Affirmations

This week was busy, but not very exciting.  Lucy turned 14.  A lot of us are getting colds so we're all snotty and head-achy.  Archie is still learning how to go to the potty.  At first, he was having pee accidents, but making it for #2.  Now it is the opposite.  Gross.  But he's doing well.  Saturday, Lucy had a birthday party and there were about 15 of her friends here.  There was a nice mix of church and school friends and almost half of the guests were boys.  She has a really nice group of friends.  They played Charades and even started singing around the piano while Lucy played, since a lot of them are in choir and she has accompanied them.  I was upstairs kind of laughing because it seemed like such a blast from the past -- from the 50's or something.  It made me happy.  We got that all cleaned up and then went to the Clay's house for a Mardi Gras party.  There were tons of people there and we had Gumbo, Shrimp Etoufee, and King's cake.  Whoop!  It was fun chatting with different people.  I have a new friend, Laura Gough.  I met her at Twin Cities Dance on the night Ella was set apart for her mission.   She overheard me talking about Ella and introduced herself.  She lives in the Normal ward and served her mission in Anaheim.  She is really nice.  So we talked about Ella and her son just got his mission call to Louisville, KY.  He is going to school in UT so she wonders if they realize how close his mission is to where his parents live.  Yesterday we went to church in the morning, but it had been snowing all night so there was hardly anyone there.  I looked around and could only see a couple of my sunday school students there so I was plotting to watch a video and not waste my amazingly prepared lesson on such a small number.  It would be to their benefit if I saved it for next week, right?  But the bishop took away my worries by announcing that the rest of church was cancelled at the end of sacrament meeting.  It was a little strange since it wasn't snowing anymore and we had all already risked our lives to be there, but I think it was because half of the teachers were missing anyway, that it would've been too crazy to figure out classes.  So we came home and the McLaughlin's came over for dinner and to play Settlers.  It was really fun -- except for the time that Matthew and Charles argued about a certain rule for about 10 minutes.  Enough already!  Right now I'm watching Charlie Clark while Syndy is at a doctor's appointment.  Archie is singing and playing, but Charlie is just staring at him.

I've told you I'm doing the Artist's Way, right?  Well, I had a little tantrum this past week because she is talking about how God wants to bless us with tons of things, but we're holding ourselves back.  I have a soft bed, loving people around me, a closet full of clothes, a pantry and refrigerator bursting with delicious and healthy foods... but there are people on this planet, now and throughout history, who from dawn to dusk, from birth until death, live in abject poverty and misery. So I "need" to go take tango lessons or go skydiving while some woman who was sold into prostitution as a child is simply not sending out the right affirmations? My whole life has been haunted by the "why." Why am I a Caucasian born into a wonderful family, free to get an education and do whatever I want with my life? Why do I have six healthy children and a loving husband? Why are there people who are hungry, hurt, scared, and lonely? Why should I be dissatisfied and want more?  But I've thought about it some more and realize that by not accepting God's abundance, I'm not able to share the love.  I need to be more open.  I was reading Mosiah 4 this morning -- I just love that chapter!  It has so much in there!  I like how it points out that we don't really know anything and that we're just supposed to love other people.  Love is the answer.  Always.

I got a new Book of Mormon for Valentines, haha!  It is pretty cool.  It is written in paragraph form, no verses, and it doesn't have footnotes.   Also, it is put in a different order -- the order in which it was abridged by Mormon, so it starts at the end.  Anyway, it is shaking things up a little bit for me and is easier to read for now.