Welcome

[syf]

(image via weheartit.com)

Hello and welcome to "To the Hilltops!" We're so glad that you are joining us and choosing to share in this journey toward an ethics of Christian womanhood.

Please view this post as an invitation to a comfortable seat beside a cozy fireplace. Come in, kick up your feet, grab yourself a cup of tea, and introduce yourself to everyone.  Who are you?  What brings you here?  How do you see the need for a community like this one in your life right now?

Excitedly,
the mods (Kay, Sharon, and Tamara)

Comments

Re: Better (very) late than never

[tamster]

Welcome!!!!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.....I love that scripture :)

A little of me

[colldoll616]

Hello! I'm Colleen, but lately I've taken to being called Liz (middle name Elizabeth). You may call me anything you like as long as it isn't "Collie." I’m 25 and hail from the Central Jersey Shore. You should come and spend a day at the beach with me – I’ll buy you an Italian Ice!

I am very excited about this group; I was informed of its creation a long time ago but couldn't get an invite code that worked, and subsequently forgot about its existence. Kay (a dear friend from childhood and constant source of truth in my life) prodded me recently to try again, so here I am. I know several of you from life and look forward to getting to know the rest of you in whatever ways are presented to us!

I remember snippets of my childhood and corresponding discussions mostly because they were either very pleasant or very unpleasant. The in-between things (such as sex discussions) I can classify as neither. I don't recall talking explicitly about sex with my parents, but knowing myself to be curious and independent, most of my sex education came from seeking out answers through books, movies, porn, talks with friends and physical exploration/masturbation.

Growing up homeschooled and in a conservative Christian home, the general climate about sex was cool -- as in, "True Love Waits," "I Kissed Dating Goodbye," "its proper place is heterosexual marriage," and, "fast forward the naughty parts of movies." Still, I never felt shy about it. I've always had a desire for blunt honesty -- wanting to get down to the facts -- so I could sift them out and form opinions of my own. My parents’ desires to help me make it to marriage before having sex was from two very strong influences: their Christianity and their past mistakes. As to the first, I am a Christian (though an ever-increasingly unconventional one). Regarding the second, I seem fated to make my own mistakes.

I often feel as though I “peaked” when I was 17 – traveling to Europe and Africa, graduating early from high school, a potential art career in the making and the world in general ahead of me. But in many ways, I have spent my years since then unraveling those “achievements” and the characteristics I possessed to accomplish them. Basically, I’m very much in flux and may not be the same from one day to the next, though it’s not as insane as it seems.

To keep this from getting overlong, I will give you the bullet points:

- My dad spent several years in a relationship with another man before marrying my mom
- My dad also encouraged an ex to get an abortion in his twenties
- Upon learning about my dad’s homosexual relationship, my questions regarding my own sexuality made more sense and seemed to be not such a betrayal
- I got my period when I was 9 which was not confusing but polarizing since I couldn’t relate to anyone else my age
- I have had sex with one man over the course of several years in the context of an exclusive friends-with-benefits situation; I do not regret it and he is still a very good friend
- I started watching porn when I was 15; I do regret it and still struggle. I wish this topic were less taboo among women and not considered a “male” problem
- I am genuinely conflicted about two things: I am not convinced that homosexual sex (let alone marriage) is wrong; and I am not convinced that premarital sex is wrong, though I will concede it is not always preferable.
- None of these questions lead me to doubt that the Bible is Scripture or that Jesus is God and savior of humankind.

I love cooking, hiking, sleeping, organizing, traveling, family trees, singing loudly in my car while driving alone, typography, and discussing inappropriate topics like politics and religion at dinner. I don’t like talking on the phone, air conditioning, cilantro, fluorescent lighting, catalogues, knick-knacks or tchotchkes, or bad graphic design.

Love to you all.

Re: A little of me

[cadenzamuse]

Oh, Colleen, many hugs to you.

I am wondering/have wondered through the same two questions as you: I came out as bisexual within the last couple of years, so had to come to terms with reconciling my faith and my sexuality; and now I'm leaning more and more towards feeling like premarital sex is not always wrong. (Partially because of my own experiences and having sex with my fiance, and partially on a philosophical leve.) The second one I'm still puzzling through, often frustratedly and lonely-ly. :-P

So, let me be the first to say: welcome, friend, and thank you for your honesty! Have some popcorn. Put on some comfy pajamas. :)

(And let me say that the one thing I do take issue with is your distaste for cilantro. How dare you! :-P But you and Tom would get along well with the distaste for phone conversations and air conditioning. The air conditioning particularly has been a learning curve for me...)

Re: A little of me

[young_laugher]

This: "True Love Waits," "I Kissed Dating Goodbye," "its proper place is heterosexual marriage," and, "fast forward the naughty parts of movies."

Awesome bumper sticker for our church upbringing.

Oh, so, so many welcomes to you, Colleen. It's been my only remaining TTH sorrow that I didn't have your voice on here. Thank you for coming and not running screaming for the hills---er, the other hills---when you saw the insane amount of posts and comments for you to slog through.

Re: A little of me

[syf]

not running screaming for the hills---er, the other hills---when you saw the insane amount of posts and comments for you to slog through

Seriously. You deserve a medal for that! (And welcome, welcome, welcome!)

Re: A little of me

[tamster]

(Hehe....the other hills....I love it :))


Welcome welcome!

Re: A little of me

[novemberseas]

Welcome Colleen.
Sorry but, I <3 Cilantro. ;)
So glad you are here !!!!!

Re: A little of me

[ungelic_is_us]

Hey Colleen,

I know you posted this *ages* ago, but I kpet forgetting to comment! So let me just add a well-overdue welcome to you! I hope I'll have a chance to get to know you better here, since I've always wanted to.

It sounds like we have a few things in common as far as philosophical or moral posers. One that stood out to me was this:

"I started watching porn when I was 15; I do regret it and still struggle. I wish this topic were less taboo among women and not considered a “male” problem."

THIS. Seriously, we should have a post, or at least a discussion, about porn. It's *not* a male problem, it's a human problem. (Well, I'm not sure it's a problem, per se, but you know what I mean.) Most of the women I know have experienced or do use porn of some kind, whether its literature or film. Some of them feel guilty about it. Some of them don't. But I think it's a topic worth approaching here, openly and without shaming.