S13 E18: Q&A: What Religion Are You? And other personal questions

Well, I'm 14 minutes in, and one of the handicaps (or blessings) of being up in age, is the frequency in which I lose my train of thought. I have followed you for many years here and on Facebook. Admittedly, I never wondered about your religion. It wasn't important in the context of why I followed you. That said, I found your shared journey intriguing. Most importantly, I loved your closure on the subject, "God is so much bigger than I was allowed to believe." Now, since this is a channel based upon being Old Fashioned on Purpose, I have your latest book. I enjoy it as much as I enjoy your content creation. Many of your YouTube videos are saved on my removable hard disk. They are not something I gamble on ever losing. Thank you for your ambition to teach and share with others. I have gleaned much from your content. Hopefully many more will come across your channel and benefit as I have. Happy Thanksgiving to you, and your family!

Sharing your personal experiences must be hard & I want you to know I admire you so much!

Thank you so much for sharing your personal journey. My husband has been trying to encourage me to film my homesteading journey but I know how religious most are and I told him I didn’t know if I’d fit in. I’m very spiritual but not religious. Hearing your views have given me encouragement…. Thank you!

I only proclaim to being a Bible reading Bible believing Christian. I am so glad to hear more homesteaders openly say they are not ultra fanatical zealots. I believe that judgemental hard hearts are the unpardonable sin and that God alone reserves judgement by his own hand. It our job to be humble in grace and open in love. Your boldness is a treasure! Thank you for sharing!!!!

Love that you did this for us… I’m sure it was really hard. And I think you did a great job explaining your beliefs and that it’s more than ok to question what you are doing as a “religion” (versus a relationship).

Thank you for your honesty. good to know I’m not alone. I attend church but could never get my head around the categories, denominations man has made in order to worship. I don’t believe God meant us to be so divided in that regard. In my heart I know it’s not healthy to attend in order to check a box every week or write a check to assuage my guilt. My husband and I are working through this.

I admire your bravery in sharing such a personal thing as religion on the Internet. Asking questions, getting to the root of why we believe something is such a healthy way of thinking for anyone! It's painful and frustrating to see Christians tearing others down for believing differently than them, even other Christians. The lack of knowledge breeds fear, IMO. Thank you so much for sharing.

Jill, it must be very hard to be so personal in such a public way. You seem to do (everything) with grace, honesty and humility. I enjoy listening and learning from you!

Thank you for sharing some of your experiences growing up. I am sorry you had many negative experiences in your childhood. Unfortunately there are 100's if not 1000's of religious denominations all with different doctrine and a different Jesus. Satan uses this to separate, divide, abuse and most sadly take away from us the one thing that has the power to truly change our hearts and lives:The Bible. There is ONLY 1 Bible. I encourage you to focus your attention on reading the Bible and seeking the Lord wholeheartedly in prayer. There are good churches but very, very few and far between ( I am part of one) that focus on teaching the pure Word of God and the Word ONLY. No doctrines of men. The Bible says not to trust your heart for the heart is very deceitful- Jeremiah. Trust in the Lord. Psalm 37 Trust in His Word and may you come to know the SIMPLICITY that is in Christ... The righteouness, peace and joy that can only be found in Him. Praying for you to one day be so strong IN THE LORD, IN THE BIBLE that you won't care what anyone thinks of you. Your shows have always been a blessing. Thank you for sharing your life with us and teaching us how to cook :). Try to listen with an open heart and Bible in hand: New Covenant World Outreach- Vision. You'll be blessed. Promise. I am a teacher and home school mom. I love Abeka. They have great curriculum that teaches Biblical truths and critical thinking skills.

Gosh I admire your courage. I hate personal questions like that, it's like asking people if they are vaccinated, it's none of anyone's business.

I love your solo & Q&A podcasts! Thank you for addressing the religion issue. I was brought up strict Catholic and I left the church. I feel as you, God is so much bigger. Thank you for saying it. I’ve “opted out” of organized religion. My relationship with God is personal, between God & me. Love your home school/charter school balanced approach.

Well done! Well said!! Relationship, NOT religion.

Good for you Jill. Your journey shows a path to wisdom and maturity, and the ability to take responsibility for your life. Youre right that it takes courage to question authority and systems, and to look at where you've been objectively so that it can be a life lesson.

Shiny Happy People is a microcosm of what everyone is going through on some level. And the few people like yourself who manage to break free despite all odds are amazing.

I appreciate your thoughtfulness to answering the religion question and it also resonates with me - if you or anyone cares - i was raised by a godless; atheist-catholic (my mother). she went to church with us weekly but was emotionally and physically violent and abusive to her family - my brothers, her husband, and me - a toxic person, an alcoholic, probably a narcisist, but told us bible stories (including the horrific ones), prayed, and kissed a picture of Jesus every night. -- none of her actions were ever able to be questioned because she was "holier than thou" and maintains that attitude. so i questioned "religion" early on, and was distrusting of it. fast forward in all of my experiences of life, when i think about the suffering i have witnessed, even in just the crudeness of nature and that it sometimes seems like it can be driven by "evil" -- let alone the more obvious examples of evil, i think, "if there is a god, he is one sick mother-f#r..." i wonder if this is actually the devils world, even. who knows? of course there is plenty of good to look forward too. but yeah, none of it fits into a box -- and i will never go back into a box, either.

I like and relate to you even more after this episode. Thank you for what you do, Jill!😊

So very kind and generous of you to answer the religion question as deeply as you did. I can relate personally with your journey as far as learning how to ask questions and seeking my own personalized spiritual path. You’re a truly lovely person. And btw, I’ve been following you since before prairie girl was born.

As a homesteader in my 70th year of life loves and enjoy your many videos and interviews.

I watched this video a few days ago, I dont watch television and I'm only occasionally on youtube. I try and focus on all positivity. As i watched this video it deeply resonated with me. I'm 50 years old and still struggle with people not understanding why I seem so guarded with my spirituality. It's my personal walk. I feel much more connected in the garden, the woods, ridimg horses, even makimg hay than I ever do in a pew. It is a hard thing to get people, especially my family to understand. Thank you for making this video even when you didmt have to. I appreciate you!

Great podcast!! I grew up in northeastern Wyoming on a ranch and still even though now living in town, still feel the need for the outside! Thank you for encouraging the younger people (your age!) to appreciate and embrace nature and the positive influence it has on all of us!! Good luck in all your ventures!!