I'm Not Crazy; I'm a Christian: Tales from the Frontline

By Kat Merrigan

Kat Merrigan debunks and demystifies preconceived notions about what being a Christian is all about in this book. It poses questions such as:
• If you’ve ever doubted God has a sense of humor, have you considered a penguin or a duck-billed platypus?
• How do you determine who you really are?
• Does being a Christian mean giving up everything?
Her goal is to help bring clarity to what it means to follow the Lord and encourage readers to do some investigating of their own. Written from the viewpoint of someone who has been a dedicated Christian for more than twenty-five years, it is an honest, sometimes raw and emotional, but always sincere and hopeful exploration. There are many humorous stories and anecdotes throughout as the author takes the reader along on her journey.

Kat also celebrates those that have made a huge difference in her life, such as her sister-in-law, who stood by her side for more than thirty years. She was the one who demonstrated a consistent devotion and dedication to faith, which challenged the author to follow in her footsteps.

Faith is a serious commitment and shouldn’t be taken lightly, but it can also be where you find peace, joy, and even hope. All of those things should leave you with a smile on your face!

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Sep 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781489736987

Kat Merrigan

Kat Merrigan was born and raised in New York. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and spent twenty years in the marketing field creating successful print and multimedia advertising campaigns for various corporations. Having grown weary of the business world, she went back to school, earned an associate degree in applied science, and is currently a licensed physical therapist assistant. Kat has spent her life writing, whether it was for campaigns, company newsletters, or skits, sketches and plays for various local productions. If all the world’s a stage, Kat spends a great deal of time there. As a member of a church choir she was able to boast that she performed from Radio City Music Hall to Ryker’s Island, as well as Long Island’s famous Jones Beach. Her most recent project was Kat and Andee Far From Normal, a hope-filled, humorous podcast that she started with a close friend as a reaction to all the changes of 2020. Kat realizes that life is challenging which is why she decided a long time ago to not take herself too seriously. She is a firm believer in finding humor at all times, especially when it seems in short supply. Comedy with a side of sarcastic wit is her favorite dish. When one of her nephews was little he proudly labeled her the “funny channel.” What sustains Kat through the hard times is her faith. For the past twenty-six years, she has been a dedicated Christian. Her greatest desire is that her gifts of writing and humor will be a blessing and help inspire others.

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 Kat Merrigan.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

ISBN: 978-1-4897-3697-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-3696-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-3698-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021913673

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 08/17/2021

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: May I See Some ID?

Chapter 2: Left My Halo at the Cleaners

Chapter 3: Why So Serious?

Chapter 4: It’s a Family Affair

Chapter 5: Religion vs. Relationship

Chapter 6: When Emotions Overtake Reason

Chapter 7: Kindness Without Compromise

Chapter 8: Woulda Coulda Shoulda

Chapter 9: There’s No Such Thing as a Free-Thinking Christian

Chapter 10: It’s Hard Out Here for a Believer

PREFACE

I realize this may be a rather unorthodox way to begin by having a preface and then an introduction. But, as you’ll soon find out should you choose to read on, I do things a little bit differently sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some rules and following them, except when I don’t. Moving on.

The truth is that I began this project well over a decade ago. I have picked it up and abandoned it many times. My most recent desertion happened after a series of life-changing events. In the span of a few short years, I lost my go-to people. You know the ones. No matter what the subject, they’ve either done it, had it, can make it or fix it, or know a guy that can help with it. The loss of a dear friend followed quickly by my sister-in-law, who was my best friend and the best of us, knocked me down. Her death, in particular, showed a lot of cracks in the family. She was the glue that had kept me tethered to my siblings. When she left us, I truly felt alone. But I am blessed with friends who are family and nieces and nephews who helped restore my connection. And though things would never be the same, we started to find our way forward.

Then my Dad fell one Christmas Eve and broke his hip. Thus began several months of an endless cascade of doctors, hospitals, rehab facilities and so forth. He took his last breath and went home to the Lord on March 3, 2020.

If that date sounds somewhat eerily familiar, it’s because that was the beginning of the worldwide pandemic caused by the Corona Virus or COVID-19. As I’m writing this preface, we are still in the midst of it, dealing with quarantines and mandated to wear face coverings in public. Phrases like social distancing and shelter in place have entered our everyday language. Businesses and schools were shut down all over the world for several months. Many schools are still operating only through remote learning at home via a laptop or other device. I live in New York where we won the title of epicenter for the virus in this country when it first hit. I worked in healthcare, so I saw more than my fair share of loss.

I’m telling you all of this because if my tone seems somewhat uneven in this book, it’s because the person who started writing it all those years ago isn’t the same person finishing it. No, that doesn’t mean I got a ghostwriter or anything. It’s still me. Just a me that experienced a lot of sudden losses and changes of varying magnitudes in a relatively brief period of time.

But what have not changed are my faith and my desire to finish what I started here. And so as they say in the theater, the show must go on. So without any further ado, I give you the Introduction.

INTRODUCTION

I ’d like to believe you stumbled upon this book in your local bookstore. I do realize that the bookstore experience, much like a record store experience, is quickly becoming a relic of the