New To The Faith And Oh So Excited!

[Drew-Memphis]

Good evening all, I hope all is well.

I'm new, if you couldn't tell, and figured I should start somewhere. Why not here?

You can see my About Me for a brief and simple bio of me and my background but I wanted to say hey to everyone and get a little bit of advice.

I have all but made up my mind to "convert" (which I hate that term, seeing as I have been a Christian for several years) to Catholic from Baptist. My father who is a "bleeding heart" Southern Baptist is, to say the least, not happy. Which I am simply baffled by. He has doubts, I assume, that the Catholic Church is not Christian. He won't go as far as to say it's a "cult", like he says Mormons are, but he is probably leaning that way. I have had a lengthy discussion with him, just to put all my plans on the table. I can't stand being lied to or lying to anyone. It was a very civil conversation but he didn't seem to understand anything. He believes I am converting because of my girlfriend ("A") even though I have told him NUMEROUS times that she has nothing to do with this, other than maybe opening my eyes to the Lord's church. I made up my mind to begin RCIA on September 17th.

My question I guess would be, How do I smooth things over with my Dad or is it hopeless? I firmly believe in the power of prayer and feel like the only thing I can do is pray for my Dad to not be so close-minded to other denominations and to open up and listen, once in a while.

Thanks for reading and I apologize for the length. Needed to get this off of my chest. If clarification is needed on anything, feel free to ask, as I tend to ramble on recklessly when I am passionate about something.

Peace of the Lord be with you all,
Drew

[CatherineM]

Welcome. I hope the excitement you feel right now never ebbs. My grandmother was Baptist, and I had many interesting conversations with her, but not quite what you are going to face. You might want to start a topic in Open Mic where everyone can answer. You will find many converts here, and their experiences and wisdom may help you more than I ever could.