Thursday, June 12, 2008

How fun!!

God has set my feet on a "new" path, and wow! I'm excited! Actually there's nothing really new, it's just that He's pulling all the pieces together so now I'm seeing a bigger picture!! Being in Utah, Mormonism, of course, is the prevelant religion. I realized I am a minority here. I have to say that it is VERY weird being part of a minority; gives me a whole new outlook on things. Anyway, being that we homeschool, we have tried to plug into the homeschool community. There are several groups that say they are non-denominational, however, when the population is mostly Mormon, the groups will obviously be heavily influenced by that, causing those of us who are not Mormon to feel.....well......lonely and kind of an outsider. My friend K and I have been tossing around the idea of a Christian homeschool group. There is one locally, but they are not really that active and just not that welcoming. We wanted....we needed fellowship. There's not an easy way to do this without stepping on toes, as Mormons also say they are Christian, though there beliefs are quite different from ours (one LDS lady referred to us as "traditional Christians".....strange, but at least it's a distinction). So we set up a yahoo group, took flak from some people as K advertised our group with some of the local homeschool groups. But then people started coming, and I was seeing that there were Christians out there trying to do it on their own, because they weren't getting the fellowship they needed and just didn't feel like they fit in anywhere (even Christian churches here are different.....it's hard to explain, but becuase of the heavy LDS influence, it has flavored even the Christian churches). Then we began getting requests from Mormon ladies, asking if they too could join!! This seemed surprising to me and at first I didn't know what to say, and then I realized it was NOT up to me, it was up to God. So we added some rules about ONLY quoting from the Bible but also that we would NOT tolerate slander or hate mail against Mormonism. As I wrote that up I realized what an awesome opportunity God was giving us to "love our neighbors as ourselves"!!! And the thankfulness from many of these LDS women is incredible.....as if they too, were thirsting for this thing! I love it!!! I am so excited that I can be me now, I don't have to hide that I'm a Christian, or shy away or what have you. That is so freeing to me! I am not Mormon and never plan to be, but I want to be able to walk among these women anyway and make friends and be a blessing to them! Wow!! Woohoo!!!

Now, as a disclaimer I have to say PLEASE do not comment on this post with anything against either the Mormon or the Christian faith. I am as aware as I feel I need to be of the differences and similarities and truly believe that God's got this covered. So, no fussin', okay? :)

Thanks for reading!

7 comments:

SomeOne said...

That is soooo Awesome!! I hope that God will make your new group flourish!

Pegi said...

I just finished reading The Shack. Perhaps you could recommend it to all your friends regardless of what they believe there is freedom within the pages. www.theshackbook.com tells you all about it. I cannot tell you how this book has affected me.
Love, Pegi

Adelia said...

Yes, yes, yes! This is so awesome Amy. My mom lived in SLC, Utah for a while and had some similar feelings as you describe. Way to step out and let your light shine! My mom homeschooled in Utah; she would have loved this. Like you said, there isn't really anything for christian homeschoolers! Yea for your group! Your also going on my prayer list...this is a great opportunity!

Adelia said...

And we are kindred spirits, my dear. Within a day of each other, we've posted on being a Christian, reaching out and Mormons...friends through the bloggie world...funny, huh?!

MaryLu said...

I've been lurking here for a while but your post really jumped out at me and I have to comment.
I was raised in a Mormon home in Idaho and my family (Mother and brothers ans sisters) has now since mostly moved to Utah. My husband and I settled there after a stint in the army and as a born-again Christ-follower, I felt very much stiffled, and I know what you mean about the weirdness of it all.
I encourage you to be a shining light in the darkness and I will uplift you in prayer as you share the love of Jesus to those sweet homeschooling Mormon neighbors of yours.
I'm bringing your blog to the top of my list, so I'll be checking back soon.
God bless you for your efforts.

MaryLu said...

Amy, my husband was a Chaplain's assistant for 17 years, then he felt called into the ministry as a Chaplain, actually the call came about 10 years ago, but God had work to do on my heart.
Being in the UMT, (Unit Ministry Team in the Army) is the best job there is. I'm sure it is a blessing in the Air Force as well.

Alyssa Fox said...

Love the hair that is cute.