It was not my intent to be dismissive of your beliefs, I apologize if I was. Been back in one of my dark places lately, and this just touched a nerve. Angie would have been 21 a few days ago.
Theologically speaking, I've never grasped the concept of everything that happens being part of God's plan, as that seems to negate the concept of free will, and without free will I can't make any theological
sense out of Christianity. If, on the other hand, God simply sits back and lets thing unfold based strictly on natural laws and human choices, then, theologically speaking, Christianity can make
sense. That's just how I have always seen things.
14 years ago I knew what I believed. Then I lost 2 kids, and I went from being the pastor's kid who was going back to school with plans to enter the ministry myself, to being someone who no longer has any kind of certainty about spiritual matters. That doesn't seem like it fits with the idea of some preordained plan.