address a priest by "Vicar" that's fine.


I just ask that at least now you understand why Lutherans, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Catholics use this term. It's not just tradition they do because they've done it for centuries. They do it because there is biblical truth to it! 

 and the symbolism the Bible uses between a shepherd and his flock.

Why I Veil Part 2 of 2: Covering My Body and my Disgust with the Fashion Industry

Oh boy....

The Subject of Modesty. A bit of a hot topic in today's society.

I've been thinking very carefully on how to approach this subject because the last thing I want to do is come across as if I was "Slut Shamming".

I want to make this abundantly clear:

Women have the right to adorn themselves in anyway they see best. Whether that be a burqa or a bikini.

No one has the right to dictate ANYONE on how they should dress. Male or Female.

This blog is not my views on how other women dress or why some choose to dress modest and others don't. This is just my own reasoning to why I dress modestly.

For the most part, I've always been modest. I experimented in my late teens and early 20's in showing off a bit more skin then I normally would.

Low cut tops, short skirts, fish nets, etc.

Why did I do that?

Well, because I was lonely and wanted a boyfriend and I liked the way guys would look at me...at that time.

Looking back on it now, I'm disgusted with those haunted images of their faces. Looking at me with only one intention for me. They didn't want me as a girlfriend, they wanted me as a hook up. They looked at me as if I was a piece of meat.

I began seeing their intentions, and just went back to my normal look of jeans and a T-shirt.

A few years past and I met the love of my life. I dressed how I usually did, and all was well.

Then the headcovering epiphany happened.

On Palm Sunday, I wore a hijab, long sleeve blouse, and a long skirt.

I figured, when if I was going to wear the hijab, I might as well cover the rest of myself as well.

We went to the mall after church I think that was the day that everything really changed for me that day, based on what I observed.

Here in Georgia, even in the spring it gets HOT. So naturally, the higher the temperature, the smaller the outfits get.

I was surrounded by teenage girls with shorts so short their butt cheeks hung out and shirts so low cut you could see all the way to Florida.

It was like this everywhere in the mall. I felt a bit out of place. When you are the only one covered head to toe in a shopping mall, you almost feel like the one who decided to wear a ball gown to a pool party.

Only two other women who did not expose the same amount of skin, were two Muslim women in niqabs.

I pondered. I knew it was hot, but was it really THAT hot? I wasn't dying of over heat in my headscarf and layers. When did shorts and skirts get this small?

And that's when I started looking in the store windows. There were signs in every window about "great New Spring looks" in every display with Mannequins showing off said fashion.
The clothes on the mannequins were just as small, if not smaller. For the female ones anyway.

The male Mannequins were dressed differently. If they wore shorts, they were down to the knees.
They weren't cut or ripped like some of the girl shorts, but most of them cargo or Khaki.
Usually paired with a nice button up shirt with fancy logos emblazed on the chest. The shirts had long sleeves, but would be rolled up to the elbow.

The same thing with evening looks. One display I saw showed the female wearing a short, lace dress that was practically see through with high heels that would make my feet fall off. The male ones were dressed in fine trousers, smart button up shirts, and a blazer with logos on the chest. I kept looking at the mannequins and just didn't get it. The men were covered in logos from head to toe and the women where wearing hardly anything.

When my husband and I got back home, I told him what I observed and wondered allowed why the mannequins were dressed like that.

He simply said:

"Because they Fashion industry knows how to appeal the eye of both genders. For men, it's the beauty and body of a woman, for Women it's the man's wealth. Hence all the logos."


I pondered this for quiet sometime. After looking at numerous fashion magazines, I had determine that what my husband said was true. and it made me sick to my stomach.

In today's society, we look back at cultures of old and like to think how different we are from them. But in reality, we're really not.

In the Victorian era, for example, when a man and woman started courting, the woman would pull her corset so tight so her waist size would not be more than her age. She would curl and pin her hair, and wear fine clothing and jewelry to make herself beautiful and worthy of being on a man's arm.

The man would wear smart and dapper clothing, talk about his estates and family's wealth, to show he would be an acceptable provider.

And the fashion industry is still pushing those "values" to this day. A woman is valued by her pretty face, bust and waist line. While a man is valued by his wealth.

If you're a woman and you look at the magazine rack, you see how this industry pushes you "value" when you see covers that say:

"How to get a man and keep him." or  "100 sex positions that will never make him leave!" or "How

to lose 4 dress sizes by summer!" or "How to make your bust look fuller" and the list goes on.

When ever I would see these it would make me feel cheap.

I believe this part of the reason why we have so many people with low self esteem, Body issues, Eating Disorders, and various cosmetic surgeries. Because we are constantly told we are not enough.

But when I found my husband, he saw my beauty inside and out. He thinks I'm the hottest thing on the planet whether I wear sweat pants or a little Teddy.

But more importantly, he sees the beauty in my soul.

I told him before we even started dating that I was a virgin and wished to remained so until my wedding night. He respected me for it and honored it. He got to know who I am inside and out. It was the person I was that made him want to vow before God to love and honor me and treat me as a precious jewel till death do we part.

Just as it was his good soul and caring soul that made me want to pledge myself to him.

So when I finally saw the real face of the fashion industry, I decided I was not going to let them dictate what I do with my body anymore.

I was no longer going to feel bad if my waistline was more than they prefer. Or if my bust size wasn't big enough.

I was done letting someone else tell me I was not enough.

I am a child of the one true king and made in his image. He knows every hair on my head and knew me before I was in the womb.

I am his work of art. And I was no longer going to dishonor the artist any longer.

So I cover. In respect to my creator and respect to my husband.

No man on this earth besides my husband who has vowed is entire being to me deserves to see my body.

My body belongs to no one except for myself and my husband.

And before anyone says "Your body doesn't belong to him!" read 1 Corinthians 7:4

"The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does."

His belongs to me and Mine belongs to him. And to honor my God, my husband, and myself, I cover it.

My body does not define me. My beauty does not define me. My soul does. Because I am not a body with a soul, I am a soul with a body.

What's on the inside is the most important thing about me. So my waist size, my skin, my bust line, should matter to nobody.


And that's why I cover. My modesty is a bit more..erm...extreme, I guess you could say, than most.

I prefer to wear at least 3 Quarter sleeves, I prefer to wear long, flowy skirts that go down to my ankles (Not only are they modest, but they are SUPER comfy), If a shirt as a low neckline, I wear an under shirt with it. If a blouse is short sleeve, I like to wear a shrug with it.

On occasion, I'll wear jeans and a t-shirt, but I like to dress how I feel is most honoring to my body.

Is this the way everyone is supposed to dress?

No, of course not.

But it's the way I am supposed to.

May the Lord be with you.

Why I Veil Part 1 of 2: Headcovering- The Full story

So since I was sick today, I wasn't going to blog, but one can only lay in bed and Play the Sims 3 for so long.

As I explained in my first entry, I cover my head when I attend church, pray, and certain special occasions.


You know by now how I became an Anglican, so I think it's time I told you how I became veiled.


Well, for reasons I could not explain, I felt like God wanted me to cover my head since I was 13 years old.
It kind of came up out of the blue and I didn't know why. I tried to ignore it, but the feeling kept getting stronger.
I tried talking to my parents about possibly headcovering. Even once about covering my hair for lent when we were Presbyterians.

My parents said "Don't do that, people will think your Muslim."


So, I didn't and continued with my life. The feeling went a way, then years later I found a youtuber by the name GothMummi . A Christian Woman who wore a Hijab.

I thought it was interesting, but I still repressed the need to cover.

So when did I finally decide to take the plunge?

When I got engaged to my husband.

I started covering 2 months before my wedding, but let me give you a little background story:

Five months before our wedding, my husband and I was in a terrible car accident. Basically the steering Wheel locked up, we hit a drain pipe, and flipped the truck 4 times before landing upside down.
I got knocked in the head a bit, so all I remember is one flip and then all of a sudden, I'm hanging by my seatbelt upside down, and my fiancé is already out of the truck trying to get me out.

I was in excruciating pain. A trip to the emergency room determined that I had broke my collar bone and gashed a finger open (which needed stitches) but miraculously, that was it.

Even the doctors were amazed that we were in decent shape as we were ( My husband just had a couple of scrapes) while the truck it self was totaled and took a beating.

The doctors also said they were amazed by my positive attitude. I told them

"I'm alive. I'm happy."

They sent me home with a sling and 3 different types of painkillers.

For the first couple of weeks, my attitude kept positive. But when it was time to wing me off the meds, that positive attitude went out the window.

My system had to get used to not having that warm and fuzzy feeling the pills were giving me, and the first week, everyone was walking on egg shells around me. The littlest thing would set me off. I would cry or curse at the drop of a hat.

Then, the nightmares started to happen. Car crashes. I was constantly dreaming about car crashes. I would jolt up in the middle of the night in a cold sweet because they were so vivid and seemed so real.

The thought of riding in a car with anyone driving but me was a terrifying thought (which is odd, because I am not the greatest driver in the world).

If someone slammed on the breaks, I started having panic attacks. I got real mopey around the house and just wanted to be left alone.  Around that time, was when Jacob was talking about only going to the Anglican church instead of the Baptist church my parents and I was attending.

I was frustrated and didn't know what to do, so I just stopped going to church for a few weeks.

I hated feeling so Miserable all the time, so I prayed "God, take this away. Let me be happy again! Let me know you're still there!"

Yep, my depression was getting so bad, that it felt like God was so far away and I just felt so alone.

When I prayed that, I felt the need to cover my head again. But yet again, I couldn't figure out why.

So I went on youtube, to see if I could find other women out there like GothMummi who covered and why they felt the need to.

Boy, did I ever get an answer. I found so many women who felt the same I did, with various different types of coverings, for different

and multiple reasons.

But one reason they all had in common, was a chapter in Corinthians.

1st Corinthians 11:

"I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. ³ But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man,^[a] and the head of Christ is God. ⁴ Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. ⁵ But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. ⁶ For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head."

I was astounded. I spent my entire life in church and yet, I didn't even know this verse existed. Why had I never heard about this before? Why don't I ever see women in church cover?

So I talked to Husband. Though the verse has specific instructions for covering when praying or prophesying, I felt a specific instruction to cover whenever I left my home.

I told him how I felt and what I felt like God was leading me to do. I asked him how he thought.

Knowing he was the one that was going to be seen with me, I didn't want to be embarrassed of me. Also, I wanted to see if this was a real calling. The great thing I could tell almost right off the bat that Jacob was my other half, is that if God is leading one of us, he's leading the other as well.

He smiled, held my hand and said

"Baby, if this is what you feel God is commanding you to do, I can't stop you."

And that was all it took...

I started off small, with knit caps and bandanas, but it was long till I went to Hebrew Tichels and Arabic style Hijabs.

I whenever I veiled, I felt like I was veiled in the Glory of God. I began praying more, reading my Bible, and for the first time in my life, I began to feel like I was a servant of God.

This feeling was new to me. As a young child, I saw God as more of a parent. Then in my teens, as something I was scared to anger, in my evangelical years I proclaimed Christ was my best friend, and almost felt like a magic Genie that granted me numerous wishes.

But not this time. This time and to this day, I still feel like I am his servant. I was made to serve him, not the other way around.

Then I started attending The Anglican church. I got a lot of compliments on the scarves I would wear, and all the interesting questions.

The most memorable moment for me, was a fancy dinner our parish had for the south eastern diocese synod. We had Anglican Catholics and priests from all over the south come.

As I made my way into the gardens with my black and white scarf in the style of a hijab, and quickly noticed eyes and whispers. But not in a judging sense. More in fascination.

I later spoke with my priest, and he said many of the priests were asking him if I was Coptic (Egyptian Orthodox).

When they did come up to me, they would ask me where I was from.

I would say "Oh, (insert name of my town here), about a half an hour away."

They would reply "No, where are you from from?"

They all asked if I was from different countries. Syria, Egypt, Israel, etc.

When they found out I was 100% American, and my reason for covering, they were astounded. Most remember the doilies and hats from long ago, but never anyone my age who fully covered as I do.

One even came up to me and asked "Do you do this for religious purposes?"

I replied "Yes sir."

He smiled, pat me on the shoulder and said "You're an inspiration."

I couldn't believe it. All this from a scarf.

The headcovering Also helped keep me in mind of my actions.

I knew when people first saw me, they knew I was religious. So I had to make sure that if I am to be an ambassador of God, my actions and words need to reflect my appearance. My language cleaned up, I stopped flipping the bird in traffic (Yes, I did this. Not proud of it, but I did, and have repented.).

Months went on, and after a while, the coverings got smaller. Usually thin scarves or headbands where I would have most of my hair exposed.

Then, slowly, I stopped covering full time.

I still cover when I attend any church service and private prayers and Bible Study at home, or at times when I feel like I'm needing to but I had the feeling God was letting me know that full time was no longer needed.

I often wondered why he wanted me to cover for almost a year.

Then it hit me. That year was a huge, life changing transition period.

I was changing churches, I was getting married, I was moving out on my own for the very first time, I was changing programs at the call center where I worked. EVERYTHING was changing what seemed all at once.

I'm not the greatest with change. We all like our comfort zones, and some adjust better than others.

I think the reason why I needed to cover was to remind myself, that even though I was stepping out as a full fledged adult, God was still right by my side, and he wasn't going to desert me.

Last Month was my one year wedding anniversary, this past March marks the one year that I have

attended my parish, and I can tell you, it's been a wonderful, yet crazy year. Yet God was still there through it all.

May the Lord be with you.