David H. Bradstreet, an award-winning scientist and astronomy professor, recounts how his church helped him find his calling in science. Growing up in Massachusetts, Bradstreet developed a love for astronomy by looking through a telescope with a cheap cardboard tube and rickety aluminum tripod. He often took the telescope outside in the middle of the cold winters. Bradstreet explains:

I couldn't see much [out my bedroom window] … so I devised a brilliant solution. I wrapped myself in layers of warm clothing, grabbed a flimsy, derelict metal chair out of the basement, and headed out to our big back yard, along with my telescope and observation notebook. The dark winter skies were incredibly clear, allowing me to study the heavens to my heart's content as I sat bundled, silent and shivering.

On nights when the frigid winds grew particularly bitter, my numb fingers and bulky gloves made it difficult to write down my observations in my notebook. But I did so anyway faithfully recording my sightings of hundreds of planets and stars. … When I could no longer control my frozen body's shakes and shudders, I reluctantly went inside to warm up. Many times I couldn't feel my hands or feet, but nobody in the family ever called me crazy, at least not to my face. My dad even helped me cart my equipment around.

Fortunately, both my family and my bigger church family at First Baptist Church lovingly embraced the somewhat obsessive "junior astronomer" in their midst. It wasn't until years later that I realized how different things might have been for me had I grown up in a church that condemned science and discouraged believers from working in astronomy. I still can't understand why some Christians turn their backs on a discipline that powerfully demonstrates the majesty of our Creator.