Invisible Moms

I love this one.....

Moms, this so worth reading...

Invisible Mother.....if your not a mom pass on to your friends who are!

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack
of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while
I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm
thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or
cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the
corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The
invisible Mom.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can
you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a
human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?'
I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a
car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held
books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated
summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut
butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going,
she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating
the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back
from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she
stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put
together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I
was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a
beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a
book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why
she'd given it tome until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte, with
admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book.
And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing
truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built
the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These
builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see
finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of
their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw
everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came
to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman
carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and
asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird
into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it. And
the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into
place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you,
Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No
act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on,
no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You
are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it
will become.

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it
is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of
my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn
pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great
builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will
never see finished, to work on something that their name will never
be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no
cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people
willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to
tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom
gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand
bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the
table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I
just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say
to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be
seen if we're doing it r ight. And one day, it is very
possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the
beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible
women.

Great Job, MOM!

The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God
will not protect you.

This is beautiful and makes a ton of sense. To all the
wonderful mothers and fathers out there.

School Teachers

OK, this is completely opposite of my last post but I need to vent. T and Dub come home from school and tell me about their day, their classes, their friends and their teachers. For the most part everything goes well and they have no complaints except for a couple of their teachers. Why is it that some teachers think its OK to cuss and use filthy language in front of these kids in class? Isn't it bad enough that kids who ride the bus use this language but then when the boys get to school, their teachers are doing it as well? Doesn't that send the message to the other kids that its OK to do this? I feel like emailing the principal and venting but I know that nothing would be done about it or that my kids may be singled out by that teacher. I've had problems before with teachers and the school sides with the teacher no matter how wrong the teacher may be. Boy, between Prop 8 and this and teachers who send home waaaaay to much homework every night, I could just scream! What to do? What to do?

Stake Standards Night

After checking out others' blog, I love to see how others are doing and what they are doing, I cleared the brain fart I had as I wondered what I could post today since its been awhile. Cindy posted the following and I really hope you don't mind my plagarizing with minor changes, but your points were dead on and I couldn't have voiced it better. The whole night was great including the Starr family's song (If the Savior Stood Beside Me), but Pres. Vidmar was my favorite.

President Vidmar:

• Them that honor me, I will honor. (in Proverbs)


• He had Brother Schwerman (Tracy Drivas' dad) stand next to him. He is an old German man who was baptized at 10, and drafted into the German army at 16. He ended up in a Russian prison camp for 5 years and told about that. He was determined to keep the word of wisdom! He had a choice to drink the coffee or the typhoid infested water. He drank the water for 5 years as his liquid and let the Lord decide if he should live or die from it. That is obedience and FAITH!


• Story of the Mist Trail at Yosemite. It is a pretty tough, narrow trail up, up, up. The falls next to it are so powerful that it creates a heavy mist along the trail you are climbing. Hence the name. You end up pretty wet from it when you get to the top. At the top it is absolutely breathtaking. The year round runoff goes along some smooth granite stones that look and act as water slides. They end up pooling in to a large 'pond' that is so inviting. BUT there are signs that tell you not to even put a toe in or the current can sweep you away and plunge you over the falls to your DEATH. The signs actually say, 'how many will die this year?' So obviously some people must not be very smart and think it won't effect them. They will be the exception. He likened this to us and keeping the commandments and standards. We might put a toe in and think, oh this isn't bad, and then we go up to the ankles, and it still isn't dangerous. Then we find ourselves up to our knees and suddenly the current hits us full force and we are swept over the falls! Thank goodness for the atonement, because unlike the certainty of physical death going over the falls, we have repentance that can save our lives spiritually.


• The way you live the standards not only effects you, it effects others. How you act and behave will determine how the gospel is viewed by others. It is not just about you. Down the road someone you had contact with may meet with other members or missionaries and they could either remember knowing mormons growing up and thinking fondly on you and being interested in learning more or they may remember that you didn't seem to care much for the church so why should they get involved.
  

I was able to go with all 3 boys to this and I must say I am so excited that they have such wonderful leaders and peers and that the Stake really cares about the youth. They are sooooo strong! I hear some others talk about not having great youth leadership in their stakes and wards and it makes me sad. These youth today NEED to be strengthened everyday with seminary and to have the iron rod visible to them at all times plus family support. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else!

Halloween Past

I'm not one for Halloween and pulling costumes together so my kids really have to work and use their imaginations for this night to happen. Here a couple of my favorites where I didn't have to spend alot of money.

Chadman - the retro ghetto b'ball player

Dub - caveman, duh
T - hot dog vendor

All so easy but definitely won't win any contests.

Happy Halloween!