This will make more sense if you read yesterday’s blog post first.

Five years ago today, when my roommate on the trip to Mexico woke up, we chatted about what I had been going through and the decision I had made. Even though he didn’t agree with my conclusion, he agreed that I had looked at it from all angles and that the decision to quit and walk away from it all was the right thing to do.

I was very nervious while I sat in our morning meeting. I was surrounded by people I had studied with for a year as they told stories of all the wonderful things that were happening at their evangelistic sites. I just sat their quietly. When we got done I told our faculty sponsor and the representative of the organization sponsoring the trip that I needed to speak with them in private.

I told them that I couldn’t continue preaching because I wasn’t a Christian anymore. Just like when I had talked to my roommate, we went over all of my reasons to no longer believe in the Christian message and they agreed that I had done an adequate search and thanked me for the integrity I demonstrated by quitting.

When I left that hotel room, I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt free. I finally felt at peace.

Five years ago today, I walked away from everything. I lost plenty, but I gained everything.

Five years ago today, I started living life.