LDS Church: Patience in the Restoration

Perspective is everything.

I remember exactly when I experienced the Internet in 1996.  Just a little over 20 years ago...it went from floppy disks, to CDs, to straight up internet communication and continues to evolve today--we're all just waiting for the next big development in technology, right? The tech world makes sure that we don't get too comfortable with our devices, processes and applications by introducing new products all the time.  We not only look forward to it, we count on it, am I right?

The topic today is patience in the ever-evolving LDS Church.
If you're a member of the Church, you probably know someone who is struggling to stay active, or stay at all.  There's a tide of members flowing out of the pews ever-so-quietly.  It's come up in conversations with my family and friends...we wonder what can be said or done to help our members "stay in the boat" with us as we sail through this difficult sea of emotional, turbulent times.

At church Sunday this topic came up...why people leave.  One comment was a simple, "they don't have good habits of prayer and scripture study". And it's true that someone who's living the gospel daily is much less likely to exit, there are also those who are looking for reason to leave due to transgressions such as sin or pride. Still, I offered that  in my experience, we don't always know why people leave--so it's important not to judge hastily--because some people who withdraw from their faith are usually in pain and cannot find relief.  It might be emotional or temporal pain, or it could be intellectual pain--where they're trying to reconcile what they feel they know with the teachings of the gospel. I've seen this more recently, as people confide in me their personal struggles. They're not rebelling, they're searching for answers.

I've had my own experience with withdrawing from activity in the church--while going through a horrid divorce, I lost my way. Some members who knew nothing of the abuse were harsh and cold towards me, and left me feeling like I didn't belong there. The pain was real.  I stayed away to heal my self when healing could not be found there.  I had no issues with church doctrine--I loved the church, but it was the people that I could not endure combined with the ugliness of divorce.

I came back when we moved to a different state.  I needed a fresh start and included the Church in my new life.  I was patient and optimistic. My new ward was welcoming and made all the difference in my ability to return. I came back with a more mature testimony; understanding that my testimony revolved less around the social aspects of the church and more centered on the doctrine. I was able to separate my true faith from the culture of the church, rediscovering my place in it, which I so love.

If you've been raised in the church or a convert, there are sure to be seasons in your life where you are defining for yourself what it means to be a Latter-day Saint and how that life looks in real time.
You may wince--as one of my children have--at the politics of the members of the church, or at the feminist values of the culture (or lack therof, depending upon who you talk to), or other issues--in short, you may have a sticking point that rubs your conscience raw to the point of irritation when you don't get the answers you are looking for to assuage your mind. 
That's normal, so hang on. It will resolve.
It is intended that you evolve and ask questions as you sojourn through life. General Authorities have stated many times that we welcome questions about culture and doctrine and it's healthy to think for ourselves and to ponder where we are in the scheme of our membership of the LDS Church.
President Uchtdorf stated:

"Now, the next issue. What about doubts and questions in principle? How do you find out that the gospel is true? Is it all right to have questions about the Church or its doctrine? My dear young friends, we are a question-asking people. We have always been, because we know that inquiry leads to truth. That is how the Church got its start, from a young man who had questions. In fact, I’m not sure how one can discover truth without asking questions. In the scriptures you will rarely discover a revelation that didn’t come in response to a question." 

When I consider issues I do not fully comprehend or agree with, I remember that I'm invested enough, I have faith enough, that I can wait to see what happens by holding my place, by standing firmly where I am, by "staying in the boat" and see where it leads. Experience has taught me there's no other path that leads me to my Heavenly Father and His eternal promises.  That's more important than any trial I face. I've learned to trust in His plan and His timing...it's worth the wait.

I saw this on pinterest and it stuck in my heart:

I've learned to appreciate evolution-- how learning and patience encourages growth in myself and my family, my friends and my leaders, and yes, in the LDS Church.  It is a natural progression for things to change, you can count on it. Trust in God's timing, the answers will come maybe not how you want or when you want, but they do come and bring peace and understanding where there was none before. Sometimes it might be helpful to remember the church is a relatively young and worldwide church.  Keeping perspective of that increases understanding on things too.

"Remember, the Restoration is not an event, but it continues to unfold." -M. Russell Ballard, (10/2016 General Conference, To Whom Shall We Go?)

If you or someone you know is on the journey of faith, encourage them, save a seat for them, pray for them, and just love them. Recognize their pain and give them the latitude to discover for themselves the path of peace and healing.  That is what is needed more than anything else in these troubling times: to love one another as [He] has loved us. Show up.  Be there for someone else.  Don't rely on social media to reach out with a simple "like"--that's a hollow, counterfeit expression for true compassion.  Reaching out in meaningful ways does so much for healing.  To quote a man that I respect, "We are needy, needy people. We need each other, we need a Savior, we need the love of our Heavenly Father."

And finally, the gentle invitation from our Savior: Matthew 11:29-30 King James Version (KJV)

²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Here's a nice link that will help you feel good today: Does God Know Me?

*I'd appreciate any comments that may prove helpful in understanding this topic.

How I know God is Real

The question is:

How have I come this far in life

with a strong belief in God?

How have I come to know that God is real?

Because as a child I was taught about a man named Jesus Christ.

His father is God, our Heavenly Father.

I was taught to pray at the side of my bed

and to trust in His will

by a mother who struggled with depression, alcoholism, and mental illness.

Out of sheer necessity,

I prayed to the heavens for help

when she wasn't capable of being a mother.

The first time I knew God heard my prayers

was when I was in 5th grade,

sitting outside on the front porch

on a Friday night,

praying that my dad's car would come around the corner

*right then*

to save us kids from our mother's fury.

And he did.

My dad's car lights came around the corner,

and he pulled right into the driveway

just like I needed him to make my world safer.

I learned from that experience that God is real

and He listens to me and blesses me with answers to my prayers.

My strong belief in God continued to grow

because I continued to pray to Him--

I needed a Heavenly Father.

I still do.

Years later,

I would ask another question:

"Is the LDS Church true?"

I'd been receiving missionary lessons for several months

and they invited me to pray and ask God to know for myself

if what they were teaching me was indeed, true.

I hadn't ever asked a question like that before--

to have a spiritual knowledge of something.

And I did as they told me to do--

I asked the question and was given a specific answer:

"It's true, hold on."

I was 15 years old.

Holding on meant I would be kicked out of my parent's home with the clothes on my back

on a snowy Colorado day.

Holding on meant I would live with people I barely knew and finish high school.

Holding on meant my life would change in ways I was unfamiliar.

Holding on meant I would never let go.

Years later,

I gave birth to a special needs son, Dean.

My heart broke into a thousand pieces--

I begged and pleaded with Heavenly Father to not make me go through

that unfamiliar path.

He didn't change the diagnosis--my son was not miraculously healed.

But I was given the strength I needed to care for him and my other children.

One very long night though,

I was walking the floors with baby Dean--who was very sick.

As I was considering how I could make him feel better

I remembered that we had a humidifier...

I went to the closet we kept it in--in our very small two bedroom apartment--

but it wasn't there.

I looked in the kids' closet, my closet, under the sink in the bathroom--

still, I couldn't see it.

At 2o'clock in the morning, I was exhausted and filled with worry over my son.

I stood in the dimly lit hallway

and prayed outloud,

"Heavenly Father, I need this humidifier. I know you know where it is. Please help me to see

it clearly."

I opened the hall closet once more--and there it sat on a shelf eye-level, right in front.

I knew it was an answer to my simple, sincere prayer.

How do I know God is real?

Because of these sweet experiences and hundreds more.

Because I need Him. I need His comfort, His wisdom, His strength

and all else to get me through this mortal experience.

He has never failed me.

I have learned to trust in His timing, His ways, and His love for me

and my family.

For ways you can strengthen your relationship with Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, I invite you to https://www.mormon.org/beliefs/god .

Home Stories: What I've learned From Painting Homes

Earlier this year, I found my niche in this season of life.
Watercolor home portraits.
I discovered that I enjoyed watercolor so much
but I wanted more than just to paint landscapes and flowers.
I needed my art to have a purpose.

That "need" sent me to my facebook page,
asking my friends if they'd like me to paint their homes.
The response was overwhelming, YES!

It's been amazing.
I feel like I have won the lottery of Artistic Expression--
the intimacy of people's lives has been gifted to me like
I am part of their family story.
I love it so much that I cannot foresee a day when I am not painting homes.

One of the things I've learned is that home size doesn't matter.
I've painted huge ones, like the one above--
a stately Georgia brick home,
being sold after the family living there downsized it after 17 years.

Or this one:

I like this one ALOT.
The woman who commissioned it was not raised in it,
but her mother was...and it was interesting because I was sent two photos to re-create it as it was in the 70s...one of the photos was when it was brand new, the yard was dirt still, but those little tulips popped up. Her mother was a child, standing in the door way. The other photo was present--painted white with green shutters, mature landscaping with huge trees in the yard.  But she wanted it as it was when her mother lived there.  I just loved that.

This is actually the first one I did.  A family home in Midway, Utah, that is now on the Historical Society Home registry.  What a treasure for the family that lived and loved there!

This was actually commissioned by a friend for her employer--a gal who endured a divorce and then a subsequent death of someone she was dating--and had reconnected with a high school sweetheart, remarried to him and this home is their "fresh start" together with their families. 

This is another sweet home in Georgia...a new home for a couple who just had a new baby. New memories are being created within those walls daily!

This house belonged to an Air Force family that we got to know while they were stationed here. IN fact, the family also commissioned another portrait of the previous home they owned in Texas before coming here, and want a third portrait of the home they're building in North Carolina--their current assignment!  What sacrifices our men and women in the military give to protect our country! Their roots are planted all over the world.

This West Yellowstone, Wyoming cabin was built by and served three generations of the same family.  The memories made there have blessed their family for decades!!

This little home in Maryland held a lot of love and provided safety and security for a large family. As soon as it was delivered to the mother of this home, the rest of the now-grown family wanted their own portraits.

These three homes were all new beginnings for families--stories I don't know, but commissioned by their realtor as closing or anniversary gifts. 

Now these last two are what prompted me to write this blog today:

This house no longer stands--it was burned to the ground in the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs, five years ago. The family lived there for 14 years.  They'd been out of town when the fire started two days earlier, and once they got word of the imminent danger, they raced home, grabbed what they could and were directed to safety by the fire fighters.  The home was engulfed in flames just minutes later.

This home is also a memory.  It was destroyed a couple of years ago by a tornado that ravaged the entire street it sat on.  The little family that lived there almost destroyed too. They declare that angels held onto their children, preventing them from being sucked into the sky.
Can you even imagine?

Home is more than brick and mortar.  It is sanctified by the love created between the families who live in it.  Sacrifice, hard work, charity, compassion, and promises to love one another through thick and thin, as they say-- these are the things that also build homes to last. 

I love home stories.
If you're thinking you'd like to have a special home done in watercolors, you can visit my etsy shop: etsy.com/shop/DawnDesignsHomes. 

If you'd like to learn more about why I believe Families are SO important, I invite you to look right there: https://www.mormon.org/beliefs/the-family.