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.