Where's the love?

Oh my oh my oh my....I am going to rant here and you'll just have to bear with me. My ma just sent me a link about a family in Arkansas who are preggers with their 18th baby. The oldest is 20. You would not believe the hateful comments about this family. I must protest! I will start with the acknowledgement that 18 is a LOT of children, even to a mormon :-). But people were ranting about how selfish the mom and dad are, about how these children when they are grown, would be driving on our streets and using our services and the "footprint" they were leaving on the earth is irresponsible, just to name a few of the comments. Um, if they did a little research they might be singing a different tune. I got on the family's website and read up on a few facts about them.
-They are debt free.
-They feed themselves on $2000 a month.
-Their children all learn violin and piano.
-They built their home together.
-The children know how to work and
-The parents' main goal is to teach their children to love each other!
Hmmm....so, they are raising a bunch of responsible, hard working, frugal, well-rounded people who believe in a Creator and are moral and other people are upset about it! Talk about retarded!! Sheesh! Oh, and about the "footprint" thing. That just cracks me up. Obviously anyone who whines about how crowded the earth is with people has never gone on a road trip or looked out of the window of an airplane. There is empty land all over the place. Some of it doesn't look too habitable, but Phoenix and Mesa sure didn't look that way either when they were first colonized. The earth is not overcrowded, people choose (or are forced) to live in crowded cities. That's not the earths fault. It is full of abundance for all! Come on people WAKE UP!
I am so sick of the hate and the finger pointing. (I am aware I'm doing a little of it now...) People are different. Learn to deal. There are some things that are truly wrong, don't misunderstand, but for the most part, just because someone chooses a different path than you doesn't mean they are hicks or brain-washed or super-conservative/liberal or any other stupid label you want to put on them! Live and let live!
(deep breath)......okay, I feel a little better now. Seriously though, where is the love? "It makes me sad somehow, I don't know why", Sam Gamgee

God's Hand

I love learning! Mostly because it's not the way I want to learn, which is fast and easy. Instead it requires patience and introspection, both of which are qualities that I apparently need to hone. And what's funny is that even "patience" that I work on, in the grand picture of my life, or even more grand, eternity, is not really patience. What I felt I had to wait and worry over was not really that long. Case in point....

Last night was the last night that Beth could redeem her little "Book It" certificate for a free pizza. All week it had been prominently displayed in the kitchen, we were waiting for Wednesday so we could go redeem it and get ice cream afterward for everyone. So, naturally, yesterday afternoon, we were all very excited about it and passing around the certificate before Jos came home. Can you guess what happened? Well, I could. Time came to go and we Could Not Find it anywhere. We searched. Beth prayed. I prayed. We all got together and did a little "vibration harmonizing", we imagined having the certificate and how happy and grateful we were for it, the feel of it in our hands, knowing that Beth would go and get her recognition. We searched some more and some more. Nothing. We decided that it wasn't meant to be and went to go get the ice cream (and had fun!) Beth was a champ and didn't even cry. I wanted to a little.

So today goes on as normal. We're getting dinner ready, I get out the aluminum foil, and in there is the award! I won't name names, but it was with a camo bouncy ball, okay, it was Amasa. I called Le Pizza Hut, and we could still redeem it. So we did! Beth got her little pizza and all was well with the world.

Why did we have to wait for an answer to our prayers? No wait, that's not right. He did answer our prayers right away, it was, "not now". But then in mercy, He answered the way we wanted just a day later. It made me wonder how often in my life I whine and cry when I get a "not now", or even (forbid it!) a "no". Heavenly Father knows what is best for me more than I do. That is a tough pill for me to swallow sometimes. After all, I know a lot :-) So, the moral of this story is that I am understanding faith a little more, and patience a little more. Now the goal is not to forget the lesson.

On a different note, I have been backsliding the past few days in regards to how I am controlling my thoughts and vibrations. I have been feeling down, and really having to concentrate on what thoughts I am entertaining, and if they are TRUTH, or just appearances. When truth and appearances don't match (which is often), it takes a lot of energy to think truth. And it is a new habit I am forming, so I know it will get easier with time. Hmmm, faith that I can do it, and patience while the habit forms....seems like I've got a recurring theme here.

I am hoping this blog will help me to be more accountable for what I am doing with what I've been given. I need to set some goals....I have really been just skating and surviving for the past 2 years and I am sick of it. I think Heavenly Father is, too, which is why I have all these awesome tools and resources now. So watch me now, here I go!