Stake Conference

We had Stake Conference this weekend. I have to admit it is nice to not have to worry about Primary for one week. Sitting and being edified by speakers is a great change up to my Sunday norm. We were privileged to have Elder Baxter from the first quorom of the seventy visiting our conference. He was funny and has a British accent which was fun to list to. He also delivered the words of God and that was the best part of the weekend.

When he first stood up at the adult session, he asked us all to put a big smile on our face. He said, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about Joy and if you loose the Joy you loose it all. I hope I can always remember that and serve in my roles as wife, mother and right now in the Primary with great Joy. Joy for my Savior and His amazing Gospel. There was much more said, but just remember to have Joy and Hope. Never loose Hope.

Natalie made it through the 2 hour stretch today with only one visit to the hall. She was a real champ. We also brought M&M's to feed her the last half an hour. We are good parents like that. i have been trying to get her to pick out her clothes lately to help her be more independent. Sunday mornings we go through all her dresses until she says yes. Mostly her response to anything these days is "No." This dress was her pick this morning and good thing, because it is almost too small. She also just got these new white shoes and socks for the Spring and Summer time. She loves them and put them on first thing after getting her dress on this morning. Every morning when I ask her to pick socks she wants to wear these "church" socks, she was glad it was finally a "church" day.

Another great part of the day was we all got naps. It was a gorgeous day and it was nice to spend some time with Justin as he was busy most of Saturday doing service and attending meetings. We are looking forward to a busy week with Tuesday being our 20 week ultra sound day. Boy or Girl? We shall see.
 
Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Self Reliant

For the past seven months, Justin and I have been working slowly and diligently at being a little more prepared for any type of emergency situation. It has at times been exhausting, requires a lot of planning and effort, is expensive, and sometimes I feel like a crazy person. 

Tonight though, it paid off in a very small way. Last night Natalie and I drove to Eugene to spend the night with Justin while he works at the Oregon Logging Conference. I accidentally left her pacifier in the hotel room, and just realized it tonight. It has been a long week, I am tired and only Wal- Mart sells this brand. Which would mean a 35 minute drive there, at least 15 minutes in the store and another 35 minutes back. If I had had to drive to get another one, it would have been a long night. Thankfully, I had an extra in Natalie's 72hr. kit I am still working on completing. It was such a blessing to walk into my closet and pull that out of a back pack. 

 

I have had this experience several times with food items over the last few months as well. Being in a pinch for dinner and thinking I may not have an ingredient, but am so relieved I don't have to make an extra half hour trip because it is in my storage closet.While being prepared will be an immense blessing in case of extenuating circumstances, it has brought a lot of peace to my everyday life. 

We still have a long ways to go to achieve our goal of a 1 year food supply, clothes, larger savings, completed 72 hour kits and more, but I know every little step counts and there is blessings along the way. There are always blessings and great peace in following the Prophets counsel.

Side note: (Yes, she probably needs to loose the pacifier, but she only uses it at night to fall asleep and right now, she is sick. So, probably not the best time to come down on it.)

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Being Brave

Something that has been rolling around my mind for the last couple years is the debate over redefining the definition of marriage to allow gay couples the “right” to be married. Being LDS, knowing and believing the doctrine, and wanting to follow the prophet, I know that it is possible to love Gay people and be kind, but not to agree with gay marriage. This is my stance on the issue and how I try to live.

While this is a fine opinion, I have always felt like there is so much more to the argument, than just “because God says so.” While searching for more material on the subject, I feel as though it has been hard to find specific reasons of why Gay marriage would be a negative thing for our society. Over and over again I hear, “It is their civil right,” or “If they love each other they deserve it,” and or “How will it hurt you? Just live and let live.” 

These half-truths can be very convincing, but I knew there was much more to this issue. Yesterday, I stumbled across a video from an address given by Ryan T. Anderson at Stanford University. It was a short 4 minute clip. In that four minutes, I felt like the real questions we should be asking and clarifying were finally being addressed and answered. 

This peaked my interest and as soon as N was down for her nap I watched the full hour long presentation and thirty minute Q and A portion. It answered all of the questions and the statements the media keeps feeding and asking the public. It was enlightening, entertaining (he is a great public speaker), and refreshing to finally hear someone address this topic clearly, concisely and address the real issues. What is the true definition of marriage and why is it that? How will this effect society? Why does marriage even matter?

I feel as though everyone could benefit from watching this presentation. I know it is long, but I promise, it is well worth the time. Anderson presents his material purely from the stance of why marriage is important in society. He does not mention religious, tradition, or moral reasons. Those are perfectly fine reasons to be opposed to gay marriage. However, it has been great to see how Sociology supports the teachings of Theology.

So please, if you can. Make the time to watch this. I don’t think you will regret it. I would love to hear everyone’s opinion on it. I know that because I share his point of view, he was basically preaching to the choir. However, I believe each side could gain greater insight by listening to the facts he presents and the civility he uses when discussing the issue.  

The Q&A portion.

 

Thank you for reading and hopefully watching.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

When I take a shower and get ready for the day while Natalie is awake, 

this is what the bathroom looks like.

She loves going in and out of the sliding doors on our shower.

 

Today was a much needed peaceful Sabbath day.

 It is so important for me to have that time to step back and look at life through the lens God wants me to, and not the way the world would have me.

We attended church, I was able to study the scriptures and do some indexing, had a nap, and played as a family together. We also visited our dear friends and shared an ice cream bar and walk to the park.

I worry and ponder often if I am doing all that I can or not enough, or too much. 

Being a stay at home mother is awesome and a great privilege, but with it comes it's own set of worries and struggles.

One of the things that is hardest for me is that there isn't a set standard of 

what you need to do each to day to be successful. 

That is totally up to you, your own motivation and your priorities as to what you do.

 I don't know if I am making sense to anyone reading this, but not having set boundaries of what to do to be successful can be stressful for me. 

During college I learned in an education class about different kinds of learners. 

One of these types is those who like to have the specifications laid out before them so they know exactly what they need to do to succeed (or get an A). 

That type of learner would be me.....

Tying this all together, there are tons of voices out there telling you what makes you successful and important as a mother, human being, etc

During the week, I feel like these influences pull me in so many different directions.

I could spend all my time trying to do what others value and find important for a family, 

and still not find the success I am looking for as a mother and the nurturer of my children.

While there are many different good things, ultimately I want to be doing 

the right and best things for my family.

The only one who knows that and can guide me is the Holy Ghost.

 Today helped me  be still and regain my focus on what the Lord needs

 me to be doing for the success of my family.

Taking time to slow down and remember God is one of my favorite parts of our life each week.

My New Favorite Picture

 

"The family is ordained of God. 

Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.

Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony,

and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.

Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded 

upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of

faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work and

wholesome recreational activities.

By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness

and are responsible to provide the necessities of life

and protection for their families.

Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.

In these sacred responsibilities, 

fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners."

From

 The Family: A Proclamation to the World

The world teaches individuals to put off marriage. Once and if you do get married, put off having children, that is if you even feel like having them. I have done the opposite in my life as I have tried to follow the guidance of the Holy Ghost. I have found the greatest happiness in my life in being married and welcoming our first child to our home. These things have been on my mind a lot lately, especially with the craziness we see on the news every day about marriage and morals. 

I once heard a bishop counsel us youth that if we wondered about a certain principle or commandment of the Gospel to simply test it. Try living it and see if the fruits of it are what you are told they are. I feel like in my short experience so far of living these commandments, I know they are of God and we find our greatest joys in living them. I pray and hope that I can continue to live worthy of this blessing of having a family here on earth that is striving to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard