Skip to main content

I care about you

I don’t care about your crumbs or your disheveled mess. I care about you. 

I don’t care that you yelled at your kids or that you are running late. I care about you.

I don’t care that the baby is crying or that there are dirty diapers on the floor. I care about you.

I don’t care that you don’t have any children. I care about you.

I don’t care that your marriage is difficult or easy or non existent. I care about you.

I don’t care that you don’t share the same religious beliefs as me. I care about you.

I don’t care that all you accomplished today was taking a shower. I care about you.

I don’t care that you didn’t take a shower. I care about you.

I don't care that you make different choices from me. I care about you.


I care about you and am not blind to a mess or differences at some level but it's not my focus; I know how many variables go into our choices & I'm here to help wherever you’re at. What do you want & how can I help you get there?

A quote from Dr Finayson-Fife states

"I believe in a God who values us for what we do with what we are given

not one who judges us for aspects of ourselves that we have no control over.

God created us and loves us for who we are in all of our diversity & difference."

She was talking to the LGBTQ+ community in this podcast, who may feel a larger disparity between group norms & their persona reality, but could also be applied to anyone who has felt the sting of being different due to their beliefs, race, gender or anyone tempted to live falsely in an attempt to keep others happy with us. We cannot be at peace when we mask who we are, she said. 

I may not be able to speak to many lived experiences, but I can speak to who God wants us all to become. Sometimes we think our path should mirror each other, but I think we can seek to mirror Christ & yet still find ourselves largely unique & diverse. God created variation & it's beautiful when we seek to understand each other & how we can serve each other when not busy stuck in comparisons & frustrations.

I've been questioning unconditional love recently & whether or not I have it. I get frustrated every day with the choices of my husband, my children or myself. I often feel like I need to correct their choices, but it often leaves me reflecting on how God teaches; how does he correct while always extending love? What is love? Sometimes it's easier to understand it with strangers than the people we live with & why is that? 

But God is love. He gives us commandments & a Savior. He gives us our agency & the gift of the Holy Ghost. He gave us a path and a way back to it. We all look very different on & off this path, and that's where it feels subjective & potentially confusing. 


If we want true love, we have to want Him, who He is. We have to want to become like Him, through this ever evolving process of getting on the path & using grace to get back on it again & again. When we truly feel His love, we all of a sudden seek to extend it. However, that process usually begins with humility. It's rare to seek something you don't want or think you need. We have to want Him; we have to realize we need Him.

The Unshaken account shared that high diversity & high devotion is a community that can create a lot of confrontation if we don't have human interaction that facilitates human connection. Pres Nelson has encouraged mutual respect & dignified dialogue; let's allow for growth. We all need it. Trust God can teach us in a million different ways, what we need to become.

I know we can create a Zion community where we are. It may seem impossible, but I know Joseph Smith sought that for the Saints, and some understood it. But Satan will stir us up any chance we give him. The blessing we have is power in the name of Jesus Christ, we can choose to set aside our defensiveness, our need to be right, our need to appear perfect, our insecurities, our addictions, our preferences and anything else that pushes us away from Him. 

We can care about who the person is first. And we can leave assumptions & frustrations with God and a Savior, Jesus Christ, because fairness in this life isn't the goal. Love is.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

There is a Plan for That

  Perhaps I'm ready to begin again, again. I struggle to add more words to the universe & I feel the same with photos. I let two of my passions die, both rather abruptly. My posts used to write themselves, I felt so guided in what God needed me to say. But this past year, my words have been removed. I moved from this blog over to Instagram as a better place to connect, but then everything became a distraction, and even the good distractions soon became too overwhelming. I can't possibly do every craft or recipe I've saved at this point. Unfortunately, I became painfully aware of my addictive attachment to my algorithm & lost much of my peace & productivity because of it. Satan knew, but I was too slow to recognize complacency & emptiness disguised as creative options & worldly debates. "The days are gone that you can be a quiet and comfortable Christian." I am definitely not raising quiet Christians, but perhaps we are still trying to be too co...

Our Baby Story - Alexis

Alexis Jane Smith 04.27.13 - 5:16PM 8lbs 15oz - 22.5 inches brown hair, undetermined (blue) eyes NB clothes are too tight You hate diaper changes You love being swaddled You are a piranha for food Your skin is perfect You sleep better with noises You came out sucking on your fingers But luckily you're not a scratcher Basically, we think you're perfect. First day at home photo Dear Lexi,  We couldn't handle holding you inside my stomach for another minute. We made an appointment when the contractions never came. Things were changing, but you were still 7 days late. Maybe we were eager parents, but now that we have you in our arms, we understand why, really understand. You're amazing . By the time we showed up at your 6 AM hospital appointment to be induced, I was already 3.5 cm dilated & 90% effaced & having mild contractions. So mild I thought I might have had high pain tolerance because I didn't feel th...

We're patiently waiting

Picture Mr Smith putting together the pack-n-play. He was so cute. Mostly when he had to read the directions. Do we have a child? Don't ask such silly questions. Hopefully it won't collect too much dust in 5.5 months. We're ready now . . . (but not really) It has a changing thing and a removable bassinet that vibrates.  I'm okay with not needing a changing table.  It will probably mean we won't get a crib for awhile too.  Next we need to hear from our baby/exercise friends a good car seat & jogging stroller (maybe ones that work together)... Any favorites? Then a blanket . . . Then a breast pump . . . Then a diaper bag. . .  Then lots of diapers, toys & cute clothes.  And even a mobile.  Then they get older and there's even more things. Mr Smith is just so thrilled. I'd love to hear about any products that you recommend/absolutely love having. Here is one thing you can do to annoy Mr Smith: go ...