a little bit of this, and a little bit of that

yes, my mind is a whir with all the crap going on -- i have to make myself avoid the news like the plague if i want to have a good day. but then there's this nagging sense of feeling the need to stay informed that always brings me back.

i started off this morning hearing about madoff's sentencing (one crook in jail, but what about all the rest?), billy mays' unfortunate accident, and the stupid cap and trade garbage. (at least those new haven firefighters won their case -- one bright spot indeed.)

how about a few political cartoons to lighten our mood, shall we?

(unfortunately this is too sad to be funny)

"i pledge that under my plan, no one making less than $250,000 a year will see any type of tax increase. not income tax, not capital gains tax, not any kind of tax." that was obama last year, during his campaign. now the administration is saying they won't rule out any possibilities, including taxing the middle class, as a way to pay for their new socialist health care plan.

(and please, before anyone comes back at me (here or in the future) with the old standby, liberal rebuttal of, "but george bush did this or this or this," save it. i'm not talking about george bush. i'm talking about our current president. let's stay focused, guys.)

and this cap and trade thing? help us, please. "the whole point of cap and trade is to hike up the price of electricity and gas so that americans will use less. these higher prices will show up not just in electricity bills and at the gas station but in every manufactured good, from food to cars. consumers will cut back on spending, which in turn will cut back on production, which results in fewer jobs created or higher unemployment . . . likely to be the biggest tax in american history." (from the wall street journal; thanks, jen, for turning me on to it.)

maybe it's just me, but i would rather not have the government trying to regulate what i can and can't buy or how many miles i can drive my car or whether i can run my air conditioning.

maybe you've seen this letter before, from a woman in arizona to our nation's leadership. if not, read it -- it's awesome! she is right on, and she says it better than i could.

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/26742/

ok, i feel better now. sometimes you just have to get it out, you know? sheesh.

butt out, lady

i should probably wait until i have calmed down about this instead of shooting off right now, but i can't help it. i'm loving this blog as a place to vent, even if i end up sometimes saying things i might not say after some careful thought.

we just got home from the park -- took the kids so they could play, and i met a couple of friends for some much-needed chatting time. well, not once, not twice, but three times i witnessed some other uptight mothers actually having the nerve to correct or scold my children. it's happened before, so i didn't have to waste time doubting what my eyes were seeing. this is something that really, really bugs me.

my children are not perfect. they do all the things normal kids do at the park . . . i've seen it happen again and again. you know, those huge offenses like sitting for too long in one spot and thus preventing another kid from passing. or even being slightly bratty and telling some kid to wait his turn or whatever. yeah, they do things they probably shouldn't do, but this is life on the playground, right?

well, three times different women went up to lindsey to scold her about something stupid like that. maybe some of you other mothers can help me understand why it is that these women are, 1) having a stroke about nothing, and 2) feeling like they have the right to correct my kid. i would never dream of doing that. if i noticed a child doing something that really needed to be reported, i would say, "hey kid. where's your mom?" and i would ask the parent to handle the problem, showing respect for that person and the child. i don't feel like i have the right to discipline anyone else's kids, and i really don't like anyone else doing that to mine. it sort of makes me crazy mad.

here i sit, not 20 feet from where my kids are playing, and i have to quietly watch these uptight women scolding my kids. MY kids. i think i'm pretty good about staying on my kids to make sure they don't break rules or hurt or even inconvenience other children, so it's not like they are running wild, acting like fools while i turn a blind eye. if i happen to miss something that is going on, it makes me feel pretty terrible, so i try to pay close attention. but now that i have four kids, and joseph thinks he's grown and able to come and go as he pleases, it's a lot more difficult to keep constant watch on all of them. so i occasionally miss something. but i think it's incredibly disrespectful for an adult to discipline someone else's child without trying to talk to the parent and let her handle it.

my friends kept telling me i should go over and just tell the lady, "i got it, thanks." but i know myself well enough to know i couldn't do that without coming across as angry, and the last thing i would want is some kind of confrontation. so i just had to ignore it and then call lindsey over to talk to her about it. i told the kids on the way home that they need to be more considerate of others at the playground, but that if there is ever a time when a grownup starts lecturing them about something, they are to immediately come right over to me. then i'll handle it.

this is an ongoing sore spot for me, which is why i'm so sensitive about it. i've had some trouble with the father of a boy my son plays with. i've overheard him absolutely reaming my son about touching his kid's toy without asking, instead of coming to find me and asking me to talk to the boy about it. (of course, this playmate was constantly -- and i mean constantly -- playing with toys that belong to us without asking, but parents rarely seem to consider the possibility that their own little angels might be at fault.) it got to the point, after a couple of incidents like that, where i was fighting mad and ready to go several rounds with this dad. but i didn't; somehow i restrained myself. i'm passionate about my children, and i know any encounter would get heated fast. i am pretty uncomfortable now about letting my son play with this kid if i know his dad will be around.

i'm not sure if this is a utah phenomenon or if it's pretty standard, but it really bugs me. in fact, i don't think i'll take my kids to the park again anytime soon. i guess it's better to avoid the situation altogether than to risk saying something i know i shouldn't say.

the overarching problem i have with this is the disrespect, but i also think it's ridiculous that parents expect that the playground is like their own personal backyard where their kid is king and gets to set the rules. and how about we let our kids interact with each other and learn to handle the situations that naturally arise. no, don't let anyone get hurt, but isn't it something they need to learn? heaven knows some of these adults could use some playground-style justice in their lives.


but that's just me.

The Sabbath -- A Delight

yesterday's Sacrament Meeting was especially wonderful in the provo 3rd ward. not because anything out of the ordinary happened; it was a regular Sunday with the usual elements of our services. but for me it was above average, likely because i went with the right attitude, with my spiritual ears open and ready for whatever the Lord might want to tell me. i have long been a fan of President Kimball's famous quote, "if the service is a failure to you, you have failed." and i really believe that's true.

we started off with a wonderful hymn, "Our Father, By Whose Name," accompanied by our wonderful organist, brother bush, who makes every hymn a delight with his beautiful playing. the hymn was particularly appropriate for fathers day:

our Father, by whose name all fatherhood is known,

who dost in love proclaim each family thine own,

bless Thou all parents guarding well,

with constant love as sentinel,

the homes in which Thy people dwell.

the speakers were really good (as they often are in our ward), and the first speaker began with a quote i really liked, from President Ezra Taft Benson:

"fatherhood is not a matter of station or wealth. it is a matter of desire, diligence, and determination to see one's family exalted in the Celestial Kingdom. if that prize is lost, nothing else really matters."

that quote really got me thinking for the rest of the day about our roles as parents, and i feel President Benson's words apply to mothers as well as to fathers. my number one job is to get this family back to our Heavenly Father's presence and to help them claim the blessings of eternal life. if i fail to do that, truly nothing else matters. if i don't get to spend eternity with my family, my life will have been wasted. everything i do, every day should be working toward getting us to that ultimate goal. i am blessed to have my wonderful eternal companion to help me, and together we shoulder this burden. not every parent is in the same situation, for one reason or another, but we all share the same responsibility to get our children back to our Heavenly Father. how blessed we are to have His divine assistance in everything we do.

i am lazy by nature and have realized that this laziness interferes with my goals to be a good mother. recently my prayers have more and more been that i will find the energy and inspiration i need to constantly be found doing good where my children are concerned. there are endless chances to teach them, every single day. sometimes i let my household responsibilities overwhelm me and keep me from taking as much time with them as i would like to. then i stop and realize that my family is all that matters -- they are my everything. all my energy should be focused on them. yes, there are other things that need to be done, but i have to find a way to balance those "need to's" with the "absolutely have to's" which deserve the bulk of my time and attention.

i worry immensely about sending my kids out into the world where they are exposed to the lessons of the adversary -- someone who never gets tired and who never loses sight of his ultimate goals. chris and i have been entrusted by a loving Father in Heaven with (at least for now) four of His wonderful children, and we are responsible to teach them the Gospel -- what it is and how to use it. i'm thankful for the mercies of our Father, who blesses us every day in this venture; certainly i have no training when it comes to parenting, and He constantly helps me to succeed where i could not do so on my own.

of course as the children grow older they will more and more find they want to use their agency to make their own choices; sometimes they will make choices that are wrong and maybe that lead them off the path. does that mean my responsibility has ended? just because they grow up and no longer live in my home, does that mean i no longer have that responsibility President Benson spoke of? of course not. i won't have the same opportunities to teach and lead and persuade them, but i will still be responsible -- to have taught them to the very best of my ability and then to continually set the example for them of how they should be living. and i hope they will still allow me to teach and lead them, in a little bit different way, even after they are grown.

i have to share this awesome story told by one of the other great speakers yesterday. of course the topic was fathers, and he was speaking about how his father always taught him and his siblings to show respect for their mother. the man telling the story said that his mom had made vegetable beef soup for dinner one night and that his little brother refused to eat it. his dad took the brother down the hall into another room, where the mother overheard him saying, "son, no one hates your mother's vegetable beef soup more than i do, but she made it for us, and we are going to eat it."

i laughed so hard! how funny! but how poignant also, that this man had enough respect for his wife to eat something he didn't like just because she had worked to prepare it -- and that he taught his children that important lesson. i love it!

A Quick Disclaimer

i suppose i should have started off with this, but it's better late than never.

the views expressed on this blog are mine alone and do not reflect the views of ANYONE else, unless here stated by that person.

it is not my intention to come across as judgemental or snotty or mean -- i love all people and welcome input from any and everyone as long as it is kept civil. we are all brothers and sisters and need to treat each other with respect. we can disagree without being rude, and i do not desire to do anything here other than to express my personal feelings and allow others to do the same.

Can I Spout Off For a Bit?

My blog is predominately a place for me to post photos of the kids for family and friends to keep up with what's going on in our lives. I don't use it as a platform or even a place to really express my thoughts most of the time -- on occasion, yes, but not often. I am not, and don't claim to be, a great writer like some of my fellow bloggers (you know who you are), so I don't try to wax poetic or say thought-provoking things.

Anyone who knows me well knows I have strong political views, but I decided long ago not to make this blog political because I have found that, believe it or not, not everyone I know, love, and associate with has the same politics I do. Yes, I am naive, but I expected at least those who seemed to share my religious views would be pretty much in line with where I stand politically, but my eyes have been opened to the unfortunate falsehood of that belief. And yes, I do say unfortunate -- you can take issue with me for that if you need to, but the Gospel is what it is, and Christianity is what it is, and you can't believe one thing on Sunday and something else the rest of the week.

Anyway, I don't want to start off making anyone mad. I just want to say that even though I have tried to avoid the possibility of offending anyone by spouting my beliefs, I'm not going to do that anymore. I respect without wavering the rights of all people to disagree and to hold different beliefs, and I don't try to push my feelings on anyone. But what I will no longer do is avoid voicing them so I don't rub anyone the wrong way. I have found that those who disagree with me have no qualms about voicing their beliefs, and they couldn't care less about how they rub me. And they do rub . . . my hide is completely chapped.

I've been reading a really good book called, "Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto," by Mark Levin. I would recommend it to everyone, no matter your politics. The problem with this country is that people are getting their facts from Oprah Winfrey, Katie Couric, and David Letterman, all of whom are complete idiots, at least politically. Sorry if you like them. The average person gets his news from absolutely biased liberal organizations and from complete zealots at The New York Times. Check out Levin's book for some actual facts.

America is a wonderful country. We have a rich, incredible history. I believe this country was chosen by our Heavenly Father to be a blessed nation, to be the location of the restoration of His Gospel. I know there have been mistakes made in our history -- the country is run by human beings. But I have had about all I can take of our great land being hated and disrespected by ingrates without (who have more than benefitted from our generosity) and betrayed by enemies within (who have no idea how lucky they are). I'm sick to death of our President (and boy do I hate calling him that) touring the world apologizing for our faults and shortcomings. I can't abide him calling us a Muslim nation but not a Christian nation.

I keep reading all these articles and hearing conservatives talk about what they need to do to find the success that has been eluding them. For years now things have gone from bad to worse for elected officials in the Republican Party, and analysts are saying they need to do this and change this and say this if they want to start winning elections again. It seems to me that the problem is not only with the party -- don't get me wrong, they do have major problems and need to change they way they do things. But I think what it really boils down to is that the people in this country are becoming more and more liberal . . . no, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out. It doesn't matter what conservatives say or do if what the voters of this country want is gay marriage and late-term abortion-on-demand. If they want more welfare and more handouts and bigger government. And I think that's what they want, more and more.

It saddens me to reflect on the state of the people in America, in the world, really. These are my brothers and sisters, who have come so far away from God and have forgotten Him. People are so arrogant and spoiled. The sense of entitlement that prevails among so many people is sickening to me. What happened to self-reliance? What happened to taking care of yourself?

The hardest part for me to accept is that so many people around me, good people who I love and who seem to want to do what's right, are being sucked in by this new trend of liberalism. It's so hip now to be liberal in your political views, even among those who should know better. And I know I am on thin ice saying that one "should know better" than to be liberal, but my politics are a reflection of what I am taught at Church. I haven't been mesmerized by the Obama machine or gotten on the hope and change and whatever bandwagon. So many good people were so eager to elect our first black President that they didn't bother to check out anything else about him. I couldn't care less what color the President's skin is -- what matters to me is whether he or she upholds my values and leads this great nation toward prosperity and liberty.

I was shocked during last year's election to find out how many of my good friends were so conflicted and so confused as they tried to decide who to vote for. This floored me. (I certainly didn't love John McCain, but sometimes it's about what you're voting against.) It seemed obvious that good, Christian people would never vote for the liberal -- the extremely liberal -- Barack Obama. But boy was I wrong. I had several conversations with people where I ended up pointing out that, hey, he is pro-choice, and my friend would respond, "Oh yeah. I hadn't thought about that." Come on. Really? Were that many people just so caught up in his smooth-talking, teleprompted campaign speeches that they failed to see what he is really about?

And boy are we seeing it now. The problem again, though, is that no one's even paying attention. Our great nation is suffering, and we are sliding quickly away from the principles upon which America was founded. But no one is noticing. How can they, when they are watching Keith Olberman and Bill Maher and all the other America-haters, who are practically wetting their pants with excitement over our impending demise?

Like I said, my politics are based on my core beliefs. You cannot separate politics from religion -- sure, you can separate Church and State, but if you think you can have a set of religious beliefs that differs from your politics, you're fooling yourself. The two are inseparable.

I believe marriage is ordained of God to be between a man and a woman. Does that mean I am not tolerant of gay people? No, it doesn't mean that at all. I respect their rights to live and be happy and do what they want -- but not to enter this sacred order of marriage.

I believe in the sanctity of human life and that life begins at conception. No wiggle room. It's not your choice -- you already made your choice. It's not your body -- it's someone else's body. Heavenly Father blessed us with sacred procreative powers that are not to be abused or taken lightly, and the ability to bring children into this world is the greatest blessing we have.

I believe in self-reliance. I was given the ability to work and to improve and to take care of myself. As long as I am physically able to do that, the government doesn't owe me anything other than protection. Welfare and doles are demeaning and make us slothful and dependent. That is not fulfilling the measure of our creation.

I believe in obeying the law. I believe in the right to bear arms. I believe in the purity of the Constitution as an inspired document. I believe in the vision of our Founding Fathers who sought God's help and wisdom in their decisions, and I appreciate those men and women who lead our country while acknowledging the supreme power of a Being greater than themselves.

The few people in this country who still seem to espouse genuinely conservative principles are asleep for the most part. There are a few voices crying out, but for all intents and purposes, we are asleep. Our great country is being overtaken by those who are not afraid to speak their minds and who don't worry about stepping on our toes. Barack Obama supports sexual and homosexual education that begins in kindergarten. He supports late, late-term abortion and does not support giving healthcare to babies born as a result of botched abortions. Those things make me mad. They make me feel a desire to do something, and if nothing else to stop keeping quiet. I'm offended, and I'm no longer worried about offending others.