Too Serious

I think I'm too serious.  Perhaps being the oldest child brings that out in me more than I should.  Laughing really is most important to me.  Having fun and being spontaneous.  And yet, I get so burdened and flattened by dumb stuff. 

I don't know what exactly it takes to not be so dang serious.  I think there are things that are serious.  And we have to be aware of those.  I'm ok with that.  I enjoy having serious, intelligent discussions with people.  Especially about the Gospel.

But, it's the dumb stuff that I get all hot and bothered about.  The house being a mess.  My husband's ex-wife being a total menace, screwing around with MY life.  

Perhaps I'm just not grateful enough.  I gotta keep trying.  I do work hard at being grateful.  I think I'm getting better.  When do you put your foot down though?  

My children are going to remember me as being a fun mom but with a severe temper because I get so stressed out.  I don't even know how to be different.  

Or perhaps a good night's sleep would work.  And a massage, manicure and pedicure.  That may just fix everything.  It'd have to be weekly though. 

More of Leah

"Kiddie - hup, horsie."

The Peace of Preparedness

I was asked to speak in Stake Priesthood Leadership meeting on Saturday.  The topic I was given was "The Peace of Prepardness".

1 Nephi 1:11-13

In a vision, Lehi is given a book to read.  He shares only one verse of what he read.  It's not very positive.  I call it the "wo, wo..." verse.  

1 Nephi 1:14-15

Interestingly enough, Lehi does not focus on the negative.  He surely must have seen some fantastic things in the vision.  But, again, we only have one very pessimistic verse.  But reading in verse 15, I'm so impressed with Lehi's response.  He praises the Lord with his whole soul and rejoices in the goodness of the Lord.  

I wonder how many times we hear or see things that aren't so positive or are even down right scary or upsetting.  Do we look to the Lord with gratitude for his goodness?  Or do we only concentrate on the "wo, wo" part?  We need to be cheerful and positive regardless of our circumstances.

It's one thing to recognize a challenge or even negativity in a situation.  But, we don't have to focus on it.  We will be so much happier if we choose to be grateful for what we do have.  The Lord would love to give us more but he needs to know that we're grateful for what he has given.  Good or bad.

1 Nephi 1:18

Lehi does not keep the vision to himself.  He's not selfish with it.  He goes out and starts to tell other people about it.  Unfortunately, he is not met with friendly responses.  But, he is fortified and focused because of the visions and faith he has in the Lord.  He's not scared of the outcome because he knows who is in control.

Do we do the same?  Do we have a strong enough relationship with the Lord to trust Him while we go out into potential unfriendly situations?  Do we have the same vision the Lord has?  Do we believe in His work?

1 Nephi 1:20

Because of Lehi's faithfulness, the Lord promises to deliver him.

Do we have the faith to follow the Lord and promote His work?  Times are getting scary.  But, the Lord depends on us to have trust and faith in Him.  He will protect us.

1 Nephi 2:3

The Lord tells Lehi to get out of Jerusalem.  Lehi is unwaveringly obedient.  The Lord tells him to do something and Lehi does it.  He doesn't try to bargain with the Lord.  He has such a relationship with God that there's just no question about who knows best.

Every once in a while, nestled in the verses of the scriptures, the Lord gives us a "What Not To Do" manual.  This is the case with Laman and Lemuel.

1 Nephi 2:12

Laman and Lemuel do nothing but fuss and complain.  They do nothing remotely positive but whine.  I would imagine that no one in the Lehi family wanted to leave their very comfortable life in Jerusalem.  They were all obedient in following him but Laman and Lemuel just made the situation worse.

I know I'm guilty of doing the same thing.  Seems like it takes so much less energy to complain than it does to be grateful and find reasons to praise the Lord.  Does it do any good?  Really?  No one likes to be around complainers.  They're no fun.  And we know that we're here that we "might have joy".

We read more in chapter two that Nephi was really struggling with the decision to leave as well. But, unlike his brothers, he takes it to the Lord.  He wanted to know if his dad was crazy or was he really instructed by the Lord to leave.  Nephi, of course, learns that his dad was commanded by the Lord to leave Jerusalem.  The Lord is so impressed by Nephi's faithfulness that He blesses Nephi with all sorts of great promises.

Let's be more like Nephi.  We might not be happy about a situation, but rather than fuss and complain, let's get on our knees and find out the will of the Lord and then comply with it.

Lehi has a dream in which the Lord tells him that they need to go back and get the brass plates from Laban.  The brass plates contain their genealogy, the teachings of the prophets and a guide for their language.

Lehi tells his sons that they get to go back.  Nephi immediately complies and Lehi tells him that he will be blessed because he didn't murmur.

1 Nephi 3:6

Again, encouragement to be cheerful and grateful.  Just get in there and "git 'er dun".

The boys go to Jerusalem and try a couple of times to get the plates.  I have to give Laman and Lemuel a little bit of credit for trying even when they didn't want to go nor did they want to have to deal with Laban.  Then they gave their cool stuff to Laban only to have him steal it and then try to kill them.

Laman and Lemuel are so stressed and so mad that they start to beat the snot out of Sam and Nephi.  During the beating, an angel appears to them and tells them to knock it off.

1 Nephi 3:29-31

The angel hasn't been gone but for a short time before the older brothers start fussing and complaining again.  What a waste of an angel!  

(Wendi's note:  at this point I looked out into the gathering of men and said, in a very loving way, the Spirit really took over...)

"My dear brothers, I am your angel.  I am hear to tell you some things today.  Women want to be lead.  We do not want to be bossed around.  We do not want to be guilted or cajoled or belittled.  We bear a heavy burden on our shoulders.  We are responsible to have babies, to care for the babies, to feed the babies and you.  To keep the house clean, cook dinner. Some women work outside the house all day and still come home to do all of these things.

We want to be obedient.  We want to gather our year's supply of food and supplies.  We can not do it alone.  We need your support and encouragement.  We need time to develop skills.  We want to learn how to make bread, to make yogurt.  

I hold home storage classes throughout the year and my classes need to be packed.  The women that you serve, the women in your lives need to be encouraged by you to attend these classes.  They need to be supported to buy the equipment they need that will help them in their quest to be more self-reliant."

Nephi goes into Jerusalem to get the plates.

1 Nephi 4:6

He goes into Jerusalem not knowing what he'd find.  I'm sure he knew that he could possibly die.  But, he had ultimate trust in the Lord.

We need to go about our lives with the same trust.

1.  Be grateful and praise the Lord.

2.  Go out and share your knowledge of the goodness of the Lord with others.

3.  Be faithful and the Lord with protect you.

4.  Be obedient.  You can never go wrong.

5.  Don't murmur.  Be cheerful.  Figure it out.

6.  Have ultimate trust in the Lord.

You can choose whether or not the blessings that have already been GIVEN to you will come to pass.  You choose to accept the blessings and the peace from trusting in the Lord.  Keep His commandments and feel the peace of your obedience.

PWEASE?

Leah: "Can I have some apple juice?"

Me: "No."

Leah:  "Pwease?"

Me: "No."

Leah: "...che-wee on it?" (cherry on it)

Me: "No."

Leah: "Bw-ownie on it?" (brownie on it)

Me: "No."

Leah: "Ice cweam?"

Me: "No."

It was hard to say "no" that many times with such a cute little thing asking in such a cute way.

A trip down memory lane

I'm going to do something a little different in this post.  I'm going to share part of my past through a journal I kept.  I read and read journal entries but most were either too boring or embarrassing.  So, I'll start with something mild but yet slightly uncomfortable.

I was a nanny in NY before I went on my mission to Finland.  The people I worked for are Jerry and Carol Einhorn.  They had one daughter Emily together.  Carol had a daughter Melissa from a previous marriage.  Debby and Jennie were friends of mine that were also nannies.

Tuesday, January 3, 1989

Boring, boring.  Emily stayed home from school for half the day.  She was complaining of stomach problems.  We think that she is nervous about the new class she's starting in school.  It's a special education class.  She has a learning disability.

At midmorning Carol called and Em decided to go to school.  The rest of the day I ate and watched tv.  I had Jerry's lunch ready for him when he came home from work.  I took about a 45 minute nap before em came home.  I love to sleep. 

In fact, as I was falling asleep, I started making a list of my favorite things to do: laughing came in first, then sleeping.  So eating really didn't come in till 3rd or so.  Actually I fell asleep before I got to eating.

Emily took a short nap.  Carol came home early.  We ate an early dinner.  I didn't eat all my dinner because I was full of other stuff.

Carol went to dinner with Melissa because it is her birthday today.  So, I ended up babysitting.

I didn't get a call from Debby or Jennie today.  That's weird but I really didn't miss them.  I called a college (C.W. Post) to see about registering.  Tuition though is $232/credit hour.  I've got to meet people.  HELP!!! But what can I do?  I'm really tired of hanging out with Debby and Jennie, I want new friends!!!

Anyway, just a few thoughts before bed.

I've got this huge zit on the right side of my chin.  I look disgusting.  I'm getting ready to get my period and my face is breaking out. YUCK!!!

I don't want anyone to see me because I feel as though that gross blemish is my face.

Oh well.  Not very happy.  Not really.  I'm happy.  Just fat and pimply.  Good night.

Back to the present again:  See.  Nothing much has really changed. :) 

New Blog

I just started a new blog in effort to document home storage skills.  I'd love to hear your feedback whether good or not so good (just be gentle).

www.storageskills.blogspot.com

I just completed the posts on canning chicken.

What did Leah get?

We were in co-op today and I was in the 3 year old class with Leah.  A couple of the others moms and I were talking and one asked if Leah was my baby.  I said, "yes", and that she just had a birthday.

Leah was in the midst of coloring the "baby Jesus" manger purple and pink.

They asked her what she got for her birthday.  Without missing a beat she looked up and said, "a puppy."

WHAT!!!  My eyes bugged right out of my head.  What is wrong with my daughter?

She got a PURPLE and PINK bike!!!  HELLO!!!  Anyone in there?  We can't even have animals because Sam is so daggum allergic to them.

It was funny though.

Joe and the dinosaur

Joey said the cutest thing today.  The kids and I were traveling north on I-95 on our way to Quaker Valley Foods to pick up 900lbs of chicken.

Joe was staring out the window and caught the view of a big silo-type water tower being built.  Just the skeleton framework was built.

Joey asked, "Hey mom, is that a dinosaur cage?"

I loved it!  How wonderful and imaginative was that.  A dinosaur cage.

Bergin Halloween

      All the little Bergins dressed up for a night of fright.  Cute, cute, cute.

Phillies Parade

The whole family went to the Phillies celebration parade on Friday October 31st.   We chose poorly and took public transportation.  Oh well.  We all stayed safe and came home together.

Waiting for a train that we could actually all fit on.  We were one of the last stops on the train route and by the time the train got to us, it was totally packed.  We eventually smooshed ourselves on one.
                                   Still waiting.
Me and Leah on the train.  Yes, that is a leash on Leah.  Couldn't bear to lose her in a sea of 2 MILLION people.
This is a picture of the police coming in before the actual trucks with the Phillies on them.  The police were everywhere.  I think the fans behaved themselves for the most part.
We were up in the 13th floor of a building right on Broad Street.  This is the building right across from it.  Check out how packed it was.  Amazing really.
This is a picture of Pat Burrell, plays left field, he's in the black coat standing up.
I stuck my camera out the window and took a shot of nearly the whole gang.  Matt Bonacci went with us.  It was nice to have another adult along.
Things I want to do in this life:  Go to a ticker tape parade---check.  That was my favorite part.

               Philly Phanatic doing his thang.
This is a picture showing the rest of the parade route down Broad Street towards the stadiums. I'm still amazed at the amount of people that attended.  This was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime event.  I'm so glad we went together as a family.