Hi Gracie,
Great thread, and you even posted a poll! Wow!
Kudos to you.
I joined CC in 2009 and like many have said, was going through a time of severe depression and confusion in my life. I still felt like I was in the recovery stages of my divorce, and had spent half my life in a very conservative church and the other half in a church where people claimed to see demons in most everything, so to say that I was a bit confused would be an understatement.
I have always worked a lot so fitting real-life social activities into my schedule has always been challenging. I had also spent several years where I was heavily involved in church activities but was spiritually and emotionally worn out. I wanted interaction with other Christians but was hoping to just hang out with people rather than feel like they always needed something from me.
When I first came to CC, I hung out in the chat rooms a lot. I really enjoyed the days when people used to play Bible Trivia there, as well as listening to StillWaters, Harpy Eagle, Trilogic, and Kyra. I used to come home from work and immediately log in if I saw any of them there (I wasn't stalking any of them, honest!
) They had a special gift for turning a group chat into a genuine place of fellowship, and were especially good at talking to some of the younger people who would visit. Some of them were young teens who were looking for a safe place to hang out after school, and it was so encouraging to listen to how much CC'ers like this cared about their lives and how they were doing.
Somehow, I eventually found my way into the forums and started writing. I was really intimidated at first. Plus, I have to admit that I was a bit of an angry troll when I first came here. I was depressed and mad all the time, but when I found that if I could channel that into a few questions that prompted others to share their stories, I was hooked, and feel very grateful that many people here were patient with me.
In general, I'm not a very fast learner--I need all the help I can get. If I'm trying to learn how to do something, I need a little of everything that's available--written instructions, pictures, and YouTube videos.
CC has become my "YouTube Video" for many issues in life. Listening to how other people have handled some of the most difficult situations life can throw at us--and still maintain their faith, or struggle through it--both inspires and teaches me to go through my own challenges as well.
So far, I've had the privilege of meeting about 10 CC members in person, and they were all lovely. I haven't had a bad experience yet with any CC member I knew for some time and wound up meeting in person. I have friends and family scattered all over and am sometimes able to travel to see them once or twice a year, so now when I do, I try to arrange meetings with CC members I've known for a while along the way.
CC has been an enormous blessing in my life and I will always be grateful for the people I've met here.
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