Never Give up on Family Members

It's September 1st and you know what that means? It means it's the first day of celebrating familiy. Over the last little while I've thought a lot about my family and my extended family. I've also thought about families all over the world! It's made me appreciate what I have even more.

My post today is about never giving up on those family members we love who have made poor choices and have done things that you might not necessarily agree with.

I have never considered myself a judgemental person. But I think society as a whole is a little judgemental. It's honestly hard not to be, especially when we see people do stupid, stupid things.

I was one of those people who made some VERY bad choices in life. I had stopped going to church and became very outspoken about my "new" beliefs. No one understood how I could be so unbelieving about God and Jesus Christ. I struggled for a long time. I'm not going to go into the details. But there were several people who just wrote me off as a lost cause.

But there were a couple members of my family that never did. They were honest with me and said how they didn't understand but that they loved me and wanted me to be happy. LONG story short...my sister helped me sober up and clean up my life. I met with my Bishop and took all the steps toward repentance that I needed to.

I am living proof that Christ can change lives. I literally went from the pit of despair (think Alma the Younger) to having a VERY strong testimony of God and of Jesus Christ (again, think Alma the Younger). No, I didn't see angels but I had that mighty change of heart. It was so awesome!

I look back now and am amazed at how much my life has changed for the better. Trust me, my friends, NO ONE thought that this was possible. But it was. My family never "gave up" on me. They kept loving me and sharing their testimonies with me.

So keep loving them. It's never too late. No one is ever too far gone. Share your testimony with them. Invite them to activities. Love them. That doesn't mean that you have to love what they do but love them anyway. See the good. It's there, trust me.

I am so truly, truly happy right now. I ADORE my cute family.