light bulb

Did you ever have a moment where something so simple was brought to your attention and everything just fell into place in an instant?

Normally that kind of thing is left to novels and blockbuster movies,  but I experienced such a moment today.  Now I understand I am a simple person and some of you that read this may think to yourself, well duh!  

It doesn't matter because it's that special to me.

I've been raised in the church, I've always known it was true.  That it is the restored gospel on this earth in this day from the times of Christ ( THUS the name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints... because we are follower's of Christ in the latter days and our church has the restored keys that were in place during Christ's life and ministry.  How cool is that?)  Back to what I was saying, since I can remember, I have always been taught that I was a Child of God.  That I was His daughter and I had a divine nature.  This made me very special, but here's the kicker.  EVERYONE is a child of God.  He created us and He wants us to return to live with Him because we are His family.  I just assumed everyone was taught this.  I feel like we share a lot of similar beliefs with quote- unquote Christian faiths.  (LDS or more commonly known as "Mormons" are Christians, contrary to some popular Christian beliefs)  I was also taught about families (I understand to some people this may seem very elementary, but hang in there!  I promise this is going somewhere good.)  The church officially released a document pertaining to family in 1995 titled, "THE FAMILY:  A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD."  This is a big deal because our church typically does not send out proclamations to the world, but it felt this subject was extremely important and this document pretty much simplifies where we came from, who we are, and Heavenly Father's plan for us.  I highly recommend you read this.

So here comes the "A-ha" Moments or lightbulb.  I always assumed everyone knew they were a Child of God.  Didn't they?

We had a speaker today at church, and he relayed the following story to us.  He was watching a prominent pastor on a Christian broadcast tv station, and the pastor told the congregation,  "No one is born a child of God, its only after you choose to love and accept your Savior into your heart that He "adopts" you and acknowledges you as His child." (I'm thinking to myself, WHAT!?!?)  He then goes on to say, another preacher on the same channel, "that we were children of God" and then put his arms in the air and paused, and said, but not like the Mormons believe. "  Same station, two contradicting statements.  That should be a warning signal.

 The speaker at our church then went on to explain that this was the way Satan tried to deceive man by dis-inheriting him from Heavenly Father.  That they weren't really children of God therefore stealing Heavenly Father's identity as a separate and individual being from Jesus Christ, our Savior.  This goes back to the Nicene Creed.  Which just a brief history lesson, is pretty much in a nut shell, in 325 C.E. the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea (a council of men) who decided to define what God was and is.  This document is was what most Christian churches use as their guidelines, that Jesus is God in human form and that they are one being.  This is a whole other can of worms for some people, and those who'd like to debate,  I simply ask you to explain to me the situation of Jesus Christ praying to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He is a God of reason and He would not complicate things further by praying to Himself.  It just doesn't make sense to me that way.

So a couple things started to race through my mind.  WHAT! Not everyone knows they're a Child of God?  I couldn't imagine how I would face certain obstacles without this knowledge.  I know I am a Child of God, that I was created spiritually in the pre-existence and made the decision to come to earth and gain a body where I would be tried and tested and be able to progress in a mortal sphere.  That I have a Father in Heaven who loves me more than I could ever fathom and He knows me by Name.  He knows my heart and still loves me!  I know that I have a divine nature because of these things and I stand to inherit all that my Father has if I strive to live my life righteously and follow the commandments AND I know that even if I do everything perfectly (which I won't, already messed that up!)  I will still fall short BUT that's okay.  Because guess what?  I have an amazing Savior (who also happens to be my big brother since He is the Son of God and I am His child too) who made the decision to come to earth and set an example (as if living a perfect life wasn't amazing enough) AND then atone for my sins so that I would be able to repent of my mistakes and short comings so that I can be clean again and return to live with my Father in Heaven.  But even then, when Christ comes again and we will all be judged accordingly, our Savior, our brother, Jesus Christ will stand in for us and it is after all we can do and His grace that we can live with our Heavenly Father again.  Why am I telling you this?  BECAUSE I'm not the only Child of God.  If you are here on this earth, and you have a body.  THIS APPLIES TO YOU TOO!  You made the same choice I did.  God didn't just poof you here and say "have fun" and He most certainly did not send His children here and say if you live in a third world country, never even heard of Me and you die, you go to Hell.  That's horrible. It all goes back to we are ALL Children of God.  Regardless of what denomination or religion you are, you are HIS child and He loves you.  If you take nothing else from this whole post, please understand that you are His Child.

As it states in "THE FAMILY:  A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD.", the family is Central to the Creator's Plan.  In the Bible, in Genesis, it states we were all created in God's image.  God has a body just like us.  He also commanded Adam and Eve to go forth and multiply and replenish the earth. They were the first family on this earth.  So did God just decide, oh yeah.  You two will live together and have a kids and you'll be a family.  Did they have a purpose?  YES!  Families are so important.  This was another thing that came to my mind.  If people don't know they are children of God.  Do they also not know, that families are ordained of God and central to the Plan of Salvation?  Which made me wonder what people do believe?  What is the purpose of this life to Christians? Is it just to "be saved" and get others to "be saved"  because everything else would seem kind of pointless and waste of time, if that's all we were here for.  If they don't have the knowledge that families can be together, forever.  That this life is just a phase in our eternal progression.  It's a continuation of something that started before this earth was created and we will continue to progress in the next life.  It's not just a saying, " You need to know where you came from, to know where you're going."  It's really true.  Without the knowledge that I existed in the pre-existence with my Father in Heaven, and He created me and I learned and progressed there until my time to come to this earth.  And also that I have the opportunity to be here and to learn and progress and have a family!  And after its all said and done, I will have the opportunity (just like everyone else) to have eternal life. I don't know what I'd do or where I would be without that knowledge?  I would be searching for a purpose or the purpose of this life.  It's just wonderful to know Our Father in Heaven loves us and He wants all of his Children to return home to Him.  Everyone will have the opportunity to hear and be taught the gospel and have an agency to accept or deny it, if not in this life, the next life.  Children who die before they are baptized do not go to Hell.  And babies are not born sinners.  How can they sin when they can't do anything for themselves?  I can testify from personal experiences that being a newborn baby is the closest we ever have to perfection because we are fresh from our Heavenly Father and I know that a part of Heaven lingers in the those tiny bodies.

When Bella was born and I held her for the first time, it was an incredible spiritual experience.  I'd never held a more beautiful creature or felt so much love, not only for my child, but my child's love for me and it put the plan of salvation into a totally different but real perspective for me.  How a Father could watch and allow His son to suffer (I'm referring to the Atonement)  and endure that, for the greater good of His Children.  How much They love us to endure such anguish, when I couldn't fathom leaving my child for a second. During Bella's first couple weeks of life, there was such a sweet spirit in our home.  It was more than just a high of having a new baby and love that a parent has for a child. It was a time when I felt most in tune with the Spirit, where I could feel my Savior's love and my Heavenly Father's love for me.  It was a time where I truly knew I was a child of God and I was holding a Child of God, that had been sent to me to care for.  This just confirms my belief in that.

For those of you who have lost or are losing your loved ones and worry about them, their salvation, where they're going.  I know it's a sad time for you, and you miss them.  And while you have the belief that you'll see them, you may not know for sure.   But through the restored gospel, there is a way to know that you will be a family forever.  That even though they are no longer connected to the body that is buried in the ground, their spirit continues to exist and there are ordinances that can be done so that you can be sealed to your family for time and all eternity.

There have two families that I know within my church that have lost their children in the past year.  One family, their son died from an accidental choking from playing the choking game and the other, their daughter was killed by a drunk driver after taking the missionaries home from dinner.  Now in both instances, these parents could choose to be mad at God.  Mad at others.  Mad at themselves.  I'm not saying that they weren't upset because losing a child can be a very devastating thing.  BUT they had the comfort of knowing that they were sealed to their family and that they would see them again.  They had comfort in the gospel with that knowledge.  It's still a struggle and not something I would wish on anyone, but their children are in a happy place and they can rest knowing that one day they will be re-united.  I share this with you because I wish to offer you the opportunity of the same comfort.  If you have questions, I'd love to try to answer them and if I can't, then I will find out for you.

As I was telling the girls I teach earlier today, when we were talking about sharing the gospel with our friends, I explained to them, when you have something so wonderful and so awesome, you want to share it with others.  Especially when that something can help so much and mend broken hearts and put the puzzle pieces together for those searching for answers to questions that no one could answer before.  This gospel just makes sense. It's simple and true and anyone can understand it.  I just wanted to share with everyone who takes the time to read this, YOU are a Child of God.  You are His child and He loves you. If you take nothing else from the whole post, go away knowing that.  I know this won't reach out to the millions out there who don't know they're children of God too, but maybe you can pass it along.  Even if just one person that reads this, can truly discover where they came from and who they are, it's still worth it.  It's all worth it if they don't.

I apologize if I have never personally taken the time to talk to you, one on one about this.  Maybe the opportunity never came up or I was too shy to mention it to you, I'm not really that great with words, but I'm telling you now.  I'm sharing this with you now.  Because you are a child of God.  and I love you and I want you to know the same joy and happiness I know.  I want you to have the comfort that I have.  I want you to understand who you are and where you came from.  And I know that Heavenly Father wants the very same thing for you too!

All my love,
Ashley Howe