Conflicted

Recent posts by some of my friends in their blogs have made me think about things. It has made me think about my religion and my values and about whether or not I am someone who could stand up for what I believe in if I had to. I used to think that I would always be the type of person who would stand tall and proclaim what I believe to be true if I had to do it, but now I am not so sure.
Don't get me wrong, I am very strong in my beliefs and my values, however I am also someone who HATES to hurt other people's feelings and I am someone who likes to stand back from a situation and look at it from all sides before I decide how to declare my alliances. This recent topic has conflicted me because I believe one thing, however I have a good friend who lives differently from me and I love him and I would always want this person to be happy. I feel torn and conflicted and grateful that I don't HAVE to do anything about it at this time because it doesn't directly affect me.
I still don't know how I would react if I had been told what to do on this issue, but I am interested to see how it all pans out. It did surprise me when I couldn't just jump on the band wagon with this issue because of the love I have for this friend. It changes everything.

A Miracle

Today is Friday. That means that I did Friday Forum at the Institute of Religion. Friday Forum is where University students pay to come and have a lunch (made by me) and listen to a guest speaker. It seems that every Friday something goes very wrong at my house while I am cooking the meal, but when the time comes for me to load everything into the car, it all seems to be cooked and ready to go.
I am constantly amazed at how everything always seems to come together and taste so good every Friday. To me, this is a confirmation that this is what the Lord wants me to do. I truly believe that my family is blessed because I make this food for these 60 University students every week. I always get told that I am crazy for doing this when I am not getting paid to do it, but I really love being able to help people out. I am not the world's best cleaner, and I don't really have the time to babysit other people's kids, but if I can help people out by making them food, I feel as though I have been successful.
My Great-Grandma Bennion used to complain because it said in my Great-Grandpa's patriarchial blessing that no one would ever leave his house feeling hungry. She thought it should have been put into her blessing since she was the one doing all of the work. For some reason, I feel as though that mantel has been passed onto me. People never leave my house feeling hungry, and if I know that someone is needing a bit of extra attention I always love to bring them a little something to eat. It may not be the best thing for their waistline, but if I ever show up at someone's doorstep with some food, I am never turned away. . . . hmmmm. . . I guess that food can't be all that bad right?