Category Archives: Divinity

The spiritual side of motherhood.

Letting “I wish” go

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Sometimes life doesn’t turn out like you planned it out in your mind (or in your journal when you were 13). We make plans, we set goals, we visualize expectations wrapped up in pretty packages and we move forward in life hoping it all plays out that way. But it often doesn’t, and not necessarily by lack of planning or industry. Sometimes life just happens– and it’s bigger than our dreams or plans.

Recently, I’ve been keenly aware that God’s plans for me might be different than my own agenda. He sees opportunity in things that I try to avoid; he sometimes closes the door on things I want and things I think I need. I’m tempted to believe that things are “all messed up” when, really, they are exactly as they should be.

I think part of the problem is measuring our life in things, places, status, location– anything that can be “seen.” But, truly, we would do better Continue reading →

Just say no.

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I just read this article.  Don’t waste your time on the link, really.  It’s basically about a group that is suing McDonald’s for using toys in their Happy Meals that lure kids in like little marketing drugs.  According to one intelligent group spokesman, it’s almost like having a salesman come door-to-door trying to sell products to your children.

Um, sure it is.  Except that it isn’t at all, since McDonald’s isn’t in your home nor does it visit there.

My favorite part was this claim he made:

“At some point parents get worn down,” Jacobson says. “They don’t always want to be saying no to their children. We feel like an awful lot of parents would be relieved if this one pressure was removed from them.”

Wow. Isn’t it a parent’s job to say no?  A lot?

I am not trying to make any statements about fast food, childhood obesity, or even about the level of stupid some lawsuits have reached; however, Continue reading →

My children didn’t even miss me.

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I’m told that when Matt drove home and they saw that my car was not in the garage, Grant said, “YES!,” and then he got out of the car and held his hands up in the air and yelled “FREEDOM!”

Um.

Whatever.  He’ll appreciate me when he’s 24 and I don’t tell the girl he’s dating that he used to wipe boogers on the wall.  A lot.

EFY went well.  I think I’m getting more used to the nerves since I didn’t throw up this time and I only took 3 Excedrin Tension Headache capsules in the two days I taught.  And I didn’t even worry about the evaluation forms they were filling out about my classes.  I had some great experiences and can say that I know some of the youth were able to feel the Spirit and learn new things and set new goals.  So I felt good about that.  One thing that I love about EFY is that it renews my faith in the youth.  They are good and they love the gospel.  They want it.  We never give them as much credit as we should.  I have always loved this quote from J. Reuben Clark and I try to let it guide the way I teach:

“The youth of the Church are hungry for things of the Spirit; they are eager to learn the gospel, and they want it straight, undiluted.  … they want to gain testimonies of their truth; they are not now doubters but inquirers, seekers after truth. … You do not have to sneak up behind this spiritually experienced youth and whisper religion in his ears; you can come right out, face to face, and talk with him.”

Anyway, they’re great, and spending time with them made me feel good.  And of course, sharing my testimony a lot always makes me feel good.

Natalie missed me.  She gave me a hug today and said she was glad I’m back.  She told me later she thought I went to jail.

???

Thank goodness my children don’t do evaluation forms.  There’s just not enough Excedrin for that.

The “Anti-Mom”?

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Yesterday, I came upon a headline in my news feed called “The Rise of TV’s ‘Anti-Mom’.”  I don’t really recommend the article, but I was alarmed by its main points.  It summarized the evolution of the way mothers are portrayed in popular television programs, tracing their history from Beaver’s mom and Donna Reed, to Carol Brady, Mrs. Huxtable, and then into Rosanne and some current mother characters in “Desperate Housewives” and “Modern Family.”  The implications are obvious.  What society expects from mothers has drastically changed.  We now celebrate, cheer for, and empathize with what the article calls “flawed moms,” claiming that the happy, organized mothers of the past “set up an atmosphere for women that was just impossible to actually stand by.”

Reading it made me sad.  And it didn’t even touch on the dangerous “reality” TV moms.  The very concept of “anti-mom” shows a shift from concern and care for others to an obsession with self and individualism.  I immediately thought of Sister Julie Beck’s recent talk and this bold claim:

“A lot of the antifamily messages that you are hearing are targeting young women. Satan knows that he will never have a body; he will never have a family. He will target those young women who create the bodies for the future generations and who should teach the families. They don’t even know what they’re being taught in the messages. It’s just seeping in, almost through their pores. Because Satan can’t have it, he’s luring away many women, and also men, and they’re losing confidence in their ability to form eternal families.

. . . Anti-Christ is antifamily. Any doctrine or principle our youth hear from the world that is antifamily is also anti-Christ. It’s that clear. They need to know that if it’s antifamily, it’s anti-Christ. An anti-Christ is antifamily.”

I’m not on any national news feed, but since I feel like one of the main purposes of my blog is to defend the divinity of motherhood, I just can’t keep my mouth shut.  I know that motherhood Continue reading →

Freeze frame!

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Summer is coming and this is my favorite time of year, except for the part about swimsuits.  The other day I was outside in the yard while the kids were playing.  It was sunny and warm and breezy and beautiful– the kind of day that just makes me feel content.  And then, suddenly, I felt a little bit panicky because it’s ALREADY JUNE and it’s going so fast and summer’s going to be gone and it’s going to be snowing again before I even know it.  STOP THE CLOCK ALREADY!  I really wanted to freeze the calendar and stay in June 3rd for a long, long time.  I keep thinking about that song by the Steve Miller band that says, “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future . . . ”  And I thought about the Book of Mormon, where it says (somewhere, I’m too lazy to look it up) that in the last days, people’s treasures will become slippery.  Time is a treasure Continue reading →