lusciouschaos

Once I tried to impress this guy I liked by parking in the management section of the lot. He asked me how I was lucky enough to park there, I said, "oh you just have to know the right people." Just then the parking security guard walked over and told me to move my car. Needless to say I failed to impress or know the right people for that matter.

And there is more hair in the drain and sink.

You get to do stuff.

This morning I was thinking about my priorities and it got me thinking about one of the things that keeps us from connecting deeply with God and those we love. I have noticed with all the new technologies for communication, there is a decrease in meaningful exchange. Twitter, for example, allows us to communicate our spontaneous thought, ala "I am off to Target." It is intended to give anyone who would be interested (and trust me there are very few, if any) a birdseye view of how I operate in the world. I admit I have been tempted to tweet and it probably has its place (If you tweet and find it meaningful, I would be interested in hearing your perspective). What concerns me is that some technological advances take us closer to mindlessness than mindfulness. Here are definitions of the two words: Mindfulness-Bearing in mind; regardful; attentive; heedful; observant Mindlessness-Unmindful; inattentive; heedless; careless. The scriptures (Hebrews 2:6) tell us that God is "mindful" of us. I remember years ago a genius CTO telling me that the thing he missed most as technology progressed is the time "to think." I think the less positive forces in the universe strive to keep our minds numb and mindless, while heavenly entities would have us strive towards mindfulness. Taking the time to meditate, ponder and pray on the more important issues and decisions in our lives. I want to take the time to "be still" and know God. What steps do you take to be mindful?

I eat ice cream almost everyday, which is why I don't have a photo attached to my profile.

My husband has an amazing voice. When we first met I used to call him the funeral singer cause all these sweet ladies would meet me and inform me that they wanted him to sing at their funerals.

I just copied this from a blog entry of mine last year entitled: The Birds, The Bees and Oprah No photo tonight for a couple of reasons. Takes too much time and I don’t think I could find an appropriate photo. Tonight my son came to me and said, “Mom, I know something about s-e-x.” He had just been away for a week at the Outdoor Science School and immediately all my worst fears seem to be coming true. I took a deep breath and said, “Really, tell me about it.” He flashes me a conspiratorial smile and said, “well, there was this kid in the bunk next to mine (cue: panic) and in his sleep, he keep murmuring, I want to have sex with Oprah.” He giggled like we were sharing secrets behind the backstop. Made me feel almost young. Then I remembered–I am the mother. I cannot waste this teaching moment to make sure he understands that this power is sacred. We talked about not making jokes about sacred things. Then he said, “But mom you did laugh.” Okay, I will do my best not to indulge but the thought of a ten year old dreaming of Oprah in any amorous way is laughable. Wait till my son is older and I tell his wife....

I not only laugh I comiserate. It used to be a long standing joke in our family that my two little wouldn't vomit unless they were in my arms. Dad could hold them for hours, hand them to me, and the spewing would occur.

Not exactly sure why but the link is no longer working. It makes me think we (Mormons and other interested parties) may have created more traffic than anticipated. It was fine yesterday.

I started a similar thread. I am thinking that it comes down to discussing and defining what is sacred. Your body, your spirit, your testimony... Being in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing. I might also echo something a neighbor once said to my husband and I: When dealing with teens--they are guilty until proven innocent. Because their brains and responses are not yet mature, we err on the side of love and caution.

Congrats!! Would love to hear about your conversion story.

The Library of Congress has digitized a 1st edition copy of The Book of Mormon. I really enjoyed reading Jospeh Smith's Preface dealing with the stolen 116 pages. Enjoy the link: From the Rare Book and Special Collections Division A rare treat! A testament to the upside of technology.

I received this and it seems appropriate as this thread begins to run it's course: Even though everyone may discover what goes on in the temple, and many have already revealed it, the important thing is that I do not reveal these things; they must remain sacred to me. I must preserve a zone of sanctity which cannot be violated whether or not anyone else in the room has the remotest idea what the situation really is . . . . No matter what happens, it will, then, always remain secret: only I know exactly the weight and force of the covenants I have made--I and the Lord with whom I have made them--unless I choose to reveal them. If I do not, then they are secret and sacred no matter what others may say or do. Anyone who would reveal these things has not understood them, and therefore that person has not given them away. You cannot reveal what you do not know! Author: Hugh Nibley, Source: The Temple and the Cosmos, p. 64

I thought you were looking forward to the next election.

Interesting to examine the difference between the wants of the natural and spiritual man. In our ward conference the Stake President gave this quote from C. S. Lewis: Christ says, 'Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.' So often the natural man wants more ease, often at the cost of personal growth.

One of the latest issues to confront our teens and in my case pre-teens is called s*xting. Here is a link to the incident at my child's middle school: O.C. middle school students were busted for something called "sexting" - 3/17/09 - Los Angeles-Southern California-LA Breaking News, Weather, Traffic, Sports - abc7.com I had yet another discussion with my children about how our body is a temple. My daughter says the only two topics I discuss anymore are puberty and the gospel. I don't remember having "the talk" with my mother. In fact, we still haven't had one. But I would venture that I discuss things of a virtuous nature at least once a week. No other way to protect them. How are you talking to yours?

Happy, happy birthday Ladybug Dear, Happy days will come to you all year. If I had one wish that it would be, a happy happy birthday to you from me.

I was on a public affairs call last night with 40 stakes in CA. We talked briefly about the Big Love. And about political and social attacks on the church. The answer: Service is our response to the attacks on the church. We are holding a Mormon Helping Hands service day on April 25th. 94 Stakes in Southern California will be participating. We anticipate about 15-20K volunteers. I can think of no better way to respond.

I am in for the four sessions. Like Ben, we try to make it something the family looks forward to, I try to prepare gospel games and puzzles and a waffle breakfast.

This is one of the more sensitive news pieces I have seen in recent years. Worth a look. Good Morning Yahoo!

Great article Stampede. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

This caught my eye:Quote: As the recession has deepened, the church says it has seamlessly kept up with demand that increased 20 percent over the past year. Question: Do local charities approach the Church for aid, or does/did the Church initiate it? I met with the local folks who say demand is up year over year 25% so far. This doesn't really tell the whole story because some of the more extreme difficulties in markets started showing up in the fall of last year. The organizations I work with note that they are seeing a different type of client through their doors today than a year ago. Professionals who have lost high paying jobs are using the government funds to cover rent and utilities and are coming to the agencies for assistance with food to get by. As to the question of charities or the Church initiating the aid. It is both. Local charities that have received the aid in the past have become aware of the program and will appropriately reach out to the church through the member contact. I sit on an Advisory Board for We Care a non-denominational agency that provides service in a number of cities in Orange County. If they did not ask, I would initiate anyway. The requests are approved through the local priesthood channels. What is perhaps more interesting to me is a discussion we had with local pastors at a recent advisory meeting. Local churches, including the LDS church, do not have unlimited resources and the days of going to a back door of your local church to request help may become obselete soon. Pastors are feeling an increase need to funnel the needy to a place like We Care where individuals can meet with a caseworker and a more complete needs assessment can be done. While not the norm, fraud is beginning to creep into charitable giving. Individuals making requests for rent assistance from multiple churches is on the rise. The ecclesiastical leaders are looking for the means to help as many as possible with a focus on helping as many as possible return to self-sufficiency.

Little known fact: Each Stake has the ability to request $500. worth of food or whatever is needed from the Bishop's storehouse annually to support whatever local charitable organization they designate. This would seem like a small amount but it is just one out of a myriad of programs. Here locally, we are using it this year to provide canned fruit and jam to one of our local agencies. This would translate into roughly 1,000 jars of jam. Prices at the Bishop's Storehouse at different as well, speaking as one who purchased 8 cases of Strawberry, Rasberry and Marionberry jam in 2001 which I gave as neighbor gifts and we are still enjoying it today 8 years later. Hmmm, jammm

Exactly Iggy. Thank you.

Loved this article published in the San Francisco Gate. Some Public Affairs Director is really magnifying their calling: Mormon food bank a private welfare system I only take slight umbridge at the idea that we only help our own. I tried to find statistics to quantify the amount of aid provided to non-lds organizations and found this: The Mormon Church has sent service workers and material relief to victims of over 150 disasters since 1986 alone. Service and aid are provided regardless of any consideration, including religion, ethnicity, and nationality, and is valued in the tens of millions of dollars annually. In the last 20 years, 200 million pounds of food, clothing, and medicine were donated in 147 countries, almost all to members of other faiths. Service is offered to countries where Mormon missionaries are banned by law. The Church is able to send relief quickly because there is no need to wait for donations or purchase supplies. Mormon Church members donate their service and resources regularly, and supplies are stored at Salt Lake and elsewhere, ready for distribution. The LDS Church also works with and donates extensively to other, "non-Mormon" charities. I am sure someone else can quantify the value of service and goods better than I. In the comments to the article from the Gate, I was surprised to note how many commented along the lines: Good for the Mormons but they only help their own. Having just requested $500 worth of goods from the Bishops Storehouse to donate to my local food bank I know this is not the case.