God Never Stops Pursuing Us, I finally became thankful God made me gay.

God can find us in the darkest places, consistently and constantly in pursuit of us. Doug's story is such a testament to that truth. No matter how far we may try to run from who He created us to be God will be there with open arms, love, and acceptance. I was so thankful for getting to hear Doug's story and am so excited to share it. After trying for years to be straight, trying conversion therapy to finally accepting and being thankful for who God made him to be. What a powerful story.

Being transphobic is gross and not loving like Jesus. Being transphobic, or homophobic in the name of Jesus or your faith, is this truly loving your neighbor? How can we do better and love better?

This week we talk about the transphobic and homophobic posts we have been seeing from people who say they Love and follow Jesus. We go in debth on why their posts are not only hateful but very ignorant.

Love Through Your Actions, not your words. Have you heard the saying, actions speak louder than words? Saying you love and accept someone and then going and posting negatively against that persons people group. That is all words, loving through your actions, that's where healing begins.

This weeks episode is all about loving through your actions, putting yourself in someone else's shoes. Building strong lasting friendship in spite of differences. Walking through trauma and growing on the other side of it.

How Did the worship leader and lesbian become friends? How can Christians and LGBTQ people have friendships and do life together? Honestly it's not as hard or complicated as people make it.

In this Episode my friend Kathryn who also happens to be the Worship Leader at our church and I sit down and discuss how our friendship grew and how she felt when I told her God made me gay.

To check out Kathryn's full song featured in the beginning of this episode check out this link:

https://youtu.be/l7WFzjaw5zg

Trauma after loss is such a scary place to be. Epsecially if you aren't even aware that the trauma is the thing triggering you and making you scared. How do I move on when I'm so scared?? Why do I keep having these anxiety attacks? Trauma is hard and it helps to be aware of how the trauma is triggering you. 

As we start up the podcast again we discuss how recent losses have impacted Leticia and cause a lot of anxietyand trauma triggers. How she is working through these triggers and dealing with the pain that comes with loss.

Last week we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary oh man the things we have learned. Being a lesbian couple there was no marriage to look up to or strive for when we got married, so we had to figure it out on our own along the way. Who did you look to or learn from to help your relationships thrive?

We apologize for some of the audio issues in this episodes, we had a lot of issues with our audio and tried to clean it up as best we could. Thank you for your patience.

Today's episode is a vulnerable one. After seeing yet another youth retreat pushing and "ex-gay" testimony onto 3300 youth recently Leticia opens up about how this narrative makes her feel. With all the statistics and mental health what are we as a church learning? Have we grown at all, why are we so afraid to let the "I'm gay, love Jesus, and in a same sex healthy marriage" testimony be shared along side the "I'm choosing a life of celibacy" story. Why not both what is the fear?

This week Dancing With The Stars Season 30 Finale happened and we share why JoJo and Jenna's partnership and final dance was so IMPORTANT and impactful on us.

Do you remember falling in love for the first time? What age were you the first time it happened? Falling in love for the first time is awesome, but what if you don't experience that until you are well into your 20s? For a lot of LGBTQ members, this is their story, in fact, it is Leticia and Maris.

After Jojo who we have been faithfully following on DWTS recently commented on her first love and recent break up it made Leticia want to talk about how it was finally understanding what all the fuss was about at 24 years old.

Have you ever thought about how you would respond if your kids came out to you? What is the language you use in your home to help your kids understand that being LGBTQ does not make someone a bad person?

Today we discuss why coming out is still so important? Why is it so vital for pro athletes and celebrities to continue to come out, not only come out but also be out and proud in and on the platform they have.

After receiving some negative comments on an older episode Mari & Leticia dive back into the topic of the episode and how to deal with negativity. Can you be gay and catholic, or rather can you be gay and loved by God? Are we too made in the image of Christ as openly Gay married women?

In today's episode Leticia sat down with her friend from Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) who she met over 12 years ago. Leticia was a counselor and Ashlee was a camper, they made a connection and years later came out to each other. Today they catch up and re-live those moments of coming out to each other. The fear Leticia felt, and the bond that happened through that moment. 

What was it like processing coming out and being loved by God, how to be more supportive when a friend comes out and so much more.

Last Monday was National Coming Out Day. Why do we have a National Coming Out Day? Why do we feel the need to come out? Why can’t we “keep it to ourselves” these are all topics discussed on today’s episode.

Why LGBT People in TV Will NOT Turn Kids Gay.

It's official Dancing With The Stars made show history this week with their first ever same-sex duo and I couldn't be more happy. Growing up knowing I was gay I wish I would have seen characters that looked and loved like me on tv and media. But that wasn't the case, how much self-hatred, isolation and depression would that have saved me from?

Here we are in 2021 and finally we have more and more representation in television and conservative Christians are now crying "grooming". Lord Jesus help us all. Listen in to this weeks episode to understand why this is NOT grooming your children to be gay.

Grief is a sneaky thing and you are not alone. How do you deal with or process grief? Do you self isolate, gather with friends, are you questioning your faith? There are so many sides to grief and I'm here to say there is no shame in feeling out all the areas to find yourself in all the pain.

If you have been listening and keeping up with the show you know my wife Mari and I have had a rough couple months. After losing our pastor suddenly and tragically in July, this last week we lost another close friend who was like family.

She also was a big part of our church and our friend circle. This one has rocked us to our core and made us both step back and question a lot of things. What do we believe, what in the world is going on, are we truly living this life the way we want to?

This week we dive into those questions and share how we are trying to cope, process and honor our lost loved ones through our pain. Whether you are going through loss from death or loss from loss of relationship there can be trauma in both and we have to leave ourselves space to process and grow through these moments.

Coming out shouldn’t be so hard. This week Leticia sat down with Jordan and Hayleigh, fiancés and co-founders of the Proud Love Collective an "online community that exists to help LGBTQIA+ christians safely navigate the coming out process." Raised by Evangelical Pastors in the south, reconciliation between their sexuality and their faith was a journey they traveled together and are now helping others navigate through their journey and experiences.

This weeks episode Leticia found 20 questions for lesbian couples found here and she and her wife Mari take turns answering each question.

Coming out; what a crazy, beautiful scary thing. When Leticia read her friends coming out story on social media last January she knew she had to have her on the podcast.

A few excerpts from today's guest Erica Hairistons' coming out post.

"I've known I am gay for a very, very long time, but knowing and accepting something are different matters entirely. Burying the truth suffocated me, trapping me in a pit of despair, pain, and isolation I wasn't sure I had the strength to escape until I did, and if my story of coming out of that grave can help even one of you do the same, whatever your grave may be, then it will be worth sharing. "

It has been said from the beginning on this podcast, we all of a closet of some sort, and in our vulnerability and sharing our stories we are liberating and giving other's the permission to come out of the darkness and find their true authentic free selves.

Books Mentioned in Episode

Walking The Bridgeless Canyon : https://amzn.to/3lTrIQG

God and The Gay Christian : https://amzn.to/2VHUk4N

Gay Girl, Good God: https://amzn.to/3yVLwXr

Torn: https://amzn.to/3iIivZC

Untamed: https://amzn.to/3yOKJHK

Video's Referenced:

Pastor Daryl Roach full sermon "God's Perspective On Love: https://youtu.be/zV-go-VH0Eg

Lifeboats: https://youtu.be/7nsK2ANmy5k

Have you ever thought or asked the question "well have you tried to pray being LGBTQ away?"

On this weeks episode Mari & Leticia sit down and discuss the new Netflix documentary Pray Away, where former leaders of the "pray the gay away" movement contend with the aftermath unleashed by their actions, while a survivor seeks healing and acceptance from more than a decade of trauma. 

They discuss their pasts and how they tried to pray it away for over a decade to no avail. This concept and belief is so damaging and taking so many lives, it needs to end and the healing process must begin.

Belonging vs Fitting In which one are you doing?

Leticia & Mari sit down and discuss this and it all stemmed from a line in a book Leticia is currently reading called "Outlove, A Queer Christian Survival Story" link here https://amzn.to/3ldu6Bl

This one part stuck out to Leticia where the author is discussing and article she read. "It was about tokenism and feeling pressure to be perfect around straight Christians, as if they're always watching and making judgements about the whole LGBTQ community based on her every move."

Brene Brown said, "As it turns out, men and women who have the deepest sense of true belonging are people who also have the courage to stand alone when called to do that. They are willing to maintain their integrity and risk disconnection in order to stand up for what they believe in,"

We live in a world where we have been programmed to not stand out and to fit in and be like everyone else. This is not only sad but hurting us, we are all made so uniquely different with a vast array of colors that we were never meant to all look the same. Life would be so much more beautiful if we walked in our truest self and callings. So which are you doing, belonging or fitting in?

Have you ever had someone close to you go through depression and you’re not sure how to love them? In today's episode Leticia & her wife Mari discuss ways that Mari has helped support Leticia when she starts going through her depression. Leticia also shares part of her early journey with depression, and suicide ideations how she got help and was has helped her the last 13 years.

They also discuss the reasons behind their 2 weeks break.

Products Mentioned:

Taurine: https://amzn.to/3iyPspX

5 HTP: https://amzn.to/370cSip

Untamed: https://amzn.to/2W0mjfC

Anxiocalm: https://amzn.to/3zuBQTD

Disclaimer:

Leticia & Mari do not claim to be medical professionals and are simply sharing their personal experience and advice. A small commission may be made if you follow the product links, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support.

If you have been listening to Confessions From The Closet you know Leticia has talked about the book The Cross In The Closet almost weekly. This book changed her life and helped her on the road to loving herself as she navigated being gay and christian.

This week Leticia had the privilege to sit down with the author of The Cross In The Closet and let him share his story.

Timothy Kurek, raised within the confines of a strict, conservative Christian denomination in the Bible Belt, Nashville, Tennessee, was taught the gospel of separation from a young age. But it wasn’t long before Timothy’s path and the outside world converged when a friend came out as a lesbian, and revealed she had been excommunicated by her family.

Distraught and overcome with questions and doubts about his religious upbringing, Timothy decided the only way to empathize and understand her pain was to walk in the shoes of very people he had been taught to shun. He decided to come out as a gay man to everyone in his life, and to see for himself how the label of gay would impact his life.

In the tradition of Black Like Me, The Cross in the Closet is a story about people, a story about faith, and about one man’s “abominable” quest to find Jesus in the margins.