annewandering

Honestly, I think it would be very hard to be the parents of this baby with all the financial and emotional drains. Yes abortion is not the answer but it would throw you. Some people recover from those shocks much faster than others. While recovering it is not unusual to try to figure out a way to fix the problem. Our society gives abortion as an option. I am sure a lot of people would have chosen that option. Every person in this story considered that option but the final adoptive mom and she was only indirectly involved till after the birth.

Alison, what would happen if you sat down and wrote out a detailed plan of what you would do if he ended up in jail. How you would deal with the loss of income etc. Then present it to him. Do you happen to know if any of his tagger friends have ever ended up in jail over this? Have they been hit with fines and if so how much?

It is true that people made some very hard choices. Even the biological father has relented and sees the baby now. Oddly now the baby has five parents instead of the regular two. It is a blessing to these people to have learned compassion.

It was tragic but there was no way for it not to be considering the birth defects.

Did any one ever accuse you of lacking a sense of humor? I was JOKING about the graffiti in my back yard. It was most likely done by a boy next door who lost his dad not that long before the graffiti showed up. I dont really regard him as a criminal. He is about ten years old. Rameumptom was using his set of observations of prisoners to state an opinion. I dont have to be a tagger to see that the logic was fallible. Note I am not saying he is wrong but he could well be since he only sees criminals who have been tossed in prison, a very select group. I doubt any are there for tagging. How do you know this mans actions are escalating? It seemed she was saying they are sporadic not escalating. How often are taggers tossed in jail if they are not involved in anything else illegal? I would suggest that his desires for the thrill be diverted to something more appropriate. He is obviously a very busy man with work, school and family. Some stress relieve would probably help.

With due respect, you are seeing those that were into illegal other things and got caught. It is not possible to legitimately work backwards from that to assume most taggers are the same as the ones you see every day in prison. I dont know any taggers except the jerks who painted up our backyard shed and I only know of them so I admit I am not experienced in anything to do with tagging. For what it is worth, I just dont think you can lump all, or even most, taggers with the ones you see in prison. (The ones in my backyard I would since it is clearly not art and its in my backyard! Yuck)

Ok. He wants recognition. He does his tagging with his own name. Thats probably at least slightly important. How much of his art work done legally gets recognition? I have seen some interesting tagger art on the internet. Perhaps he could set up a site for displaying his tagger art? For the adrenalin he really does need to have an outlet for that. Around here the adrenalin junkies do offroading, rock climbing and base jumping. No doubt there is some thing equally stupid where you live. lol. Ok I am not an adrenalin junkie so I think the activities are stupid but for them they are an important part of their lives. The nice thing is they are legal. Down in Santa Cruz, Ca. they apparently have a lot of artists/taggers so they have them decorate the town or so it seems. It is done with murals etc which he said was not exciting but IF he wants recognition it would work. Now he says he wouldnt like it but then again he hasnt done any yet has he? I dont know how you can be any more responsible than you are now. You are trying to find a solution. I hope you have luck.

What exactly does he paint on the walls? Have you seen it? Selek, I just did a google search on graffiti being gang related. It turns out that most graffiti is not gang related although there is much that is. Many consider it a valid art form despite it being illegal. Much of it is social commentary. There is also the factor of fame and recognition of other graffiti taggers. The problem I see here is not the art. It is the fact that he prefers it BECAUSE it is illegal. One question I do have about that is it the being illegal or is it because he is well known and 'respected' in it by his fellow taggers? That is really something that a counselor needs to get into with him.

Sounds like an adrenalin junkie. Does your bishop know about this? Does he see a counselor?

I ran into a quote by Pres. Spencer Kimball on a gardening site a bit ago. Surprised me but was pertinent!

Good. :) Your kids are lucky to have such a caring and careful mom.

He would probably challenge it if you did deny him visitation. Might win too since you do let him visit. Honestly I would talk to him and try to make arrangements for them to visit under strict supervision. Otherwise you have no choice but to deny. If you dont, he is going to have grounds that you have not minded even knowing about the dui.

I think it would take an odd judge to judge against a mom telling her kids not to get in the car with a drunk father. Still you can tell him that he has a choice without having to go to that extent. Either he agrees to a way to see the kids with him not allowed to drink or drive or no visits. If that cant be worked out then the kids need to know why they are not going to be visiting dad. I see no reason it cant be said without anger. Its a fact not a judgement. The bad thing is that one or both of your kids are most likely going to idealize their dad since he is not there to prove he is a rat. You, as the only responsible parent, have to be the bad guy sometimes whereas he just gets to play. I dont know if you do counseling but it might be a plan to help them understand.

Yes this is the point I was trying to make. :) The idea that it was out of the hands of mankind for so long would help to preserve the integrity of it. We do know that many of the books were abridged but even the abridgments were done under documented inspiration not by who knows who at who knows what time and from who knows what document. The bible has so much that has flat out questionable provenance that its no wonder Joseph Smith said so long as its translated correctly. This is not a problem in the Book of Mormon if you believe it is a true book.

I thought the leopard remark was humorous. I think it was intended to use a bit of humor to make a serious point. Whats wrong with humor anyway? People tend to remember something like that more so than a serious comment. Probably because it hits an emotional cord and with the leopard it hits humorous and touching cords at the same time. Two makes it twice as memorable. Vort, you remember it specifically because people thought it was funny. It tweaked the resonance of the message and the anger at it seemingly being diminished by the laughter. Somehow I feel quite sure Pres. Monson knew it would garner a few laughs. He seems to have a good sense of humor.

People whos gender is in question are not given the priesthood or allowed to attend the temple are unworthy? I am not seeing that as what is being said. The problem is that priesthood is given only to males. Temple work is done on the basis of gender. Women do womens work and men do mens work. If your gender is unknown what work can you do? Its more a matter of there being no work you can do than being unworthy. What sex we are is determined by chromosomes. If the chromosomes are messed up then you could be the wrong apparent sex. It would not be impossible to be the wrong sex for your spirit. In fact it is likely that some have had that situation.

Have you ever noticed that people are never reincarnated from being a serf who was responsible for cleaning the pig pens? Maybe those people are never reincarnated?

I am pleasantly surprised. :)

What keys will open the door to eternal happiness? Some of my friends and I are doing a photo a day for a month challenge. This is my photo for today for Keys. Thought I would share with you all. :)

I believe a person can repent at any time. On the deathbed the repentance may well be real but sadly they have no time for it to be integrated into their lives. Fortunately they can continue with that repentance process later but with more difficulty. I have seen peoples lives change with repentance. Some in major ways. Some in much smaller ways. Every time we repent we are changing no matter the 'size' of the sin. Generally the noticeable changes come after an accumulation of repentances. Fortunately God sees more clearly than we do. He sees and is pleased with each small change whether anyone else notices or not. It is satan that tells us we can not change. It is satan that tells us that we have to become perfect all at once and not in steps. It is satan that tells us that we are who we are and that no matter what we are going to always be that same person. It is God that tells us we have the atonement and can become perfect. One step at a time, usually.

I am watching the show Messiah:Behold the Lamb of God. They were showing how scholars have looked at the Gospels, Matt, Mark and Luke? to determine which is the oldest. They have come up with the conclusion that there is an older document that they call Q that two of these have derived from. This got me to thinking. The Book of Mormon is the oldest document detailing the time Christ was here on the earth. Granted he was in resurrected form. It is unique in that it was written at the time events happened not centuries later. Even considering that parts of it are abridged. That seems pretty important, historically.

One situation a theory does not prove. Yes it is heartwarming but the boy is only ten years old. No one has any idea what his future will be. We can hope for the best. It has been shown in studies time and again that a mom and a dad are the best choice for the successful raising of a child. The thing that annoys me so much is when stupid people mess up marriages over and over and that is used to 'prove' same sex parenting and marriages are better than straight. Of course better is usually more than a little subjective.

I read that on facebook today. It was a touching story and it has turned out well for them.

Anymore they are getting so common. I hate that it isnt even all that shocking any more. Both are sacrilegious. One mocks Jesus directly and one demeans a sacred act.

No kidding. Been there and done that! I admit I loved to go visit teaching for the breaks. I have no callings. Been doing a bit of family history though.