Since the announcement of the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple in April of 2020 (and for months before the announcement actually), my family and I have been on quite the journey.
In the last 5 years, I have been serving with all my heart as Communication Director for the Pittsburgh North Stake. Through all of this, I came to understand that the Lord sees to every detail of the building of His temples, and I have grown and changed in so many ways under His tutelage.
I have worked closely with many awesome people in our town, and I've been humbled to work side-by-side with amazing people from every faith and organization in my area.
I developed photography as a personal hobby and have taken thousands of photos of the temple, its construction from start to completion, special visitors, and my favorite, landscape photos that include the temple. It has been amazing for my soul to watch how the temple has blessed our family. I am in awe of all of it.
During that time, I have not blogged.
As technology moved away from blogging, and as my son became a very controversial online presence with literally millions of followers, I just focused on sharing my testimony in my own life and on my personal social media circles. That has fed my need as a journalist to express myself and fostered many close relationships with people of all walks of life, for which I am so grateful.
As of right now, I am just recovering my blog, as my previous domain name (www.wetalkofchrist.com) got scooped up by someone else (probably when my payment method expired, and I didn't notice).
Because of trolls online who want to "beef" with my son and what he stands for, I and my blog have been periodically attacked, which at first I found deeply hurtful and unfair. And since the content of this blog and the memories of my kids when they were younger and the lessons that I taught them are so well-documented on this blog, I am protective of it. Given this, I am contemplating just what to do with my blog.
I realized when my blog was unexplainably down for a while, that I rely on this site as a reference for recipes, thoughts, and lessons I have shared. I found it annoying when I couldn't easily access it. And periodically, I still receive very kind emails from people thanking me for certain posts.
So, that is the update. I am still here. Still in the faith. STRONGER THAN EVER....despite difficult challenges that are just part of mortality, challenges that have seasoned me and brought me depth and wisdom that comes when children become teens and teenagers become adults.
Since it relates to this blog, I will share one more thought.
This blog was founded on one scripture: 2 Nephi 25:26, which says:
And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.
As I have watched my children move from that innocent, pre-baptism season of life, to the season of accountability and of trial and error, this scripture, that always guided my efforts as a parent became even more vital to me.
And I realized that I didn't fully understand it when they were little.
When my children were small and incapable of committing sin, I focused mainly on the joy that talking of and preaching about Christ with them brought me. And the last bit of this scripture, frankly, didn't seem to match the rest of this joyful passage.
But when my kids started making their own choices, I finally understood that the last lines "that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins," was not out of place at all. It was not mistakenly "tacked on" to the end of the passage...it WAS the point.
The point of decades (now) that my husband and I spent "talking of Christ" with our children was so that when the time came, we could have faith that our children are in God's hands now and that they would KNOW to what source they CAN look for a remission of their sins.
I am so grateful for this understanding that has taken me about a decade of difficult experiences to truly grasp. But my faith in Christ has grown, not waned.
And through it, my new Mom-mantra has become:
"I raise them. Jesus Saves them."
I don't try to do His job, because that would be very frustrating and frankly impossible. But I can keep doing my job and increase my faith by remaining calm and waiting and watching as His great plan for all of HIS children unfolds over time.
I trust that the Creator of us all, has the ability to bring ALL of His Children Home...in His time.
I am grateful for every woman, sister, and friend I have made over the decade of blogging that I did here.
Thank you for supporting me with your comments and friendship and helping me grown spiritually as well.
XO, and Merry Christmas, Friends!
