What if?

What if there is no God? 

What if there was no reason to wake up tomorrow and go to work, what if there was no reason to work to earn money to support your family, what if there was no reason to support a family to raise them to believe in a higher power--really--what if there was no, dare I say it again, God?

Its not a question that most Utahns ask themselves. A lot of us think, "Well, what would I do with my social life on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday morning and Sunday?" "What would I teach my children, and how do I give them excitement for what lies ahead?" It's too much to think about...so some are stuck going through the motions. 

C.S. Lewis is one of my most favorite quotable authors. He has one of the best arguments about Atheism...and I'll just paraphrase for now. He explains that Atheism turns out to be too simple...for if there was no such thing, wouldn't have we already found out there was nothing to believe in the first place? My personal, Monican belief about men and women who claim to be "atheist," (because there is no such thing anyway--think about it) is they haven't yet invested the time to ponder on what's around them. And let me throw it back to this: if you are just going through the motions as a Member of the Church, is it any different than as if you were an atheist?

There is no way that God would put us on earth to be robots. We would be boring, and not to mention, so not attractive. We wouldn't even be here in the first place if that was the case. We have to put in the time to believe in God to make this a worthwhile experience. It's also not a one-time event where we get a gold star on our foreheads that says, "Hey, everyone, just so you know, I believe in God," and call it good. It is a daily occurrence, and when you think you're not making any progress...is when you're making the most. 

Lewis sums my whole thesis statement with this:

"I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan's to lead it. I'm going to live like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."

I haven't seen God as a Mortal. I haven't heard His voice, and I definitely haven't seen His finger touch any stones, but...oh boy, do I know that He is real. He is more real than reality itself.

I know that because of one question I ask myself daily: What if there is a God?"

Snow Patrick's Day.

Meanwhile, in D.C...

Seriously, I don't get it. It would benefit the nation greatly if they would take some lessons from what we do in Utah. There is four inches outside people. FOUR. Which is the same number of snow days we've taken this year. 

I even had my St. Patrick's Day outfit all planned out. I guess I'll just have to wait and wear it tomorrow. 

#FirstWorldProblems.

23 years young.

In Provo years, I'm 30. But to the rest of the world, I'm just 23!

This whole weekend was celebratory...really, because any excuse we can find to celebrate, I'm totally there.  Linda's birthday was on Monday, so we made a week out of it. On her birthday, this was the message I received:

And then on my birthday...

Now, you understand. It was just a great week. I think I'll just continue to let pictures tell the story.

That was for the night of the 14th. As for the 15th...

Little Bobby's baptism--how wonderful it is to have family close by.

Yeah, we can't believe we live here, either.

Manhattan.

This is my blog, so I can put whatever I want on here. And I'm just a little bit proud of this right now, okay? I fell in love with this song the first week I got off my mission. I really had no one to sing it to, but what got me were the lyric choice and perfection in chords that matched the mood so gently. The second that I heard it, I knew I had to learn it on the piano. Nothing that a little Ultimate-Guitar.com can't fix. Anyway, I'm a little bit obsessed with Sara Bareilles, so here is her one and only...Manhattan.
 

Oh, it is wonderful.

I am so simply amazed at how much Heavenly Father knows that I don't. That may seem completely, blatantly obvious. But think about it...

via: pinterest.com

HE MADE THAT. From all the stars in the world, all of the planets that didn't just "happen" to come together...my Father knows me. Not only does He know me, but He loves me perfectly, too. And it's not something He just learned overnight.

I recently finished a book entitled, "The God Who Weeps." No, it's not a sad book at all, don't worry! It's specifically for those who love to think a little bit deeper about how much God really knows you. I would highly recommend it. It taught me more clearly that He is a person, He is your Father, and He gets it.

There is a whole grand scheme of things that is specifically tailored to each of us. None of us understand it all, nor have the same Grand Plan, and it's up to us if we actually get there. We let go completely of our will, and turn it over to Him. But guess what? When you do that--He gives you more than you could ever dream possible. I've trained myself to think when something bad happens, I never feel like He has ever let me down. I feel as if He has lifted me up to a higher plane of thought and opportunity. And that is the best feeling in the world.

It really all comes down to one word: hope. He knows what you want. He just wants to turn it into something even better.