gratitude

So a girl in my class and I were talking about blogs and blogstalking the other day and she told me about one of her favorites. The website is written by a 30 something year old mom who lives in Salt Lake City. Apparently she has won blogger of the year, and her blog even got her fired from her job early on in her blogging career because of stuff she posted. Needless to say I was intrigued. She was born an raised as an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and attended BYU. However, at some point during college she decided that she no longer wanted to be a member of the church and left. (She also is married to a returned missionary who also is no longer active in the church.)

She is not ashamed of the fact that she no longer is a member of the church, although it appears that her family is still active. I will admit her site is very funny, as she simply blogs about the everyday life of being a stay at home mom of a 4 year old girl. She really must be well known because she has been featured on the Today show recently.

Anyways, today's post she wrote about her stepfather recently being diagnosed with serious cancer, and the complications that have arisen from the cancer. She admits the difficulty she is having in digesting the situation without the "safety net of the Mormon religion" she further goes on to say that she hasn't figured out what she believes quite yet and that she is not ok with that.

In this same post she also talks about how she would be having a baby this week were it no for a miscarriage that occurred last year, as I read the links that talked about the miscarriage and some other heart-wrenching experiences that she has had sense leaving the church my heart was filled with sadness for her, and gratitude for my religion which does do so much to answer all of my questions about the purpose of life.

I cannot personally imagine the pain that comes from not knowing what will happen to you after you die, or the pain that can come from a miscarriage without knowing you have a loving Heavenly Father who is there for you. I also cannot personally imagine making the conscious decision to leave all of this knowledge behind. My heart goes out for Heather B. Armstrong and her losses. But I wish she would remember the things which she has been taught, and that she would remember that God does have a plan, and that our families are meant to be together forever.

I am personally very grateful for everything that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has given me. It has given me the peace that comes from knowing who I am. It has given me the knowledge of God's plan for life. It has given me joy in knowing that I will see my loved ones again. If you would like to know more about what I believe and what does give me such inner peace and happiness feel free to ask me or to visit this website: www.mormon.org