Eric Poulin

Posts Tagged ‘ongoing faith’

Let me start by saying that there are many people who would have us shaken from our faith. There are those who don’t understand why we believe and fight against what they don’t undestand. There are those who do understand us and fight even harder to destroy us. Let me just say that the adversary is very real and would shake us from any faith in God, and all the more so when faith is founded on true principles. During my conversion I read nearly all of the anti-Mormon material that was available and found it all to be rubbish.

I had a conversion that – to me – really anchored me in my faith. It’s not a really exciting story and doesn’t sound interesting unless you lived it as I have…  So, I thought rather than tell my conversion story, it might be more interesting to talk about why I continue to believe – on a week to week, day to day basis. Why do I have a faith that drives me to action and causes me to live my life in a way that many would consider constrained?

One of the ways I like to set up a persuasive argument is to first set the stage for the opposing view and then explain why that reasoning is faulty. I figured we could try that in my brief remarks. Let me set the stage for one reason why I might not be compelled to believe, in fact, why it’s so inconvenient to believe and then I’ll talk about why I bother exert the time and effort to continually overcome these real concerns.

As some of you know I am an employee turned entrepreneur. I am trying to get 3 businesses off the ground which keeps me more than fully occupied. To put it lightly, time is a premium resource for me – as in there isn’t enough of it. Until these businesses are actually making money, anything that takes time from this work makes me feel like I am not providing for my family. For this reason, I tend to be very selfish and guarded with my time.

As we all know being a member of this church is not without its time commitments. Many of you will remember that I served as Bishop for 5 years before our current Bishop. That is a HUGE time commitment. After that I was working with the youth, which while it’s a very rewarding responsibility, the time commitments were also quite large. I was recently called to a responsibility that doesn’t take up too much of my time, however, at the same time, Robin was been called to a responsibility that takes even more time than my previous calling used to take, which results in me having less time for work than I used to – since time when she is gone with her responsibilities I am alone in charge of our 5 girls – and you can imagine how I don’t end up getting much work done when that happens 🙂

Add that to the time it takes to do Home Teaching, attend Relief Society meetings, Priesthood meeting, trainings, activity girls, primary activities, lesson prep, scripture study, and never working on Sundays…. that’s a LOT of time required for active membership in the church. That’s a lot of time that my competitors are working on building their businesses and I cannot.

Yet, week after week, I never work on Sundays, I attend these meetings, try to magnify my calling and support Robin in her calling. Why? I often ask myself this very question 🙂

The answer is  – it’s a matter of perspective  and priority.

My faith gives me many unique perspectives different from the average person. Even different from other Christians, but hopefully common amongst members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I’ll review just 3 of them that immediately came to mind.

PERSPECTIVE #1) I know that God has a plan for all of us. As part of that plan I know I am here on Earth to go through some trials and to prove to myself whether or not I merit a greater reward. This perspective helps me know that true success is not found in the accumulation of wealth, the creation of amazing products, or in anything I can create with my hands or skill. True success is achieved by living my life in a way that is in harmony with Gods Laws and His plan for me. Having an eye single to the glory of WORK is not going to get me where I truly want to go. I need an eye single to the glory of God. This knowledge comes with it specific responsibilities, such as living how I know I should and teaching my family these things. It should also be telling others about this truth that I know. I invited about 30 people to attend tonight. As we can see by looking around, not everyone is looking for truth…

PERSPECTIVE 2) I know that my relationship with my wife and family is an eternal one. Unlike others who may feel like relationships exist only to satisfy personal gratification and when things get a little rough, you can just move on to the next temporary gratification, I know that these relationships are to be nurtured, constantly cared for and worthy of sacrifice. These relationships will last for eternity and decisions I make day to day will affect that relationship. It’s one that I cannot and will not simply cancel. I know that rough times are part of my test and enduring them well while helping my family endure well will be a blessing to me for all time. When difficulties arise in a relationship, never is divorce, separation or other such things even an option. This perspective makes me work on solutions to problems, makes me work on effective communication and conflict resolution rather than fighting and dreaming of freedom from a hard problem. In fact, because of this perspective, I rarely have any disputations at all. A little perspective goes a long way.

PERSPECTIVE 3) I know that God is not dead, but lives, and is a continual source of inspiration and direction for me – so long as I live my life in a way that allows me to tap into that communication.

A recent example that demonstrates a process that has happened over and over again for me.

Recently, we sold our home to fund further development and nurturing of our business endeavors. This was a HUGE decision for us, one that would affect our entire families future and needless to say we were very anxious about it. After considering the options and coming to what we felt was the right decision, we held a family council, explaining to the kids what we were thinking. This meant a school change for them and moving to a new neighborhood, so their feedback and support was essential. They all agreed with us. Together we had a prayer to help us know if this decision would be right for us and then we went on our way. Not 30 seconds later, I had a wash of peaceful calm wash over me, which I know was an answer from God indicating that we had come to a good decision. Then we moved forward without reservation. This self-same experience has happened at every major decision point in my adult life. God truly does direct us if we let Him. Inspiration from God is very real and I both appreciate and depend on  it to help me make good choices. I know that God has not put me here to fail, but to succeed and He wants me to be successful and guides me to that end. This perspective makes me want to live my life in such a way as to qualify for this guidance. To qualify for this guidance I follow His plan and keep his commandments.

These 3 perspectives, along with others we don’t have time to discuss, change the priorities I have in life.

When I have urges to work instead of do those things I should be doing, I remember the famous saying that “No success can compensate for failure in the home.” Or, put another way… At your funeral no one is going to comment on how you were at work every day and did such quality work. Our legacy is how we live. These perspectives help me properly prioritize my life.

I continue to believe because I know that these perspectives are true and correct – and I allow these perspectives to guide my priorities. Over the past 3-4 years, I’ve spent a lot of time studying self-development material – all of which completely agrees with the tenets of the gospel of Jesus Christ which I know and love. It is amazing to me that so much self-development material takes pieces of what Jesus taught and focuses on small parts of it. I love what President Hinckley once said when being interviewed – In the church we welcome all truth and say to all – bring your truth to us and let’s see if we can add to it.

Many people get socially converted to the gospel before a spiritual one. I personally do not have a high need for social interaction, however, the examples of the many faithful people around me inspire me to do more, to be better… and I know that my family is continually blessed by all of you.

For these reasons and a compelling inner sense of right and direction, I continue to believe.