Deep Breath and Prayer

Personal Progress  (PP). The infamous "Young Women's goal setting program" every LDS female youth gets introduced to between the ages of 12-18. The program has changed several times since I was 12, but it still remains an excellent program. In my time, it was completely goal based. There were six "areas of focus" in which you developed personal goals each year then worked with your leaders to complete and check off on them. You would get certificates and upon full completion, a really cool medallion. My family went inactive when I was almost 14. It was hard to be away from the YW program. Even though I didn't have a lot of friends, I enjoyed how I felt when I was at church. Thank goodness for girl's camp each summer and basketball many of the winters. These were my social lifelines, my personal progress was my spiritual one. I didn't return to church regularly until I went to collage. Within a few weeks of being back, I was asked to work with the you...

When I was finishing my undergrad (all hail the non-traditional student) I took a weekend class where we watched the movie "When a Man Loves a Woman." Can't remember the name of the class, but I remember the movie. I had seen the movie a few years before. This is the one with Meg Ryan fighting alcoholism and being in rehab and the effect on her family, etc. I remembered we watched part of the movie Friday and finished it on Saturday. What I also remember was the effect watching it had on me. I remember it being very difficult to watch. It stirred up emotions and I felt very uncomfortable sitting there. Although not parallel with the events shown in the movie, I related all too well to the emotional message coming through. It was emotion overload and I felt trapped in it. It stirred feelings that I had already mastered burying and it was not pleasant. I remember keeping my head down most of the time. Although I could still hear the dialog, not having to see it too took awa...

Dear Blewy,  Although you may not be at a place yet where you will believe the things I am about to say, I wanted to take the time to write it. Your recent travels and work placed you in situations where it may not have been comfortable after the things you have been through lately, but you really stepped up and took them on like a champ. Not sure if you realized that or not, but you did. You have come so far in the past few months. I hope you are able to feel the growth and change. I know every day is still scary, but I hope that your fear starts to diminish. If you look back, do it with caution and find the growth. Do not measure it. Do not judge it. There are no expectations. Remember what Zina used to say, it is not the time it takes but the forward progression that counts. You are not alone in this. Know that God has placed angels around you to protect and strengthen you. Some you cannot see while others physically cross your path on a regular basis. Listen closely with your h...