My Beliefs

I believe in God. What does that mean to me? I believe in God who is my Heavenly Father. He is the father of my spirit, and he loves me as His child. This relationship is very special to me. I live 2,000 miles from my dad, my husband has responsibilities that mean that he can't always be with me when I need something, but my Heavenly Father is always accessible, and he always helps me. It's not difficult to believe in God when you've felt his influence in your life as much as I have. I don't actually know that seeing him would make him more real to me.I believe in Jesus Christ.

A while ago, I did something stupid (yeah, hard to believe, right?) It was just a joke, but the fall-out went a lot further than I had ever expected, and as I saw this happening, I realized that some absolutely innocent people were going to get hurt. And there was nothing I could do to stop it. I felt horrible. The more I thought about what I had done, the worse I felt. Finally, I fell to my knees and plead with the Lord to give whatever consequences He wanted to me, but to not let these innocent people get hurt. As I prayed, I felt almost as if the Savior whispered to me, "It's ok, I already took care of it." And I suddenly pictured him on the cross, paying for our sins - my sin, the one I had just made. Through the Atonement, Jesus took upon himself our sins, and made it possible for us to erase that sin - just like it had never happened. And not just for me. He could heal me from the burden of knowing that I had made a mistake and hurt someone else. And, he could heal my friends from any hurt that they received from my action. People get hurt every day, serious and horrible physical, emotional, spiritual wounds. Our loving Heavenly Father didn't intend us to walk around life maimed, he made a way for healing, and that was through his Only Begotten Son. Christ can do that for us because he took our wounds for his own. "With his stripes, we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5) Jesus is real to me.

I believe that God still speaks to us, individually and collectively. I believe in prayer, and that we can get answers to our questions and problems. I believe in prophets that give us the word of the Lord for all of us. I believe that God has standards that he expects of us - he gives us commandments, and it is our job to follow them, both for our own good, and because we love God.

I believe that "the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children." God gave us families to help us grow and learn, and to help our children grow and learn in turn. I believe that I can be with my family forever, and so I want to take care of that family and strengthen it. This means making some unselfish decisions sometimes, but the surprising thing is that it makes me so happy.

I grew up in a family with a long history in my church. I was so lucky to have been taught young. As I grew up, I saw some of my church friends decide that church life was too restrictive. Some of us decided that it was something we wanted to be a part of - it made us happy. Watching the result of these different paths has made me never regret following the path laid out by Jesus Christ. He has never let me down and has made more of my life than I could have made of it by myself. And I have avoided the pain and despair that my friends have felt from playing with fire. It is so clear to me that there is safety and joy in the path of Christ, and I don't ever intend to leave it!

Do you really want to know why I am so happy? It is the peace that comes from knowing that my life is in agreement with the path God wants for me. It's the joy of family. It's the hope of the Atonement of Jesus Christ healing all the wounds that come in life, and the promise of a time when we will cry no more. It's the confidence that comes from knowing that Jesus Christ is leading and guiding a prophet, so that we will not be "carried about by every wind of doctrine" ((Ephesians 4:14) It's the love that comes from seeing every other person as a spiritual brother or sister, a child of God.

Some of you who are reading this are feeling that warmth in your heart that says, "Yes, I believe that too!" Some of you might be saying, "I wish I had that in my life." Or maybe you're thinking, "What exactly does she mean by ___" Whichever your thoughts are, let me know! I would love to hear your expressions of faith, share what makes me so happy, or answer whatever questions you have. I promise, you won't offend me. My contact info is in the footer!