Why I Stay

 I recently read about a new Instagram account called "Why I Stay" by Emily Snyder. Its purpose is to tell real stories from real people about why they stay in their faith communities. Each post is from a different person telling their story about their relationship with God and their faith community, largely LDS, but also other faiths. I want to share my own Why I Stay for my very small blogging audience.

My faith helps me come closer to God. I first remember praying and receiving an answer when I was about 16 years old. Before then, I had just accepted that I needed to keep doing what my parents wanted me to do and what my church leaders told me I should do, without feeling much urgency to get my own answers from God. But when I was 16, I had a question that seemed very important at the time, so I prayed earnestly about it. And I got an answer that helped.

This personal relationship with God where I could recognize his voice progressed slowly but I kept praying and reading the scriptures. Sometimes I would read scriptures that spoke to me and gave me comfort. Over time, prayer has become a very important part of my life. My reliance on prayer became very strong when I gave birth to a premature baby who was sick in the hospital for five months. During this time, I started getting better at recognizing answers and recognizing when God was guiding my prayers. Prayer continues to be a big source of strength for me. I have had enough experiences hearing God's voice to answer the doubts that sometimes arise.

The scriptures also bring me closer to God. When I read them, God speaks to me and reminds me what really matters. They remind me that this life will end and I will meet God and need to tell him how I did with the gifts he gave me. They invite me to trust God. The more time I spend studying books and other sources that build my faith, the stronger it grows.

My faith helps me learn to love others.  My faith teaches me that I serve God by serving others. My faith is always challenging me to grow. Right now I help teach a youth class for 11-year-olds. I feel a great responsibility to help their parents teach them just as others help teach my children in so many ways.

I am also assigned to watch over a few other women in our congregation and I try to reach out to them regularly. My efforts are nothing spectacular but I continue to make them. We are regularly asked to do things like helping people move or providing food for a funeral or other types of service. I have also been the recipient of a lot of service. We definitely don't do it perfectly but we keep trying.

My faith helps me feel a part of something bigger. A few years ago, I listened to a church leader talk about helping refugees and I was prompted that I should be doing something so we started making small efforts. My church takes significant donated funds and serves people all over the world. I feel so happy about the work they do with our donations at a level I couldn't even begin to do.

Sometimes people struggle with policies or other problems they see at church but I haven't had those struggles. I see that God is willing to work through imperfect people doing their best with the knowledge and light they have and I'm so thankful to be a part of it.