Faith, The Ultimate Journey to Peace

Have you ever wondered if faith is the answer to finding peace? We see little peace in this life. Our world is full of sorrow, suffering, and strife. So, is faith the answer? We don’t want to forfeit our intellect just to gain faith. We want a peace that includes both our mind and our heart.

I was fortunate, as a small child, my mother taught me to pray. I do not remember a time when I did not believe in a Heavenly Father. In my innocence, I felt confident of God’s love and “talked” with Heavenly Father daily. This assurance gave me peace, a childlike peace, with little real understanding.

From this childlike innocence, I saw the world without the complexity of adulthood. To me everything seemed to fit together. I saw miracles all around me. Things like the rotation of the earth, how our bodies worked, the cycle of the seasons. Even rain inspired me to believe in a loving Heavenly Father.

As an adult I realized that childlike faith is beautiful but not sufficient.

It was clear to me someone much smarter than I was, created this wonderful world.

Even as a teenager, I maintained my faith and was surprised to discover not everyone believed in God. I was naïve and often felt foolish for my unflinching faith in the face of reality. Because life is not always clean and beautiful. Bad things do happen, even to good people.

Yet, I still believed there had to be a God. The world itself seemed to testify that there was a God. Something or someone who managed everything.

I felt out of place when ministers gave me strange looks at my curious questions. They often brushed me off with comments like, “there are things we are not meant to understand.” or “That’s just a mystery.” I simply could not accept those answers.

Shortly after I turned 17 my faith was sorely tested. During my senior year of high school, my mother died unexpectedly. A few weeks later my father also died suddenly.

I was left alone. Now was a test of my faith. Did I believe Jesus could take both my parents and still love me? Was this fair? No! It wasn’t fair. All my dreams had vanished. I couldn’t think of my past. All my memories included my parents. The memories were just too painful. I struggled in a strange limbo. I became a numbed shell, unable to think.

It was winter, the beaches were deserted. I would sit for hours in the sand, wrapped in a blanket, lost in my grief, listening to the rhythm of the waves. My swirling emotions plunging my mind into utter confusion. I wanted to both remember and forget. I knew I would never see them again in this life. I stared at the water my heart in knots, wondering where they were.

My future was still uncertain. My Grandfather came to care for me. But I felt uncomfortable talking to him. So, I was left to cry to my Heavenly Father for comfort and guidance. I knew in my heart He was watching over me.

This experience of losing my parents and learning to rely on God, spurred me on in my quest for answers. I began to study different religions, including Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. Still unable to find the answers I sought, I returned to the familiarity of the Bible I knew.

After high school, I attended Florida Bible College. I used their extensive library as a companion to my Bible studies. While reading The Bible and Archaeology

I realized many modern discoveries scientifically proved the Bible. That gave me hope that I could eventually find the answer to my many questions.

I had been comforted by the thought that Jesus would guide me if I would try to follow his teachings. I soon married the man who would be my husband and companion for the next 55 years. He returned to heaven in the fall of 2020. As you can imagine, I miss him dreadfully. John was the love of my life. Together we studied the Scriptures and learned to rely on God to strengthen our relationship and guide our parenting.

 As one of us gained an insight, we shared it with the other. We had a wonderful relationship. The more we studied the Scriptures, the more we appreciated what Jesus Christ had done for us. We both grew to have a deep love for Jesus, the Holy Ghost, and Heavenly Father.

Together we raised five children and enjoyed being surrounded by 16 grandchildren and a growing number of great-grandchildren. We shared our love of Jesus, and Heavenly Father with our children and grandchildren.