Embracing the Journey: Companion Study Guide

By Greg McDonald and Lynn McDonald

This book is for Christian moms and dads who are in the middle of your journeys with your LGBTQ+ child. The Embracing the Journey Companion Study Guide is a resource to help you explore your family’s unique story. It’s the place where you can dive deep, either as part of a small group or on your own, into

• Language: English
• Publisher: Embracing the Journey INC
• Release date: Apr 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781734784510

Greg McDonald

Greg and Lynn McDonald are the cofounders of Embracing the Journey, Inc., an Atlanta-based national ministry dedicated to helping reconcile LGBTQ individuals, their families and the church- not in spite of the Bible, but because of the Bible. Greg has enjoyed a career that spans thirty-plus years as an industry leader in the private sector. He currently serves on the board of directors of Orphan Helpers and has served on numerous Fortune 500 and nonprofit advisory boards and committees. Find out more at www.embracingthejourney.org/

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©2020 by Greg McDonald and Lynn McDonald

Unless quoted otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV).

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. Quantity sales and special discounts are available to churches, associations, ministries, and others. For details, contact the publisher:

Embracing the Journey Press, Berkeley Lake, GA

Email: [e-mail]

Phone: [phone]

Website: https://www.embracingthejourney.org/

Editorial/Publishing Consultant: Beth Jusino

Copy editing: Elisa Page

Cover design: Monica Hayes/The Thatchery and Christopher Lin

Jacket illustration: 1234F

Interior design: Colleen Sheehan/Ampersand Book Design

ISBN 978-1-7347845-0-3

ISBN 978-1-7347845-1-0 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

How To Use This Book

A Note About Terms

Part I: Overcoming Fear

Lesson 1: When Your World's Been Rocked

Lesson 2: Feeling Your Grief

Lesson 3: Fixing Your Child

Lesson 4: Damage Control

Lesson 5: The Blame Game

Lesson 6: Loving Both God and Your Child

Lesson 7: Practicing God's Ways

Part II: Surviving

Lesson 8: Reconciling

Lesson 9: Loving Unconditionally

Lesson 10: Your Child's Spiritual Walk

Lesson 11: Learning to Relate

Lesson 12: Persevering

Lesson 13: Identifying Unsafe People

Lesson 14: Identifying Safe People

Part III: Thriving

Lesson 15: You Were Made for This

Lesson 16: Discovering a New Purpose

Lesson 17: Loving Your Child and Their Community

Lesson 18: Being Grateful

Lesson 19: Helping Others Embrace Their Journey

Lesson 20: The Secret to Peace and Contentment

Lesson 21: Full Circle

About the Authors

Introduction

We tried to raise our kids in the perfect Christian world: we lived in a safe neighborhood, went to church on Sundays and mid-week for Bible study, and sent both our kids to Christian school and youth group. Our bookshelves were full of advice from Christian parenting experts, and our car radios were tuned to Christian stations. We wanted to give Greg Jr. and Connie all the love and stability that had been missing in our own childhoods.

Then, in 2001, when our son Greg Jr. was in high school, we found out he was gay, and our whole world turned upside down. We were both devastated, to put it mildly. Our friends and church community were heartbreakingly silent.

If you’ve read our book, Embracing the Journey: A Christian Parent’s Blueprint to Loving Your LGBT Child, you know what happened next. Time, prayer, and love have a way of changing things, and God brought us from a place of grief to a place of gratitude, and from a place of shame to a place of ministry.

It took a long time, and it was a lonely road.

When Greg Jr. came out of the closet, we searched for other Christian parents who were walking this same road. But even though four out of five LGBTQ+ individuals grow up with some kind of faith background, in our church of five thousand people, there was not a single out family of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender child.

We wanted to love God and love our child, but we had no idea how. Was it even possible? We didn’t know. We made plenty of mistakes. If there was something we could do wrong, we probably did it. But we also sought the counsel of wise pastors, dove deep into scripture, and spent hours talking with God.

God is faithful, and thanks to a lot of grace and hard work, over the years that followed our family relationships not only healed, but grew stronger. And eventually, we came out alongside our son. We started meeting with other parents—informally over coffee and then in small group settings. We started sharing our story with church leaders, helping them support the growing number of families who desperately need to process a myriad of emotions, questions, and overwhelming concerns. That led to the launch of our nonprofit ministry, also called Embracing the Journey, which is dedicated to building bridges between the LGBTQ+ community, their families, and the church.

Sharing our story in Embracing the Journey was an important part of building that community. But this companion study guide is the true heart of our calling, because this book in your hands isn’t about us; it’s about you—the moms and dads who are right in the middle of their own journeys.

This is the place where you can dive deep into the lessons and truths that the Bible offers to us as believers, and start to see a path toward embracing your own journey with your child. Whether you’re still reeling from a new revelation or you’ve been processing this for a while, there’s a lot to learn and a lot to think about. There will be hurdles in your path; we can’t remove them for you, but this guide is designed to help you conquer those hurdles.

Whether you are working through this book in the company of a small group at church or in the quiet corner of your bedroom, we want you to know you are not alone. There are thousands of families in this country who love God and love their LGBTQ+ children. We hear from moms and dads every week who share that, eventually,