Women of God (repost)

It seemed appropriate to repost this this month (link)

Women of God can never be like women of the world.

The world has enough women who are tough;

we need women who are tender.

There are enough women who are coarse;

we need women who are kind.

There are enough women who are rude;

we need women who are refined.

We have enough women of fame and fortune;

we need more women of faith.

We have enough greed;

we need more goodness.

We have enough vanity;

we need more virtue.

We have enough popularity;

we need more purity.

Margaret D Nadauld

2000

"The Joy of Womanhood"

Dedicate ourselves to strengthening marriages, families, and homes

There is a war being fought today and it isn’t across an ocean. Satan knows that within the walls of homes, inside strong marriages and families, is where he loses the most ground; therefore he is doing all within his power to destroy marriages, families, and homes. Satan spreads lies about the composition of the family—suggesting that it is ok to have two mommies, two daddies, unmarried parents, or (intentionally) single parents. Psychological studies have shown that it is healthiest for a child to be raised by two parents of opposite sexes. No matter how much love exists in any other arrangement, it cannot compete with God’s perfect design for families.
Marriages and families are pillars of strength in society. They are the center points from which we all face the world, from whence we determine our lives’ directions, and within which we form our values. Any society must stand on the shoulders of those within it, and those within it will not have the strength to hold up very much unless they are built together in the framework of families. Without families, marriages, and homes, we have nothing, and our society cannot help but crumble.
We live in a culture (at least in the USA) which promotes independence and selfishness, but it is only with interdependence and selflessness that we can truly be strong. United we stand, divided we fall. If we desire a sustainable society, it is imperative that we be dedicated to supporting and promoting strong marriages, families, and homes.

Seek spiritual strength by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost (also referred to as the Holy Spirit) fulfills many roles, and can strengthen us in many ways. He brings comfort in times of sorrow and peace in times of trouble. He testifies of truth when we find it (whether it is a ‘spiritual’ truth or not). He can give inspiration or bring to our memories information that we had forgotten.
I’m sure that many people think of ‘spiritual strength’ as referring to testimony—the surety of Christ as Savior, a validation of faith, and so on. This is true, of course, but it is only a small part of the spiritual strength that we can receive from the Holy Ghost.
Since all things were created spiritually before they were created temporally, therefore all things are spiritual. So when I am at a loss over how to teach my child something, and suddenly I remember something I read in a book last year—that is strengthening for me, because it helps me fulfill my role as a mother. Sometimes I have a ‘lightbulb moment’ when I figure out how to do something. Yes I am intelligent, but I’m not so vain as to think that all of those ideas are my own—I know that often the Holy Ghost is helping me—and since two heads are better than one, my strength is constantly increased by His presence in my life. When I mourned the loss of my third miscarried baby, and heard in my mind the message “Be Still and Know that I am God,” I was still, and it brought me peace, and strength to get through a difficult time.
Last week our Relief Society lesson in church was going to be about hearing the promptings of the Holy Ghost. The teacher called me several days ahead of time and asked me to be one of several women to briefly share a personal experience where I was prompted about something. I spent three days trying to think of a good experience to share—in spite of being frequently aware of the Holy Spirit’s influence in my life, it seems that it is so continuous that recalling a single experience was difficult. I pondered over the many ways that the Spirit can prompt us as I went about my daily life, but was still feeling unsure about what experience to relate for the lesson.
On Saturday night I was snuggling my kids into bed and, because it was on my mind, I said “who knows who the Holy Ghost is?”
Wolf said “I do”
Bear said “I do!”
“What is it?” I asked Bear (curious to know what he knew).
“I don’t know”
“Why don’t you ask Wolf to tell you”
So he did. And Wolf started explaining everything he could think of about the Holy Ghost--which, I realized, amounted mostly to His role as a comforter. Although I’m fairly certain that we had taught him more than that, it was the only part he remembered (a good reminder to us parents that we need to teach our children these important things over and over!). So I told my boys about the other things the Holy Ghost can do. Wolf was particularly impressed when I explained that if he studied hard, and worked to learn all the things he was supposed to, then if he prayed before a test the Holy Ghost could help him remember the things he had studied.
So that was my story of a prompting—I felt inclined to talk to my kids about the Holy Ghost, and was able to help them learn something which (in spite of prior discussions) they hadn’t really realized before.

We are beloved spirit daughters of God

We are beloved spirit daughters of God,
And our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction.
We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity…

We know who we are, where we came from, and where we are going (or at least where we can go!). Genuine understanding of our divine heritage gives us the power to stand firm in who we are, in spite of the buffetings of the world. Knowledge of the divine heritage of our fellow sisters (and brothers) gives us the desire to reach out and serve them.
Honestly, I’m not really sure what else to say about this. The words are so simple and yet so powerful, that anything I can say would only diminish the poignancy.

Happy Birthday Relief Society

In March we celebrate the anniversary of the organization of the Relief Society (the women’s organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) so I thought it would be a good time to write a bit about RS and who we are and what we do.
From its inception, the Relief Society was an organization for uplifting and supporting each other, both physically and spiritually. In our Sunday meetings we study and discuss gospel topics. We have other meetings for personal enrichment, learning, developing skills, and serving others. We take meals to new mothers or ill church members. We make quilts and medical kits and school kits to ship around the world. Here in my ward we recently collected items for a local women’s shelter. Our motto is “Charity Never Faileth” and our goal is to be the hands of heaven on earth.
The following statement was released a few years ago by the general (churchwide) Relief Society presidency, and I keep it hanging on my wall because it inspires me every time I read it. (click the links to see the posts I have written about the individual topics)

We are beloved spirit daughters of God,

And our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction.

As a worldwide sisterhood, we are united in our devotion

to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Exemplar.

We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity who:

~

Increase our testimonies of Jesus Christ

through prayer and scripture study

~

Seek spiritual strength by following the

promptings of the Holy Ghost.

~

Dedicate ourselves to strengthening

marriages, families, and homes.

~

Find nobility in motherhood

and joy in womanhood.

~

Delight in service and good works.

~

Love life and learning.

~

Stand for truth and righteousness.

~

Sustain the priesthood

as the authority of God on earth.

~

Rejoice in the blessings of the temple,

understand our divine destiny,

and strive for exaltation.

Over the rest of the month I’ll be posting about these topics. I hope you will join me in discussing these things, and if you are LDS, consider taking this opportunity to write about the Relief Society on your own blog.

February FOs

Objects finished in February

For self/family

--PUL diaper cover w/ gussets (developing a new pattern...still needs a little work but then I'll be selling it)
--I did finish Wolf's sleeve!! yay!!

For sale

--2 diapers

--1 pad set
--worked on swizzle hat knitting pattern (it's almost ready for sale)

--Knitted baby sweater (custom order) (this took up most of my month, can you tell? But it had to be done in time for grandma's visit!)
 

My "Soggy" Side

After that last post about my crunchy side, I thought you might want to hear about some 'crunchy' stuff I don't do...

• I don't eat my placenta--if I hemmorhage I'll take pitocin or something, thank-you-very-much--there is a time and a place for interventions!
• I do cut the umbillical cord (rather than carrying the placenta around in a bowl with the baby until the cord falls off naturally). (Seriously, does anybody else think that lotus birth is pretty strange?!)
• I think planned Unassisted Childbirth is questionable and in some cases a really bad idea, for the same reason that they don't let surgeons operate on family members (the family is 'too close' to the situation and if something should go wrong it's better to have someone who is not as emotionally involved).
• I ♥ root beer.
• I also enjoy white flour, white sugar, and chocolate.
• I use normal cheap shampoo and conditioner (until I learn to make my own at least).
• I take sudafed if I'm that stuffed up. It's worth being able to sleep.
• I give my kids (of all ages) ibuprofin or acetamenafen if they have a fever that's keeping them awake. Sure, fevers are part of the immune system's natural fighting process, but so is sleep, and I'd like my sleep too, so at night I have no qualms about drugging them.
• I wean my kids when I want to, not necessarily when they want to. Sure, I believe in nursing for two-ish years, but Bear wasn't wanting to wean and I insisted anyway.
• It didn't work out with Bear, but I have every intention of getting Eagle into his own bed (out of mine) around a year old.
• Eagle loves his binkie.
• I let my kids watch movies and play video games. Almost every day.
• I don't like dredlocks. I know they're supposed to be the most natural thing you can do with your hair, but I really really don't like them and would never do them. Long hair, yes; but I'll take the time to comb it every day thanks.
• I like wool, but if I'm knitting sweaters it's gonna be (chemically-treated) washable wool. No sense spending that many hours making something I can't put in the washing machine!!!
• I love, I mean REALLY love milkshakes. I like the eggnog and the blackberry and the chocolate oreo...and I really really like the uber-fake strawberry ones.
• I also like french fries. With a LOT of salt.

A "Crunchy" Mama

(I started this post a looong time ago, then I got morning sick, then I didn't get around to finishing it...but I still wanted to post it so here goes!)


So, I labeled myself as a crunchy mama, then Jenn over at BabyMakinMachine asked me what it meant, so I tried to explain, and it led to her writing this post in which she pondered crunchiness and whether it was for her. That post then led to nearly 50 comments (most of them lengthy and some of them quite heated)... and I concluded that I was gonna just lay it all out.
I think Jenn put it quite fairly when she suggested that perhaps there's a middle level, somewhere between 'crunchy' and 'soggy' (or mainstream) which might be called 'chewy.' I find myself chewy in a number of things, because I'm not nearly so far off the beaten path as many of my uber-crunchy friends. On the other hand, I'm pretty far off the beaten path!

My reasons for being crunchy (or chewy) come from one main thing, and that is that I believe in questioning the status quo, and doing my own research about things, so that I can make my own decisions about what is best for me and my family. Again and again I discover that mainstream practices were born of the greedy side of capitalism (not that capitalism is evil in and of itself, but the associated greediness certainly is...) and that the things that really seem best are falling into this category called "crunchy." Here are my few basic tenets:

1. I believe in not messing with the way God made things.
2. I believe that Godmade is better than manmade, and should be utilized if available.
3. I believe in avoiding unnecessary interventions/chemicals
4. I believe in respecting people and the Earth.
5. I believe in logic
6. I believe in making things cheap, easy, and comfortable unless there's a good reason not to (you got it folks, I'm lazy!).

So what does this mean?

I believe in not messing with the way God made things

• My body gives me signs every month of what is going on with my fertility, so I observe them and take notes rather than trying to control or change them.
• My body makes milk for my baby, therefore, I should give it to the baby.
• God made baby boys with foreskins. End of discussion.
• If you're gonna drink cow milk (which is actually made for baby cows you know), then at least drink it whole, or even raw. Its vitamins are fat-soluable, so if you want the nutritive benefits of it, you'd better be getting the fat with it. Oh, and the low/no-fat versions have petroleum in them, just FYI.
• God made some people women, and some people men, and then He gave them each bodies built to fulfill certain roles, therefore I birth and nurture children and keep our home, while my husband provides for and protects our family.

I believe that Godmade is better than manmade

• So infant formula is only for emergencies, not for the average baby.
• Food out of the dirt or off a tree = good, food out of a box = not so good.
• If there's an herb that fits the bill, then I don't want some chemically formulated pill. Ideally I'd like nothing at all.
• I think HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) is bad news...I'm trying to restrict it in our diet, though I doubt we'll manage to remove it entirely.
• Partially hydrogenated anything = evil
• I believe in butter. Margarine is the devil (also it tastes like BLECH).
• I've recently found that I vastly prefer natural fibers (cotton, wool, hemp, bamboo) over almost all of the synthetics. Especially now that Eagle seems to break out when he wears synthetics.
• I don't typically wear makeup--I wear the face God gave me.

I believe in avoiding unnecessary interventions and chemicals

• The vast majority of women's bodies can give birth without intervention, so they should be allowed to do so.
• If my child is exploring, I don't get in the way unless injury is imminent.
• If (older) kids disagree, I try to help them work it out, rather than stepping in and taking over.
• I think that antibiotics are making superbugs, so I don't use antibacterial soaps or products in my home, and would not seek (or take) a prescription for an antibiotic unless there were a good reason for it (such as post-surgery).
• I don't wear makeup (most of it is toxic to some degree)
• I don't use scented soaps/lotions/shampoos/detergents.

I believe in respecting people...

• I try to boycott companies that treat their employees badly (such as Walmart)
• My children do not call adults by their first names. If an adult is more than a few years older than myself *I* usually do not call them by their first name.
• I think it's offensive to do cosmetic surgery on an infant boy's private parts without his permission.
• I follow my infant's schedule, rather than demanding that he follow mine.
• I don't let a small infant cry. I don't let an older child cry for long.
• I try to be gentle and respectful in my parenting.
• I try to take care of myself by eating (relatively) well and dressing modestly
• If I can tell that my infant needs to poop, I often remove his diaper and hold him over the toilet. There's no reason to force him to sit in his own waste for even a moment if I can help it.

...and respecting the earth

• I try to support local farmers, and sustainable farming practices
• I recycle
• I buy second-hand if I can
• I re-use or re-purpose things because I don't throwing away good fabric/wood/etc
• I try to be minimalist
• I try to stock my kitchen (and my kids' toyboxes) with things that will last--things made from wood, metal, or glass.
• I use recycled packaging when I mail things
• I use cloth diapers, wipes, rags, etc. (I do use cloth pads, but this was a very secondary reason for it--the primary reason is below)

I believe in logic

• I make milk + baby is hungry = give the kid a boob!
• I need sleep + baby needs sleep + baby needs to eat during the night = let's all sleep in the same place
• Babies like to be held + mommy needs to get stuff done = babywearing
• Children learn by example, therefore I should be gentle with them if I want them to learn to be gentle with me or anyone else.
• I see the sense in some vaccines (though not all) but I also see the dangers...so the ones we get we get on a spread-out schedule.

I'm lazy, frugal, and like my comforts

• I use cloth pads and cloth diapers because fabric is more comfortable than plastic on tender parts.
• babywearing is cheaper and easier than strollers and carriers (and doesn't require smooth sidewalks, of which we have precious few here!)
• I re-use or re-purpose things because I don't want to spend the money to buy new ones.
• I don't wear makeup--I've got the face I've got and if you don't like it then don't look, I'm not going to paint it for anybody.

I'm sure there are other things, but this is what comes to mind off the top of my head. ☺

Come back tomorrow and hear about my "soggy side"

Friday Fragments ~ My kids are such animals

A few snapshots from the last few days...


Before Eagle was born, I started telling Bear the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, only I put in the names of our three boys for the three goat brothers... Tonight Bear asked for a story, so I started to tell him about the three brothers who were goats: The Wolf goat, the Bear goat, and...
Bear interjected, "I'm a cow."

~~~~~~~~~

Today we were in the car when the following conversation took place.

Bear: Mom, can you hear that noise?

Me: what noise?

Bear: the butterfly noise

Me: a butterfly noise?

Bear: yeah, the butterfly clicking noise.

Me: oh, no, I don't hear that.

Bear: I hear it. I think there's a butterfly back here.

Me: oh you do huh?

Bear: oh it's on me, it TICKLES!!!

~~~~~~~~~

Last night Wolf must have been nearly asleep when he came shuffling out to the living room. "Mom," he said "what family is the platypus in?"

These kinds of questions can keep one up at night you know. (It's a good thing mommy knew the answer!)

"It's a monotreme, which means it's a mammal that nurses its babies but it also lays eggs. There is only one other animal that's a monotreme and it's called the echidna."

"Wow, cool, ok..." and he shuffled back off to bed.

No Middle Ground

There are a few foods in the world that people either love or hate. Some things do not seem to allow middle ground.

For example, mushrooms. I don't know anyone who is ambivalent about mushrooms. Either they love them or they won't touch them. I can't stand the things (in spite of the fact that they add great flavor to sauce). They are just so slimy and all I can think of is slugs...

My sister tells me that in Brazil they have Acai juice everywhere, and it's another love-it-or-hate-it thing. She hated it. Her husband loved it. Being that they don't live in Brazil at the present, I don't know whether their kids have had (or will have) the opportunity to decide which team to join.

I also can't stand pudding skin. I'd rather have an instant pudding with no skin, but my hubby's favorite part is the skin, so he likes to make a batch and then pour it into a really big pan so that it's only 1/2 inch thick but has the maximum amount of pudding skin. He mentioned this to his dad recently, and his dad's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas. Apparently he is another pudding skin lover, because he thought it was a fabulous idea.

Tomatoes are another common one--although apparently that great divide can be crossed, because as a kid I hated them but in adulthood I came to love them. I don't know how that happens, but still there's no middle ground...I just appear to be a line-hopper in that case.


But now I admit to the weird one:
I like lumps in my cream of wheat.
Does this put my sanity into question?


Which side are you on? Can you think of any more?