When I first started writing on Substack, I didn’t know what my newsletter would become. I simply wanted a place to share my poems, wonderings, and stories. I always knew I often naturally ended up writing about God, but felt hesitant to make that my whole “thing”. Over time, I began writing more consistently about my faith. I never knew how profound writing about my faith journey would be for my life. So much so, that a year and a half later, I am officially changing my publication name from Kimber Was Here to Something for Sundays!
So, yes, I am surrendering and am accepting the title of a God Girl. :) (shout out to
’s substack Girl Finding God!)My first time deciding to post about disentangling my faith was actually back in 2022 before I even knew what Substack was (you can read the post here!) I remember being SO nervous to admit that I was struggling in my beliefs that have been held so dear by my family and community for 200+ years. But something inside of me (God?) urged me to choose vulnerability over fear.
As time went on, I began writing more and more about this process of deconstructing, which eventually became a series on this newsletter named Something for Sundays. It was through these Something for Sundays posts, wincing and gathering up three seconds of insane bravery to hit “publish” each time, that I realized I was not the only one in my life going through this. I found that people all around me — people I knew! — were looking for words to name their pain and grief and relief and confusing joy.
Writing Something for Sundays for the past year has reconnected me to people in my life in new, meaningful ways. It’s opened up difficult, important conversations with family and friends and strangers.
Curiously, as I have disentangled my belief system, I have found myself growing stronger in my belief in God than before. Sure, God is different to me now — in fact, She/He is a lot wider, bigger, more open, and more powerful than I had ever thought.
I’ve read a lot of books and articles in the faith deconstruction space, and I found myself searching for direction on how to challenge dogma, question tradition, grieve beliefs and still hold deep love and commitment to Deity.
Especially when it comes to Mormonism, I often hear of people coming from being all-in on religion to believing in nothing at all. I honor their experience and understand why they would be disenchanted by God as a whole, but that has not been my journey. In more ways than one, my entire view of God has completely shifted in important ways. I love Jesus deeply and feel closer to Him than ever before. I’d like to hold space for others who find themselves wondering: What do I do with all of this hope? With all of this love?
So here we are — disentangling our beliefs on religion without giving up on God. I am here to write about the experience of changing your mind… and changing your mind again! I hope together we can praise, explore, get curious, grow, love, grieve, grapple with and enjoy the spiritual life.
One thing I have had to grieve (and am still grieving) about stepping away from the Church is my access to teaching opportunities. Speaking in church, being a Missionary, MTC Teacher, Sunday School Teacher and Primary Teacher always brought so much fulfillment to my life. For this reason, I am so grateful, more than ever, for the 189 of you who subscribe to my newsletter. Sometimes I imagine a room full of 189 people waiting for me to speak to them and I realize just how many people that is. Thank you for giving space for my words in your week! <3
I started an Instagram account: Something for Sundays, where I plan on posting weekly illustrations (!!! fun!) I will still be writing weekly(ish) here on this newsletter about the endless journey of an evolving faith, and all the things in-between.
I also started a little subscriber chat here on Substack! If you have the app, it’s a fun space to share about what you are learning, experiencing, doing, all the things! If you don’t have the app, I highly recommend it — Substack is my favorite social media :)
Thank you all for being here. TRULY!
Til Sunday,
Love your title! 😃 And I love reading about your journey. Love YOU sweet Kimber! 💕
GOD GIRLS UNITE! Thanks for the shoutout my friend! 🥲