Monthly Archives: July 2009

I need your help with a war. Honestly.

Posted in Protecting Innocence Project by

I don’t know if you ever get an idea in your head that will not go away.  I have learned that this is one of the ways that God talks to me:  repetitive, unceasing thoughts to act.  Let me break it down for you.

What?:  Ever since I watched the Super Bowl (what was that? like 7 months ago?), I have wanted to do something to influence what kind of programming is acceptable for children.  My rage was ignited by Victoria’s Secret ads (soft porn!) and a 3-D half-time ad that included some kind of bed-crawling vixen.  I was infuriated that it was a daytime program with many obviously young and adolescent viewers, especially boys.  Since then I have been constantly aware of (and annoyed by) the onslaught of inappropriate advertisements and programming that are too easily accessible to— and even targeted at— children.

Why?:  If you remember from my post about Sister Julie Beck’s recent Women’s Conference talk, she challenged us women to “Fight!” against pornography.  When we do nothing more than shake our heads at it, we can’t change anything.  Together, though, I think we can make a difference.

How?:  So my idea that was born back in January and has been fueled by promptings and reminders over the past several months is a website that would give moms all the tools they need to file formal complaints when children are exposed to inappropriate media– A place where they can point and click and submit their complaints as well as find templates of letters they can use and customize to voice their concerns.  I have called it the “Protecting Innocence Project” and it is currently being hosted (in all it’s super-rough-draft glory) here.

You?:  It occurred to me that my friends and readers could be a great resource to me in getting this whole thing up and running.  Here are some things I need:

  1. Addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses from all the major networks that could be used to file a formal complaint about programming and advertising.  (This is harder to find than it should be.)
  2. Someone who is knowledgeable enough to help me create “complaint” forms that moms could fill out online, and then they would be automatically sent to the target emails (networks, FCC, etc.)
  3. A collection of other sites, resources, and programs that are related to the fight against pornography and inappropriate media.  I’d like to create a reference list that helps people find this stuff more easily.
  4. Once the site is up and running, I’d love for people to help publicize it among friends, blogs, communities, even newspapers and local news where feasible.  Please don’t send anyone there yet because it’s just bare-bones minimum so far.
  5. Things like buttons and banners would be helpful (the online version, I mean).  I don’t really know how to create stuff like that other than turning an existing graphic into a hot link.

Anyway, this is just a plea to those of you who frequent this blog and find yourself sympathetic to this cause.  If you think you could help out with any of the aforementioned needs, let me know in the comments what you’re interested in/willing to help out with.  I’ll get back to you with a specific assignment (something as simple as researching out contact information for NBC).

Care to join me in this battle ladies?  I think we can do ourselves and our children proud.

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Recent lessons in self-awareness

Posted in Diapers, Divinity by

So you may have noticed I wasn’t a stellar blogger last week, but boy howdy, was I busy. Try to imagine that your friend who is a medical doctor asks you to “substitute” for him at work the day he’s supposed to perform surgery. That’s what it’s like when you get called as a counselor in the Stake YW presidency one month before Girls Camp (and the new president will be out of town for the month). So last week I spent two and a half days at Girl’s Camp and I learned a few more things about myself.

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  • Girls obsess about boys as much as I obsess about sleep.  (Oh, the part I learned about myself is that I’m annoyed by that… the boy part, definitely not the sleep part.)
  • When I went to Girls Camp as a youth, we loved singing all kinds of silly songs over and over again wherever we went.  This trend is apparently still in force, but now as an old and incredibly wise adult, I realize that many of those songs are really kind of inappropriate.  Heck, some of them are even anthems of boy-mongering.  Again, annoyed.  (Are you noticing a trend?)  My friend Shantel and I tried to come up with some counter-culture camp songs ourselves like “Boys are stupid until you’re twenty.  (and while marching…) Stand for Truth and Righteousness!”  Not a big hit.  Can’t imagine why.
  • I had to teach a fireside at camp and even though I thought I had prepared with many weeks of pondering, when I sat down to put my notes together a mere hour or so before the presentation, I had some severe writer’s block.  Just a little testimonial:  Prayer works.
  • When girls go to Girls Camp and decide to sleep as little as possible, they get to go home and recover.  When women go to Girls Camp and are victims of as little sleep as possible, they get to go home and immediately pick up their regular duties on overtime.  The trend continues:  Annoying.
  • I thought the girls might be annoying.  I was wrong.  I loved them, and I looked forward to spending more time with them.
  • Glitter lip gloss does not look good on grown women.

Today I had to return the large speaker system podium that we borrowed for camp to the church building.  When I arrived and got out of the car, I realized I needed to go to the bathroom.  I bent over and heaved up the podium to carry it in the building, and –um– apparently something about that bending, lifting and heaving stretched the limits of my bladder control.  I went home a little damper than I arrived, which is simply God’s way of reminding me that I’m not nearly as young or cool as I think I am.

So, learned any fun lessons about yourself lately?

General Conference Book Club Week 15: Elder Andersen

Posted in General Conference Book Club by

04_02_anderAfter the death of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Elder Neil L. Andersen was called as the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at the most recent General Conference.  This week we will study the first talk he gave as a newly-sustained apostle, prophet, seer and revelator, “Come Unto Him.”

>>Click here to read “Come Unto Him” by Elder Neil L. Andersen<<

In my opinion, this is one of the most important lessons we can learn, and I constantly need this reminder.  We need our Savior, and He is ready and willing to help us.  His love is incomprehensible and his power to save is without end.  I know He lives and I am so grateful to know of His love and care for me.

In this video, Elder Andersen affirms that this knowledge is a process and reassures us that we know enough to claim the blessings our Savior has to offer us.

If this is your first visit to the General Conference Book Club, click here to learn more about it. You’re welcome to join us at any point along the way, and we’d love to welcome back many of you that we haven’t heard from in a while.

Sometimes they get it.

Posted in Divinity by

trac3275-01Moms don’t get a lot of feedback.  And results are often delayed.  So, it’s great every once in a while when you get an indication that something you’re doing might just be working.

Since I heard Sister Beck’s talk in May about intentional parenting, I felt really strongly that I needed to establish some routines in our home that would help me to achieve the goals I have for my children.  Matt and I sat down and thought about what kinds of things we wanted our kids to know and do and be.  And then I built them into a weekly schedule.  (Just a loose schedule, to make sure that every goal-related thing happens at least once in a week.)  Wednesday mornings are for service.  I just really want my kids to grow up thinking about others and trying to show love.  I taught high school, so I’m particularly annoyed by the arrogant, self-centered entitlement that seems to be the norm among many teenagers (and now adults).  Anyway, on Wednesdays, after they finish their chore, we try to think of something nice we can do for someone else that day.

Today, we had to go to the grocery store for milk, so we decided to buy some flowers and take them to someone.  I dropped off the flowers where the person worked and Grant and Natalie came with me.  Clark stayed home with his great grandmother who is visiting from Utah.  The receptionist took our flowers and card, and then offered my children a balloon.  They both accepted it and then Grant said, “Can I have one more balloon please?  I have another brother, but he stayed home with my grandma.”  So with three balloons in hand, we walked back to the car.

Grant was happy, and he asked, “Mom, are you glad I got a balloon for Clark, too?”

I said, “Yes, that was very thoughtful of you.  And kind.”

“And service?”  he asked.

“Yep, Grant, you did service.”

And I felt like our little efforts meant something, and were making something happen inside my children.  It’s just another testimony to me that when you feel prompted to do something, and you do it, the blessings come.  In many, many cases the results are not visible for a long time.  Motherhood, after all, is “creation in slow motion,” but it’s sure nice to get those little glimpses of success every once in a while.

General Conference Book Club, week 14: Sister Thompson

Posted in General Conference Book Club by

04_04_thompWeek 14?  Can you believe we’ve been at it that long?  Welcome back to GCBC.  Coincidentally, this talk ties in quite nicely with yesterday’s long-overdue post about Sister Beck’s Women’s Conference Talk.  During the Sunday morning session of General Conference, Sister Barbara Thompson, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, spoke about the three directives that help us fulfill our divine role as women and how to implement them more fully in our lives.

>>Click here to read “His Arm is Sufficient” by Sister Barbara Thompson<<

If this is your first visit to the General Conference Book Club, click here to learn more about it. You’re welcome to join us at any point along the way, and we’d love to welcome back many of you that we haven’t heard from in a while.