Lee and I are both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons. I was raised in the Church, and like so many others, had to develop my testimony of the different aspects of our faith. I admit that, although I always believed in the Church, I struggled with some of my belief. Most of it was directed inward. I didn't believe that I was worthy of all of the Lord's blessings. I believed that I wasn't being blessed because I wasn't good enough. I also have a practical mind, and when it came to some of the practices, like paying tithing, I couldn't see how paying 1/10 of my earnings would be a good thing if that meant paying $20 that I could use to pay a bill or buy food.
Lee didn't grow up in the Church. He was baptized as a child, and his family did attend church occasionally (more when he got older), but it wasn't as big a part of his life. When we met, he was still starting to learn more and develop a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel. However, with his past and problems with mental and emotional struggles, accepting everything about the Gospel has been a struggle for him.
We would like to pause for a moment and thank my parents for their help in our Spiritual development. We had to live with them for a number of years near the beginning of our marriage because of financial difficulties. Although it still took a few years after moving back out on our own, their guidance and example started us, & Lee especially, on the path to Spiritual Enlightenment.
A few years ago, Lee had a very significant moment with our Bishop. I won't go into the details, but it started us reading the scriptures and praying together. From there, with help from the Bishop and the wonderful members of our Ward, we started to gain stronger testimonies and started to return to Activity in the Church. We are proud to say that we are now going to church regularly, we pay a full tithe, we read scriptures and pray daily, and are getting very close to being worthy to return to the Temple!
What does this have to do with today? Well, although we've noticed and acknowledged His help in everything we are doing, today we truly felt like the Lord was walking beside us, encouraging us, supporting us, and leading us forward. We know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we wouldn't be where we are today without His help. Without His help, we wouldn't have gained the confidence, the strength, or even the ability to be here, getting healthy mentally, physically, and spiritually.
We testify to all who read this that Heavenly Father, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are there for us all if we are willing to turn to them in good times and bad. These three men work together to help us if we just remember to ask. Lee and I have started to use the mantra "Team Earl!" On that team are the two of us, the people supporting us, and Our Father, Brother Jesus, and the Holy Ghost. We are all a team and we can do this because of the team!
We say these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Now, I have one more thing to say about our walk today. We added some new exercises to our walking routine today. At the end of every block, we are now resting temporarily, doing some knee lifts and standing crunches, and moving on to do another block! We got home today feeling the pain of the extra exercises, but the euphoria of being able to do more!
No comments:
Post a Comment