Make that plan....Today!

As a friend of mine so perfectly put it the other day, "My life is so crazy right now, I need a planner for my planner!" (Thank you Lauren Bender for understanding my life haha). My schedule has been pretty darn crazy over the past few weeks, not that that is unusual, but it has been a little crazier even than usual. I bring up the planner quote, because I am a fairly avid planner user, and if I don't write something down and hold myself accountable for it, I forget to do it. Now, this is all very simple talk...I'm getting to something, I promise. One more story first, though. :) Due to all of the craziness over the past few weeks, I haven't cooked as much, and having been eating so healthy this school year, Dallin and I were definitely feeling it. Both of us were just more tired, lethargic, and lacking in motivation. So, this week, I was absolutely determined to cook at least five nights, and the other two would be left-over nights. I got out my cookbooks, chose some recipes, made a menu-list for the week, and finally made a grocery list and we went shopping together (a rarity that is precious to me). I am very happy to say that I succeeded in my goal, and we have felt SO much better this week. The reason I succeeded though, is because I MADE A PLAN.
Lately I feel that my spirit has been experiencing what my body was a few weeks ago...tiredness, lethargy, and a lack of motivation. My scripture study and daily prayer has not been on track because I get tired and lazy after a long school day and teaching lots of students. I have not been tapping into the power and happiness that I could have been, and so I am determined to change that. I am making a plan this week, and hopefully for a long time after that. Just like making a list for going to the grocery store to buy the things I need, I am making a list of things that my spirit needs: scripture study, prayer, conference talks, church, family time, service, and wise-use of my time. Just as cooking takes time to nourish my body the right way, studying takes time to nourish my spirit the right way. My goal is going to be 20-30 minutes EVERY DAY of reading my scriptures and conference talks. I have discovered that not a lot of things get done in life very well without a plan. Those who are prepared will always succeed, or be closer to doing to than those who don't have a plan. We witness this in the bible with the story of the ten virgins and the coming of the bridegroom. Those who had oil were able to join in the celebratory ceremony, and those who did not prepare were not! I want to be celebrating, every day. I want everyday to be filled with joy, motivation, love, and a desire to do better and to better myself. I encourage you to make a plan today, even if it's not religious-based, to do things to better yourself. Eat healthier, exercise (even if it's just a 10 minute routine before you go to bed!), try harder to look for the good in others and likewise to look for the good in yourself, serve someone, stay on top of your homework and don't procrastinate for a whole week. These things are so difficult, but they mold us into wonderful individuals who are prepared to make our world a better place. So, MAKE A PLAN! :)

Respect is the underlying issue.

Today, if you walked up to almost anyone and asked them what they thought our country's biggest social issue was, I would guess that they would answer "Gay rights!" (LGBTQ included). I am a Christian and will openly admit that I have my own opinions about the issue, and those opinions include members of the LGBTQ group not being discriminated against. The SOGI act that was repealed yesterday brought some things to my attention. Firstly, I feel that a lot of people who are enraged that it was repealed aren't completely informed as to what the act entirely entails. If you are going to rant and rave about something and especially VOTE ON IT TO PUT LAWS IN PLACE, you need to know exactly what you are voting into action. Over 30,000 people voted, and this video only has 4,000 views.... See following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1YHKD9WRUE

Personally, I do not wish to have people come into my home (if I chose to homeschool my children) and teach their version of a non-discrimination lecture to my children. I believe that is MY right as a parent to educate them on such issues. Also, I don't think that the city needs to create a huge budget for investigators to go into businesses and have the right to seize whatever documentation/persons they wish. I DO want members of the LGBTQ group to have their rights, but this ordinance added in other things that were not okay with me. I feel that now the point of all of these ordinances/bills/arguments is to force everyone to be completely accepting of the LGBTQ group's way of life. If we are going to be frank, that will never happen. You simply cannot change a person's morals and core beliefs if they don't want them to be changed. Racism still exists doesn't it? Not that I want it to, but it does. I think that Christians and other religions alike need to be respectful towards LGBTQ, and I also think that LGBTQ needs to be respectful of Christians and their beliefs. It is that simple. It disgusts me to see all of the horrid, hateful arguments/comments when somebody posts that they believe in the sanctity of marriage as it has been defined up until now, and it disgusts me just as much to see parents disowning their children/abusing them because they are homosexual or transgender. I don't want to be worried about posting something on my facebook account that states that I am in favor of the repeal or not in favor of it, because I would receive guff both ways. All in all, I think that respect is our biggest problem. The LGBTQ group and Christians are both pushing so hard to receive respect on their end but are not giving it to each other. Yes, the ordinance was repealed, so that's that. There is no need for nasty facebook statuses and comments on either end. Springfield wanted it repealed, and so it was. 

Silver linings

My goodness. These past few weeks have just felt like a roller-coaster, one that is just a huge drop downwards....forever....never-ending...okay. You get the picture. Basically you just feel like life is coming at you so fast that you don't know how to handle it and so you throw your hands up in the air and scream. My downward drop right now consists of 27 (that's right, TWENTY SEVEN) cello students, three church callings, 19 credit hours, a junior recital coming up, and then there's the whole "being married" thing. ;) To top it off, I got some sort of bug or stomach thing the last two days (for whoever knows me well, you know that I am TERRIFIED of vomiting...luckily none of that was involved, just lots of stomach pain and nausea). I was upset with myself the other day because I came home and the house was dirty, and I hadn't gone grocery shopping which was desperately needed, I really hadn't practiced my cello enough that day, and I was behind on some homework that I needed to do. I really felt like throwing my hands up in the air and screaming. How am I supposed to manage it all? Well, I'm not, and I can't on my own. I have definitely experienced some silver linings in the past few weeks. Dallin has taken on a new desire to do the dishes and laundry this semester and that has helped me so much. No to mention his constant support and big hugs when I need them. Now, let's talk about the 27 students. When I signed up at Springfield music, I was thinking my studio MIGHT get as large as 18 students...that's what my manager told me it would probably be. I started out with 12 students, and then the e-mails just kept showing up. New student! Starts this Thursday at four....this saturday at 12...this tuesday at 7....Meanwhile, my planner pages were filling up with "Do theory assignment #7, study for quiz on monday, complete assigned reading for REL 131, do elaboration composition for counterpoint." The list was never ending, but so were the tender mercies. There have been a few nights where I was just completely exhausted and had no idea how I was going to finish teaching those next two students, and then both of them call saying that they had something come up and would need to cancel for that night. There have also been times where I walk out of a lesson feeling renewed and energized because I had a wonderful day teaching wonderful children how to play the cello. A few of my classes that I'm in this semester are light on the homework load, and so I can manage all of the harder ones and still not be completely overwhelmed. When it comes to the sunbeam class, I'm still working on finding multiple silver linings for that one, but this last Sunday, one of the cute little boys, definitely rowdy and a handful, came up to me and just gave me this giant hug and wanted to sit on my lap. When I walked out of that class, I was happy. We have friends and family here who have done so much for us, and I just can't help but to see the silver linings. They don't happen every day, but they are enough to keep me going until the next one. God knows us individually and he knows exactly what we need when we need it. I have no doubt that He has been sending those little tender mercies and silver linings to me along the way.