This was our first Easter Vigil Services as Catholics. This is our one year anniversary in the Catholic Church. We also had more to celebrate as my younger brother (above with his sponsor) joined the church and was baptized at the Easter Vigil Service.

For those that don’t know, I was baptized Catholic, raised in a Baptist type church, and then joined the Lutheran Church with my husband (Bryan) when we first got married. When we joined the Lutheran Church in our town, the pastor was my husband’s best friend’s dad and is one of the main reason we loved the Lutheran Church. He is such a good man and his sermons were very enjoyable to listen to. He is a kind hearted and very compassionate man.

However, we just didn’t feel like we fit in as it seemed to be a more aging congregation. So after a few years of joining, we drifted away.

After awhile, I felt drawn back to my Catholic roots.  As a child, we would attend for special occasions for my relatives. It was always a treat to attend Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

So, I started attending RCIA classes at our local parish and was encouraged by my parents. My dad is a recent convert and my mom had went back to the church.

I didn’t feel like I knew enough (and honestly still don’t – it is always a learning process!) after a few months of RCIA in 2007 so I decided to take another year of RCIA classes. The second year, my husband decided to join me and on Easter Sunday 2008, we both joined together.

When asked how the service was going to go down, our Priest would just say “Trust me.” Uh, okay. Trust you. I knew something was up with that statement because we hadn’t been married in the Catholic Faith and knew that was kind of a glitch.

So it didn’t surprise me at all when we had to renew our marriage vows in front of the entire Sunday Service but the look of shock on Bryan’s face was priceless. It was very nice and we even had to “kiss” at the end. It was probably the final time we ever kissed in public.