I was asked what finally made me decide to do this, below was my response and the reason as well I will give to my husband when he wishes to ask.
"In the end, it was a combination of my dreams kind of speaking to me, things going on in the news where it just seemed that if they had God, the things would not have happened. ALSO, because I do believe in my christian roots, I liked that it incorporated but corrected alot of the things I grew up learning. I am not learning a DIFFERENT religion, I am learning the Correct Version of my faith. I LOVE JESUS, muslim or not........I have just accepted that Muhommad is also a prophet. I NEVER as a Christian believed that Jesus was GOD.......never understood that that is what Christian ministers taught. The trinity....I blindly just followed it because I was told too. I didn't believe Jesus was the physical SON of God either...I believed he was metaphorically the son of God as we are all children of God. I began understanding that there are so MANY consistent likenesses between the 2 faiths....covering your head to pray, not eating pork, all this was in the Bible. But Christians have modernized the teachings of the Bible to accommodate themselves. The Word is THE WORD.....who are we to change them?
Yes I was introduced to Islam formally by my husband. I had only known one other muslim in my whole life and he wasn't practicing at all as far as I could tell. He was married to a Jewish woman, which ended badly, but still he did so. SO...other than that all I knew is that "THEIR" God was Allah, they bowed to Mecca to pray and they lead the Ottoman Empire and were all going to Hell. That is it outside of the negative ways they "treat their women". But I now know there God is my God...just a different word that they use same being. Just like Spanish say Dios, right? Not a different God.
I have been married to a Muslim for 6 years and it has taken me this long to learn more and make the shahadah. I am proud of that. Because not one person in my family could say I did it without thinking and for the sake of a man. What will that man do for me when I am dead? I stood fast to my husband that I am not yielding to his faith for all that time...we fought alot about the differences in our culture and beliefs.....but now he can say.....my wife found the truth on her own, in SPITE of me....it was from her own mind and heart. And I say, I hope to show my husband how to be a better, more loving and accepting of others outside of islam because all that we say or do is an example......and a bad word or attitude results in bad opinions.
And the group here on TTI were just the catalyst to ignite me as well....your love and prayers and support.
Thank you to all of you! Forgive me for not using words like inshallah, mashallah etc. Not sure where or when to use them. I will learn though.