Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Birthday at the Fair
For her birthday every year, my sister asks to go to the State Fair with everyone. While Jer and Sam were on a father's and son's campout, we went up to play with everyone else. Fun stuff!
Missionary homecoming
We went to say hi to my sweet cousin David that just returned from his mission to Japan. Ada was enchanted by the Barbie dolls, the clothes and the accessories... She was so cute.
I used to
I used to consider myself a feminist. Especially in college. I thought feminism was proving that women were as able as men. I grew up in a home where girls and boys both worked hard. We both landscaped the yard, built the addition on the house, built the deck, remodeled other's homes with my dad, re-roofed homes, laid sprinkler systems, all of us took turns cooking dinners, all of us learned to doing basic sewing, learned basic music skills, etc... Then I saw how those that proclaimed to be feminists usually used this cause to get their own way instead of what was fair. My favorite example of this is a female artist claimed unfair at a gallery that was showing all male artists. The gallery didn't say that the show was only for male artists... they were just the artists whose art had been chosen for the show previous to the lady's interference. The gallery was forced to take the female artist against their own will or lose their business.
When any cause is used to manipulate, it ceases to be a cause in my opinion. Women getting a vote, women with fairness in the work place... I agree with these. Using the name of feminism to get what you want that wasn't meant for you, or that you didn't earn crosses the line between a cause and selfishness.
I have a few friends that have declared themselves Mormon Feminists. They declared that it isn't fair that the women of the church haven't been given the priesthood. They fought that women didn't give the opening prayer in church (which is silly... I've given the opening prayer in church several times), and that women "only" got to give birth to children. You can't fight with these women... any view except their own is the "wrong" one.
Not long ago, my friend and I had a conversation about wearing pants to church. She wanted the option of doing so. I tried to explain to her that she had the option of doing so. In both Ecuador and Kenya, it was common for women to wear pants to church... mostly because they were poor and couldn't afford anything else. But, I noticed that none of the church leaders thought twice about their attire. In the church handbook it doesn't say that women are denied the chance to wear pants. It says to dress modestly and in your best attire to show respect for the Lord... I failed to see where the need to protest was. She and several others arranged a protest day where all the women would go to church in pants. I said go ahead, but I don't feel like church is the best place for a protest against something that isn't forbidden in the first place. Church is where I go to learn and worship God. Where I take my family to learn the principles of godliness. A protest detracts from both of those purposes.
Now, she and her group are arranging to protest outside of General Conference at the Priesthood session. They want to have the priesthood. She argues that she doesn't want to hold the priesthood responsibilities, she only wants to be able to lay her hands on her children's and husbands heads when they need blessings. There are several things that I want to say to this. I could say that she already blesses her family whether she lays her hands on their heads or not. I could say that by demanding this, she would be taking away an opportunity for others to learn and serve. She wants to be self sufficient... God wants us to be self-sufficient, but He also wants us to love and care for one another. Serve one another.
What about the wonderful and thoughtful men in my life? I am just as able to do what they do, but I don't need to take over for them in order to help them. I love feeling their love and their kindness as they serve and help. I love serving right alongside them. Men and women are inherently different. Women usually are the type to see a need and fulfill it. Men are usually the type to do whatever they can to complete a goal, but they are not the type to see an individuals needs. I know several very wonderful men that when given a priesthood responsibility they work hard, serve hard, and any person that meet them love them... the same wonderful men, without an assignment do nothing, accomplish little, and are known to few. All that had changed was that they no longer had that priesthood assignment. We are given assignments to grow and to serve usually for our own good, not solely for others.
What about the pioneer woman, Amanda Smith, whose son was on the brink of death after being shot in the hip at Haun's Mill. She didn't have the priesthood but prayed and God told her to mix ash and lye in the wound in a certain way and as her son healed it solidified into a replacement hip... years before anyone knew that replacement hips would have been an option. I don't see God denying her or her son anything because she "couldn't" lay her hands on her son's head to give a blessing.
I can't explain it fully. I feel that by a woman asking for the priesthood, they are denying a man the opportunity to serve and grow. Women and men and not better than one another, they are different... and they need different opportunities that are tailored to their needs.
My biggest hesitation with the Mormon Feminists movement is that when I read their views I feel knotted and twisted in my stomach. I don't feel the peace of the Spirit.
I feel sorry for these women. I feel that they don't have a testimony of the purpose of our life here on Earth. I especially feel that they are being self-centered. That is not God's gospel. Our goal is to gain a body, bring others to Earth in their own bodies, and try to help as many other people around us to gain Celestial Glory as have the desire to. It's not a race. It's not a "we're better than". Those purposes can only be brought to pass by all of us together as families and loved ones... not by trying to claim everything to ourselves in the name of some cause.
When any cause is used to manipulate, it ceases to be a cause in my opinion. Women getting a vote, women with fairness in the work place... I agree with these. Using the name of feminism to get what you want that wasn't meant for you, or that you didn't earn crosses the line between a cause and selfishness.
I have a few friends that have declared themselves Mormon Feminists. They declared that it isn't fair that the women of the church haven't been given the priesthood. They fought that women didn't give the opening prayer in church (which is silly... I've given the opening prayer in church several times), and that women "only" got to give birth to children. You can't fight with these women... any view except their own is the "wrong" one.
Not long ago, my friend and I had a conversation about wearing pants to church. She wanted the option of doing so. I tried to explain to her that she had the option of doing so. In both Ecuador and Kenya, it was common for women to wear pants to church... mostly because they were poor and couldn't afford anything else. But, I noticed that none of the church leaders thought twice about their attire. In the church handbook it doesn't say that women are denied the chance to wear pants. It says to dress modestly and in your best attire to show respect for the Lord... I failed to see where the need to protest was. She and several others arranged a protest day where all the women would go to church in pants. I said go ahead, but I don't feel like church is the best place for a protest against something that isn't forbidden in the first place. Church is where I go to learn and worship God. Where I take my family to learn the principles of godliness. A protest detracts from both of those purposes.
Now, she and her group are arranging to protest outside of General Conference at the Priesthood session. They want to have the priesthood. She argues that she doesn't want to hold the priesthood responsibilities, she only wants to be able to lay her hands on her children's and husbands heads when they need blessings. There are several things that I want to say to this. I could say that she already blesses her family whether she lays her hands on their heads or not. I could say that by demanding this, she would be taking away an opportunity for others to learn and serve. She wants to be self sufficient... God wants us to be self-sufficient, but He also wants us to love and care for one another. Serve one another.
What about the wonderful and thoughtful men in my life? I am just as able to do what they do, but I don't need to take over for them in order to help them. I love feeling their love and their kindness as they serve and help. I love serving right alongside them. Men and women are inherently different. Women usually are the type to see a need and fulfill it. Men are usually the type to do whatever they can to complete a goal, but they are not the type to see an individuals needs. I know several very wonderful men that when given a priesthood responsibility they work hard, serve hard, and any person that meet them love them... the same wonderful men, without an assignment do nothing, accomplish little, and are known to few. All that had changed was that they no longer had that priesthood assignment. We are given assignments to grow and to serve usually for our own good, not solely for others.
What about the pioneer woman, Amanda Smith, whose son was on the brink of death after being shot in the hip at Haun's Mill. She didn't have the priesthood but prayed and God told her to mix ash and lye in the wound in a certain way and as her son healed it solidified into a replacement hip... years before anyone knew that replacement hips would have been an option. I don't see God denying her or her son anything because she "couldn't" lay her hands on her son's head to give a blessing.
I can't explain it fully. I feel that by a woman asking for the priesthood, they are denying a man the opportunity to serve and grow. Women and men and not better than one another, they are different... and they need different opportunities that are tailored to their needs.
My biggest hesitation with the Mormon Feminists movement is that when I read their views I feel knotted and twisted in my stomach. I don't feel the peace of the Spirit.
I feel sorry for these women. I feel that they don't have a testimony of the purpose of our life here on Earth. I especially feel that they are being self-centered. That is not God's gospel. Our goal is to gain a body, bring others to Earth in their own bodies, and try to help as many other people around us to gain Celestial Glory as have the desire to. It's not a race. It's not a "we're better than". Those purposes can only be brought to pass by all of us together as families and loved ones... not by trying to claim everything to ourselves in the name of some cause.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Talking
I love when talking toddlers start to show their fluency. Evelyn's newest phrase is ,"My do it!" Which she says often. She likes to do her own carseat buckles up, go potty on her own, etc...
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Weekend
We forgot our camera for the weekend but we got to see my brother's new house, celebrate their twins 6th birthday, visit Jer's brother and play at one really nice park and wrestle kids in church. It's been busy!
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Rhees Family
This is such a fun family. They're sweet and playful. It's fun to get to know them and try not to freeze in the cold rain! It was...
