“Last night I FaceTimed with a guy I met on a dating app. I made it very clear on my profile I was looking for someone religious. ‘You’re looking for a needle in the haystack. You will never find a man to wait until marriage for sex. You’ll be single for years.’ My first reaction was heartbreak.”
‘I let him know his lack of faith was a dealbreaker. ‘You will never find a man who will wait until marriage to have sex.’: Woman urges to singles ‘no amount of loneliness makes compromise worth it’
‘I was pro-life, I was in church, and I hated abortion. Yet here I was, mind racing and silently ‘considering my options.’: Woman urges other pro-lifers ‘don’t demonize women for being scared’
“The moment I was told I was pregnant at 18, the thought of abortion crossed my mind as a solution. ‘Am I a horrible human?’ Things got real REAL quick. Just because I didn’t have one, doesn’t give me a pass to be prideful about it over those who have. I love my sweet son, but he isn’t a trophy.”
‘This isn’t right.’ We crossed the line by having pre-marital sex. We knew it was wrong. It’s difficult when you’re clouded with lust.’: Couple chooses celibacy before marriage, now pregnant with baby boy, ‘I can’t wait to share this experience with our children’
“Stephan always made me nervous. I’d try to dodge him while on campus. It wasn’t that he wasn’t attractive, but I’d been warned to stay away from ‘the frat boys.’ He invited me to his graduation where all his close friends and family gathered to celebrate. Then he just announced I was his girlfriend. I was as shocked as everyone else. His family and friends were ecstatic. Little did they know, my head was spinning.”
‘We don’t go to church.’ I get shocked looks, promises of prayer. ‘How will your daughter know right from wrong?!’: Agnostic mom ‘unapologetically’ raising daughter without religion
“I started questioning religion in my adolescence. My parents didn’t think I knew what I REALLY felt. I was just a ‘hormonal teenager.’ Now, I’m a 35-year-old agnostic. I am unapologetically raising my daughter without religion. And boy, you’d be surprised how many people have a serious problem with that.”
‘One drink, I had one drink. After that, I remember nothing. My virginity was taken before I was ready.’: Woman’s powerful story overcoming boyfriend’s sexual assault
“The next day I woke up and we went to get breakfast. While we were driving he says, ‘I can’t believe that happened last night.’ ‘What happened?’ He said, ‘You don’t remember? ‘ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He got mad because I didn’t remember our ‘first time.’”
‘Someone at school told me you’re gay.’ I couldn’t keep this secret any longer. I poured my heart out to her. I thought I’d lost my friend. Until my phone pinged. ‘I like you, too.’
“We hid, for months. People started to suspect our relationship. We were pelted with rocks while waiting for the bus. We were spat on. Soon, her mom found out. They moved her 10 hours away. I barely had any contact with her. As the train arrived on the platform, she was waiting for me.”
‘I bet you’re glad someone actually wanted you.’ Black? Adopted by a white, Mennonite family?’: Adopted woman finally accepts she’s ‘innately enough’ after years of torment for ‘mixed-race’ family
“I’m 7 when a stranger approaches, points. ‘Who does she belong to?’ ‘Where are your real parents?’ I’m 12 and a group of boys spit on me, call me racist slurs. My crush’s mom tells me he isn’t allowed to be with people ‘like me.’ I can’t sleep. ‘You’re not really black.’ ‘You can’t really be Mennonite.’ I’m just now learning to be gentle with myself, and my past.”
‘It all clicked, and I thought, ‘Oh my God. I’m not straight!’: Woman realizes she is gay after years of repressed emotions
“Here I was, at age 32, realizing this for the first time with a husband and 3 children by my side. I felt utterly alone.”
‘I almost didn’t go in. I knew no one. All the women had head-coverings and I didn’t. I parked my car and prayed it was the right thing to do.’
“Tentatively, and with a teary catch in my throat, I asked ‘May I leave this sign?’ ‘Are you a Muslim?’ I said … ‘No, ma’am, Christian.’ To which she said — ‘We are all the same.’ I went in a stranger with a sign, and came out with a friend; hopefully for life.”
‘There’s a picture of you with a shawl around your head. Why are you wearing that?’ I was scared to tell her.’: Daughter converts to Islam, keeps decision from her mom because she ‘didn’t want to hurt her feelings’
“I had sent in my application and a few weeks later, my mom called me to tell me there was an envelope in the mail for me. Not knowing what it was, I told her to go ahead and open it. I was no longer living a secret life. I could be free with my mom now, or so I thought… When others started learning about my conversion, they’d put bad thoughts into my mom’s head.”
