Crabby Abi's Blabbing

I’m so tired. Tired of…

… being honked at. I enjoyed the time I spent out on the corner holding signs for Prop 8, and I TOTALLY appreciate the support from most of the honkers, but if I hear a car honk again any time soon I might lose my mind.

… being told that I’m intolerant, racist, a Nazi, a religious extremist, etc. Even some of my “friends” and family have had the nerve. I thought we could at least respect each others beliefs. I wasn’t calling anyone a name – all I did was stand for something.

… being flipped off, mooned, booed, etc. A whole bunch of people with no idea who I am or what I’m about.

… hate.

… being prejudged.

… hate.

I’m glad that the first part of the fight is over. I know that the war has just begun and that it’s going to take more than the voice of a majority to do anything for this cause.

I’m glad that, at least for now, my rights are protected. I’m glad that I still get to worship the way that I have been. I’m glad that I stood my ground and didn’t back down. I “fought the good fight” and can honestly say in the end that I did all that I could to follow the prophet.

During the seminary lesson the other day – the one on tolerance – we ended with a discussion that, paraphrased, went something like this:

Me: What’s the first and greatest commandment?
Them: Love God.
Me: What’s the second greatest commandment?
Them: Love thy neighbor.
Me: You have to be able to love God before you can truly love your neighbor. How do you show God that you love him?
Them: By being obedient to Him.
Me: And where does His direction come from?
Them: The prophet.
Me: And what has the prophet told us to do?
Them: Everything we can – endure to the end.

My lesson tomorrow is about the adulterous woman and the stones. There is a quote in the lesson manual from Elder Russell M. Nelson:

I have been impressed to speak on the subject of tolerance – a virtue much needed in our turbulent world. But in discussing this topic, we must recognize at the outset that there is a difference between tolerance and tolerate. Your gracious tolerance for an individual does not grant him or her license to do wrong, nor does your tolerance obligate you to tolerate his or her misdeed. That distinction is fundamental to an understanding of this vital virtue.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. I am tolerant. That doesn’t mean that I have to accept the sin. The Savior sat and ate with sinners of the worst kind and loved them. However, He did NOT accept the sin. This whole time I’ve been asking myself, “What would Jesus do?” The thing is, I had the answer all along. Amos 3:7: Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth His secrets unto His servant the prophet” (slightly paraphrased). The Prophet gave us the direction – he told us what Jesus would do – stand for Prop 8.

We did.

I’ve read what my real friends have said about their experiences. Jon, Lani, Sara, and EmaLee, here’s to you. Thank you for doing what you do and for being so good at it. I’m so glad that I had you to be there with me and help keep me strong!

I was getting my lesson ready for seminary tonight and, ironically, it’s about two different things:

1. When we are given assignments, we are responsible to report what we have done (Luke 9:1-6, 10).
2. Jesus invites us to be tolerant of others (Luke 9:46-56).

Part 1 posed questions like:
1. Who gave you the assignment?
2. Why do you think you were chosen to receive the assignment?
3. How well did you fulfill your obligation?
4. How can you tell whether the person cared how well you filled it?

All I can seem to think about when trying to answer these questions myself is Prop 8. The assignment to do all that I could came from God. I’m not sure why I was chosen to be a part of this battle at this time, but I’m sure He had his reasons. I never feel like I’ve done enough or that I even did all I could have done. I’m hoping that Heavenly Father will send the Spirit to let me know that He knows that I did my best.

At the close of part one, we’re to read Revelation 20:12 and answer these two questions:

1. Before whom will we stand as we make our final report of our life upon this earth?
2. What would you like to be able to report at that moment?

When I stand before God and he asks me if I did what He asked me to do, I want to be able to look Him in the eye and say “Yes. And I did the best I could.”

The second part of the lesson seemed to be a bit more difficult to prepare. We’ve been doing a lot with Prop 8 lately, spending all day yesterday with the youth in our ward standing on the corner of a busy intersection waving and cheering for Prop 8. My husband had a burrito thrown at him, we were flipped off time and time again, called all kinds of names, told where we could go and what to do with ourselves when we got there, mooned (seriously), and were told that it was shameful how we were teaching the youth to hate.

This part of the lesson deals with Luke 9:46-56. It poses questions like:

1. What might those who are tolerant of others think of the man who was casting out devils in Christ’s name or of the Samaritans?
2. How did the Apostles view the man who was casting out devils?
3. How did they view the Samaritans?

Then:

1. What was the Savior’s attitude towards the man casting out devils and the Samaritans?
2. Do you think the Savior was pleased with the attitude of His disciples? Why or why not?

Then this:

Invite students to think about their attitudes toward people of other religions or those who seem to be sinners. Ask the students to write down what they think the Savior might say if He were to talk to them about their attitude.

I hope and pray that the Spirit will be with me in the morning when we talk about these two sensitive subjects. We’ve been asked by our Heavenly Father to do something that the world sees as intolerant. We’ve been assigned the specific duty to stand up for what we know to be right. We’ve been given the assignment by a prophet of God and we will be expected to report back on our efforts when we stand before Him to be judged. I hope that the kids will be able to feel the Spirit bear testimony to them of the importance of their role in this great cause.

Our responsibility is to love all people no matter what – it IS the 2nd greatest commandment. But, our love of God comes first. Our willingness to do what He has asked of us will show how much we love Him and how much we are willing to sacrifice, whether it be of our time, our talents or something else which is asked, to be obedient to His will.

Putting the will of the Father over the will of ourselves causes us to be truly happy and prosperous. Nothing anyone can say to or about us will change or take that away. Our obedience proves our love for our Father in Heaven. Then, and only then, are we prepared to truly love our neighbor as ourself.

This is my fourth picture from my fourth folder:

It’s a picture of my favorite nephew at 3 months old. Erek is the cutest little kid in the whole world!

I tag… EmaLee, Lani, Debbie, and Vanessa. Technically, this doesn’t count as a tag-back!

It’s coming down to the wire. We’re getting close to the end. I can’t wait until the election is OVER.

I saw a magnet once, on a trip through Julian, that said, “Where and I going, and why am I in this hand-basket?” There will be no need to ask that question if Prop 8 doesn’t pass.

At first I didn’t think I cared that much. I know what marriage is, that it’s ordained of God, that it should be taken seriously enough that you would be willing to spend eternity together. I have no doubt that there are members of the gay/lesbian community that understand that as well. I know that there are those who take it just as seriously as I do.

It’s the “ordained of God” part that usually throws people off. God? What does he have to do with it? That’s the way this entire world is headed. What do I need God for? I can do whatever I want to – because I have the right to – so what do I need Him for?

And what’s really scary, is that most of the people that think this way also claim to believe in the Bible. HA! Which one? It most certainly can’t be the one that I believe in. If it is, they’ve completely twisted its meaning to make it say what they want it to say. And in their defense, it’s not like THAT hasn’t been done before.

My husband had an interesting experience with a woman who made claims of anti-hate by attaching them to her car in the form of bumper stickers and a license plate. Yet she felt the urge to call him a hater and confront him on his beliefs. WHO’S the hater?

My sister watched No on 8 people completely surround Yes on 8 people on the corner one day. The Yes on 8 people were out with their signs on the side of the road and about 30 Haters (yes, they were) crossed the street to the same corner and stood in front of them to block their message.

Interesting. The Yes on 8 people are deemed “Haters” and yet it seems to be the No on 8 people who are actually BEING Haters. They’re flipping us off as they drive by, stealing our signs, squashing our freedom of speech. Not to mention persecuting us for our religion.

The Bible says that contention is of the devil. The Constitution tells me that I have a right to stand on the corner with my sign and tell people how I feel. The 11th Article of Faith says that we believe what we believe and allow others the same opportunity. If they want to stand on the side of the road with their No on 8 signs, go for it! Allow me the same right – yours do NOT trump mine.

Today is my friend Koni’s birthday and she loved the “Twilight” bracelet so much that I decided to make a bracelet for her. It’s not a Twilight one – it’s better.

And it came with a matching pair of earings.

I had so much fun with it, that I made a Halloween bracelet to wear during this week. I love Halloween!

…which brings me to my first one (of 7 quirky things about me)…

1. I was always last picked for anything that had anything to do with playing sports. I remember one time in the 6th grade I was 2nd to last because the kid that was last always stunk and nobody liked him for anything. It was for a kickball team then and they made me pitcher (the one thing I actually could do). I remember I had to pitch to Eric Ricardo who just so happened to be the SCHOOL CHAMPION at anything that required a soccer ball (and cute to boot!). I pitched and he kicked it up high. It was my one chance to prove that I could do something right. I got all ready to catch the ball and it went right through the circle I had formed with my arms, bounced off my foot and went into the ditch that I then had to climb in to get it. Home run. After that, I was picked AFTER Charlie. Even in high school when I was on the tennis team I was in the bottom of the doubles teams. No coordination here. Not even a little bit.

2. I’m borderline obsessed with Nancy Drew. I’ve somewhat grown out of it over the last 5 years or so, but I still look for the hardback books at yard/garage sales.

3. Speaking of books… I’m a bit of a junkie. But it has to have a happy ending. I get really crabby when the ending leaves something to be desired. And nothing about the Holocaust. I’ll be depressed for days. I can’t handle it. I can’t understand the mindset of someone that would want to cause something so terrible and feel content not to try.

4. Being late to things stresses me out. I blame my parents (or thank them) for this bit of OCDness.

5. Up until I was 18 and moved away from home, my bedroom was decorated in Mickey Mouse stuff. I had the comforter, curtains, pillowcases, throw pillows… The first CD I owned was Aladdin and I listened to it so much it stopped working. We bought the movie when it came out “on tape” and I watched it every single day for two weeks. Still to this day, that’s probably my most quotable movie. Sad, I know.

6. Until I got married to a geek, I had never seen Star Wars (any of them), Indiana Jones or a full episode of Star Trek. I have, in the last four years, seen all 47 Star Wars movies, all 76 of the Indiana Jones movies and about a million different episodes of Star Trek (ranging from Voyager to Next Generation, etc.). I still have not seen any Rambo movies or Rocky movies (nor do I care to frankly). The Terminator 1-100 are still a mystery to me as are all 6,549 Die Hards. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is only funny when Jon and Amie are quoting it back and forth with each other (I miss Amie!!), mostly because the only part of that movie that even makes sense is when they’re trying to rationalize the woman being a witch.

7. Last, but not least, I love the smell of coffee in the morning. It reminds me of two times in my life when I felt comfortable and sure of myself. The first one being in the 4th grade. My teacher, Mrs. Feist (whom I will love forever) used to drink it but it always smelled different than any other kind of coffee. Every once in a while I’ll get a whiff of it at work and I’ll suddenly be back in the 4th grade, with brand new pencils, fluoride coated toothbrushes, maps of California on the wall, getting good grades, and feel that all is right with the world. The second time was when I graduated from high school and moved to Utah to go to the U. I lived with my Aunt Pyper who had coffee every morning before work. I was so glad to be away from here and so excited to start a life that was all my own. That smell every morning reminded me of who I was and what I was doing and who I was doing it for.

Ok Vanessa… There’s the blabbings… 🙂

I think I’m going to tag Lani and Lori. Have fun!!

I thought I’d posted this but apparently I’d clicked on the wrong button. Sorry Mom 🙂

Day 3 (Saturday) of our vacation was spent in Kirtland and at the John Johnson farm. We had to make a quick trip though because we were scheduled to have dinner with friends that evening and had to be back.

We went to the Kirtland temple and took the tour. It was not what I was expecting, but I realized that my expectations were unrealistic. Their video presentation prior to the tour told the history of their church and about the building of the temple. It is a beautiful building; all that hand-carved wood and such. The third floor was closed for preservations, but they had a bunch of pictures on display so we could see what it looked like. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, which I think is appropriate and is something I’m grateful for, but we were allowed to take pictures outside.

After leaving the temple, we went to Historic Kirtland and took part of the tour. When we got there, they called two of the sister missionaries to come and give us our tour – Sister Norton and Sister Fredrickson. We found out that Sister Fredrickson was from Texas and Sister Norton was from Oceanside! She grew up in Ramona but they moved to Oceanside shortly after she graduated from high school. She left to go on her mission from the Oceanside First Ward. Small world!

Day 4 happened to be a Sunday so we went to Church in the morning and then went back to Kirtland to finish the tour, then over to the Morely Farm. This was the missionary that was telling the story and showing us around. He turned at the last second but you should have seen the face he made! Still, I think it’s funny because it shows just how he was on the tour – he was a story teller and was on to the next thing!

MorelyMissionary

Kirtland was just a quick 30 minute drive from where we were. The beauty of the trees is still something I just can’t seem to get over!

I loved this book. This is a sequel to Love Walked In and did not disappoint. There’s something about the way that Marisa writes that sucks me in and doesn’t let go. I laughed when I met Piper. I cried when Clare and Dev cried.

It’s a story of disappointment, heartache, forgiveness, happiness, love and belonging. Belonging to someone or somewhere. Being a part of something as small as the print made by your own two feet, to something as big as a universe… all the while knowing that it wouldn’t be the same without you. You belong where you are and that space is better for having you in it.

If you’ve read Love Walked In and loved it even half as much as I did, you’ll want to read this one too.

I hope that there’s a third one. I don’t want the story to be over.

I’m not skilled enough to do my own yet.

I entered to win this quilt. There are over 800 entries already though, and some of them have more than 5 entries a piece so I’m sure I probably won’t get it, but here’s for hoping! It would make a great Christmas gift for my mom who LOVES sunflowers!

Nina tagged me almost a week ago and I’ve been so swamped that I’m just now getting to it…

Here are the rules…
1. Link to the person who tagged you: Nina
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Six random things about me…
1. In high school, I won the Athletic Department Girl of the Year award my senior year even though I didn’t participate in any sports.

2. Most of my best friends were friends I didn’t make until I was in my early/mid twenties. There are only about four that don’t fall in that category and they’re spread all over the country. I only get to see their parents on occasion.

3. I’ve always loved to read. My best friends growing up were John Grisham, Carolyn Keene and Jack Weyland. I had a brief “fling” with Christopher Pike and Danielle Steele but was mostly loyal to John and Jack.

4. I love clocks. I like ones I can wear or ones that I can hang up on the wall. I have one in pretty much every room in the house (including the bathrooms). There are three in the family room alone!

5. The smallest toe on my left foot (pinky) doesn’t bend. Never has. I don’t know if it’s missing a joint or what. It’s really just … there.

6. I love being around the youth at church, especially at seminary. I love watching them have “Aha!” moments. I love the way they think (or don’t think as the case may be). I love learning things from them – they have such a great perspective.

I tag EmaLee, Debbie, Allyn, Amy, Sara, and anyone else who wants to. Have fun!