When Cory Heidelberger took Erin, a future Lutheran pastor, as his wife, not everyone was happy for them.
Erin remembers a good friend sitting her down to tell her she was taking herself out of God's will by marrying Cory. Cory says he understood Erin's friend as she quoted the Bible, saying the couple was "unevenly yoked".
While Erin was called to Lutheran Ministry, Cory adopted a different worldview. As he puts it, "What we see is what we get."
As an atheist, Cory believes that our consciousness, feelings and morals are not governed by a higher being, but that they are scientific processes.
But the couple says they don't need a common faith. Erin cites chemistry, intellectual pursuits and the fact that they simply worked together well. Cory is taken back to the first time Erin caught his attention.
"When I had to stop a moment and ask her to explain what she meant...that kind of intelligent Christianity is very appealing to me."
But one welcomed challenge led to another. Her name is Katarzyna, and she's two years old.
When Erin takes Katarzyna to St. John's Lutheran Church every Sunday morning, Cory stays home. But the couple agrees that's actually the biggest challenge they've had to face.
"I want to help Erin because I want Erin to be happy," Cory explains, "But I don't want to go to church."
Mom and dad might have different answers when Katarzyna questions her own faith, but they agree on the values she'll be taught.
"Katarzyna cannot look at the world with a sense of boredom," Cory said, "I don't care which worldview she's using to look at the world, but it better be a worldview in which she is deeply and intelligently engaged."
"She needs to learn to do what she's passionate about and good at," Erin continues, "and to make the world better."
Big plans for a little girl, from two very different beliefs.
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