My Faith

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Paul's description here (Hebrews 11:1) has always been my favorite. Too many people mix up definitions of hope, faith, and belief. It's a great discussion we can have some time and I really enjoy digging in to the scriptures on this topic because NOTHING is more important to me than "the first principle of the gospel." Without it, life (including family life) is useless and desolate. With faith, however, miracles happen.

How many times in my life was I forced (yep, it usually takes a big 2 x 4 board across my head before I see what's happening) to both find and utilize faith just to survive. It truly is a principle of action and so are all of it's applications. Having faith is so much more than belief (Alma 32). It's the moment when that belief transforms in to reality (substance). It's the moment when doubt disappears and you just KNOW that the mountain (of any kind) can be removed or that the ocean SHOULD turn in to land (1 Nephi 17:50). It's the moment you realize that if moving said mountain was correct that it would have already started occuring due to your faith. It's the moment during a Priesthood blessing that you can actually feel the healing happening right then, no matter which side of the experience you are on. It's the moment when doubt evaporates and leaves behind a perfect understanding of the situation, doctrine, person, or opportunity.

The people in my life fall in to three categories: Parent figures, siblings, and children. It is their understanding of faith which seems to most frequently define their relationship with me. My own parents do not have real faith so I seek to emulate those who do, like church leaders. My "siblings" include anyone I can learn to apply faith with more. This includes my friends and ultimately my wife-to-be. "Children" are those whom I am blessed to teach and demonstrate faith to regardless of how we meet or in what circumstances we interact. All of us are children of God who are each striving to know ourselves, and hopefully our Savior, better.

I have a LONG ways to go and definately need someone beside me who can help me to just remember myself. More importantly, however, I need someone whom I can serve. The biggest "hole" in my life right now is the absence of a woman that I can give everything that I am to. About the only real joy in my first marriage was the ongoing ability to serve someone I truly loved while she suffered through a long, debilitating illness. Our romance did not survive, obviously, but my character was forever changed by through the opportunities to give so much for so long. It was never enough, but that wasn't the point. It was, every time, "the substance of things hoped for" and I will never regret it.