When we were kids we began with our letters and numbers. We couldn’t read, we couldn’t write, we couldn’t multiply, so we started with ABC and 123. That was our starting point. As things went on they became more complicated. While at first the letters and numbers were always separate, after a while they were placed together. All of a sudden we were looking at 7 + x = 10. This may make sense now, but at the time all our 6-year-old minds could think of was, “Why on Earth are the letters with the numbers? They’re supposed to be separate!”

And so it is with faith. What was once simple and easy can all of a sudden become exponentially more complicated. A questions gets asked, a new idea enters your head, something goes wrong; and all of a sudden what was so easy to understand becomes difficult to believe.

The problem for many of us is that we grew up, but our faith didn’t. Our intellect lived in the world of algebra and calculus while our faith never advanced beyond simple letters and numbers. Instead of engaging our questions and seeing how our faith grows, we may have just dismissed our faith.

No matter where you are now, we want you to know that everything has a starting point. Every graduate had a first day of school, every retiree had a first day on the job, and every relationship has a starting point.

How you start is important. You cannot start a 100-yard-dash 10 yards in. Well, you could, it just doesn’t go over very well. In the same way the starting point of our faith is important, as well.

Your starting point could have been a relationship with someone who was a Christian, a conversation with someone about faith, something that went wrong in your life that caused you to desire to pray. It could be a large number of things.

It’s important to know our starting point because it affect everything that happens after it.

So whether your starting point happened decades ago, or if this is it; you’re in the right place. This is a safe place to ask questions and have conversations about your faith.

• What did your faith look like growing up?

• What question(s) may have led you away from faith, or caused you to engage it differently?

• When it comes to your faith what has been your starting point?