There is Hope For Us All

My final reading assignment in my New Testament class was the end of the four gospels where it talks about the resurrection.  I found it very surprising, again, that Thomas didn't believe that Jesus had come back.  There are a couple of reasons for this.

First, if you believed that Jesus was the son of God when you knew him and witnessed all of his miracles and if he told you that he was coming back, how could you not believe it when it actually happened?

Second, if all of your must trusted and closest friends told you that they had actually seen Jesus on the earth again, how in the world would you not believe them?  It would only take one of my friends to convince me.  Thomas had all of the other disciples plus Mary and who knows how many others and he still wouldn't believe it.  My thought was, "How did this guy get picked to be a disciple?"

The comforting thought in all of this is that he did get picked to be a disciple and there was probably a very good reason for it.  He was normal!  He was human!  He was imperfect, just like all of us.  He represented all of those who are still on their faith journey and who might need a little more convincing.  If Thomas, with his limited faith, could be chosen to stand as a witness of God and Christ then there is hope for all of us:)

If Ye Are Prepared, Ye Shall Not Fear

I know this seems completely random that I haven't posted in a year and now pop up with this obscure post but it is for my religion class that I am taking online.  One of the options for presenting an idea was to post it on your blog so I am doing that now.  With the year I've had I'm sure this is the last thing you would expect me to post on but, here goes!

One of the things that stuck out to me this week in my New Testament reading assignment was the parable of the ten virgins.  It really hit home to me how important it is that we have our own testimonies and not rely on someone else's because when it comes down to it, in the end, we will be judged on our own merits and actions and beliefs and no one else's.

I have had a rock solid testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ my whole life.  I have never doubted anything about it.  I trust everything the prophet says as coming from God himself. However, if I had not married Pat Moore, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be reading the Book of Mormon every day or going to the temple every week.  I would be obedient and not commit any major sins but I wouldn't be as valiant in these two things if I hadn't known him.  I now have a very strong testimony of both of these things and will continue to do them for the rest of my life.

Now that my sweetheart is not by my side to prompt me and help me reread conference talks and go to obscure meetings, and go the extra mile in, well, everything. I might not think to do these things.  I now need to fend for myself and really stretch myself into thinking "What Would Pat Do"?  I need to fill my own lamp full enough so that I can be with him in the highest degree of glory because I guarantee you that's where he'll be.  If I am prepared, I won't fear.

Like Father, Like Son

I find it interesting that children are born with certain tendencies.  Some of my children sucked their thumbs when they were little.  Some didn't.  Only one sucked his fingers and his son now does the same thing.  I wonder if that tendency is hereditary or not.  Another son sucked his thumb and his daughter sucks hers.  My twins didn't suck anything and their children don't either.  The one who is breaking the trend is my youngest.  He sucked his thumb but his daughter sucks a pacifier.  Food for thought:)

A Sad Observation

This morning, after reading the paper and some articles in a magazine, I thought, again, about the phenomenon and the tragedy of parents being totally shocked and blown away by the actions of their children.  These are children who have committed horrible crimes, or become terrorist sympathizers or who have committed suicide and their parents never saw it coming.

I have thought about this a lot over the years and feel very sad that our society has become one where the parents can't or won't get to know their children enough to recognize when they need help, serious help.  I understand that there are many single moms out there who are working multiple jobs to support their families and there are multitudes of people who are dealing with their own issues such as addictions, challenging marriages, health issues and many more but it saddens me that so many parents don't recognize the incredible influence they have over their children and how just a few minutes of attention and guidance each day could possibly avert so many tragedies.

I was raised to believe that children are a precious gift to be taught and loved and nurtured and that there was nothing more important I could ever do with my life than to fulfill that sacred calling.  I was blessed to be able to have the time to commit to that calling because my husband agreed that I could accomplish my job best by being at home with the children while they grew up so he worked hard to make that possible.  I realize that not everyone has that kind of support system.  I do, however, believe that all parents could do better at taking their job more seriously, no matter what their circumstances.  I think that they don't understand the impact they can have on their children's lives.  They underestimate their role as a parent.

When I think of one of my children doing something horrific, I can't really process it.  I know them so well.  I have made it my business to know them very well.  When they lived in my home there wasn't a day that would go by that I didn't talk to them and ask them about their lives and get to know their friends and their challenges.  With that kind of attention they didn't have time to slip away from me and become someone who could shock me with their actions.

I think parents are afraid of offending their children or making them uncomfortable by prying too much.  I'm quite sure there are things that each one of my children have done that I don't know about and wouldn't be very happy about but I know their hearts and I stayed close enough to them to be able to steer them back to where they needed to be before things got out of hand.  I wish all parents could realize that their children need them and want to be guided by them even if they may not act like it sometimes.  It is the most important job we will ever have and it doesn't last very long.  We have plenty of time once they are out of our homes to do what we think we want to.  I hope we won't take this responsibility for granted and that we will do our very best with these precious souls that God has entrusted to us.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was AWESOME!  I had so much fun with my Utah crew.  We saw movies, Christmas lights at temple square in Salt Lake, cute boutiques in Bountiful, extended family in Provo and had a beautiful, delicious Thanksgiving dinner. I got to see a sister that I rarely get to see.  We stayed at Tanner and Alana's house most of the time but Hunter, Aleigh, Oaklyn and Savannah came and stayed there with us for part of the time.  We played Wii and Ava beat me most of the time.  (Vannie beat me all of the time).  We watched BYU kill Utah St. I love being with my family.  Even though it was freezing up there we still had a great time.  Family is forever and mine is Forever Moore.

Empathy

Empathy is a wonderful quality to possess but it can be really tough on leaky faucets like me.  Ever since I was a little girl I would "feel" everything way more than most.  When I see people experiencing emotions, I imagine myself feeling what they are feeling and it gets magnified like crazy.  If someone is crying  because they are happy or sad or hurt or any other strong emotion, I can't help but cry with them.  I don't even have to know them.  I just imagine what happened to them happening to me and I burst into tears with them.

I had a rough weekend this last weekend.  My husband and I went to a movie that I'm sure you've never heard of.  It was called "My All American" and I could have swam out of the theater because of the amount of tears I shed.  It was a true story and happened when I was 10 years old and I had never heard of any of the people involved but it could have so easily happened to me that I couldn't stop imagining how everyone involved must have felt.  I was feeling for just about every
character in the movie. It is about a college football player who dies of bone cancer in his sophomore year of college and the people he leaves behind.  I cried for his mom, his dad, his coach, his fiancé and especially for him.  I felt everything they felt and I was dying.  I am the mother of a college football player.  I am married to his father.  I have grown very close to coaches who have grown very close to my children.  I have loved and married a college athlete.  It could have happened to me and I felt that so strongly.

I came home and saw on Facebook that some very close friends in my ward had to part from each other as one of the families moved away for a couple of years.  Looking at the pictures of their children, who are best friends, reminded me of when our family's best friends got moved out of our ward by boundary changes and we were heart broken.  Then that lead to thinking about the mother of that family who was my best friend and how she is in Heaven now and the tears just wouldn't stop flowing.  I was feeling for every one of those young moms  and their children who were now parted from each other for what will feel like a very long time.  They are all young enough to be my children and grandchildren but I felt their pain and sadness as if if were my own.  That's hard.

Once I'm in emotional meltdown mode it is very hard to stop.  Every little thing that feels sad in my life gets magnified so that I just can't seem to stop crying.  Sunday mornings are tough for me because that is one of the times that I miss my young family the most.  So, Sunday rolled around and apparently I wasn't quite done crying so I just let it all out and the weird thing was that I was still thinking of all of the people that I had already cried for, the movie characters and the ward friends and they just all jumbled up into one really good cry.   After I was finally done and dehydrated I felt much better.  None of those people benefited from my tears for them so I really wish I could get a grip and not have to have sore eyes for two days over people  who don't even know I'm feeling for them, ha ha! So, just so you know, if I know and love you then I am going to be crying for you during all your ups and downs whether you like it or not:)

Contention is of the Devil

I have an inordinately strong aversion to contention.  Of any kind.  Even if I'm not even involved.  It's a physical problem.  I can't stand it if I know people are mad at each other and I have a physical meltdown if I think someone is unhappy with me.  I can't listen to or watch one minute of political debates because they are almost completely made up of people being mean to each other or even just disagreeing with each other.  My stomach starts to ache and I get shaky and weak and I have to leave the room.  I couldn't stand having my children argue or fight with each other and stopped it as soon as it started.  As adults, if I hear them strongly disagreeing with each other, I have to leave the room.  I really can't believe that the Lord sent such a wimp down to this hard world.  I'm pretty sure that's why I don't actively cultivate friends and why I prefer much smaller groups or no one at all.  I'm simply scared of offending someone or seeing them get offended at each other in front of me.  See?  Wimp. I'm sure I've only made it this far because I hang out with people who have been taught and believe that contention is of the Devil and they are trying to be Christ-like in their treatment of others so there are less frequent episodes of contention taking place and much quicker repentance and amends being made.  Everybody just needs to love and appreciate everybody else.  Please!  World Peace:)