A while back, I was severely sleep deprived and a neighbor found some stray kittens. In my weakened state, I gave into my children’s impassioned pleas, and we became the reluctant owners of “Lizzie” (inspired by Pride and Prejudice, don’t tell my kids). I have never had a cat. I never wanted a cat, and never planned to want one. I just want to report that it has been surprisingly much more pleasant than I imagined. Lizzie is way easier than any of my children have ever been, so despite all the new expenses required for the care of my “free” kitten, I guess I don’t regret it. This is the part where I post a picture of my cat and cross to the dark side:
You may not have noticed, but this week there was an election. Some people are ecstatic with the results; some have dusted off their Apocalypse survival kits. Either way, feelings run high, and I’m weary of the discussion of it. (I remind you I hold the power of the delete button in the comment thread.) I will sum up my non-partisan feelings this way: I love this country. I hope for this country. I’m worried for this country. And I know better than to place all my faith and/or fear into one political candidate. I will not bore you with the scriptures and quotes you’ve all seen floating around the internet, meant to vilify or glorify our current national condition. I will, however, share a quote that I’ve loved before and love today. Barbara Bush said this in 1990, and it puts the responsibility for this nation back where it belongs–with us:
“Your success as a family … our success as a society depends not on what happens in the White House, but on what happens inside your house.”
And that is what I’m feeling strongly. I’ve read several articles lately that statistically show the trends of our nation (break that down to its ingredients: individuals, homes, families) moving farther away from specific Christian principles. The news claims that our country is increasingly more secular than religious. I believe, in the context of prophesy, that we are in danger of losing God’s promised protection if we, individually, do not try harder to embrace truth and righteousness and make our homes into little greenhouses of goodness. I was reading about Captain Moroni today, and these were some of the characteristics that made him “impervious” to the moral decay around him: he gloried in God, he had faith, he protected his people, he kept the commandments, and he resisted iniquity. It was/is a simple and powerful list. The scripture declared that Satan would have no power over the hearts of men if they were all like Moroni.
Faith and family are both consistently losing value in modern society, so we must strengthen them and value them and testify of them in as many ways as we can. I personally feel a battle cry to make my home a bunker– to arm my children with truth, doctrine, faith, testimony, confidence, strategies, and a knowledge of how to use the Spirit in their lives. I am not a doomsdayer; I do not believe that the horsemen of the apocalypse have been let loose, but I DO recognize how confusing our world has become. It’s a bewildering place if you don’t have foundational principles to cling to and navigate by. If it’s confusing to me and other adults, it must be overwhelmingly distressing for children. So that’s where I’ll start. With mine.
1green·house, noun \-ˌhau̇s\
Definition of GREENHOUSE
1: a structure enclosed (as by glass) and used for the cultivation or protection of tender plants
Diapers and Divinity 
Thank you. Just what I needed to hear.
That is a CUTE cat! 🙂 Maybe she should run for president.
I just discovered your blog from a friend’s blog. I’ve added you to my list because I really appreciate the things you’re writing about on here. I couldn’t agree with you more about what you said in this post. I really like that quote from Barbara Bush; it’s so true. And the idea of our homes being greenhouses is precious and perfect. Thank you!
I love your “boo-boo kitty”. I agree with your thoughts and thank you for sharing them.
After the election I felt a deep sense of relief, all the months and weeks and days that lead up to it seemed like one giant “to do” and cross off the calendar list. I went to bed before the final tally, and for some reason, I hoped that it would be like Christmas Eve and when I awoke the next morning, all would be right with the world. I had no strong views on either candidate, but I prayed that whoever won, that God would be in the details of his administration.
But the answer to my prayer was not about who won the presidency, but it was a reminder that there is a lot of work for “us” as the lights of this world to do. I can only reference Elder Holland’s Oct Conference talk “The First Great Commandment”:
“If ye love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back.
“To all within the sound of my voice, the voice of Christ comes ringing down through the halls of time, asking each one of us while there is time, “Do you love me?” And for every one of us, I answer with my honor and my soul, “Yea, Lord, we do love thee.” And having set our “hand to the plow,” we will never look back until this work is finished and love of God and neighbor rules the world.”
And I pondered hard over that, and I realize what the true meaning of “trust not in the arm of the flesh”. We render to our government what is their right to require of us, but we give our all unto our God. We are the Captain Moroni’s of our time.
Luke 11:33 No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lamp stand, that those who come in may see the light.
It’s true. I’d like to think that by having a say in who controls the white house we can control what goes on in people’s homes, but that’s just not the case. I admit, I thought it would be nice to have someone with access to the gift of the Holy Ghost running our country, and as sad as I was to find out he hadn’t won, I was even more distressed by the states who legalized gay marriage and recreational marijuana. It’s not a good sign, and those states, if not the nation, will be held accountable when the majority is choosing the wrong.
A friend who was disappointed about the outcome of the elections tried looking at the bright side by putting it this way, “Well, at least a Mormon won’t be blamed for all the bad stuff that’s going to happen to this nation over the next couple of years.”
I agree with Barbara Bush. I don’t know that it would matter who was the president if the majority of the people are not teaching their children what’s right and true.
I’m afraid it’s bound to happen –it’s been prophesied about for eons. Society will continue to become more and more wicked, and although we can’t change that as a whole, what we can do is fortify our own homes and families and reach out to as many people on the individual level as possible. Continuing to fight against the system seems futile and may not change anything, but at least we know, and God knows, who’s side we’re on and that we’ve done our best.
Thanks for this post. I feel strongly about fortifying my home and strengthening myself. There’s so much evil that everyone accepts and it’s so saddening and maddening. My dh recently went anti and I’m seeing first hand how quickly things change and how evil becomes good and good evil. I’m so glad to have the example of Moroni (and others) that we can stay righteous despite what’s happening around us. Thank you for your blog. It’s refreshing!
Your cat is cute. No- I will not babysit it when you move back to Minnesota. Joel thinks cats are from Satan.
i love your Greenhouse metaphor! I can’t even begin to put into words how happy I am that this election cycle is over. It went on way too long and if the rest of them from here on out are like this then I need to find a way to block Fox News and MSNBC from our cable! Barbara Bush said that so eloquently and she was so correct. Thanks for sharing that I haven’t thought about her in a while. Our ward was just divided and that actually has more impact on my life then who won the election. A couple that we are very close with who became our surrogate or adoptive whatever word fits Grandparents when we moved to Colorado are not in our ward anymore. They are currently on a mission in Singapore and I feel a little bit sad about it. They helped me through my Dad’s passing so much. Then I find out today that there is a new family that just moved here from American Fork, a town very close to where I am from. Even more exciting they have a daughter that is my youngests age! Mysterious ways that’s all there is to say…Thanks for sharing this!
Btw…your cat is so cute! We used to have a cat that looked just like it named “Ftumpch”, he had an extra digit? I don’t know what the technical term is but he had a thumb, he would lunge at the door and try to open the door knob, after a while he figured it out! Your picture reminded me of him and that made me happy…thanks!
So true…but I did vent it out for a day…If made me feel better. 🙂 It also lead to a great conversation with my son about: who is really in charge- Heavenly Father, signs of the time, our responsibilities to learn about our Constitution to defend it, praying for our leaders, etc.
I am so glad you used that quote by Barbara Bush. She is so amazing. I saw that quote earlier on Pinterest and it said that James E. Faust said it and I just knew that wasn’t right! Glad to know who really said it.
I almost forgot-Your kitty is so sweet 🙂
I love you. Even though you’ve crossed to the cat-haired dark side.
From the First Presidency, ” It is a long tradition among Latter-day Saints to pray for our national leaders in our personal prayers and in our congregations. We invite Americans everywhere, whatever their political persuasion, to pray for the President, for his administration and the new Congress as they lead us through difficult and turbulent times.”
Can you imagine the power that would come to the families in the United States if all religious people began praying for the President?
Our home is all we really have “control” over anyway. I say “control” in quotes…we can only go about our lives as the Savior taught us and try to encourage others around us. I love the kitty. So cute!
So well said, as usual. Thanks for the uplifting reminder to strenghten homes and families.
First of all, I can really relate to the cat comments. I too gave into pleading & have recently been tempted to post a cat photo. So far I haven’t given in to that temptation.
Love the Barbara Bush quote, & Moroni commentary.