His Sacred Name

I taught the Easter lesson today to all my Young Women. They are such wonderful girls and I love and admire each one of them and their strengths, talents, personalities and testimonies.

This video that the church produced was perfect for the last part of my lesson. Before showing the girls the video, we spent some time reading each scripture and discussing the different things that either happened to the Savior, or His actions. I made a bookmark (printed just smaller than scripture size) for each of the Young Women and had them fill in the blanks after we read each verse. (The photo in the background was one I took when we did a stake youth service project last December at St. Judes Ranch.)

At first, everyone was excited about Easter, and candy, and visiting amongst themselves, and I was worried that it might be difficult to be able to feel a reverence that this lesson deserved. But after reading just a few verses, there was a peace that settled in over the room and it ended up being a really touching lesson.

The video is so beautiful that I just had to share it here.

Party Guests in a Tube: Part 2

Corey says: "My family is so creative... they cut some paper and traced themselves, and came to my apartment and celebrated my birthday with me. Hence, the "party guests." :) "

Aw, glad he liked it! (Do you notice anything fishy about the biceps on the silhouette (Ryan) on the far left? Ha!)

You Decide

Gabby is a very visual child. She often draws pictures to ask me questions.

Don't get me wrong, she is a talker, too. (She isn't named GABBY for nothin'!)

A few days ago she brought me this doodle to explain her need for a nightstand. (FOR MY EYEGLASSES MOMMMM!) ((Yeah right, that's why there's a tiara on your doodled night stand, Gabby.))

But as soon as I saw it, I was confused...was she asking for a nightstand or asking us to tie a ballerina into the bed and set her on fire?

Doesn't it look like that to you???

No???

Oh, well she didn't think so either and was quite upset that the entire family agreed with me.

MOMMMMMM, it's an afghan so of course there are little lines instead of a blanket! And that's NOT fire, that's her really pretty headboard!!!!!!!!!!!!! Humph!

(Arms folded, nose in the air, aaaaand stomp stomp stomp away.)

Well! She won't be getting a nightstand OR a tiara anytime soon.  ;)

Party Guests in a Tube

Today is the anniversary of the day I became a mother.

Look at all of his HAIR!

At 8:50pm on a Friday night in 1991, our gorgeous firstborn son came into this world. I remember the peacefulness of that moment, when the tears and agony of childbirth were immediately replaced by tears of thankfulness and joy. The pain was gone. The room hushed. The only sound was a newborn baby boy with healthy lungs. I could feel the press of eternity in that moment. It testified to me that this earth life is short, and precious, and oh, so meaningful.

Here we are, 21 years later, anxiously awaiting his return from a two year LDS mission. (48 days, but who's counting.) We especially miss him on specials days like holidays and birthdays. So this year we decided to "join him" at his birthday party.

We got 7 rolls of wrapping paper (from the Dollar Store) and laid down on the floor and traced ourselves onto the white side of the paper. (We did the dog too, sorry no photo, but we just taped the paper up on a wall, held him still and traced him silhouette style.) I cut everyone out using an exacto knife and my rotary cutting mat.

Once everyone was cut out, we put tape on the back, so there'd be no excuse for Corey not taping them up on the wall, and then put pieces of wax paper over the tape...which, by the way, wasn't sticking too well so you may want to try another avenue if you ever attempt this. We stacked them all on top of each other, being careful not to lose any wax paper tape guards, and gently rolled them up around an empty wrapping paper tube. Then we wrapped a heavy weight wrapping paper around it all and labeled it with some instructions. We're hoping they didn't shift too much in shipping, leaving Corey a wrapping paper mess, all stuck together.

 

We had fun trying out different poses that fit our personality. I didn't get photographs of all of them, and in hind sight (get it, hind sight, ha-ha), some of us (ahem, me) should have taken the opportunity to make themselves a little less life-size. ;) We didn't get too crazy worrying about it being perfect. Sometimes we chopped off feet or didn't get too detailed about fingers, etc. We realized this was a one-time use that we didn't expect Corey to save!

 

Since our birthday boy didn't want anything for his birthday, we got a large mailing tube, painted a candle on one side and HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY on the other side, and stuffed it with 21 Ding-Dong cakes, one of which had 21 candles stuck in the top. We wrapped and padded the candle filled Ding-Dong with tissue paper so it wouldn't get smashed.

 

We also filled the tube with confetti, since that's his favorite (not) and then stuffed some cash in there to make up for the confetti. :) The cake filled mailing tube and the "party guests" tube each fit perfectly in a long priority mailing box. Then we labeled the ends of the box so he knew which one to open first.

And there you have it. A missionary's 21st birthday party in a box with his "family." HAPPY BIRTHDAY COREY!!!!!

(He just posted a photo on Facebook of his birthday "cake". Love it. Can't wait until I see pics of the party guests all up on his wall. He said he was confused a little at first but then thought it was really cool and creative. Yay!)

Wisdom

Book of Mormon Reading Chart Printable

I looked a little bit for a FREE Book of Mormon reading chart this morning and didn't find anything I really liked, so I made my own and thought I'd share them with you. The one with a border has faint little chapter numbers. I like it on plain white card stock...it looks crisp and clean. You can get four to a sheet. Happy reading!

Self Explanatory

Creeeeeeeeepy

With all the buzz going around about "Elf on the Shelf" this year over on Pinterest and Facebook, I realized that if we'd done that when my boys (especially Ryan) were younger, they would have freeeaked out! ---A doll that comes to life at night and gets into mischief while you sleep! Cute in a Toy Story movie...creepy in your own home! Not to mention it spies on you! I think my boys would have flushed it down the toilet. Or at least tortured it with a magnifying glass or push pins.

But now that he's older, Ryan looooves playing practical jokes and scaring people. For example: when we least expect it, he moves our cardboard cutout of Corey all around the house. Rob screams like a girl every time. (In his defense, it's 6 foot tall, and could be mistaken as a stranger in your house...or at least your son who's out on a 2 year mission and shouldn't be home!)

Ryan knows his dad hates sock monkeys so of course he had to buy one. Well, gee, no wonder Rob is freaked out by them! Apparently they show up when you least expect, and with WEAPONS waiting to scare the crud out of Dad when he goes for a toothpick!

Gratitude

I heard this a few months ago, meant to ponder it more and then, as we humans do, completely forgot my resolve to do so. But after a lesson about gratitude in Sunday School yesterday, I can't stop thinking about this. So I decided to make up a printable and post it on the blog, mostly so I can be reminded of it. I tell my kids pretty often that if you aren't happy, then you aren't grateful, and then I forget to follow my own advice. This is the wake up call I needed. (FYI - It's cropped to print 8x10.)

Tacky Party

So, this was a really fun dance idea we found somewhere online. We changed it a little bit though. It called for using wire and instead we strung crochet thread ($3.47 for 1000 yards!) across the gym with the eyelets that were already in the walls. Wire is a bit pricier and if it were to break, we had visions of wire whipping across a bunch of kids and decided we'd rather have string break than wire. (It did not break, however.)

 
Then, we very tackily (is that a word?) taped up the words "Tacky Party" with masking tape on one wall using toilet paper and threw some TP up on the strings so the kids would know this was part of the decorations and then mounded up 72 rolls of TP in a pyramid on the stage. (Incidentally, I must add that I thought we should call it an "End of Summer Blowout", get it, TP...blowout...but everyone else thought that was tooooo tacky, haha.)

We instructed the DJ to pick a fun song after a lot of the kids were there (about a half hour into the dance) and to tell them they could TP the gym. Oh my goodness, you should have seen it. First of all, I was worried someone was going to get trampled running to the stage but once they got ahold of the TP, it was SO MUCH FUN to watch them toilet paper the gym. They went through 72 rolls in less than a song though.

Not much toilet paper ended up staying up on the strings, they pulled it down and threw it on each other for the rest of the night. The only two things I'd really change is to make sure you have enough chaperones, and don't serve bottled water. We didn't have enough chaperones show up and the kids were a little crazy because there were too few adults in the room. I heard the next day that some people were complaining about people shoving TP down their clothing. We definitely didn't have enough adults if that was happening! :( Also, a few kids were taking the water from the bottled water and wetting the TP. Yuck. At the end of the dance we stood by the doors with trash cans and asked the kids to scoop up a handful on the way out --- and they did! Surprisingly the clean up was quick and we were out of there about 20 minutes after the dance ended. (Oh, to fit with the "tacky" theme, we didn't have tablecloths, we served water and Capri Sun's in buckets of ice on the bare table and just had bags of chips and ice cream cones (Drumsticks) which we also ran out of...hey, it was pretty tacky. ;) Fun, fun. This is one dance theme we'll do again. A WORD OF CAUTION: The dance floor got pretty slippery with all that toilet paper on the ground. Luckily we had no injuries but it could happen.

Dear...

Dear refrigerator,
Would you please produce something amazing when I open your door?

Dear Summer,
Go away.
(PS - Dear Willis Carrier,
Thank you for air conditioning.)

Dear Bank Account,
Fatten up!

Dear (somebody I must leave unnamed),
Stop being crazy.

Dear Truck Engine,
Why, oh why did you have to die? Don't you know how much I adore you?

Dear Lynn Austin,
Thank you for your simply beautiful, elegant novels. I am devouring them.

Dear Roadshow,
I can't stinkin' wait!

And finally...

Dear Uterus,
Knock it off!
(You too Joint Pain!)

I Can't Think Of A Title For This Boring Blog Post

Have you ever just stopped to think about what you are paying for certain conveniences? I guess right now I'm on a rant about my cable and cell phone bills. I think I'm paying way too much for way too little.

We have basic cable (half the channels are in Spanish and the other half are crap...wait, that means they're all crap) but we had to get at least a basic package to have "High Speed Internet". And I'll admit that it's better than dial-up but on my five year old laptop, it really doesn't seem so high-speed. But I still shell out $111 bucks a month...mostly so I can have the internet because I don't know what I'd do without online bill pay and emails to my missionaries. (Not in that order.)

And my cell phone bills! We even get a police officer discount of 18% and I'm still complaining. My phone "upgrade" required a data plan. I DO NOT have a smart phone. No, it's definitely a dumb phone. It's barely worth getting on Facebook, if I'm bored, say at a dentist office and usually I bring a book instead. There are no games, no music, it takes poor quality photos and is soooo not worth the required data plan. But I didn't want a smart phone and there are few other phone options out there so we suck up the extra $10 a month. Rob needed a smart phone to check work emails (which he can now see on his work supplied phone that he got a month after we upgraded.) Thankfully his phone itself was a gift from his brother for his birthday. But it obviously requires another $30 a month. Plus all these kids we have on our bill and we're paying almost $200 a month just to stay in touch. We also have a house phone. $40 a month to see which debt collectors are calling for people who don't even live here. Also to avoid United Blood Services average of 15 calls PER WEEK!

When we had two truck payments, including the insurance and the gas we were paying well over $1000 a month for the convenience of driving. I know that looks like a bargain for some of you but it's ridiculous to me. But would I consider giving up my cars? Nope. I don't feel safe enough to walk my kids to school. Plus only one is within walking distance now anyway.

I'm thinking I would MUCH rather spend this money on European vacations and better date nights with my husband. Anybody else think the money we spend on conveniences is getting to be downright ridiculous?

(I would go into a tirade about my summer energy bills, but I realized a few months ago that when we average them out with our low, LOW winter bills, we pay very little for that convenience.) Now, someone please explain that to my mom who refuses to run her air conditioner! (She won't listen to me.)

A Side Of Riley Nobody Has Ever Seen (Or Smelled)

The INside.

Riley can't smell. We don't exactly know how long this has been going on and we don't exactly know what to do about it. I think she used to be able to smell. I think I can remember asking her how candles or shampoo or perfume smelled. I think she used to be able to smell lemons and BBQ and rain and campfires and cookies baking and jasmine blooms. But I'm not exactly sure.

Finally, when some eucalyptus cough syrup didn't knock her over when I said "Smell this," and shoved it under her nose, I knew it was time to see a doctor. (That stuff was STRONG!!! Same thing with tea tree oil. Anyone ever smelled that? She can't detect anything and that stuff smells like turpentine!)

We went to her regular doctor, who sent us to an ENT, who sent us for some lab work and a CT scan of her sinuses. Our followup was today and, well, there is absolutely nothing wrong with her. No allergies (darn, I was hoping it was the dog and I could kick him to the curb, hahaha). No inflammatory disease. No sinusitis. No abnormalities in the structure of her nose. Nothing wrong.

Except that SHE CAN'T SMELL.

Some people wouldn't think there is anything wrong with that, it's not like she is blind or that anyone could tell she has "Anosmia". But when the Doctor told her he really didn't know what he could do for her and she was probably just born that way, I could tell she was about to break down into tears.

Can you imagine not knowing if YOU smell? Or if something is on fire?! Or if your house stinks? Or if there is a natural gas leak? And so many of our memories are sensory memories related to smells! Not to mention taste is at least 75% smell. She said she can definitely taste but she is worried she has a diminished sense of taste compared to other people.

If she were suddenly losing her sense of sight or hearing, I think the doctors would be doing more to track down the problem. I'm guessing loss of smell just isn't taken as seriously.

So, for now, we'll hope it's a hormonal thing, or some vitamin deficiency that'll work itself out. I'm looking into whether or not we can get the insurance to cover a second opinion. Meanwhile, you can bet I'll be reading up on everything I can get my hands on related to loss of smell...and trying really hard to remember not to exclaim how great dinner smells since I get a glaring stare down whenever I forget! (Eh, who can blame her, really!)

What Does A SAHM Do All Day???

I'm not being defensive. I'm really not.

Okay maybe I am being a liiiiittle defensive.

Ever since I quit working (um, when Ryan was born almost 18 years ago) I feel like all I do is defend my decision to sit around the house all day and do nothing while Rob works his butt off.

Wait...no, that's not right.

I mean, I don't exactly do nothing. I do read books, and bake, and paint, and take naps, and workout with my personal trainer, and get massages, and eat meals that my personal chef prepares for me and...

...Yeah right.

I remember right after I quit working, when I had a newborn, a one-year-old, and a two-year-old, (go ahead and form a mental image of me trying to grocery shop back then...there's your good laugh for the day) those Army wives where we lived would start to visit with me and ask what I do for a living and then when I would reply that I stay home with my kids it was like they had nothing to say to me anymore. Suddenly I was invisible and not worth their time. One literally stopped talking to me mid-sentence and walked away. After awhile I wondered what they thought I would do in the middle of nowhere Louisiana anyway?! I could have worked for royalty...Dairy Queen or Burger King, hahaha. But somehow that didn't seem worth my time away from my boys, or worth the price of daycare!

Over the years I have thought about going back to work or even doing something from home, but I really could not bear to give up the time I spend getting my hair and nails done, or the time I lounge watching soap operas and Oprah, or the time I spend shopping at my favorite boutiques.

Ehem. Can I get a big "yeah right" again?

I am simply amazed by the women who can pull it off. The women who can work and care for kids and care for home and care for husband and somehow still manage to care for self.

I. Am. Not. That. Woman.

I can't do all that. But that doesn't mean I do nothing all day. SO if I don't get you called back right away or I can't take you to do all of your errands or you think it's so insensitive of me to make Rob do all the work...here's a lil' peak into my average week. This is what I accomplished just in this last week:

I had orthodontist appointments, taught at Stake Auxiliary Training (designed a flyer and a handout for that by the way), renewed my Youth Protection certification, fed the missionaries, attended a Ward Talent Show, went to the temple with Tyler twice, made a corsage and boutonniere, took and edited Prom photos and dropped off my son and his date, went to lunch with Rob, went to lunch with a wonderful friend, had a date night with Rob, talked to about 50 teenagers at a Youth Discussion, went Visiting Teaching, took my mom to the mechanic's shop twice, worried and prayed about my brother who had a court/custody hearing and another brother who was in jail, did yard work, gave haircuts, went to a band concert, (missed the swim banquet but hey, I got the swimmer there), in addition to all the other normal stuff like writing my missionary and dance lessons and seminary and school pick-ups and drop-offs and meals and grocery shopping and nightly family scripture study, etc, etc, etc...

And I honestly LOVE my job! I love being a mom! I love being looked down on for "staying at home" all day. I love being my kids confidant, disciplinarian, stalker, friend, sounding board, advisor, counsellor, teacher, and hopefully hero.

But most importantly as a stay-at-home-mom, I know my kids are being taught the values I want them to teach their children and their children's children. Values that make them contributing members of society and just good people generally. Values that help them to know how to care for themselves and how to help others.

This is the real reason I am a SAHM. The other stuff is just fluff...this is my real purpose and I know it:

In a world where values are eroding and family relationships are devalued, I stand for modesty, fidelity, reverence, honesty, hard work, charity and kindness. As a mother, I feel I have a most important role in keeping the filth, chaos, contention, despair, and ungodliness of the world out of my home. I try to raise my children in an environment of peace and love, innocence and safety, faith and courage, hope and joy.

Now where did I leave that box of bon bons?  ;)

Discovery

Last November my sister Holly took a few pictures of Gabby and Riley for her photography class but I completely forgot she gave me the photo CDs until last night. Look at the cute photos I discovered!!!

Well...The Sequel

I am officially changing Dr. Overworked's name to Dr. Brusque. I thought of going with Dr. Jerk but then that would just make me Patient Childish.

I couldn't even type my follow-up post without putting a few days of space between my initial thoughts and my keyboard. I am, after all, a devout Mormon and a blog post full of swear words would not be very exemplary.

I knew things were going to go badly when it sort of fell out of my mouth that the last time I saw Dr. Brusque, formerly known as Dr. Overworked, for this pain he told me it was only indigestion when in fact there has been a gallstone causing pain all along. Whoops. Blow to his doctorly ego.

He was contradictory and talked over me repeatedly.

He told me a gallstone would be causing me pain under my right rib. I countered with, "NO, it is definitely causing me excruciating pain right under my sternum." He said, "Well that would be pancreatitis and you don't have that, you have indigestion." So I said, "This is NOT indigestion. It is pure agony." Well, I started to say that but he cut me off and said, "LIKE I SAID BEFORE... a gallstone would cause pain here," pointing under his right rib.

So I tried a different approach. I asked him if there was any way he could see the CT images and tell me where the gallstone is located, since a gallstone that has moved and is blocking the pancreas could in very fact be causing what I've described. He agreed that that was possible and IN THE SAME BREATH told me that's not what is happening to me though. I asked again if he can view the images and he said, "NO. The radiologists do that because they have specialized training."

Mind you, all this time I am being as calm and as nice as I can but I realize he isn't going to listen to ANYTHING I say.

I ask, "So it is possible that the gallstone has moved out of my gallbladder?"

He says, "The radiologist's report would have said where that gallstone was."

But it didn't.

I ask him where the report says it is (to prove a point).

He says, (completely ignoring me) "You know, with indigestion you just need to EAT SMALLER MEALS and avoid all those fat, greasy, fried foods."

Well! I think he just called me FAT. Beefy. Fleshy. Heavyset. Portly.

Guess he doesn't realize that prednisone causes weight gain just by THINKING of food. Obviously he just thinks I overeat thus causing my "indigestion". Forgetting the fact that I have mentioned I was on prednisone FOR A YEAR several times just this visit!

(On a side note, since I've gained 75 pounds over three courses of prednisone, I just gotta ask...WHY do all Plus size clothes have a SUPER LARGE hole for your head. My head isn't large, just my body. And also, why do they all look like granny clothes or like someone on speed was in charge of the glitter and jewels and threw them all over the entirety of every shirt I see??? Hmmmm???!!! Hmmmm???!!!)

Aaaaaanyway, at that point in the appointment I resigned myself to the reality that this brusque doctor was going to be right, darnit, no matter the cost, so I just started smiling and thinking about how nice it will be to call my insurance and change primary doctors. Also, how I need to start saving up for a co-pay for a hospital stay since that is the only way I am ever going to get treatment for this gallstone/pancreatitis dilemma. Sigh.

Well

*Names have been changed to protect the guilty.

To clarify, I mean that title "Well" as in well COMMA...DRAMATIC PAUSE followed by a barrage of complaints and criticisms of all medical practitioners in addition to tirades about incompetence and idiocy.

I do not mean the "Well" as in: I'm well.

Sigh. I am so not well today. I'd see a doctor in regards to my mental health but they'd probably screw that up too.

If you thought for one second that you could trust your doctor to care for your health without taking some responsibility for yourself then you are sadly mistaken.

Or living under a rock.

Or both.

(Are rocks cheap? Is that why soooo many people obviously, or obliviously, live under them???)

In the last year I have had approximately 25 pancreatitis attacks. Apparently the prednisone tears up my stomach. I would blame the prednisone wholly but I had 2 of them before I ever started the drug. When I spoke to my rheumatologist, *Dr. T.D. Handsome, (What? I can name him whatever I want!) about this little supposed side effect he said to go to my primary care physician, *Dr. Overworked, about it.

I did.

Dr. Overworked said it was just indigestion.

I pleaded, and even shed tears as I had just had three days of pain and an intense four hour attack the night before my appointment and told him I was SURE it was not indigestion. Indigestion does not feel like your stomach is full of bricks and there's a huge drill bit boring into your abdomen and radiating unrelenting pain through your whole middle, back, and shoulder blades with pain so bad you're too sick to go to the hospital. Pain so bad there is no way to get comfortable. Pain so bad you wish you could command yourself to DIE. Pain so bad it's worse than natural labor. Pain soooo intense I would not wish it on my worst enemies, or my in-laws. (It's a joke, come on!) ;)

No, this was not indigestion...but what did Dr. Overworked say or do after I described this agony? Well, he told me it must be that my prednisone has me all panicked and you know it can cause depression and anxiety.

My cue to shut. up.

He prescribed some crap drug (that made me swell up so badly, so quickly, I had to have my WEDDING RINGS CUT OFF!) and sent me on my way.

I failed to mention Dr. Overworked is a very kind man, he really is, but I was frustrated that he didn't LISTEN. He could have at least sent me over to the lab since a simple blood test would show if my pancreas was out of whack. He actually had me believing that maybe I was being too sensitive because of the prednisone.

So...next time I go to Dr. T.D. Handsome do I mention that Dr. Overworked did nothing and I am still having the attacks? Nope. WHY? Because I knew it wouldn't make a difference, plus he is handsome and that was probably unnerving.

So, finally as I'm off my prednisone and going back for follow up CT scans I get brave enough to ask once more if we can just "take a look" at my pancreas because I'm still having problems. Dr. T.D. Handsome agrees and I, shocked, and thrilled that maybe I've finally proven that I'm not just a hypochondriac and that if I complain that it's because there is a real problem, leave his office elated that I will finally be getting somewhere!!!

I have the test and I check two days later (after another night of what feels like an attack coming on again) to see if by some chance my results are online.

They are.

And as it turns out, there is GREAT news. My fear that my sarcoidosis was causing my pancreas problems was put to rest and instead it turns out my disease appears to actually be in remission, the goal of the prednisone all along, BUT the pancreatitis is being caused by a "large gallstone". WHICH Dr. Overworked COULD have found if he would have listened to me last July when I assured him I knew the difference between AGONY and indigestion!

Awesome.

Supposing Dr. T.D. Handsome would want me to see Dr. Overworked, I scheduled an appointment for a lab followup visit for tomorrow. AND I would have not been going on and on through this tirade IF I hadn't just received a letter about my lab results from Dr. T.D. Handsome which reads, and I quote:

"CT scan shows improvement of previously identified sarcoid lesions."

PERIOD.

Nothing about the large gallstone that was on my CT results.

The gallstone that has obviously been wreaking havoc in my abdomen.

The gallstone that is currently LAUGHING AND MOCKING ME because of my incompetent, albeit handsome and overworked doctors.

If I hadn't been complaining about pain I could see why they'd, perhaps, not mention it, but since we had to justify an abdomen CT scan in addition to my chest CT scan followup by saying I have a history of pancreatitis, you'd think he would want to share those results with me.

SO NOW I have to go back to Dr. Overworked tomorrow, the one who thinks it was indigestion, and try my very best to not STRANGLE him over my irritation with him AND my handsome rheumatologist. I realize my anger or rudeness won't get this gallstone taken care of but it would feel so good to punch a hole in his wall and be forced into anger management classes. Maybe then they'd take me seriously. (Kidding.) (Sort of.)

I like both of my doctors, a lot, and I'm sure they deal with whiny people all day who just want prescription drugs, and they are entirely too overworked and unable to get to know their patients individually, but seriously...I would not have had to go through all this pain if either of them would not have ignored me initially.

Moral of the story, er, barrage: Ask a million questions. Don't take "no" for an answer. Check your lab and test results online whenever possible. And don't ignore symptoms, especially if you are in severe pain, just because you are tired of nobody listening. Somebody will have to listen if you are unrelenting. But finally, YOU know your body better than anyone so listen to it!

Hmmm, did I mention tomorrow might not go so well because I am insistent that I do NOT want to have surgery??? (For various reasons including a previous stroke and allergy to pain medications and also I'd have to go back on my prednisone because of the stress it would cause my body.)

Wish me luck!

Light

Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light? ~Maurice Freehill


"...Come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord." Isaiah 2:5

(Photo credit: Riley Harris.)

Curiousity With A Sprinkling Of Defensiveness

My curiosity was piqued this morning and maybe someone can answer a nagging question for me.

While reading this article about the King James Bible (by the way, this year is its 400th anniversary), 3rd paragraph down, the author is describing some of the reasons why the KJV is not the commonly used bible in America anymore. One reason, he says, is this:

"There have been numerous manuscript discoveries over the past four centuries that are of course not reflected in the KJV."

And I instantly (admittedly defensively) wondered...what is it about the discovery of the Book of Mormon that differs so much from the discoveries of other lost manuscripts that most people won't even consider that it could be scripture? Is it because it wasn't a scientific find from an archaeological dig? Is it because it was discovered in America and not in ancient holy lands? Is it because it was delivered angelically? "...Oh, that was brought about by angels and a prophet, there is no way we can accept that as gospel."

Perhaps that was too aggressive or cynical but I really wonder: What turns a person away from believing that it could have happened?

We have no problems believing that God told Noah to build an ark, or that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, or that Moses parted the Red Sea, yet somehow because those things occurred anciently now we balk at the notion that God could have actually modernly visited a boy in upstate New York and called him to be a prophet and through him, miraculously brought about ancient buried scripture that over and over again testifies of the divinity of Christ.

Maybe I'm too close to the subject matter to ask this question without a bit of defensiveness, but I am curious, nevertheless.

Timely Reminders...

I just love it when my Heavenly Father gives me some timely reminders that He is in charge and that I need to trust Him more. Last night as we were closing a stake meeting, this first scripture was read aloud, and the second, my scriptures flipped open to while looking up the first. Both scriptures are beautiful and both scriptures are exactly what I needed to ponder today.

D & C 123:17 "Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

1 Nephi 18:16 "Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions."