Being married to an atheist.

Some time ago, my wife asked me to write a guest blog post regarding being a Mormon married to an atheist. Being the dutiful husband that I am, I’m getting to it months and/or years later.

For the most part, I don’t think about being married to an atheist; I just think about being married to Gabi, my best friend. It’s been years since I’ve attended church regularly, and I certainly have more doubts and skepticism than when I was younger. However, I definitely still believe in God, and difficulties occasionally arise due to our different beliefs.The two main difficulties that I can think of are understanding her point of view and feeling sad that she’s missing out on a relationship with God.

First, having grown up immersed in Mormonism, I do struggle sometimes to understand different viewpoints. I try to stay open-minded and understanding if I don’t agree, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around some of the opinions and beliefs Gabi has. Disagreements about these issues have caused conflict, which I regret. It’s important for me to be able to disagree with Gabi without losing my cool, so I’m trying to get better about that.

Second, I feel sad that she’s missing out on a relationship with God. I believe that everyone would benefit from having a relationship with Him and that He wants relationships with everyone. I want Gabi to be the best and happiest version of herself, and I believe God wants the same things for her and can and will help her if she seeks Him out.

Having said all that, I haven’t wanted to push believing in God on her. There’s nothing I can say that would convince her that He’s real, and I can’t think of anything I could say to convince her to try praying. I just hope that she seeks Him out some day, whether in this life or the next. Until then, I’ll continue to pray for her and my family and for help becoming a better man.