Latest Doings and Thoughts (on judgment)

Here is are some of our latest doings:
We had a great time at the state fair.  Maybe next year the kids will enter something.

We've been very busy with peaches.  We bottled 56 jars of them!  Much improvement from last year when I managed to bottle 14.

My birthday dinner (waiting to be seated)

Our living room ceiling started leaking, a plumber came by and said our shower pan had a leak.  They had to take out the tile in our shower, replace it, and fix our living room ceiling.  We've had people in and out of our house all week.  They should be finished next week sometime.

Our lawn-mower broke so we had to get a new one.  Bud was really exited because it's self-propelled so he can push it just fine.  He mowed the lawn and has been begging for the chance to do it again.  So cute.

Rock and Bud have been enjoying football games together.  I'm not much of a football fan, but they seem to bond and enjoy it a lot together.

He even dresses like a football player at home sometimes (those are paper-towels tucked into his sleeves and bike grease on his face).

Bud and I have talked about "wholesome recreation" and that this is something that he and his dad can do together, but that there is a danger in getting so caught up in football or any other distraction to the neglecting of our family or other things that really matter.  He has shown an understanding and maturity about it that impresses me.

We drive to Salt Lake every Friday for choir.  It takes us a little while, but the kids love it and they are learning a lot.  Their teacher is amazing.  While we're there, we often go to some Salt Lake attraction afterward.  Last Friday, we went to Liberty Park for a lunch and "named" several squirrels (Alvin, Simon, Theodore, etc).  We also found a salamander.  Bud has two already at home, so we left that one alone :-)  We saw a man creating a beautiful painting.  We talked to him for a bit and he inspired us.

Those are some of our latest out-of-the house activities.  At home we are listening to my new Rob Gardner CDs (the Lamb of God is phenomenal, by the way), trying to accomplish our learning goals, working on having a loving spirit towards each other at all times, and we are laughing often.  I can't begin to express my gratitude for this beautiful life I am living.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the peace and joy in the gospel (*see disclaimer below). It seems to me that Satan has quite a lot of ways to keep us from feeling that joy.  If we have not heard the gospel, are new to it, or do not give it much thought, he keeps us busy with worldly things so that we don't have time to think about things not of this world.  He entices us with counterfeit joy (fun) that temporarily lulls the yearning we have to connect with God. 

If we are trying to live a righteous life, he tries to dampen our joy by telling us that either we are not quite good enough or that we are "better than".  He tries to get us to compare our righteousness with others.  He tries to get us to look at the gospel as a system of deeds and higher laws and righteousness instead of as a way of being towards God and others. 

"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:36-40)

Yes, there are laws and standards that we must obey, but they are not the gospel.  They are there to teach us humility, obedience, charity - ways of being.  Obeying brings us blessings - light, truth, love, wisdom.  If we focus on the "law" itself - and criticize (even if just in our hearts) those who are not living it - we miss the point entirely!  We stop having joy in the gospel - just what Satan loves - and start feeling enmity towards our neighbors, our leaders, our family, all people.

As these things have been on my mind, it was a breath of fresh air as I heard our prophet and our Relief Society leaders speak last night at the General Relief Society Broadcast.   I went to the broadcast with a judgmental heart towards those whom I thought were being judgmental (I know - ironic isn't it?) That judgmental feeling was starting to spread in my heart.  I have always had an easy time loving those around me (not because I'm so great - I am blessed with that gift - anyone can be from what I understand) so this feeling was making me sad.

I'm even embarrassed to say that as the choir started to sing, I found myself thinking "that girl sure has on a lot of make-up on" etc.  I tried to suppress those thoughts, but they kept popping up in my head.  As I sat and listened to what my prophet and leaders had to say, it was like a wave of peace calming my troubled heart.  When he got done speaking, all I could feel was love for those beautiful members of the choir and for those daughters of God sitting all around me and I remembered what the gospel is.  I lost sight of it for a moment.  I sure love my Savior who loves me - faults and all.  I know He suffered for those faults willingly and that with "His stripes [I am] healed".  I want to be my best because I love Him and I want to return to His loving, outstretched arms someday.

I loved these words last night:

My dear sisters, each of you is unique. You are different from each other in many ways. There are those of you who are married. Some of you stay at home with your children, while others of you work outside your homes. Some of you are empty-nesters. There are those of you who are married but do not have children. There are those who are divorced, those who are widowed. Many of you are single women. Some of you have college degrees; some of you do not. There are those who can afford the latest fashions and those who are lucky to have one appropriate Sunday outfit. Such differences are almost endless. Do these differences tempt us to judge one another?

Mother Teresa, a Catholic nun who worked among the poor in India most of her life, spoke this profound truth: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” The Savior has admonished, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” I ask: Can we love one another, as the Savior has commanded, if we judge each other? And I answer—with Mother Teresa—“No; we cannot...

I consider charity—or the “pure love of Christ”—to be the opposite of criticism and judging...I have in mind the charity that manifests itself when we are tolerant of others and lenient toward their actions; the kind of charity that forgives; the kind of charity that is patient.” -President Thomas S. Monson

*This is, of course, just my opinion at this time.  I know I have a lot to learn about all this.  I especially liked this talk I read this morning about judging.  He explains that judgment should be intermediate, guided by the spirit, within our stewardship, with adequate knowledge, towards situations instead of people, forgiving, and with the right standards.  Good stuff.

And, just because I'm loving Rob Gardner's music so much, here's another great song from his Joseph Smith CD: