Who am I?
I’m a Mormon.
More importantly, I am a work in progress . . . slow progress most of the time.
I’m 27 years old (in 3 days), trying to more continually forward, and am married to a man (Ben) who is striving alongside me.
In the past 12 months Ben and I got married, graduated from Brigham Young University in Psychology (we met in a Psych of Religion class), and moved to Ireland where we have been farming for the past 2 months (a whole different story). We will remain in Ireland for 2 more weeks. After we finish here, we are going back to Utah for another year while we figure out where to go next.
The conclusion: we are in constant transition.
So why this blog?
Earlier today Ben and I took a day off from our farm labors to explore the famed city of Dublin. Although our travel plans included all the normal tourist traps, we encountered an unexpected overtone to our visit. We arrived in Dublin on the same Saturday as the final day of the Dublin LGBTQ Pride Festival. The streets were FULL of rainbow banners, cross dressers, proud non-traditional couples, and minimally dressed youth celebrating. As we negotiated our way through the crowds, it became apparent that as believers in Marriage Between a Man and a Woman, Ben and I were the radial ones. 10 years ago, to support gay marriage was to go against the norm and brace for serious consequences. I remember when Rosie O’Donnell came out in 2002 just before the end of her show. Many thought her career was ruined. I was “safe” in the norm of society as a believer in the traditional family. However, walking the streets of Dublin today, and reflecting on my experiences over the past few years, I confronted the reality that the tide had shifted. As Isaiah prophesied, we are in the day when good is called evil and evil is called good. Today, there is safety and acceptance in the liberal movement for equality in marriage. To speak otherwise is to jump into very deep and dangerous waters. Those are the waters I am wont to swim in.
However, although I have the desire to swim in the deep waters, I felt today as if I was ill prepared to do so. This was a discouraging thought. Just two months ago I walked across the stage of a college graduation from the LDS college BYU, collected my diploma and was deemed as one who can think! Isn’t the the purpose of college after all, to learn how to think, express those thoughts, and use them to influence the world around me? And yet, I suddenly felt like my college education was a waste. And perhaps, I am the one doing the wasting.
So, it is time for me to raise my standards for myself. My hope is that by writing this blog I will take responsibility for my beliefs and the sharing of them. I want to think, to express those thoughts, and influence the world around me. Rather than feel uncomfortable as the opposition to Christianity becomes more and more mainstream, I want to know where I stand and why I stand there. I want to raise my standard to the world and let others know what I believe and why. I want to spread the love of God to all people and invite others to raise their standard a little higher.
What Can This Blog Mean For You?
In addition to my own standard being raised, I hope this blog can provide alternative ideas faith based ideas to the current issues in the world. If written by the Spirit (my full intention), then both the writer (me) and the reader (you) will understand one another and both be edified together. And finally, I hope that you feel a deeper testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ and like me, will be unashamed of His gospel as you share it with the world.
