On Connecting to God: Sheri's Remarkable Story

I'm at this doorway, this threshold. In the past is who I have been, every moment that has created my being and lead to my current aspiritions and dreams. Ahead of me lies the manifestations of my dreams. All it takes is one step to move into that direction and yet I am still here - in this threshold.

Emily, "Threshhold," Exploration of Faith

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Photo: Adam

For quite a while I had been noting with interest the comments of Adam's Mom on Jess' blog. The other day I sent out a quick email: "Hi Adam’s Mom. I can see you have been a serious blog reader for a long time, but you have no blog of your own listed on your profile. How come?"

Adam's Mom responded back the next day. "I actually have two blogs. One I used as an outlet when I was trying to get pregnant and has since turned into Adam's blog with photo updates for my family and friends. I just recently started another blog so that I can write things out when I need to without my family being involved."

Adam's Mom has two really great blogs, her newest called Mom Off Duty. Adam's Mom, whose name is Sheri, writes very powerfully and beautifully in a current post on it how she has made a commitment to resume spiritual study in part stimulated by Jess' active pursuits.

I was raised in a Christian home but backed away from religion after a traumatizing church service one day. The pastor called all the children to the front of the church so they could all see what he was doing. He showed them a goldfish happily swimming around in a fishbowl. Then he scooped the fish up in his hands and proceeded to show the kids the poor little fish gasping for breaths, jumping around in his hands. He told them that this was life without God. You flounder about, struggling to get by. Then he put the fish back into the water and showed them how the water represents God's love. See how happy the fish is now? To make his point, he took the fish out of water again. I was disgusted. I was turned off religion and I certainly didn't want to belong to a church that used scare tactics, especially with children.

Photo: Adam & Sheri

Then when I struggled with infertility I shyed away from God even more. Infertility - a term I use loosely since it wasn't such like some of my dear friends who see specialists, try IVF, etc. mine was that I didn't ovulate and it's mightly hard to get pregnant without those magical eggs. In October 2004, I miscarried only a few weeks into my pregnancy. Certainly God was hiding from me and not hearing my cries. It was my dear (internet) friends who got me through that time, not God I felt.

After medical intervention, on my second round of fertility drugs, Shawn and I made our miracle. We decided we would name him Adam. Adam - the first man made in the likeness of God. Being pregnant and feeling the life inside of me poke, wiggle and squirm I knew that this was only possible because of God. I knew that there just HAD to be a higher power to make this possible. It was when I was pregnant and feeling such a closeness to God that I decided to study the bible. Then during the last few months of my pregnancy, we undertook major renovations to our home. I was eight months pregnant and painting baseboards, eating out every night since we had no working kitchen and no running water. This took its toll and I fell into bed (which was a mattress on the floor) exhausted every night and forgot about my studies.

Photo: Two beamers

Then just recently I was looking at my son and realized that he is such a miracle. He is Adam, our first son and God's first son. I was looking at Ad and just had this feeling that something is missing in my life. Around the same time, my friend Jess started studying the Baha'i Faith.I know everything happens for a reason so I am excited she is studying this right now. Her blog has shown me that something IS missing in my life - my connection to God. I am going back to studying the bible (fingers crossed I can make it through the old testimate because my goodness was Numbers ever boring!) I am also going to follow along with Jess in her studies because many of the things she writes about just feels right, does that make sense? It resonates with my soul to be the truth.

Sheri, Mom Off Duty