Truths

I think I'm a pretty private person.  I don't like to share a lot of personal stuff on Facebook and I try to keep my blog upbeat because I want to remember the good times, not the bad.  However, this has been a really rough couple of months for us.  Rory has had some problems at work, we've had a lot of sick family members, and for the first time in our marriage I have really struggled.  I don't know why I feel the need to share all this now, but I think that it's because I want my kids to know that life isn't always parties and awards.  Sometimes it's hard, sometimes it's a battle, and sometimes it isn't wonderful, this being said, it teaches us so much and the good times make the bad times worth it.  Elder Jeffrey R Holland gave a talk entitled "Good Things to Come."  The LDS church made a video of the talk and have shared it on YouTube.  It is such an uplifting talk and I found it at a time in my life that was very dark and I couldn't have needed it more. In this talk/video Elder Holland testifies that for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, there are better days and good things to come.  He says that every one of us has times when we need to know things will get better.  Oh how true and profound this statement is.  A couple days ago Mathew Jace went back to live with his mama.  She has agreed to let us be a part of his life, but needless to say, this has been a heart breaking time for our family.  It all began with some terrible rumors about Rory and Mathew's mother.  I won't go into the details because none of that matters, I will say that it kills me that we were trying to do something nice and got condemned for it.  Since Mathew came into our home, Rory was taken out of his drug court position at work and has had to suffer through degrading interviews and tests.  We have received awful calls and text from Mathew's family, and have heard countless rumors.  We endured through all of this because we knew the bigger picture was Mathew and helping him.  Losing him was almost my breaking point.  I have prayed and prayed that he will be okay, I really haven't stopped praying since he left us and I almost can't stand the heartache.  We taught him so much in the short time he was with us, but I hope we left enough of an impression for him to know he deserves to be loved.  I read this quote and it is the one thing I would tell Mathew if I could, "Sometimes, people come into your life not to love you... but to make you feel that you are worth loving."  I also wrote a letter to the Sheriff expressing my feelings about this whole situation.  I am going to share it here, for no other reason than I want to have a memory of how this brought our family together, how we stuck up for each other, and stood by each other in the face of adversary.  Life may be hard at times, but I'm grateful for this beautiful ride.

Dear Sheriff Cordova, 
I know that recently you have received some letters and heard some rumors regarding Rory’s character. I have had many sleepless nights trying to figure out why this is all happening and what I can do to make it better. I realize now that God gives us challenges to make us stronger and that there is nothing I can do to make things better, simply wait for the storm to pass. That being said, I would like to defend my husband’s honor. He is a good man. He is a kind man. He is a respectful man, and up until recently, a man who loved to go to work. He is one of the few people left in this world that still have integrity and that are willing to do the right thing no matter the cost. I promise you, he would never do anything intentionally to jeopardize his job or the life he has provided for our family. We took Mathew in for no other reason than to give him a better life. Ever since we did this we have been bombarded with negativity. No one can do anything nice in this world without having an ulterior motive. I am here to tell you there was no motive, nothing to gain by what we did; we just wanted to help a little boy that would have never had a chance otherwise. Now our hearts are broken, our spirits wounded, and I don’t think either of us will ever be the same. The Dalai Lama once said, “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, please don’t hurt them.” Please remember this when you hear negative things about my husband. Please know he is a wonderful man, who respects you and respects the badge he puts on each day. Please have faith and trust in him and encourage those just under you to do the same. I’m not asking you to not question or to not do your job, simply to do it with kindness and to remember we are all fighting a hard battle.

Sincerely,

Sarah Bradley