Interfaith Alliance

Our Stake is part of the city's interfaith alliance, which takes turns hosting the meetings.  It was our turn at the end of October.  The hosts get about 15 minutes at the end of the meeting to share some of their own beliefs, and I was invited to help present for five of the 15 minutes.

I had never been to one of the meetings; in fact, I didn't know the alliance existed until I was asked to help.  But I thought it sounded like a great opportunity to meet some of the amazing people of faith in our community.

I was asked to speak on what we believe about families and temples...in my allotted 5 minutes (possibly 3, if the meeting's main presenter ran long), so I knew I had to be very precise while still flexible.  After an introduction, I would speak first, followed by the Dallas Texas Mission President (who lives in our stake), and then by our Stake President.  Our Stake Public Affairs director arranged this whole thing, and he prepared some power point slides for us to use.  They were helpful in guiding my remarks.  I also got a lot of help from Mormon.org in how to say clearly what we believe to those who aren't members.  I decided to use some cue cards to help.  I am very, very glad I did!

When I arrived at the meeting, there were about 20-25 members of the alliance from other faiths (Jewish, Muslim, Baha'i, Methodist, Baptist, Church of Christ, and more), and about 15 representatives from our stake.  They began with some business, and then we had lunch.  I sat with the main leader of the alliance, who is an associate pastor at a large church, as well as a member of our stake presidency, and a few others.  She was asking about the workings of our church, and when we mentioned we go to church services based on where we live, she said, "I can't imagine telling anyone when to do anything."  It really is a different thing when your job depends on the happiness of your parishioners, verses a congregation "gathering themselves" for worship.

After lunch, the main speaker gave his speech.  He was pretty much amazing.  He is from South Dallas, and is the one who founded the chapter of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Center for Nonviolent Social Change in the DFW area.  He was a very moving and proficient preacher.  I can say that he brought the Spirit to the meeting.  As I sat there listening, and looking around at all the professional preachers surrounding me, I just thought, "Who am I to be presenting to these people?  Who am I?  I am a mom.  I am a preschool teacher.  I just happen to have a calling in the stake and happen to be available for a weekday lunch, and happen to be a woman, to help with the stereotype of LDS leaders being only men.  What can I possibly add to this meeting?  Who am I?"  And then the tender mercy:  "I am a daughter of God.  Who am I not?"  I held on to my little cards, and knew I had prepared with (LOTS of) prayer, so though I was still nervous, I didn't doubt myself or the help I knew I had.

Soon it was my turn to go.  I had a Card 1, but decided not to use it, so I didn't include it in the picture.  Card 2 went with the slide showing "The Family: A Proclamation to the World," with a few points highlighted.  Card 3 went with a slideshow of temples from around the world, ending with the Dallas Temple and Salt Lake City Temple.  Card 4 went with the last slide, which was from lds.org and highlighted differences between temples and meetinghouses.

I wasn't perfect--I never am. :)  But I think I said what I set out to say, and in a way that was clear, and in under five minutes.  Then the Mission President and his wife spoke about missions, and two sister missionaries gave a brief introduction to Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and then our Stake President spoke briefly about the organization of the church and provident living.

The "closing prayer" was by a Jewish man.  He said that they traditionally don't say prayers at the end of meetings like that, so he was going to read a prayer from their main worship service for us instead.  He read (actually sang) it first in Hebrew, and then in English, and it was so beautiful.  There was another Jewish man in the congregation who was answering during the prayer, as they would during their services.  I loved it.

After the meeting, I was talking to a pastor who said he was going to look up the Family Proclamation.  I mentioned that when it was given 20 years ago, we all thought it was obvious information, but as the years have gone on, we have seen how important and prophetic it was (though I don't think I said "prophetic"), and he said, "Yes--it's like sticking your stake in the ground."  I have thought of that a lot, and I like the imagery (and recognize that it is scriptural).  I'm grateful for that stake in the ground, and for my Stake of Zion.  

I was truly honored to be there that day.

Extra, extra

My hair is getting long again.  Sometimes the girls like to play with it.  This was Gracie's work.

I don't remember what they were watching, but they sure look cozy!

Tessa's castle

Tessa built a block castle, and then asked for my phone to document it forever in pictures.

Here you go.  You're welcome!

POW

Question of the Day, just before Thanksgiving

Taste test for "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

Once there was a windstorm...

We had a pretty windy storm one night.  I kept waiting for my phone weather alert to go off, but it never did, so I figured everything was still OK, but I had four girls and a boy on my bedroom floor in the morning.  (The teenager slept through it all.)

Turns out, my alert didn't go off, since I have the "do not disturb" mode on at night.  I did not know that that applied to weather alerts.  We found out we had had tornado watches and warnings throughout the night.

Once it got lighter, the kids looked outside through the rain and saw this:

What, might you ask, is wrong with this picture?  It's more of what's missing from the picture, at that big, brown spot to the left of the swing set: our trampoline!

 

 Where did it go?  Oh, there it is--in the neighbor's yard again!  See those poles sticking up next to their awning?  That's ours.  See how the fence is untouched?  It is a very tricky trampoline.

 No, the fence was unharmed, though the fence on the other side of our yard was not as fortunate:

 Here's another view of our wayward trampoline in our neighbor's yard.  It's frame was bent, so we took it apart and plan to recycle it.

I'm not sure how soon it will be replaced.

Life with the Bensonator

I am having fun with my Benson this year.  It's the first time I've had a three year old without any younger children.  He asks me to take pictures of him sometimes, so here's a sampling:

He loved these pants from Old Navy.  They're dusty because he kept dragging them on the ground behind him.  I thought it was so funny he needed a picture of them, right then, especially since he doesn't usually like new things.

 We got to the library early one morning before it opened, so we walked around their new meadow trails and came back for a picture by the weird musical sculpture.

I mentioned he doesn't like new things.  I've been trying to get replacement tennis shoes for a couple months, but he won't even try any on--he likes his holey ones.  He finally compromised and let me buy him some Spider-Man rainboots.  Victory (except on Sundays).

The Birds

Gracie has been doing some paintings, and I personally think they have turned out great!  She has one theme to her paintings so far, but she does it well:

I think I like the eyes of each bird the best.

Halloween Highlights

Here are my cuties at our preschool Halloween Party:

We went to our downtown Halloween event--it is more crowded every year!  Our little city keeps growing and growing.

 

 Ben helped all the kids (and himself!) get Halloween costumes while I was gone at Wood Badge, and I was grateful!  That is not a task I enjoy much.  So--here are the results!

Tessa--Anna

 Emma--Leia

 Caytie--pink witch

 Scott--Storm Trooper

 Gracie--purple witch

 Benson--Iron Man (It was a victory to get him to choose a costume.  He originally said he only wanted to wear his Superman shirt with some shorts.)

 Ben--X Wing pilot, and me--R2D2 (That is officially a pajama shirt, and it is comfy, so I'm OK with it!)

Family of pumpkins.  (Benson didn't do one, because we ran out of time, and he didn't even care about them.)

Happy Halloween!

Photo buffet

What your teenager looks like when he finally gets a morning at home instead of heading right to band practice after early morning seminary:

What your garden grown cucumber looks like when it has been forgotten for a couple months, and you can't decide if it is a bloated cucumber or a small watermelon until you cut it open:

What kind of pictures you end up with on your phone when your Caytie asks you to take a picture of the tessellations she drew and wants to immortalize:

 

What you get when your family is (in general) pet friendly, and someone offers you a free bird:

Welcome, Thomas Jefferson (or Jefferson or TJ) the cockatiel, to our crazy house!

The Force Awakens

"So, what's going on over at your house?"

"Oh, nothing much--just playing some games in the game room--you know, normal, boring stuff."

"Back to Gilwell, happy land..."

I did it.  I went to Wood Badge.  For those not in the scouting world, that is adult leadership training, and it usually is a full week, from Sunday to Saturday, but I attended an "LDS friendly" version, so it was on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, once in September and once in October.

So, why did I go?  Well, the course director for this session is in my ward--and he is very persuasive!  He asked me about a year ago if I (or one of my counselors) would go, and when I told Ben, who has already attended, Ben was so excited and said he'd get time off, so I committed to go.  I don't love camping.  I didn't see how this would truly help me in my calling.  I teach preschool on Thursdays, so things had to be carefully planned for me to leave.  Honestly, I didn't want to go.  But--I prayed, and for some reason, I guess I needed to do it.  Things got a little complicated when Ben got a new job, but my friend (and our ward primary president) decided to go, too, and got her daughter to babysit for my kids while Ben was at work, so away we went...

It wasn't terrible. :)  I did learn a lot about leadership, and I can apply most of it in my current calling.  It was nice to have all meals prepared for us (the first weekend and some of the second--we had to cook some of the time).  I was part of the Eagle Patrol, and I happened to know one of my patrol members from my previous ward, so that was nice for my introvert self.  I was pleased with the group I was with.  We worked well together, and didn't annoy each other too much!

I did miss being with my family, but it was nice to have a break from every day responsibilities.  The weather was gorgeous both weekends.  I slept in my own tent (thank you again, Ben, for giving me two pads and the little fan!).  The patrols were grouped together for camping.  As the only woman, that was probably the most awkward part for me--as well as getting lost coming back from the shower at the pool house early one morning.  (For some reason, I had this idea that all the women camped together, despite our patrols, but that is not the case.)

("Luke" is our troop guide Kyle)

We had to do a project presentation on the second weekend, so my patrol got together between sessions on Columbus Day for a family picnic/planning meeting.  (My kids, however, were in school, as we don't get that day off!  But Benson was there, of course, and Ben came during his lunch.)  It was nice to meet the wives and kids of my patrol members.  We decided to do a shoulder angel/devil skit to teach the EDGE method.  I used my preschool skills and made a couple puppets, and made the signs, while the guys were the actors and made the tripod display.

This was the troop flag that we made.

So, my takeaway:  I think I'm glad I went.  I did learn a lot.  It's not the only way or place to learn these things, but it's the way I did it this time.  I can move from being a passive to an active resource for the scouting leaders in my stake.  I have to do five projects ("ticket items") now to finish the training and earn my beads.  Again, I don't really want to do them, but I will.  Yay for Scouting!

Homecoming parade

This kid got some pretty loud cheers as he marched by.  Go Raiders!

Fair Day

The kids had school off for Fair Day, so of course, we headed...to the Zoo!

We hadn't gone on the trail to see the gorillas for a while, so we did that first.

This picture cracks me up:

We saw a demonstration of the jumping abilities of the serval cat (video posted earlier).

Tessa wanted to make sure we got this picture of macaws for Ben

The weather was so beautiful.  We ran into a couple other families from our ward and hung out at the children's zoo together for a while.  Scott was helpful, the girls got along, and it was overall a great day (though we missed Ben!!).