Category Archives: My Church Story

I’m Still Here. 💛

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Just Stephanie

There are people who don’t believe I deserve to be here, or to be near them. There are those who blame me for bad treatment I receive. They tend to deny facts. I’m amazed at how prevalent this is. If … Continue reading →

Posted in A Thankful Heart, Facing the Monsters, Just Being Real, My Church Story, The Year Called New (2020) | Tagged fight of my life, God carries me., God is here., God with me, heart's cry, I'm still here., louder than cancer, louder than death, louder than divorce, louder than loss, Nichole Nordeman, seems impossible, Sound of Surviving, still here, unclimbable hill, unthinkable, warrior, warrior's cry | Leave a comment

Wrecked 💥

Posted on July 26, 2019 by Just Stephanie

This book, I found accidentally, but what a treasure. I love people and their stories, and Jackie Hill Perry’s is beautiful, on several levels. The College Guy told me to check out Hill Perry’s hip hop, which I did. This … Continue reading →

Posted in A Thankful Heart, Facing the Monsters, Just Being Real, My Church Story, My Miracle, People Stories, The Year of Light (2019) | Tagged As You Find Me, beautiful people stories, Gay Girl, Gay Girl Good God book, Good God, grace to spare for my mistakes, Hillsong United, hip hop, Jackie Hill Perry, Jesus, Keep wrecking me., My Miracle, neighbors, people, people and their stories, podcast, processing, that part just wrecks me, The Emerging Church, UPPERROOM, UPPERROOM Dallas, UPPERROOM podcast, worship, worship music, wrecked | 2 Comments

One Year

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Just Stephanie

It was one year ago today that a quiet, almost invisible event cracked my world open to its molten core. I’m thankful because I needed waking and breaking, and in the aftermath, those two things certainly happened. Yesterday, I stood … Continue reading →

Posted in A Thankful Heart, Facing the Monsters, Just Being Real, My Church Story, The Year of Light (2019) | Tagged being with Jesus is home, Crowder, Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, David Crowder, life changing event, Neon Outro, not a church member, one year anniversary, Steeple Outro, thankful, UPPERROOM, UPPERROOM Dallas, visiting churches, waking and breaking | Leave a comment

How Peter Parker Always Gets Back Up 🕷

Posted on April 24, 2019 by Just Stephanie

Theology peeks out everywhere these days, even in a Marvel movie. Acting on a tip by a high school student, my husband and I watched Spider Man: Into the Spider Verse not long ago. The teenager dubs the movie visually … Continue reading →

Posted in Facing the Monsters, Just Being Real, My Church Story, The Year of Light (2019) | Tagged 1 Peter 5:8-9, anyone can wear the mask, blood pressure issues, church story, church trauma, confusion, counselor, cracks, cracks in your bubble, Crowder, David Crowder, doing the hard thing, doing things right, domino effect, Ellen Dean, Ephesians 6:11-12, family problems, fighting the good fight, Get back up., hanging in there, Hard things, idols, idols falling, Jesus defeated Satan, Kingpin, marriage, Marvel, never give in, NIV Bible, Peter Parker, relationship problems, relationships, Reputation Tour, right response, rising slowly, Satan, setting hostages free, Spider Man, Spider Man: Into the Spider Verse, Stan Lee, Steeple Outro, Taylor Swift, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, true superhero, villan, war is real | 3 Comments

Farewell, Old Friend

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Just Stephanie

My sadness on the afternoon preceding my previous post was that I heard from the pastor of my church. He was responding to my letter, asking to be removed from the church rolls. The pastor told me, via a voicemail … Continue reading →

Posted in My Church Story, The Year of Light (2019) | Tagged church, church membership, from the inside out, from the outside in, God, God's peace, goodbye, joy in the morning, leaving happy, my heart as a gift to Jesus, my heart in a box, old friend, Psalm 30, sad, sad farewell, Scripture Lullabies, staying happy, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, well wishes, worship | 1 Comment

Don’t Trust Me 🙅‍♀️

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Just Stephanie

If it wasn’t bad form to overuse exclamation points, my title would end with one. I don’t trust anyone, and I don’t want anyone to trust me. I could expound on that last statement, but I’d rather let it stand, … Continue reading →

Posted in A Thankful Heart, Facing the Monsters, Just Being Real, My Church Story, My Miracle, The Year of Light (2019) | Tagged Baptist church, belonging nowhere, Biblical Counselor, bullying, burning soufflé, Catholic church, caution, church leadership, church membership requirements, communication, deacon, deliberations, expository preaching, Family, forgiveness, God with us, Google search, greeter, joke, jury out, kind pastors, Licensed Professional Counselor, love of music, Methodist church, miracles, my story, name calling, offense, political story, protection, questioning, red flag, Respect, responsive pastors, sarcasm, seeker church model, topical preaching, trust | 4 Comments