cadet blogs

Rediscovering My Faith

(Extracurricular Activities and Faith-Based Involvement, Class of 2012) Permanent link All Posts

I grew up always attending LCMS Lutheran church, always attending LCMS school. We had classes in high school such as “What do my neighbors believe”, but it was always a peek in,, not a walk beside these different faiths.

When I came to the Academy, I decided to do jump in to that which was offered at the Academy. I joined Protestant choir, went to the Protestant services on Sunday, and on and off went to Vespers on Wednesday evenings. I went to the first few bible studies and Officer and Christian Fellowship meetings on Friday nights. Sometimes I went to Catholic Mass. It was not what I was used to, but it worked.

The Easter of my 4/c year, I went to a Lutheran service on Easter with CDR Sorenson and his family. But it wasn’t until over 3/c summer that I rediscovered through Christ who Christ is. I had a stress fracture in my leg and was unable to go to first phase Eagle and CGC Morgenthau; instead “stuck” at Station New London on crutches, 3 miles from the Academy. But the Station let me borrow a government vehicle, and I drove myself to a small Lutheran Church, Our Redeemer, that CDR Sorenson had at one time mentioned to me and my friend, Hayley. With a weekly attendance averaging 20 people, it was much smaller than my 5-services-a-weekend church at home, but it taught God’s Word. And that was what I needed.

In the past three years, Hayley and I have frequently attended church at Our Redeemer and brought a few other cadets. Today, we invited the Fellowship of Christian Athlete members to join us as well. A few people came along, altogether six cadets adding their numbers to the small Lutheran Church. For some reason, I keep remembering when I was little and of how our bible school teacher would tell us to invite our friends to church. I always felt out of place, weird, doing something like that. Even after all of the Lutheran churching and schooling I experienced, inviting people to church just was not something that I felt comfortable doing. But the past three and a half years here have taught me a great deal about who God is. His grace, His mercy, and His love. After the service, we went to a Coast Guard Academy graduate’s house for fellowship: Dunkin donuts and coffee, orange juice, and discussion. God is very much alive and though inviting people to church is still not easy, it is something I want to do.

More about Katie.

Posted by Leann Strickland at 2/8/2012 2:15 PM