Great advice. Having lived as am active LDS woman married to a non-LDS man I found that it was like living in two worlds but I chose to act as the catalyst bringing the two worlds together by reaching out and creating chances to find the common threads between the two groups of people. I reframed “sitting alone at church” to the idea that I got to sit by lots of different people and found some treasured friends along the way. The trick really is to look for the commonality. Don’t worry if the ward is worried about you, they are because they love you. Accept their concern-whether well placed or not-as others reaching out from where they are on their path. They may not be able to understand because their life is so different but again, we have more in common than not.
Looking around I could always find someone who I could bless and in turn be blessed- if I got out of my own head. Not always easy to do, but well worth it. I also liked sitting alone so I could focus on worshipping during church. No it isn’t always easy and there was pain at times but I also learned to talk to God about it and there was help offered as I worked through situations to find new perspectives. Each person’s life is its own journey, I hope that whomever is struggling with this now will look for other ways to view life and to fill life with gratitude for all the blessings we receive each day just by breathing! And most importantly that they realize they are not alone. Throughout the history of the church their were couples and families just like ours.
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JoAnne WrightJuly 18, 2025
Great advice. Having lived as am active LDS woman married to a non-LDS man I found that it was like living in two worlds but I chose to act as the catalyst bringing the two worlds together by reaching out and creating chances to find the common threads between the two groups of people. I reframed “sitting alone at church” to the idea that I got to sit by lots of different people and found some treasured friends along the way. The trick really is to look for the commonality. Don’t worry if the ward is worried about you, they are because they love you. Accept their concern-whether well placed or not-as others reaching out from where they are on their path. They may not be able to understand because their life is so different but again, we have more in common than not. Looking around I could always find someone who I could bless and in turn be blessed- if I got out of my own head. Not always easy to do, but well worth it. I also liked sitting alone so I could focus on worshipping during church. No it isn’t always easy and there was pain at times but I also learned to talk to God about it and there was help offered as I worked through situations to find new perspectives. Each person’s life is its own journey, I hope that whomever is struggling with this now will look for other ways to view life and to fill life with gratitude for all the blessings we receive each day just by breathing! And most importantly that they realize they are not alone. Throughout the history of the church their were couples and families just like ours.
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