Accountable

This is just a funny little story.

The other day Joshua told me that his teacher had a sign on her desk that was just plain wrong and that it needed to be taken down.

I braced myself, because earlier that day I became aware that Mercedes had been taught the family unit at school and one of the pictures she brought home appeared to have two dads.  But, I think it went over her head because she told me that one man was the dad and one was the older brother and the others were the younger brothers and sisters and she guessed that the mom had died.  She didn't know why there wasn't a mommy in that picture.  Oh my goodness!  Anyway, back to the funny Joshua story. 

I braced myself and asked him what the sign was that he was so concerned about.  He said, "Mom, it says you are accountable and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise."  I asked him what his objection to the sign was.  I was confused.

He said, "I am not accountable.  I am only accountable when I turn 8.  Until then, I am not accountable."

I explained to him that the teacher's message was that everyone is responsible for their actions and people need to own that responsibility.  I chuckled a little, too.  :)

Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them

I know my last few posts have been a little on the gloomy, end-of-the-world, side.  But, the truth is, it is scary.  Even still, our hearts should hold fast to the knowledge that God is at the helm.  So long as we remain faithful, we do not need to fear.  Fear is the opposite of faith.  We need to have faith, and remember who we are and whose we are.  I wrote the following a little while ago, but didn't have it recorded here.  So, I am recording it here now.

I've often pondered what it means when one uses or hears the phrase "men's hearts shall fail them". I think that when our hearts fail us, we are forgetting who we are. The faith that lifts us is left by the wayside and we allow fear to control our thoughts. There is encouragement in the words found in the hymn Come Come Ye Saints. While it is an LDS hymn, I believe that these particular lines can be applicable to people of all faiths.

 "Why should we mourn or think our lo...t is hard, tis not so all is right. Why should we think to earn a great reward, if we now shun the fight. Gird up your loins, fresh courage take, our God will never us forsake; and soon we'll have this tale to tell-- All is well! All is well!" 

 When I was pregnant with my fourth baby, the doctors and nurses were sure that something was wrong with her. I was encouraged to terminate my pregnancy. Termination was not something that I would ever consider. My baby was my baby and she was sent to me for a reason. I knew that I would love her and keep her no matter what the outcome may be. My husband and I went through a time period of complete worry and stress, some may say that I had a moment in which my own heart was failing me. But, in the darkest moments of that pregnancy, I made a choice. I kneeled in prayer and I accepted the Lord's will for my child. I knew I wasn't getting anywhere on my own. I needed and I desired the Lord's comfort. From that moment on, I felt peace. Complete peace. My faith had been restored and I felt the love of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ helping me through that trial. I had my baby, and she was just fine. But, she would have been perfect no matter what. I'm grateful that she is healthy, but I also know that if she hadn't been born healthy, my husband and I were prepared to overcome any trial or obstacle that would have come our way, because of where we had placed our faith. We made the choice to trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Update to Previous Post

I just posted a few paragraphs from Presiden Ezra Taft Benson's talk, A Witness and a Warning (October 1979).  His talk was a wake-up call to America.  It talked about how America is a choice land and that the Lord will protect it and make it free from all other nations so long as it's citizens worship the true and living God.  President Benson was concerned for America because he saw that we were beginning to reject God.  His primary concern was that our freedoms would be taken away through communism (the counterfeit form of gospel living). 

Well, that was over thirty years ago, and we aren't communists.  So, I looked up what a communist nation was.  My research concluded that communism is an extreme form of socialism and that socialism is a steep step towards communism. 

It is not a secret that we have twice elected a president who has strong socialist viewpoints and that he is slowly marching our country towards full-on socialism.  The constitution of the United States is disregarded under his "rule" and I do mean "rule".  Our freedoms are being taken away.

In doing my research, President Obama has been pushing strong political agendas that mimic, and sometimes almost entirely mirror the Communist Party USA's same agendas.  There are documented speeches that he has made that support those same viewpoints. 

My research also concluded that the end goal of socialism is communism.  It is not freedom from government, but quite the opposite.  It is progressive (in all the negative sense of the word) and it is bondage. 

America needs to wake up.

Scripture Study: Vineyard Allegory and How it Relates to Us Today

I have always had a difficult time with the "vineyard" allegory in the scriptures.  It's long, and written a little abstractly (at least it appears to me as such).  Sometimes, I am tempted to skip the chapter because I don't really get it.  But, then, on Facebook of all places, I came across something written by my cousin that kind of brought it to light for me.  The following words are her words and her insight, but I liked it, so I am attaching it here for future reference. 

Marci Haws Cole 
Concerning the retribution of God: Isaiah, in chapter 5 of that book, sings a song of the Lord's vineyard, which represents Israel. In the first few verses, Isaiah describes the blessings the Lord pours out on Israel: "And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein." When His vineyard, Israe,l brings forth wild grapes, or in other words, becomes wicked, the Lord describes what happens to those blessings: "I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it."

I think that these scriptures illustrate the fact that the Lord does not usually destroy wicked persons or people, He merely removes His Spirit, His strength, and His protection from them, and they are left to their own strength, to the buffetings of Satan, and to the wrath of their enemies. Sometimes, this does lead to destruction, and usually that destruction is foretold by God's prophets who speak for God who knows the end from the beginning.

A good example of prophetic warnings can be found in The Family: A Proclamation to the World, which I have mentioned in previous posts which says, "... Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets." We as a church believe that these calamities will occur as natural consequences of wickedness, and the removal of God's protection and blessings. Such warnings are put forth to encourage people to repent, and when they do, God, ever merciful, reinstates His blessings. I think that when the scriptures speak of God's hate, anger, retribution, etc, they are usually referring to this removal of blessings. As a church, we believe that though God's children have strayed, his "hand is stretched out still."

Isn't that great insight?  I really liked it.  In further reading, I came across these verses:

11 ¶Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

 12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. (We are consumed by selfishness and go about living our lives with little or no regard to the blessings that the Lord has available to us.)

 13 ¶Therefore my people are gone into captivity, (by our own actions, we withdraw from the Lord and we lose our blessings) because they have no knowledge (we have forgotten the Lord, we have not taught our children about the Lord.  We forget who we are) and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst (perhaps thirst for truth and knowledge?).

 14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. (By our actions we have chosen to follow the adversary and rejoice in wickedness).

 15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: (Our rejoicing will eventually be brought to the stark realization of our mistakes.  We will be humbled as we recognize that we have removed ourselves from the Lord. Wickedness never was happiness.)

 16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.  (God does not change, his judgements are just.  It is we that change.)

 

 20 ¶Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

 21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! (This is selfishness.  We become so wicked that we come to believe that we know better than our Creator.)

 

25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them (there are consequences for bad behavior): and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.  (There are consequences, but the Lord still stretches forth his hand, gives us every opportunity to choose righteously.)

 26 ¶And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:

 

The Lord is merciful.  It is His children that stray away from Him.  His hand is stretched out all the day long, it is us that reject Him.  We see so much of this happening today.

 

I have often said that I believe we (Americans specifically) have come to the end of the pride cycle.  We have become too haughty and selfish.  All around us mighty men and women call good evil and evil good.  We live in a day and age when all that matters is whatever makes you feel good.  The family is under great assault, Christians are ridiculed and in other countries murdered.  ISIS is an evil organization that is terrorizing any and all people who believe in Jesus Christ.  My five year old child is taught in school that some families have two moms or two dads and that there is nothing wrong with that.  All that is promiscuous is celebrated and embraced. Children are taught that it is their right to experiment with their sexuality and there are no consequences for doing so.  Little girls are encouraged to be sexy.  Pornography is everywhere.  It is the plague of our day.  Our job as parents is to teach our children what to do when they do encounter pornography, because there is no way to completely shield them from it.  We protect as best we can, but it is literally everywhere.  Politicians believe that they know better than parents and they are shoving their liberal agenda down our children's throats.  Preachers are threatened with jail time or hefty fines if they refuse to marry same-sex couples.  Homosexual marriage is recognized in so many states now, it is only a matter of time before it is recognized in all states.  So much is happening.  So much sadness and despair.  I could go on and on and on... We cannot go on like we are and not fall.  This nation will fall.  We have removed ourselves from God and He will withdraw his protection from the wicked.  

 

“For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. …

“Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:10, 12).

 

Way back in 1979, President Ezra Taft Benson warned Americans of what lies ahead (his particular warning was that of communism):

 

Never before has the land of Zion appeared so vulnerable to so powerful an enemy as the Americas do at present. And our vulnerability is directly attributable to our loss of active faith in the God of this land, who has decreed that we must worship Him or be swept off. Too many Americans have lost sight of the truth that God is our source of freedom—the Lawgiver—and that personal righteousness is the most important essential to preserving our freedom. So, I say with all the energy of my soul that unless we as citizens of this nation forsake our sins, political and otherwise, and return to the fundamental principles of Christianity and of constitutional government, we will lose our political liberties, our free institutions, and will stand in jeopardy before God.

No nation which has kept the commandments of God has ever perished, but I say to you that once freedom is lost, only blood—human blood—will win it back.

There are some things we can and must do at once if we are to stave off a holocaust of destruction.

 

First: We must return to worship the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ. Second: We must awaken to “a sense of [our] awful situation, because of this secret combination which [is] among [us]” (Ether 8:24). We must not tolerate accommodation with or appeasement toward the false system of Communism. Third: We must do as the Lord commanded us by revelation in 1833: “Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil” (D&C 98:10).

Men who are wise, good, and honest, who will uphold the Constitution of the United States in the tradition of the Founding Fathers, must be sought for diligently. This is our hope to restore government to its rightful role.

Last: We must study the inspired Constitution and become involved in the political process ourselves. I testify to you that God’s hand has been in our destiny. I testify that freedom as we know it today is being threatened as never before in our history. I further witness that this land—the Americas—must be protected, its Constitution upheld, for this is a land foreordained to be the Zion of our God. He expects us as members of the Church and bearers of His priesthood to do all we can to preserve our liberty.

 

Again, His hand is stretched out still.  I just hope America will wake up and grab hold of His hand before it is too late.  Yet, the righteous are not to fear, because He has promised to bless the righteous.  But, that doesn't mean we are free from suffering. 

 

 

    

A Star Wars Room

Sometimes I amaze myself.  I mean, the following little guy turned out pretty awesome... if I do say so myself.

 

Joshua has been begging me to decorate his room.  But, decorating his room is pretty much last on our financial priority list.  Well, I decided that I could do something after all.  I got out my paints and I painted this little doodle on the wall.  I can outline him when we go to paint the rest of the walls.  I love how Yoda turned out. 

 

I have some major plans for the rest of the room.  So, stay tuned...

 

By the way, this is what happens when I am trying to conserve gas and money.  I get bored, so I paint!

 

Baby Girls

I loved having baby girls.  Bonnets and pink frills, lace and little shoes.  It's all so cute.  My girls grew (grow) hair so slowly, and they (didn't) don't wear bows or flowers.  But, I loved putting them in bonnets.  I have given away most of their baby clothes. The really special sets I have put away in my cedar chest so that at some future day I can hold them up and show a granddaughter what her mommy used to wear.  But, then there were other items that I cut up to put into a quilt.

 

I am not a quilter, and I am not a perfectionist.  I am a firm believer that hobbies should be fun and relaxing.  I guess if I want a challenge I will go run on the treadmill and try to PR.  My hobbies aren't the place for frustration.  As a result, I have dappled in a lot of things, but I am not a master of anything.  So, I guess everyone has their own way of doing things.  I say all of that as a preface for my quilt.  It is not perfect.  Michelle's quilts are perfect.  But, that's because she unpicks threads and spends HOURS accomplishing it.  Her quilts are awesome.  Just don't look too closely at mine. ;)

 

I added the bonnet and a topper with the names Mercedes and Hannah.  I want to hang it in their room.

 

Okay, so the fish onesie was a favorite of mine.  It was so cute on them.  It opened in the back like an apron or pinafore. 

 

The polka dots were a part of a jacket.  It always tricked me because some of the polka dots are the exact same color as infant poop.  I always thought my girls had blown out of their diaper.  Haha!

 

The citrus fruit was a jumper that didn't have any snaps in the crotch so it made diaper changing difficult.  However, it was a cute little romper that whenever my grandma saw it she said it looked "happy". 

 

The gray and red pieces were a shirt and shorts combo that had a rainbow on it.  Hannah used to always pick it out whenever she had the opportunity to choose what she wore.

 

All of the flowers were onesies that were a step up from your everyday onesie.  They were feminine and cute, but fully functional.

 

The checkered onesie was one like the fish one.  It had flowers.

 

I added the bonnet because it is so precious and I loved it.  Hannah wore it.  I had one for Mer too, but I don't know where it is.

 

Anyway, I'd like a girly frame, pink or something, but I had this one on hand.

 

A Day At The Park

My kids have had two weeks off from school.  I feel badly, we haven't done much out of the ordinary.  But, we did go to the park, and they did go swimming (in October).  We went to the park with Grandma and Vanessa and her kids.  The kids loved it! 

 

 

The park had some unusual toys.  The older kids loved climbing on this "spider web".

 

Then, there was this merry-go-round adaptation that kept the kids running in circles.  Luke's little legs couldn't run as fast and he fell, which if it weren't for Tyler's amazing ninja skills, it could have caused quite the domino effect.  Luke fell, in the path of the other runners, Tyler lifted his legs last minute and suspended himself on the ropes long enough for me to grab Luke before the others trampled him.

 

This smile is prior to the fall.

 

Mercedes loved this saucer swing.  She wanted to share the joy with her sister.  But, Hannah was not a fan.  I do think Mercedes would have been content staying there on that swing for hours.

 

Joshua is a booger.  He won't let me take a normal picture.  I tried, but he kept being so goofy.

 

Hannah loved the pumpkin donuts that Grandma brought.

 

I thought I got a picture of everyone there, but I guess that was with the video camera. 

 

It was a warm day, swimming afterward sounded like a good idea until I felt the water.  It was cold.  It didn't stop the kids from jumping in, but all of the adults thought better.