2 outta 10

2 months down 10 more months to go . . .

PS I just thought this was a cool picture

Open house fo the Almighty . . .

For Shabbat we went up to the Draper Temple open house. It was just wonderful to take the older children through and have a concentrated gospel teaching moment. 

It was really great to show Havalah and J-Bo the sealing room and share with them my testimony of eternal families.

What a blessing that Heavenly Father gives to His children.

In light of our current economy. . .

Goodness is the only investment that never fails.

Henry David Thoreau

Happy Birthday Gid!

Happy First Birthday son! Wow it had been a big first year. You made it though, and I couldn't be happier. What a delight and blessing you have been to the family. There are challenges ahead but you'll do great. Keep it up son, I look forward to many more years with you.

With Love,

Abba

Homework and then some. . .

You might be GWU student if you use three or more applications, including Visio, to complete an assignment. 

I had to diagram a bunch of historically important documents and . . . what's that I am hearing? Snoring?

She's armed and dangerous!

A fork, Pookah uses a fork!

Mom was feeding her breakfast the other morning, eggs and potatoes. She intensely watched the fork as she was fed through most of the meal. Near the end, she politely asked for the fork, stabbed a potato and put it in her mouth like an expert!

Way to go!

Hope in healing past hurt...

I have a simple faith that there is healing after hurt. This intangible faith is confirmed by Scripture. For example, in the New Testament, after almost every record of Messiah teaching the people the narrative states, "He went about healing the people." Apparently, after He got your head on straight He would make sure the rest of you followed.

This pattern was followed when Messiah visited the Americas. After he had taught the people, He invited them to come forward and the third book of Nephi records, "And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him." 

When it says He healed all them that were afflicted in any manner, I believe it includes the concealed wounds not apparent.

A favorite . . .

This is one of two favorite songs by Amy Grant.

Shalom!

Shalom, kinda like aloha, is how you say hello and goodbye in contemporary Hebrew. Because of this, some of the significance and weight of this word has rubbed off. 

You might already know that Shalom means peace in Hebrew. But it's not like hippy "Peace Dude!" It is a greeting or parting in peace - under the covenant.

This is critical concept to understand if you want to truly understand some scriptural passages.

Numbers 6 : 23 - 27

23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,

24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

Isaiah 9 : 6 -7

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no bend, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

I'm sure you could think of more. Thought I would share . . .

I truly and with love, say to you in parting - Shalom and Shabbat Shalom!

A bone to pick . . .

Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still. 

Henry David Thoreau

The power of choice . . .

I believe the greatest attribute that separates us as children of a Heavenly Father from animals is Choice. Our agency is inseparably tied to our self awareness. Our little I AM and the power to choose is the only thing that is truly ours. Whenever we react to circumstance, other peoples choices, our own scripting - we give our agency to that event or person, even if only for a brief moment. We disempower ourselves and empower that something else.

Conversely, I have found I am greatly empowered when I respond to circumstance and others. I find I am more powerful, resourceful, and creative when I accept responsibility for my choices. I am by no means perfect at this but I am striving. 

A little pick me up. . .

This is something I watch almost every morning. It helps me remember to be grateful to God for all his abundance, and enjoy the experience of awe and wonder.

PS Big thanks to the folks at The Secret who make this available.

Many apologies. . .

Many apologies to my few and faithful readers. Apparently a bunch of my co-workers were abusing their internet privileges and so a high mucky muck had technical restrictions laid down heavy. I understand and respect the decision but it is still a bummer that a few ruin it for all. 

I am unable to access my blogspot site and publish posts during my breaks and lunches. Even worse, I am unable to view your blogs. This is really a big pick me up, especially on long days. 

Thus it is. . . 

I will continue to publish a post per day but please forgive if there are occasional pauses and spurts.

Immortal

I could totally go for being an immortal. 

I have never understood those who look forward to their demise. Sure I would miss friends and family who had passed away but I would always remember them.

I think of all the good I could do, all the things I could learn, and all the experiences I could have. Just being a witness to history as it unfolds would be an amazing experience.

Here a short list of what I would do with my immortality. . . 

. . . the good I could do . . .

I would become the ultimate businessman and put my vast wealth into charities, foundations, endowments, and projects. Some of my pet projects I would payroll would be . . . 

• I would love to fund a World Wide Water project. Bringing clean water to impoverished communities world wide. I believe this can be done affordably and effectively by creating a tuition grant program for engineering students.
• Global vaccination program to eradicate polio and other preventable diseases
• I would plug millions in the LDS Perpetual Education Fund
• The US alone produces enough food to feed the world. The biggest issue in making food available to every mouth is transportation. I would love to solve the transportation issues which could eradicate hunger
• Fund GWU, the building and expansion of its campus, and the building of satellite campuses globally

. . . the things I could learn  . . .

• I would learn to read, write, and speak every language in the world by living in each and every country for at least seven years. That should also give me a great understanding of the culture as well
• I would learn a ton of musical instruments
• I would continually study with the greatest minds in all the sciences and intellectual disciplines
• I would learn the arts - painting, sculpture, etc

. . . the experiences I could have . . .

• I would climb all the mountains
• I would scuba dive all the cool spot and then find new ones
• I would teach at a ton of schools
• I would visit all the sacred sites in various countries
• Tour de World at least a dozen times

So would you be immortal? What would you do in the time you had?

Not so bad . . .

I had a good day, not because it was the V-Day, but because I got to spend the whole day with all my children up at my parents place. 

Gid and Pookah got along famously. They jointly used Pookah's cast as their mutual percussion instrument. It was really funny!

Zefardeah was a princess as unual.

Havelah and J-Bo watched some DVDs and generally had fun.

Red hung out with my Mom and went window shopping.

Oh the terror . . .

Today is Friday the 13th!

Doesn't mean much to me but it got me thinking about what superstitions I do believe or at least wonder about.

I do knock on wood but more as a cliche'.

I do have a favorite color that I always win Risk with.

I also have certain properties in Monopoly that are a must buy and other that I will generally pass on.

What superstitions do you have?

Facing the future as finishers. . .

All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil. The fight to the finish spirit is the one... characteristic we must posses if we are to face the future as finishers. 

- Henry David Thoreau

Wishing for a little sunshine on this bleak day . . .

It cometh. . .

I can sense it faintly, then the chill up the spine . . . you can feel creeping up . . . threatening to suffocate, smother . . . Aaaaaaaaagh VALENTINE'S DAY!

Or as I like to call it - Obligatory Superficial Commercialized Love Day (shortened to OLD, Obligatory Love Day). You know, if I change it to Superficial Commercialized Obligatory Love Day the acronym would be SCOLD! I digress.

Am I the only one that feels this way?!

If I were a woman, I would be insulted. All the men, like zombie lemmings, line up to buy all the myriad things we haaaave to buy to reaaallly say I love you . . . and then your supposed to act all surprised!

Oh, I had noooo idea. Is it Valentine's???! Silly me, that holiday always slips my mind, kinda like Canadian Boxing Day.

If a guy wants to get you somethin' to surprise you and say I love you, he should do it when you aren't expecting it. It should be done on a average, random day when you wouldn't think he was thinkin' of you more than normal.

Yay to true love, genuine appreciation, and eternal companionships!

Boooooooo to cheapened, vile, superficial, commercialized, paganized holidays!

DEATH TO VALENTINE'S DAY!

Go ahead, ask me how I reaaaallly feeel. . .

So whadda you think?

PS How was that for dramatic writing!

Getting excited. . .

It is a new semester as a student of GWU. I am excited for my US History class and my new mentor (Lem) is great!

Googlite

I love Google. I love everything about Google. I have become a Googlite. I love Google Chrome, Google in all it's searchiness, GMail, Google Earth, Google News, and my sister recently introduced me to iGoogle!

What think you of the Goog?

If anybody needs a gift idea for meeeee. . .

The Kindle 2

Behold it! In all it's glory! The Kindle 2

I am so geeked out about this! GWU students use classics, not textbooks, so this slim little bad boy is all we need to haul around the 1500 classics we must study! By the way, it holds at least 1500 books! Aaaaaah, how cool!

Think of what our children will have!

The blow hole all sown up. . .

Here is Gid awaiting minor cleft pallet surgery in his fun wagon. . .

. . .after a successful surgery. . .

Now he freshens up. . .

. . . so he can pick up on the ladies!

Hey! Don't hate the player, hate the game.

I would love to have more of them. . .

An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.

- Henry David Thoreau

An idea of what to do with all that TARP money

Here is a great idea for our #@$% politicians on what to do with all that TARP money.

Take it away John

It's time for trickle up economics! If Barrack is a true Socialist he should really go for this . . . I'd rather the money be goin' to me than them.

Pookah Choo Part III

Pookah's left leg and hip didn't take the first time 'round so they needed to operate again to get the leg bone connected to the hip bone. As before, she was just a champion. 

A little light reading to relax before the surgery . . .

They drugged her and she is still going strong . . .

Here she is after the surgery. That curved fiber glass support represents the latest in casting technology. It is supposed to make it easier to change diapers and carry Pookah. She was the first our surgeon used it on and he is keen to hear our feedback.

The surgeon is very positive about the procedure and the probability of success.

Love and prayers always!

A leaf carried on musical currents . . .

A while ago I was driving a group of friends to lunch. I was going to play some tunes from my MP3 player when I realized all my music was rather mellow and did not suit the party atmosphere. Now I like all kinds of music and I can certainly enjoy some night-at-the-roxeberry techno jamming and other fun stuff, but my playlists are loaded with mellow stuff. 

I like cerebral, melodic music. My playlist comprise of artists like Jewel, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel, Colbe Caillat, and Jimmy Buffet.

I don't think it makes me a wuss but . . . if music be the food of love, play on!

Hooray for small victories . . .

To have a post every day was one of my New Year Resolutions. One month done and eleven to go. . .