Thankful Thirty #7 (Election Day)

I watched my 18-year-old neighbor cast his first-ever election ballot today and it nearly made me teary.  Over the years I've known him to be a typical teenager-arguing with his parents a lot of the time, pushing the boundaries they have set, and insisting that he's an adult and can make his own decisions even though he's still in high school.  Seeing him truly come of age and make such a mature decision to exercise the right to make his citizen's voice heard was heartening.  

I myself felt the weight that comes with having my personal choice make a difference on election day.  After trying for years to fully understand the electoral college v. popular vote, I will admit it still is a little shady to me.  BUT, I KNOW it is important to make sure my choice and preferences are heard.

Most people who know me will not be surprised when I say the presidential race did not go the way I had been hoping for.  I want to make it really clear that I am not a straight-ticket republican-I had a real struggle deciding which candidate to support in our national Senate race today, and even as I type shortly before midnight, I'm anxiously awaiting the results for our new congressional district, where my preference is for the Democratic candidate.  But I did believe Mitt Romney had a clearer vision and belief in the America that I want to live in.  

I am not going to be angry,though.  I'm not going to let my fears get in the way of my faith.  Instead, tonight I was reminded by the Holy Ghost that President Thomas S. Monson, the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the living prophet of the Lord today, is still valiantly guiding us to live righteously.  The Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are still special witnesses of Jesus Christ and are still striving to spread His message of love and service to all the citizens of the world.  I believe President Dieter F. Uchtdorf when he says,

“Our fate and the fate of our world hinge

 on our hearing and heeding the revealed word of God to His children.”

Whether you voted for Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, whether you exercised your right to vote or stayed at home, whether you woke up this morning with renewed hope or a hesitation over the unknown, I want you to know that my eyes are still firmly looking towards the Lord.  Regardless of which side you are on, know that the Lord has promised great blessings on THIS country.  OUR country.  The United States of America.  Our responsibility?  Our best hope of one day seeing her take her full reward?  Live righteously.  Follow His commandments.  Serve your neighbor more than yourself.  Seek not for riches, but for treasures in Heaven.

I am grateful we can still hope in an America that is great. 

 We, the people, can make it great!

Unfamiliar with 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and it's teachings?

I hope the links I've provided above will help to answer some of your questions.

In My Heart On Thursday (Dreams)

"Everyone has an official wish list of things they think are "reasonable". What about the unofficial wish list? The one that common sense tells you to ignore? The list that exists deep in your mind, the list that keeps you up at night, that makes your toes wiggle when you think of it? Why not choose that list for a change? How long have you dreamed of being, having, and doing what you really want? Think big, as when it comes to your goals, the size of your ambition does matter."

-First Rule of Success:  Be Decisive, Gary Ryan Blair

In My Heart On Thursday (Opportunity)

 "Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"

-Evan Almighty, 

as quoted on  Latter-day Homeschooling

Don't Celebrate the Flying Rodent

This is going to be completely random, but I can't get off my mind how much I HATE hummingbirds!  We have delicious smelling yellow honeysuckle in our yard and a beautiful orange hibiscus vine blooming outside my bedroom window and they've both been hopelessly ruined by my peripheral glimpse of a flying rodent that causes birders and peace-lovers alike to swoon zealously.

Rodent, you say?  Surely she's sleep-deprived and confused.  She couldn't possibly be comparing this tiniest symbol of peace and love to a disease-carrying four-legged creeper!  Oh, but I am!  Their lithe, compact bodies, pointed faces, and quick jittery motions give me the heebie-jeebies.  There's never a warning before one pops out in front of you.  One minute you're hanging out in the backyard minding your own business and the next you're standing on top of the picnic table wondering what on earth just caused a panic in you (you're not sure, at first, because the blasted little birds are undoubtedly already gone and hiding in wait to scare the bejeebers out of you again as soon as you quit looking).

Oddly enough, these are the thoughts that have been on my mind the past two weeks.  Then, a few days ago I bought some new notecards and was "greeted" with this egregious note from the designer:

Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration.  Hummingbirds open our eyes to the wonder of the world and inspire us to open our hearts to loved ones and friends.  Like a hummingbird, we aspire to hover and savor each moment as it passes, embrace all that life has to offer and to celebrate the joy of everyday.  The hummingbird's delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life's sweetest creation.  

Um, no.  Sorry, but I'm not buying it.  If you, one my good friends or loved ones, tried to bequeath me a hummingbird-esque gift, I'd honestly question what on earth I had done to offend you.  The Google-search alone for an appropriate picture to include in this post has left me feeling like I need a shower.

And, yet,while I dream for fall to come quickly (sending off the hibiscus and honeysuckle and thus my little winged friends), I'm left with this significant understanding:

I do things differently. 

The world through my eyes is uniquely me.  A passage of scripture or line in a book studied and pondered in my mind always comes across differently than the person next to me.  My passions aren't like everybody else's, and my goals are distinctly my own.  Maybe I don't want the things every Mom/Woman/Wife on my block wants, but that's what makes me me.  And I happen to be pretty happy with the person that makes me.

The world will keep on telling me that a hummingbird in a hibiscus tree is lovely.  You won't be seeing me hang a sugar-water feeder anytime soon.  However, if this is a subject we can agree to disagree, there's hope that some other off-the-wall thought in my mind will spark your curiosity...

Honestly, my skin was crawling 

reading this hummingbird trivia

In My Heart On Thursday

What are you planning for the New Year?

In My Heart On Thursday

In My Heart On Thursday

In My Heart On Thursday

"Nurturing her own mind and spirit is more important to a mother's responsibilities

 than the meals she prepares for her family."

Janath Russell Cannon, Women of Covenant

In My Heart On Thursday

In My Heart On Thursday

"Curiosity is not a preparation."

-Elder Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple

In My Heart On Thursday

"We are all busy.  It's easy to find excuses for not reaching out to others, but I imagine they will sound as hollow to our Heavenly Father as the elementary school boy who gave his teacher a note asking that he be excused from school March 30th through March 34th."

-Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

In My Heart On Thursday

"And I may have seen it from her back, how she pulled herself together and shifted her weight from one place inside her body to another, from where she was, to where she thought maybe I was."

-Per Petterson, I Curse the River of Time

Don't forget to enter my A Blogtastic Extravaganza Giveaways going on now!

In My Heart On Thursday

-as seen this week on Blackpurl's Knitpickings

In My Heart On Thursday

"You can have anything you want if you want it desperately enough.  You must want it with an inner exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world."

-Sheilah Graham

In My Heart On Thursday

(My 100th post, woohoo!)

"Never make a principle out of your experience; 

let God be as original with other people as he is with you."

-Oswald Chambers

In My Heart On Thursday

"A woman is like a tea bag.  You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water."

-Eleanor Roosevelt

In My Heart On Thursday

"The problem with history was that it was written by the survivors, and they usually wrote it in sunshine, or harvest day, from victory stands."

-Timothy Egan, The Worst Hard Time

In My Heart On Thursday

-download this image at  A Matter of Memories

In My Heart On Thursday

"Isn't it sad that we have a job where we spend two weeks avoiding the stuff we have to do fifty weeks a year?...Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you ought to set up a life you don't need to escape from."

- Seth Godin, Tribes

In My Heart On Thursday

"And the truth is, we are not better than the people who are on the show...some of us just dress better. Some of us have more money. Or some of us had better luck in the pool of parents. And sometimes we went to better schools and learned to speak better. But the behavior -- all you have to do is look at any newspaper on any day, of all the famous people involved in all kinds of things. How can we say for a second, you know. If you just look at the hearings we've had in Congress lately. Are those people morally superior to the people on my show? I would hardly think so."

-Jerry Springer