My story is probably like most coming out of the IFB world. I was raised in a loving Christian home. My parents love Jesus, and we were at church most days of the week. I have felt the calling to ministry since I was a little girl. My childhood church prided itself in being an Independent KJV only church. I wore skirts and culottes, went to camp meetings, and truly believed that if you read anything other than KJV it was blasphemy and there was no way you were a believer. I remember hearing a sermon preached where the pastor said that TV’s were allowing Satan into our home, and I remember all the men taking all the TV’s out of the houses and shooting them. At one point, we were not even allowed to put our hand over our heart for the Pledge of Allegiance because “America has turned her back on God, and the only Allegiance we have is to Christ.” The older I got, the more I struggled with all of the rules. I was extremely obedient, but i was just tired of having to check all of the boxes off to feel accepted by Christ. I attended an IFB school from Kindergarten through 12th grade. My calling never wavered, and I ended up attending an IFB Bible College. I earnestly wanted to learn the deep things of God. I wanted to take all of the theology classes that I could. While I was able to take the very basic level courses, I paid for classes like “how to be a good wife in ministry”. I graduated college in 2007 and met and married my husband in 2010. He did not grow up in the IFB world, which did cause alot of issues for us at first. He is a deep thinker and had questions, and to me, we were not allowed to question… ever. Over the next few years, and many conversations, my eyes began to open. It was as if the scales fell off. The Lord moved us to the DFW area and we are apart of a phenomenal church.  I realize that I have been living my life in a false story of perfectionism (due to my fundamentalist upbringing), and because of that false story, I was blinded to the true story of the Bible. What an incredibly beautiful thing the gospel is. I cant be perfect, and I get so tired trying. But God, being rich in mercy… He is a covenant keeping God. I don’t have to check off lists, I can rest in his grace. I also LOVE having theological conversations with my brothers in Christ. Something that I was never given the opportunity to do. I think it is important for other women to tell there stories and speak out. While we are wrestling with “unlearning” things from the IFB group, a lot of us are also finding our voices and our worth. We are brothers and sisters in Christ, and we can serve alongside of each other. That is how the church flourishes. We need each other. I feel included in conversations now, and really feel seen and loved. I feel like the last few years have been transformative for me. I had no idea how to explain it, and then i saw your podcast. I thought, THAT IS IT! THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM!! I am a Recovering Fundamentalist. Thank you for shining a light on this.