Having Faith

About a month ago Dave and I spoke in our ward about having faith in Christ and the Blessings that come from it.  Ever since then I keep having the feeling I should share the talk I wrote on here, so here goes! Please excuse my grammar. ;)

Dave and I met in our singles ward about 6 years ago. We flirted, I asked HIM out, we dated and were married the next year.  We have been married for 5 years and have 2 handsome little boys. I am lucky enough to be a stay at home mom for our children and I love that I get the opportunity to do it.  Dave goes to school for photography and is a professional photographer an we just recently opened our own business.  It is not something that was planned, it was an opportunity that kind of just fell in our laps and we jumped on it.  With it there have been a lot of ups! We now have the opportunity to run a business the way we think it should be run, he gets to work with great people and, most importantly, he gets to do what he loves most everyday. There have also been a lot of downs; struggling to make rent, pay bills, pay tithing or even put food on our table.  There have been some very long hours where our boys may go days with out seeing their dad.  and of course the stress of, are we doing the right thing opening our own studio? Will this be what is best for our family? The joys of adulthood right?  What I would give to be back in high school where all I had to worry about was school, if a boy liked me, and what eye shadow should I wear today.

Even so, with all of the struggles, stress, and tears, I believe that opening our business has been one of the biggest blessings in our life.  We have had to put tremendous faith in Heavenly Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.  I believe it is a struggle that we had to go through so we could learn what it really means to put our faith in Christ. 

What does that mean, to have faith? In Alma 32:21 it reads "And now as I said concerning faith- Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; Therfore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."  I like that this verse uses the word hope when referring to faith.  We have to have tremendous HOPE that this too shall pass, we will get through this.

In our gospel principals manual it states, "To have faith in Christ means to have such trust in him that we obey whatever he commands. There is no faith where there is no obedience."  One of the first lessons Dave and I had to learn, was that we were not making the right choices when it came to paying our tithing.  We were not being obedient when it came to this commandment.  we were never against paying our tithing, we just made the common mistake that people make to pay other bills before paying our tithing.  So that meant that there were many months gone with no tithing given.  when we started struggling we talked and decided, ya know we should probably be paying our tithing.  There has been a huge difference.  It is not a hard choice to make anymore, as soon as we get our paychecks, we pay tithing.  Now don't get me wrong, we are still struggling every month, but we with no doubt, have noticed that when our tithing is priority we are struggling far less than we do when it is not paid.  And when your scrimping by, trying to make ends meet, it takes great faith in the Lord to know that these are the things we should be doing.   Do the things which he has commanded us to do and great blessings will come from keeping the commandments and having faith in them.

Faith is a principal of power that motivates our day to day activities.  would we study if we could not obtain knowledge from it? would we work if we didn't hope that by doing so we would accomplish something?  would we take the time to teach our children if we did not hope and believe that they would go on to accomplish something great of their own?  Each and everyday we act upon thing we hope for when we can not see an end result.  This is faith in action. 

Another way we show faith everyday is through prayer.  Prayer in another aspect in our life where Dave and I were seriously lacking.  In my mind, I always had an excuse why I didn't need to pray.  I was too tired, we are in a hurry and don't have time, I start being better about praying tomorrow, I don't need to pray, I'll just trust my gut, my gut is always right.  What I wasn't thinking about is  who I am talking to when I'm praying.  As a parent Heavenly Father wants to hear from us, he wants to help us.  I can't even imagine if I went as long not speaking to or hearing from my own children as I have gone not praying to my Father in Heaven.  I would be heart broken.  I knew that it was time, I needed to rekindle my relationship with Heavenly Father and I need to do it RIGHT NOW, not tomorrow.  In Alma 34: 18-27 we read "Yea, cry unto him fir mercy; for he is mighty to save." "Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him." "Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, , yea, over all your flocks." "Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening." "Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies." "Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness."  "Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them."  "Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase."  "But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness."  " Yea, and when you do cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you."  We must cry out our souls to him.  Tell him everything.  Every hope, every fear, every worry.  Pray for your spouse, for your children, for the work that you do, and even pray for your enemies. 

I found this Hymn in our family Hymn book that I really loved when I read it.  I don't think I have ever heard it sung before, but when I read the lyrics the words really touched me.  I would like to share a few of the verses with you,

Prayer is the Souls Sincere Desire

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed, the motion of a hidden fire that trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh, the falling of a tear, the upward glancing of an eye when none but God is near.

Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice, returning from his ways, while Angels in their song rejoice and, "Behold, he prays!"

O Thou by whom we come to God, The Life, The Truth, The Way! The path of prayer thyself hast trod; Lord, teach us how to pray.

I have never felt closer to God and Jesus Christ as I have in these past several weeks.  I am so sad that it has taken me so long to learn the power of prayer and not just the habit of prayer.  I am so glad that I have it in my life and that Heavenly Father waited for me patiently and I am so glad that we are talking again!

It is through these conversations that I have begun to truly gain an understanding of the power of the atonement.  Joseph Fielding Smith said, "I know he died for me, for and all mankind that we might live again through the resurrection.  I know that he died that I might be forgiven my follies, my sins, and be cleansed from them.  How wonderful is this love.  How can I, knowing this, do anything else, but love him, my Redeemer." 

Through all of the struggles that Dave and I have gone through in the last several months with school, opening our business, and going through a rough patch of severe illness myself, I have taken great comfort in knowing that Jesus Christ has been right there with me through all of it.  When he was bleeding for us and all of the pain that he felt for us and it wasn't just physical pain, it was also mental and emotional pain. He felt it all and went through all of it for us.  So he literally knows exactly how we feel whenever we are going through anything and he wants to help us through it.

I will end with one more quote from Joseph Fielding Smith, "I can not be untrue to him.  He loved me with perfect love, as he has done for all men, especially those who serve him, and I must love him with all the love I can, even if it is imperfect, which it should not be."

I know that Jesus Christ is my Redeemer and Savior.  I know that he lives and loves me and is my mouthpiece for talking to our Heavenly Father.  He lived for us and died for us.  His love is all encompassing. I know that Dave and I are where we are supposed to be at this time in our lives.  We are so blessed to be a part of this ward and are so grateful for all of the aide they have given us in our time of need.  I know that this church is the true church.  In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

I just felt the need to share this with whomever reads this blog.  I also wanted to make sure I had it for myself to keep in a safe place so that someday I can remember to tell my children about it.  I am so grateful for all the experiences I have had in life so far and I love where is has led me. I am so grateful to my family and friends that have always been there for us and who have helped us through this difficult time.  I also hope that this can help lift someone else spirit if it needs uplifting.  Thanks for stopping by!