Jesus

What a beautiful Easter Sunday!  Our ward choir sang beautiful music today.  Primary was wonderful, as usual.  I love this time of year as my thoughts have been turned to Jesus and how He broke the bands of death.  I love to hear stories of how Jesus has transformed people.

We are headed to Salt Lake City to Jared's parents house today for dinner.  Even though our relationships with them are still strained and we have some work to do to get our relationship to a more healthy place, I am grateful that the doors have been opened for the opportunity to work on those changes.  Change is so hard, but I am totally committed to working in that direction.  I know it is the Lord's work to change us, and it is our work to stand for and live by true priniciples.

Happy Easter!

Get A Job?

Today Jared and I spent a couple of hours picking up some last minute items and groceries for the celebrations that will take place tomorrow.  We went to a little local shop here in our small town in rural northern Utah.  We pulled into the parking lot and had a hard time finding a parking place.  We wondered at this because this particular parking lot is never filled to capacity.  We thought maybe they were having a great sale or that other people are out getting their last minute items for tomorrow as well.

So, we walk in and there are people standing in the aisles.  We hear a lady come over the intercom and tell everyone to get on a number and that the drawing will take place in 2 minutes.  Jared and I ignore the announcement and continue discussing what we want to purchase so we can get home.  Then 2 minutes later the lady comes back on the intercom and announces that number 32 is the winner and to come to the front to  pick up their $20 gift certificate.  The crowd of people in this tiny store groaned and we heard the winner, a child, squeal in delight.  Jared and I were stunned.  We couldn't believe the large group of people who came out to this particular store just to try to win a $20 dollar certificate.  Jared commented that for all of the work these people went to to try to win this certificate, they would be better treated to go get a job.  I agreed.

The store emptied out, and Jared and I finished our shopping.  What a weird way to start our day!

Privacy And Our Children

Check what Dr. Gary Thompson has said about the Common Core State Standards that the US Department of Education has put out.  He was a guest on the Glenn Beck Program today as well and you can check that out as well.  I don't have a subscription to Glenn Beck's TV broadcast program, so the link to this came from a website called utahnsagainstcommoncore.com.

Here is a bit of what he said:

Given the gravity of these issues, I cannot professionally endorse the Common Core State Standards as currently written until pointed clarification is provided by politicians and educators from both party’s endorsing CCSS.  Nor in good conscience can I enroll my toddler in a public school system that utilizes CCSS until these issues are clarified to my satisfaction.

The issues involving psychological testing and privacy are issues that should be of concern to every parent with a child enrolled in public school.    The power granted federal and state education administrators via the regulations of CCSS are unprecedented in nature.   

Please, please, please if you have kids in the public school, please become informed about what is going on with Common Core.

What Is Going On In Our Schools

I have been made aware recently about what is going on in our public schools, a new curriculum being put into place called Common Core.  It is replacing No Child Left Behind.  I wanted to post today some comments from teachers across the state of Utah and their thoughts on what they think of Common Core.  The teachers were allowed to do this anonymously.  Follow the link to find out more.

1.  Greater centralization will result in inefficiency and waste. It will result in poorer student performance.  It will lead to encroachment on the freedom to home school. It will create databases which are expensive and dangerous to personal liberty. The standards do not promote individuality, liberty, or excellence or greatness in education. The centralization will make it harder for parents to become involved, so less will become involved.  That will hurt the education of children more than anything else. (Cody Nelson, Utah County)

2. I am most concerned about who has put together the common core.  They have started with math and reading but have designs to push their socialist agenda onto our children when they add the science and social studies components of common core.  The math standards teach a  “fuzzy math” that makes it hard for parents to be able to assist their children with math, making the parents seem weak to the children. Children then learn to trust the school more than home. There are no benefits to the “new” math, in fact it slows the learning by teaching children four or more ways to get the same answer. (Principle, Salt Lake County)

3.  It dumbs kids down, puts us behind schedule where we were, removes local control, eliminates creativity, omits important curriculum like cursive writing & classic literature, it forces “fuzzy math” based on common consent as opposed to fact-based math on individual merit, it was signed onto outside of proper legislative procedures & without public input. It is Socialized education, one size fits all and it doesn’t fit. It will only serve to harm our kids’ education, not improve it.  (Teacher K-5, Davis County)

A Day of Worship

Last night we had the second of four lessons for Family Night about the Resurrection. I had put pieces of paper in a plastic Easter egg that had St. John 20 written on it. Vanessa, Eric, Joseph, and Rex each got one since they are the kids in the family that can read. I hid them in the kitchen before we started Family Night. After the prayer and the song, the kids went into the kitchen to find their egg. After they read their scripture, we talked about how Mary must have felt to see Jesus standing there outside of the sepluchre and how just three days earlier she had just seen him beaten and hanging on the cross. It was very touching to hear that when Mary sat there weeping and Jesus spoke to her that she immediately recognized his voice. She must have been stunned and overwhelmed. I can't wait for Family Night next week to hear once again how the apostles reacted to Jesus's resurrection.

 After our Family Night, Jared and I headed 80 minutes south to see a Jazz game. We were given the tickets by a co-worker of Jared's. What a stark contrast to attend that Jazz game after our wonderful lesson at home. It was difficult to enjoy the game, and in fact, I didn't try very hard to enjoy it. It was nice to be with Jared together without the distractions and interruptions of the kids. I used to love the Jazz and would have loved going to a game, but it just doesn't have the thrill it once had. Don't get me wrong here, I am just fine not being that into the Jazz. I love my new life and the greater joy I have found.

We are in a day of worship. Joseph Smith was given the restored Church of Jesus Christ. We each have the privilege to study what Joseph Smith has restored and judge for ourselves what we think of it. Having Family Night each Monday night is one of the things we do to show our belief in Christ's restored church. I love that I can show what I think of Christ everyday as I worship Him and follow His prophets.

Vanessa

We went to Vanessa's concert today at Utah State University. Wow! It was amazing! Bridgerland School is the one who put it together. It was all of the best kids from Ogden to Preston, Idaho. It sounded like a concert you would go to for college age students. Vanessa is exhausted from the practices over in Logan, 30 minutes away. Jared's Mom, 92 year old Grandma Harris, and sweet Marianne drove up from Salt Lake to be there. Jared had forgotten to tell them exactly what day it was, so they went up to Logan last night, Jared's dad Doug, his brother Grayson and his fiance with them, but the concert wasn't last night. But, Linda drove up again today to be there for Vanessa. What a special day it was! We went to lunch at Texas Roadhouse as everyone was starving. Now the kids are out playing night games with the neighbors. I am sitting here on the couch waiting for them to come home with an ice bag on my hurt foot. I think I'm going to have to go the doctors for it because I'm not healing on my own. The original injury is from 12 months ago. I must have re-injured it because a couple of weeks ago something happened and now I have to hobble around. It has been a journey of injuries and healing now going on 8 years. I just can't seem to heal.

Co-Dependency

I was just looking through my blog stats, which I have never done until today.  It was interesting to me that a post I wrote in April 2010 got 157 page view hits on it.  Here is the link to it.  The post is all about me being a needy child.  The next closest post only had 20 page view hits.  Wow!  That is pretty remarkable to me.  What was so interesting about that particular post, I wonder?

I have no idea who has read that post 157 times because I don't have a widget that shows me who is coming to my blog and who isn't.  I have done that on purpose because I don't want anyone to think I am watching to see if they come to my blog.  I like people to feel like they can come here and their presence will be anonymous.

As a follow up to that post, I am happy to report that I have come a long way from being a co-dependent daughter, wife, friend, etc.

It is strange to think about where I've been and how far I've come.  Life feels normal to me now and I have so much happiness.  I feel like a part of my Patriarchal blessing has been fulfilled which states that 'As you keep the commandments, your life will be a joy and a pleasure.'  I feel so grateful that the Lord got to me and He helped me change my life.  He has done so much for me and helped me in ways that I can't possibly explain.

I am a testimony that people can and do change.  I have changed so much and I know with the Lord's help, I can change more to be who He wants me to be.  I am happy to allow Him to do this to me.  I am gaining more trust in His care, something that has been incredibly hard for me to do.  But, something inside of me yearns to trust Him more.  Something beckons me to feel after Him and search out His love for me.  Something inside of me wants to tell everyone I know of His love.

So my co-dependency is a faded memory.  Strangely, I feel like it could become a living, breathing part of my life again if I let it, but I don't.  I fell down on my right bum cheek 6 years ago on the pavement and the Lord has seen fit to not heal me from the injuries I sustained that day.  I attribute my spiritual growth to this.  I have been virtually physically immovable since that fall.  I sit a large portion of every day because of the pain I have in my right foot.  The Lord has taught me that through physical immovability, I could learn spiritual immovability.  And that is the exact lesson that I have needed to learn so badly, for I had consistently lowered my standards and consistently offended Heavenly Father in the process.  So, I am grateful for my physical immovability for the lessons it has taught me.  I wish I could have learned some other way, but...  And I suppose I need the constant reminder, ie constant pain in my foot, to never lower my standards again.  I gratefully accept it if that is the case because I have gone to every doctor, chiropractor, neurosurgeon, etc with no cure available to me.

So, I'm off to bed.  Church starts for us at 08:30 am, bright and early!  Good night everyone!

Weary Not

This is from Mark chapter 13.  It impressed me because I've been asleep as to things spiritual most all of my life and I still fight the weary feelings that come over me.  I loved the song sung at President Monson's birthday celebration in August of 2012 called Weary Not.  It has helped me so much to remember that song every time I find that the challenges and temptations of life are dragging me down and I am tempted to throw in the towel and go back to living the way I used to.  Weary Not.

32 ¶But of that ^aday and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

 33 Take ye heed, ^awatch and ^bpray: for ye know not when the time is.

 34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave ^aauthority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

 35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

 36 Lest coming suddenly he find you ^asleeping.

 37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Just Stuff

I love my kids!  They are the best!  They drive me crazy sometimes, yes, but I love them so much.

Rex, who is 7, just learned how to make himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Now he can make two things for himself, cereal and peanut butter and jelly.  This is a big day for him and me.  He is now less dependent on me and he doesn't have to only eat cereal when he gets hungry in between meals.

Vanessa is practicing her little heart out for her concert, which by the way, all of you are invited to attend.  Her concert is on Saturday March 18th, 1pm, at Kent Concert Hall, Utah State University campus, east corner of campus.  She came home from school yesterday, after staying after school for 90 minutes to practice with her orchestra teacher, in tears.  She said how hard the piece of music is and that her friend, who is a second chair violinist, not first chair like she is, has a way easier piece to learn.  I told her how much more advanced of a player she is than her friend and that her friend is probably going home in tears to her mother because her piece of music is too hard for her to learn.  That calmed Vanessa down and we were able to talk about the details of the performance and the practices which are over in Logan, 25 minutes away.

Jared is on a snowmobiling trip to Wyoming right now with his brothers, uncle Cordell, and cousins.  This will be a 3 day trip for him.  I talked to him this morning and he said his brothers and him stayed up until 4am last night chatting.  He said that Grayson, his 28 year old brother told them his conversion story.  Grayson has been away from the Church for the last 12 years 'ish.'  He recently got engaged and we are so happy for him.

Other than that, life is business as usual. 

Disturbed And Beautiful

I read this from Ezra Taft Benson this morning and wanted to post it because I agree with it:

'Our prayers should be meaningful and pertinent. Do not use the same phrases at each prayer. Each of us would become disturbed if a friend said the same few words to us each day, treated the conversation as a chore, and could hardly wait to finish it in order to turn on the TV and forget us.' - Ezra Taft Benson

In other news, Vanessa gave a talk on Individual Worth last night at her Young Women's New Beginnings night.  I helped her fine tune her talk.  But, it was when she gave the talk that I was able to hear how she really felt about what she was saying.  She got emotional and teary as she spoke of Jesus Christ and of the love she feels from her Heavenly Father.  She spoke of the talent that her Heavenly Father has given her with the violin.  She told how she loves to hear how other's have felt of Heavenly Father's love for them through her music too and that it is beautiful to her.  I don't get to see this side of Vanessa.  In the normal course of the day, we don't get spiritual.  At family home evening she doesn't show us her feelings.  I have heard her bare her testimony at family night, but she didn't get emotional. 

Heavenly Father is so kind to us.  He is so patient.  He is firm, but loving.  I love how He hasn't given up on me.  I love how He hasn't given up on any of us.  He wants us to do our best and is always reaching out to us to lift us from where we are.  I love Him.