Azalea & Will - Just wanted to let you know that I've been thinking of you and hope all is well.
Yep, Josh & Lolly's Voices of Hope video was really great. I am so excited about this project, and appreciate the authenticity of how they are doing it, without someone 'grilling' questions, and just letting them talk (with very few cut aways - so we know it's not heavily edited)..
Azalea - you and your husband should not be allowed to volunteer at an LGBT center for youth. They need role models who don't feel that being in a gay relationship is against god's will. I imagine you didn't mention that to the coordinators when you started volunteering there.
Actually they just need people who love and accept them for who they are. That we can do. I don't think we have to agree with each other 100% of the time, on all things, to love and help one another.
I have friends who have all types of beliefs and I can love them for who they are. The coordinators do know that my husband is SSA, it's obvious that we are married and that we have a family and I am pretty sure our applications said we were LDS.
Azalea, I honor you and Will for your community service, and for the love, acceptance, and support you show to the LGBT youth.
I am certain that the LGBT Youth Center community consists of many unique and different individuals with all types of desires, beliefs, and ideas. It would be narrow minded and disrespectful for anyone to assume that ALL LGBT youth are alike,... or, that they ALL have the same ideas, concerns, problems, questions, etc.,... or, that ALL their needs will be met in the same way.
I would imagine that the leaders of the LGBT Center for Youth are more open minded, more accepting of ALL individuals, and have more respect & understanding towards all lifestyles, ideas, opinions, and beliefs than the 'Anonymous' individual above.
Anon presumes to know what type of role models the youth need, but through my experience and education in 'volunteering' I know that it is not necessary or wise to attempt to 'hand pick' volunteers for any organization, because you never know when two individuals will 'click' with each other, (in spite of there differences), and, the bottom line is exactly what you stated Azalea - they just need people who love them.
Several years ago when I worked as a Volunteer Coordinator I was often very thrilled to see the pure unconditional love that some volunteers had for the individuals they served,(even those who were so very different than them), and I was sometimes surprised to see the special connections that developed between some unique and 'different' individuals.
As for Anon's interest in the LGBT youth..... I wonder if she is truly concerned for ALL LGBT youth, because there could very well be some (or even one) individual there who would genuinely relate to you and Will and your beliefs - and ultimately find comfort and hope through an association with you two. The alternative path (or option) that your lives/marriage represents might save a suicidal LGBT youth's life. Hopefully anon would be happy for ANY LGBT youth's life to be saved, and for that individual to find their hope and peace as they define themself into what feels most authentic and complete for them.
I’m writing this in hopes that it will help clear my mind and because I need to do something. I need to act, more than I have. I just spent some time sobbing on my bathroom floor as frustration and a mess of other emotions overwhelmed me. I just listened to Elder Oaks’ talk on where God wants me to stand on the topic of Gay Marriage. And I believe all that he said. I truly do. I have already thought through and lived with the bulk of his statements. I am a gay man, married to a woman, with children of my own. I have seen the blessings of being married to a woman and I will affirm the importance of it to anyone who asks with no proof other than what I have experienced in my own life. But it is still a challenge, sometimes a daily challenge to wade through the complexities of living as a man who is sexually attracted to men instead of women. At times I feel as if I am single handedly sparing with generations of social stigmas and beliefs about how I should act and what I shou
Edited and updated. I've always tried to portray a very positive attitude when writing about my husband being SSA. For the most part that is very accurate. There are hard things too. The longer we are it though the more I realize that all marriages are just as hard. We all have trials that we go through to make us stronger and ours is no different. I think as long as a SSA person has learned to have healthy relationships with their same gender and they keep strong in their marriage then it is no different than being in a “normal” marriage which also will always have its issues too. As Will has grown emotionally he has taken more notice of people and their reactions/actions to people around them and now understands them better too. He has noticed that some guys he is around, really like being around girls. Yes, obviously, but let me explain more. He and a good straight guy friend, who both enjoy each other’s company, will be talking alone. A gal will walk in and the gu
I originally wrote this early October, 2012. It's now eight months later. I feel like I have slowed down and stabilized but that has brought it's own challenges. More on that later. So the complications of affection and intimacy have been weighing on my mind this week. I feel that I’m confused about what is right and I am hoping that writing it down will help. As I’ve talked to Wrylon about some of it, she answers in such a matter of fact way that I am envious of the clarity that has been gifted to her. However I must admit that I enjoy the complexities and facets of life. She sees the diamond and that it is beautiful, I look at each cut and facet and how the reflections play off each other, dividing the light and creating rainbows. I'm not sure what I wanted to say but suddenly my thoughts are clouded. Clarity is replaced with a fog. I want to push on, to try and to pursue this line of thought, to chase the thought that has just eluded me. But I can’t. To do
Azalea & Will - Just wanted to let you know that I've been thinking of you and hope all is well.
ReplyDeleteYep, Josh & Lolly's Voices of Hope video was really great. I am so excited about this project, and appreciate the authenticity of how they are doing it, without someone 'grilling' questions, and just letting them talk (with very few cut aways - so we know it's not heavily edited)..
anyway, have a great weekend you two. :)
Azalea - you and your husband should not be allowed to volunteer at an LGBT center for youth. They need role models who don't feel that being in a gay relationship is against god's will. I imagine you didn't mention that to the coordinators when you started volunteering there.
ReplyDeleteActually they just need people who love and accept them for who they are. That we can do. I don't think we have to agree with each other 100% of the time, on all things, to love and help one another.
DeleteI have friends who have all types of beliefs and I can love them for who they are. The coordinators do know that my husband is SSA, it's obvious that we are married and that we have a family and I am pretty sure our applications said we were LDS.
They are happy to have the help.
Azalea, I honor you and Will for your community service, and for the love, acceptance, and support you show to the LGBT youth.
DeleteI am certain that the LGBT Youth Center community consists of many unique and different individuals with all types of desires, beliefs, and ideas. It would be narrow minded and disrespectful for anyone to assume that ALL LGBT youth are alike,... or, that they ALL have the same ideas, concerns, problems, questions, etc.,... or, that ALL their needs will be met in the same way.
I would imagine that the leaders of the LGBT Center for Youth are more open minded, more accepting of ALL individuals, and have more respect & understanding towards all lifestyles, ideas, opinions, and beliefs than the 'Anonymous' individual above.
Anon presumes to know what type of role models the youth need, but through my experience and education in 'volunteering' I know that it is not necessary or wise to attempt to 'hand pick' volunteers for any organization, because you never know when two individuals will 'click' with each other, (in spite of there differences), and, the bottom line is exactly what you stated Azalea - they just need people who love them.
Several years ago when I worked as a Volunteer Coordinator I was often very thrilled to see the pure unconditional love that some volunteers had for the individuals they served,(even those who were so very different than them), and I was sometimes surprised to see the special connections that developed between some unique and 'different' individuals.
As for Anon's interest in the LGBT youth..... I wonder if she is truly concerned for ALL LGBT youth, because there could very well be some (or even one) individual there who would genuinely relate to you and Will and your beliefs - and ultimately find comfort and hope through an association with you two. The alternative path (or option) that your lives/marriage represents might save a suicidal LGBT youth's life. Hopefully anon would be happy for ANY LGBT youth's life to be saved, and for that individual to find their hope and peace as they define themself into what feels most authentic and complete for them.
Thank you I Define Me for those thoughts.
ReplyDelete~Azalea