Saturday, March 1, 2008

Eating a piece of humble pie

I have to say that the hardest thing I have had to deal with so far was spending time with my wife's family after we told everyone that we were leaving the LDS Church. She is the only member of her family and at the time of her baptism, her family was very opposed to the idea of her becoming Mormon. She showed great strength and courage to go against her family's wishes. It is because of that decision that we met several years latter. Had she backed out at the last minute, we would not have met.

Over the past 8 years, they have asked various questions about the church. Some were simple while others involved what members like to call, "deep doctrine". Since I met them, I have spent an enormous amount of time defending the church, trying to convince them that we believed in many of the same things they did and that Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Book of Mormon was a true book of scripture.

Talk about having to "eat crow"! About a week ago, we spent some time at her mom's house and the topic of religion came up. That was of course no big surprise. I could not help feel a bit embarrassed at the fact that I had spent so much time defending something that I now think is rubbish.

To their credit, they have been nothing but understanding and supportive. I have not heard one negative word come out of their mouths regarding the church or my repeated defense of what I then believed. I must say that I respect them so much more for the way they have handled the situation. They could have easily thrown all of my certainty back in my face but they have taken the higher road and that has made all the difference.

4 comments:

  1. Thats got to be hard. I'm glad her family has been supportive. They could easily make it hard on you, but they seem to respect your ideas and and maybe respect you more since you have shown them that you can change your mind about something when you look at it logically.

    Are they religious at all?

    ReplyDelete
  2. They are Christian through and through. They go to different churches but are very strong belivers. The way they have reacted has just strengthened my thought that the LDS church definitely does not have a monopoly on being good like many members think.

    ReplyDelete
  3. all i can say is it is a great honor to have you in our family - we have never had anything but the utmost respect for you both as a family man and as a leader - you are a credit to our family - thank you for your kind words

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your family sounds like a great support system. I am happy for you that you learned the truth, and I hope you have a smooth transition!

    ReplyDelete