An Unexpected Party

The title of my first ever blog is from the JRR Tolkien classic The Hobbit (There and Back Again). Like Bilbo, who was minding his own business at home, who had his home invaded by 13 dwarves and a wizard, finding himself on a yearlong adventure that forever changed the course of his life, I too found an unexpected guest at the door of my life. That guest was the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church. Also like Bilbo, who didn’t like adventures and lived a quiet life, but had his “Tookish side” kindled, I was living a quiet life as a Protestant, only to have my “Tookish side” kindled in me by the first century Church. I found myself unwittingly, and somewhat unwillingly on an “adventure” that soon captivated me and changed my life forever.
Less than a year ago I made the discovery of the Orthodox Church. So compelling were the things that I heard, read and saw, that I couldn’t just ignore it and go on with Protestantism as usual. Rooted and grounded as I thought I was in Christ, in the Word, the thing I was missing was The Church. Yes, I went to Church from my earliest days, but I was missing the Living Apostolic Church founded by our Lord. A lot of this adventure thus far has been eye-opening. I have had a lot of little “stumbles” along the way, but I have resigned myself to believe the Church as the Nicene Creed states, and participate in her life. I am now a Catechumen, and preparing myself to enter the Orthodox Faith as a full member.
So far all this may sound a lot like other converts to Orthodoxy you may have met (if you know any converts to Orthodoxy). So why am I writing this blog, like so many others? My hope is to share with somebody that may not know anyone who has converted or is converting to the Orthodox faith. I am also trying to sort out all my thoughts on this subject. I have learned so many things over the past several months, that I find that some of it is a bit jumbled. I find that I am better able to articulate my thoughts in writing than verbally. Lastly, I hope that by articulating myself in written form, I will be able to explain this journey to my wife, who asks me, “Why Orthodoxy?” I find myself unable to explain what I have discovered, what that discovering has and is doing to me, and why I am leaving Protestantism for the Orthodox Church. As a result of my inadequacy, I find myself getting frustrated, along with my wife. So I hope she reads this and is able to understand what her crazy husband is doing (I say that in jest). I want to be able to share this journey as a family, even if she is not interested in following. I guess you could say this is my way of saying to my wife, “I love you. I want to be able to explain what I am doing in a way that doesn’t bring us both frustration. I would love for you and the girls to come along on the journey with me, but even if not, I love you and want to keep an open dialogue with you.”
Over the course of the next several blogs I will give an introduction of myself, my family, where I have come from and how I found myself on this unexpected journey.