Dearest Princess Emerald!
Good morning! happy birthday.
Im at work, so this may be brief. I remember when you were born. We were living in Oregon. We had two other crazy little kids running around, I was employed for the Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass. It was a really pretty town, your mom and I were trying to figure what we should call you. I think many names got tossed around. But, Oregon was very Green, It was a fresh start for us, and May birth stone was Emerald, We thought that Emerald Dawn sounded like a fresh beginning, Symbolic of hope for the future.
I remember taking your mom into the hospital. We knew what day you would be born because Dora and Eli were HUGE and born late, The OB let us Induce you on 5/31, If I remember right we started the induction in morning and by afternoon you were born. Dr Cobb was the Obstetrician but he let me deliver you.
I was the first person to see your Head, I got to hold you for the first time, I gave you your first bath, changed your first diapers, You were pink and perfect. We knew we had something special with you.
I don't think we stayed in more than a day after you were born, I came to pick you up in my Mini Cooper Convertible, and we took you and your mom home.
You are such a joy, thanks for coming to our family...
Love you Emmy
Edited to add: I think this was written by Whit and posted to this blog by accident... This is Bridget. I didn't write this one. Hahah!
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Sunday, May 21, 2017
An Open Letter to Mormons Who Have Walked Away
Dear family, friends and loved ones:
Usually my posts are on topics that are generally applicable to all faiths. Not today. Today I want to begin by saying, I really hope that no one takes offense to this, but I am afraid that no matter what I say on this touchy subject, someone will. That's the reason I've put it off for so long.
I've been wrestling with this issue for years and years, and never posted about it directly. About six years ago when I moved back to Texas, I found out a dear friend I'd known since high school and her husband, who had been married in a Mormon temple, had left the church. I'm a pretty up front person, so I just asked her why. She explained she left because Sundays were hard. Church is long (three hours) and with meetings and other service, they became longer. For someone with a family and small children and a work week, it was a better fit for them to spend Sunday relaxing, hanging with friends, or out on a boat.
That's how it started for her.
The thing is, all it takes is one little crack. One little excuse and BAM you start the downward slide into inactivity, because guess what? Anything that is worth anything is HARD. Sunday is a day of rest, sure, but God's rest is not my rest. God's rest is peace unto your soul and you don't get that on a boat or lounging with a beer. You just don't. And being out with friends, or staying home, or getting a root canal, all of that is just easier than going to church. I have five children, so believe me when I say that I kind of hate going to church. My kids whine and complain. Getting them dressed is a chore. Getting myself ready feels like torture with a baby on one leg. Packing the bag takes forever and I always forget the exact thing I need in the middle of sacrament meeting.
I would rather be sitting on a boat.
Actually, I'd rather be sitting anywhere else, as long as I'm wearing flip flops instead of high heels and my kids have iPads.
Miserable Sundays was the reason my friend stopped at first. You, my reader, could have stopped coming for any reason at all. The bigger issue is... why should you come back? There are so many reasons. In fact, you could read through all my blog posts and see some of the reasons I have for coming. The Spirit fills me with joy, the messages bring peace to my soul, and the people uplift me. My main reason is that Jesus Christ is my Savior and He lives. I worship because it enriches my life. The focus of this blog, however, is on those people who have walked away who may be wondering whether there is a place for them if they want to return.
The danger in writing this post is that my friends and family will think my message is: I know better than you; you are wrong, so listen to me.
That's actually the opposite of what I'm trying to say. I can't change your mind. The Holy Ghost can't change your mind. We are all here on Earth because God wanted us to have agency, the right to make our own decisions and live our own lives. That very principle dictates that you get to decide what to do for yourself. If that's staying home on Sundays, I'll try not to badger you about it (too much.)
What the heck am I trying to say then? Like always, I'll try and make my point with a little anecdote.
A few years ago, a tree in the front of our neighborhood was struck by lighting. It was a great tree, absolutely enormous, staggeringly large, and utterly beautiful. The lightning struck at an angle and the tree was sheared off about 20 feet from the ground, completely removing the entire canopy of branches. All that remained was a badly damaged trunk. The neighborhood spent a lot of time debating the details of how to dispose of it. Cut it down? Drag the trunk to the lake? Cut it up and have it hauled away? As time passed and no decision had been made, someone noticed something. A very small branch was growing from the side of that tree. Three tiny leaves.
That sparked a new discussion. Could it still be alive? What should we do about that? An expert was consulted. There was no way that growth could ever look quite right. The tree, after all, had been sliced at an angle. Any regrowth, unlikely in any event to be from the actual tree, would look terrible. The expert said it was dead and any offshoots would not amount to anything. If they did grow in any real numbers, they would be an eyesore. We needed to remove it.
We didn't remove it. We left it alone. At first, the expert was right. It was an eyesore, a lump. For a year, nothing else grew. We worried it was rotting. It might fall over and block the road again. Rats might move in. Ultimately though, we left it alone. It rained. The sun shone. Time passed.
That expert was wrong. Science does not have all the answers, because science is man's best guess.
Man's best guess is frequently wrong.
I don't have all the answers. I have some answers, but I don't know your whole story and I don't know what's right for you. I do know you have walked away from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't know why. You may not even fully understand. But for those of you who have walked away, my message has two parts. Part one is: You can choose to turn your back on God for any reason at all. You may have left the church, asked them not to contact you or even been excommunicated. You may think you can't come back. You may think you're too far gone. You may think the light of Christ is dead in you. The first part of my message is this: You can turn away from God, and you may have done so. But He never turns away from you. He is standing right by you, arms outstretched ready and waiting for you to change your mind. I am right beside him. I will welcome you back with open arms at any time, any moment, any second. Right now, even.
The second part of my message is for those of you who read my words and feel a stirring in your heart. If any part of you has considered returning, but you're hung up on something please read on. Maybe you worry that Joseph Smith was imperfect. (He was. God used him in spite of that, just as He uses me in spite of my many flaws.) Maybe you feel you've done too many things you're ashamed of. (I don't care what those are.) Maybe you feel you won't fit in. (I don't feel like I fit in.) Maybe you have people you'd like to avoid at church. (I have people I try to avoid because we have quarreled.) If any of these applies, please read on.
The second part of my message has to do with that tree. That eyesore of a dead stump. The lightning was powerful and strong and did significant damage. It scarred that tree badly. That tree may have even had its name removed from the records of the church. It died, spiritually speaking. It might have even done some naughty things, parts of it began to rot.
But the rain fell and the sun shone and the earth provided nutrients and just maybe that tree decided to try again. None of the people in our neighborhood took steps to cut it down.
Here is that tree now.
It is alive. It is beautiful. It is healthy and strong. It is growing its own way, but it is providing shade and oxygen to the world around it. It is fulfilling its purpose here. I would venture to say it's happy.
My second message is this: You have no idea what God has in store for you, but I promise that if you come back, you too will thrive. No one else can see the beauty that is waiting inside of you, but it's there. You are never so far gone God doesn't want you back. Please, please, please come back. Now, next year, or in twenty years. God is waiting to make something even more beautiful from your life. He loves you and so do I. Neither of us will ever give up, because something amazing is waiting if only you'll give it another chance.
Bridget
Usually my posts are on topics that are generally applicable to all faiths. Not today. Today I want to begin by saying, I really hope that no one takes offense to this, but I am afraid that no matter what I say on this touchy subject, someone will. That's the reason I've put it off for so long.
I've been wrestling with this issue for years and years, and never posted about it directly. About six years ago when I moved back to Texas, I found out a dear friend I'd known since high school and her husband, who had been married in a Mormon temple, had left the church. I'm a pretty up front person, so I just asked her why. She explained she left because Sundays were hard. Church is long (three hours) and with meetings and other service, they became longer. For someone with a family and small children and a work week, it was a better fit for them to spend Sunday relaxing, hanging with friends, or out on a boat.
That's how it started for her.
The thing is, all it takes is one little crack. One little excuse and BAM you start the downward slide into inactivity, because guess what? Anything that is worth anything is HARD. Sunday is a day of rest, sure, but God's rest is not my rest. God's rest is peace unto your soul and you don't get that on a boat or lounging with a beer. You just don't. And being out with friends, or staying home, or getting a root canal, all of that is just easier than going to church. I have five children, so believe me when I say that I kind of hate going to church. My kids whine and complain. Getting them dressed is a chore. Getting myself ready feels like torture with a baby on one leg. Packing the bag takes forever and I always forget the exact thing I need in the middle of sacrament meeting.
I would rather be sitting on a boat.
Actually, I'd rather be sitting anywhere else, as long as I'm wearing flip flops instead of high heels and my kids have iPads.
Miserable Sundays was the reason my friend stopped at first. You, my reader, could have stopped coming for any reason at all. The bigger issue is... why should you come back? There are so many reasons. In fact, you could read through all my blog posts and see some of the reasons I have for coming. The Spirit fills me with joy, the messages bring peace to my soul, and the people uplift me. My main reason is that Jesus Christ is my Savior and He lives. I worship because it enriches my life. The focus of this blog, however, is on those people who have walked away who may be wondering whether there is a place for them if they want to return.
The danger in writing this post is that my friends and family will think my message is: I know better than you; you are wrong, so listen to me.
That's actually the opposite of what I'm trying to say. I can't change your mind. The Holy Ghost can't change your mind. We are all here on Earth because God wanted us to have agency, the right to make our own decisions and live our own lives. That very principle dictates that you get to decide what to do for yourself. If that's staying home on Sundays, I'll try not to badger you about it (too much.)
What the heck am I trying to say then? Like always, I'll try and make my point with a little anecdote.
A few years ago, a tree in the front of our neighborhood was struck by lighting. It was a great tree, absolutely enormous, staggeringly large, and utterly beautiful. The lightning struck at an angle and the tree was sheared off about 20 feet from the ground, completely removing the entire canopy of branches. All that remained was a badly damaged trunk. The neighborhood spent a lot of time debating the details of how to dispose of it. Cut it down? Drag the trunk to the lake? Cut it up and have it hauled away? As time passed and no decision had been made, someone noticed something. A very small branch was growing from the side of that tree. Three tiny leaves.
That sparked a new discussion. Could it still be alive? What should we do about that? An expert was consulted. There was no way that growth could ever look quite right. The tree, after all, had been sliced at an angle. Any regrowth, unlikely in any event to be from the actual tree, would look terrible. The expert said it was dead and any offshoots would not amount to anything. If they did grow in any real numbers, they would be an eyesore. We needed to remove it.
We didn't remove it. We left it alone. At first, the expert was right. It was an eyesore, a lump. For a year, nothing else grew. We worried it was rotting. It might fall over and block the road again. Rats might move in. Ultimately though, we left it alone. It rained. The sun shone. Time passed.
That expert was wrong. Science does not have all the answers, because science is man's best guess.
Man's best guess is frequently wrong.
I don't have all the answers. I have some answers, but I don't know your whole story and I don't know what's right for you. I do know you have walked away from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't know why. You may not even fully understand. But for those of you who have walked away, my message has two parts. Part one is: You can choose to turn your back on God for any reason at all. You may have left the church, asked them not to contact you or even been excommunicated. You may think you can't come back. You may think you're too far gone. You may think the light of Christ is dead in you. The first part of my message is this: You can turn away from God, and you may have done so. But He never turns away from you. He is standing right by you, arms outstretched ready and waiting for you to change your mind. I am right beside him. I will welcome you back with open arms at any time, any moment, any second. Right now, even.
The second part of my message is for those of you who read my words and feel a stirring in your heart. If any part of you has considered returning, but you're hung up on something please read on. Maybe you worry that Joseph Smith was imperfect. (He was. God used him in spite of that, just as He uses me in spite of my many flaws.) Maybe you feel you've done too many things you're ashamed of. (I don't care what those are.) Maybe you feel you won't fit in. (I don't feel like I fit in.) Maybe you have people you'd like to avoid at church. (I have people I try to avoid because we have quarreled.) If any of these applies, please read on.
But the rain fell and the sun shone and the earth provided nutrients and just maybe that tree decided to try again. None of the people in our neighborhood took steps to cut it down.
Here is that tree now.
It is alive. It is beautiful. It is healthy and strong. It is growing its own way, but it is providing shade and oxygen to the world around it. It is fulfilling its purpose here. I would venture to say it's happy.
My second message is this: You have no idea what God has in store for you, but I promise that if you come back, you too will thrive. No one else can see the beauty that is waiting inside of you, but it's there. You are never so far gone God doesn't want you back. Please, please, please come back. Now, next year, or in twenty years. God is waiting to make something even more beautiful from your life. He loves you and so do I. Neither of us will ever give up, because something amazing is waiting if only you'll give it another chance.
Bridget
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