Sunday, August 21, 2011

Thinking

Recently, a friend of mine included something similar to the following in her Facebook status:

"I wish I could sit down with God and ask some questions.  I know I'm here to follow his plan, but I simply don't understand it sometimes."

I couldn't agree more.

I refuse to sincerely question my faith, but certain circumstances throughout my life have pushed me to come close.  Watching Caroline battle with her disease.......the distancing from my parents.......jobs lost......tragic news events........etc, etc......all make me wonder what lesson I should be learning.  I'm torn with how to explain the world to my kids.  Carter is old enough to ask mature, thought provoking questions now and sometimes I find myself like a deer in headlights, stumped with what he is asking of me.

Because, as a mom, I'm supposed to have all the answers.  To fix what is broken.  To make sense of a seemingly senseless situation.

Anyone else feel like this?

Advice?


6 comments:

Quinn, Allison, Rylee and Cailyn McNamara said...

No, you are not alone. Life is tricky! I believe that opposition and trials in life are there not only for us to learn and grow, but also so that we can appreciate the good things in life and feel joy; without experiencing the bad, the good wouldn't be meaningful.
Here are a couple articles that talk about this concept that I really like:
http://lds.org/liahona/1994/03/opposition-joy-and-the-nice-life?lang=eng&query=opposition+all+things
http://lds.org/ensign/1974/01/opposition-in-order-to-strengthen-us?lang=eng&query=opposition+all+things

Hope this is helpful! And, by the way, I don't think you have to be able to answer every question to be a good mom. Sometimes I think letting your kids see that you don't know everything but are trying your best is good for them. That's an example of real faith. A scripture from the Book of Mormon says:
21 And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.
-Alma 32:21

Love ya!

Quinn, Allison, Rylee and Cailyn McNamara said...

looks like my links didn't work...just copy and past them (:

starnes family said...

Thanks, Allison! I agree. I know that it is good to show our kids that we don't have all the answers. And, that our faith pulls us through.

Great links! (I don't know how to post them on comments, either!)

donatelli98 said...

I feel this way all of the time - especially as my children get older. But every once in a while a little miracle will happen and remind me that everything is going to be ok and the God doesn't give us any more than we can handle.

Tutus and Choo-Choos said...

Just be honest with your kids. We don't always have to know all of the answers. Tell them that we are learning right along with them.

Kristen said...

I don't have my own kiddos to answer to... yet... but I think about this stuff all the time. I babysit for 3 kids growing up. I was their only babysitter. I still keep in touch with them and love them with all of my heart. They used to ask the toughest questions and I wanted to give them all of the right answers back. But I think the best you can do is be honest. Carter's way beyond smart.... he'll respect you for having an opinion, and for talking it through with him, and for sometimes simply saying, "I just don't know." Isn't that the best lesson we can teach our kids? That no matter how much we want to figure it all out, sometimes we just don't have all the answers. And when that's the case, we carry on, stick to what we believe is right in our heart and do the best we can. You'll never give a wrong answer Case... you're way too awesome a mom and a human being for that.