Sometimes the push/pull of my faith and my heart is painful.
Let me be clear: It’s NOT painful for me to love my kids.
Once, several years ago when my daughter was in art school, she asked me to join her in a collaborative project. We each wrote haiku poems to each other about our relationship, and we read them aloud. Some things we read and heard suprised us. Some things made us laugh. Some things made us cry.
Here is one haiku I wrote for that day:
When I pray for you,
I’m not asking for a change.
I’m saying, “Thank You.”
This is still true. If you’re a person of faith, particularly one who is committed to a conservative faith tradition, and your kids/friends/beloveds are in the LGBTQ+ community, I know that you can feel lonely.
You are not alone. Your people are not alone.
I am deeply grateful to have a loving and sincerely accepting group of friends, and I am supremely grateful that each of my queer kids has the same, most especially including their siblings. My greatest joy is that my kids are on each other’s team.
If you feel the tension of your heart being pulled in divergent directions (between your love and your faith), and like you’re traveling this road alone and you need someone to be on your team, I can be on your team.