Friends

"How good and glorious it has seemed unto me, to find pure and holy friends, who are faithful, just, and true, and whose hearts fail not; and whose knees are confirmed and do not falter, while they wait upon the Lord, in administering to my necessities..."

I found this quote from Joseph Smith while preparing a lesson for Relief Society last Sunday. I have been likewise blessed when it comes to friends.

So I share this quote in honor of my incredible friends, who bless my life with their strength, encouragement, and humor.

Surprise...he was listening!

So every now and then a kid will totally surprise you. Just when you're convinced that they aren't listening to a thing, especially anything YOU are saying, they go and do something to prove you wrong.

I ran into my next door neighbor today at Target. Though we live right next door to each other we seem to hardly ever see each other. So, anyway, I stop to chat with her for a few minutes and catch up a bit. She mentioned to me how much she likes my boys, and what nice kids they are. She asks what I think about what is happening politically in our country, and I suggested there may not be time to discuss it there at Target considering my passionate feelings on the matter as of late. I told her my poor kids get an earful on a regular basis and because of that are far more informed about what is going on than I EVER was at their age.

Then she tells me that she actually had a 45 min conversation with my son the other day about the political craziness going on these days. And she says, "He is very smart, and really had a lot to say about all of it." So I ask, "Oh were you talking to [Stitch]?" Assuming it was him because he is the most vocal and inquisitive about politics. But she surprises me and tells me it was Number One. You could have blown me over. He usually seems pretty oblivious to those conversations, and isn't too vocal about his feelings or opinions about anything that's going on. Most of the time I feel like everything we say goes in one ear and out the other, not just about politics, but about most stuff. So I was thrilled to hear that he IS listening. And that someone else was impressed about his knowledge and ability to express it. It gives me hope that other things are sinking in as well. And it makes me very proud...I mean what parent doesn't love hearing how terrific their kids are?

My own post-it.

I recieved my own post-it note this morning. A thoughtful reminder, from a loving daughter, that I can face any challenge with the Lord's help. I have been truly blessed. She is not just a wonderful daughter, but a good friend....and I love her to pieces.

Love is...leaving a post-it!

Isn't it amazing the way that siblings can fight like cats & dogs and then turn and do something incredibly sweet and loving for one another?

For the past two school years The Girly and Stitch seemed to argue just about evey morning while getting ready for school. One always claimed that the other was being annoying. But when Stitch realized that he would be getting ready for school alone this year, because The Girly was starting high school and morning seminary, he was not happy. He told all of us that he was worried it was going to be lonely and wierd without her in the morning.

So The Girly began doing something very thoughtful, to make Stitch feel better about the situation. Every school day morning since school began, she has left him a post-it note stuck to the bathroom door. Little words of encouragement and love. Stitch is saving every one and tucking them in his journal. He looks so forward to them every morning.

It makes my heart feel good to see their love for each other...expressed through the giving and cherishing of little post-it notes.

A thicker skin

I am fairly new to the world of striving to be an informed and politically active citizen. I spent far too long being innattentive and over trusting of the repesentatives I voted for. That all change about a year and a 1/2 ago. I work harder to be informed and to be braver about speaking my mind. Now I need to work on developing a thicker skin. Everywhere I look in the media, people like me are being called racists, hate-mongers, crazy, & gun-toting religious zealots. And because our grassroots protests are against the administration rather than for it, our voices are being dismissed. We are accused of merely being "astroturf", paid by big business to cause problems for the administration. Earlier this week all those names really got to me and sent me on a rant on my facebook page. That post spurred over 50 comments.

I've learned that if I'm going to keep speaking out, I have to toughen up. I've learned to do that where my religion is concerned, because I've been dealing with those misconceptions, false accusations and ridicule most of my life. I can pretty much blow those off now. I'm not there yet when it comes to politics. Maybe because I feel like I'm still learning. I know what feels right and wrong, but I'm still working on gathering the facts to back those instincts up. And since my memory for names and dates and details has never been fabulous, I lack confidence in my ability to present an intelligent, fact based argument. But I'm not going back to being part of the uniformed, and silent. (Though I'm sure there are members of my family that wish I would at least go back to being silent.)

It's the water inside the boat that sinks it.

"I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign foe ... Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. -- From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the instruments of their own undoing. Make them intelligent, and they will be vigilant; give them the means of detecting the wrong, and they will apply the remedy."~ Daniel Webster (June1,1837)

I admit there are foes outside the country that I fear, but I am far more terrified of the foes within, because, as Representative Trent Franks stated the other night, at the town hall meeting I attended,"It is the water inside the boat that sinks it." We have far more to fear, at this point in history, from the enemies within our country who are trying to fundamentally change who we are as a nation, to change us from a democratic republic to a socialist one. I used to be one of those who was inattentive, and too confident that my repesentatives would never do anything to dismantle the foundation our founding fathers laid for us. I'm not inattentive anymore!! Mr Franks earned a degree of respect and trust from me last night, but I'll still be watching closely, I will never have implicit trust in a public servant again.

I want my children to see their mother as a woman who is politically informed, active and willing to speak to up. I want to be an example to them, so that they will never make the mistake that I did of being complacent and inattentive. That they question everything their government is doing to insure that they understand it, and know when they need to speak up in dissent. I LOVE my country, but I worry that if not enough of us wake up, and SPEAK up, my children will inherit a country that is nothing like the free country I grew up in.

I'm a Dork

Okay, I've decided I'm going senile....that or I'm just a complete dork!! Remember my little rant "Pass the Ibuprofen"? You know.....the one where I complain about not having a logical curriculum guide for teaching 1st grade math?! Well my wonderful sister-in-law posted a comment with a link that completely lays out a scope and sequence for math at all grade levels, complete with lesson plans.....And she's going to get copies of some materials, and ordering info for other materials that go with the lesson plans I need. You see, SHE IS A FIRST GRADE TEACHER!..... A fact that apparently completely slipped my mind during my ranting and stressing out the past two weeks! Soooo, as I stated at the beginning, I have come to the conclusion I'm either senile or a total dork....because any NORMAL person would have thought to call her right away.

So thanks M for saving my keester, and making my school year a lot less stressful! I love ya! You are just more proof that I married very well!