Stats Shmats

My inspiration for this post is a product of my thoughts today in class. We were talking about all of these myths and trends and statistics, which are all well and good. I truly believe that these things help us to study people and families and to make something we have even better than it already is. 

But I was thinking, "Hmm. I wonder how likely a child, whose parents got divorced when the child was older, is to get a divorce? It would be interesting to find some statistics for that." It wasn't too much later that an unsettling feeling in my stomach started the usual stream of worries in my head: "What if he's more apt to want a divorce later in life?" and "Is it safe to hope that we'll have a solid relationship regardless?", and so on. 

And then this little voice (the Spirit, I'm sure) asked, "Does it matter?". That really got me thinking on a different path. So, so many things are "mind-over-matter" and too often we allow predetermining statistics and the examples of others to influence our private decisions and ways of thinking. So you know what? Who cares about statistics? ...well a lot of people, actually... but in this case? NOT me! This is a decision no scientist or researcher can make for me 'judging by previous trends' and so forth. This is something that my husband and I will decide, with the Lord right there helping us. You can throw as many numbers at me as you want, but Heavenly Father knows everything, everyone, and every time. So thanks, statistics, for the influence on my way of thinking in this case, but no thanks. 

*Disclaimer: This is in no way an attempt to decrease the value of research.