I enjoyed reading your post. You might remember me from AC; we went to a dance together (although I don’t remember which one. Might have been T-ball) and I still have pictures from it in one of my albums.

I am so enjoying reading all the posts on this site; I too am a “victim,” if that’s an appropriate word, of the many controlling and often hypocritical teachings of the Church and of AC. I stayed in the church through around 1996; having grown up in it, it’s all I ever knew and it didn’t occur to me until my mid-twenties that I could think and make decisions for myself. I believed I’d be struck down by lightning or something, if I even thought about dating outside the church! As a consquence I married a man in the church whom I didn’t love, because that was what I thought it was “God’s will” for me. Although I wasn’t happy, the mantra “God hates divorce” permeated my thoughts for years. Thankfully I did finalize the divorce in 2005, but not after going thru some deep anger toward God for giving me such an unhappy lot in life after I’d “done everything right” and worshipped him selflessly all those years. I’m now quite happy living in the OKC area with my son, and am in a great relationship with a terrific guy who doesn’t associate with ANY church!

Anyway, that’s my story. I hope you are doing well. It’s wonderful to hear from old friends.

Renee