Excerpt: Like so many, I was raised in a religious home- praying before meals, attending Sunday services, seeking to follow God\u27s will for my life. I remember getting two Christmas presents in ninth grade-a new pair of skis and a new Bible. Honestly, I was more thrilled with the Bible than with the skis (though both gifts made me ecstatic about my generous parents for a few days). I remember wondering in those youthful years why anyone would choose a life apart from Jesus. As I grew toward adulthood I began to understand their reasons. The faith I had loved as a child began to feel cumbersome, restrictive, and onerous. Still, I held on even as I noticed many of my church friends slipping away, leaving the faith behind as they negotiated the new challenges of love, work, and personal identity. I wondered where their lives were leading as I oscillated between envy for their freedom and sadness for their waywardness
