Boogers, Boots, Beats and Boards

Dear Self,

Someday you will forget all of the funny things your baby said and did, so remember this:

Colton found this travel bag, Velcro-ed it around himself and became a self-proclaimed turtle (He refuses to take it off and I have to refer to him as Baby Turtle). He begged me to let him go surfing, and when I said he needed a board, he improvised with this.
I LOVE HIS IMAGINATION!
It is beautiful and makes us laugh everyday.

And this:

When I finished clipping Colt's fingernails a few days ago he paused and then exclaimed,

"MOM, now I can't pick my boogers!"

Boys. . .

And this:

Colton really loves music which is fine by us since we'd love to make our two man band a trio. His instrument of choice as of late is drums in the form of my kitchen bowls. His jam session today was so rockin' he broke a wooden spoon--killer. . .

And this:

Notice the boots. They are the liners to his winter boots and when I said, "Nice boots buddy" he quickly retorted,

"I'm not buddy--I am a MARINE."

Whatever buddy. I love you.

Profitable Prophet?

I have been haunted by an image from last Fall taken during the unrest on Wall Street of an occupier holding a sign that read, "People Before Profits".

In my head it read this:

"Much of what the Lord reveals to His prophets is intended to prevent sorrow for us as individuals and as societies. When God speaks, He does so to teach, inspire, refine, and warn His children. When individuals and societies ignore their Heavenly Father’s instructions, they do so at the risk of trial, torment, and toil." . . .

"Our fate and the fate of our world hinge on our hearing and heeding the revealed word of God to His children."
(First Presidency Message, March 2012 Ensign, Uchtdorf)

"But as the days of [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
-Matthew 24:37

Our dear friends and family--are you happy? Are you at peace? Do you find joy amidst the turmoil of these final days? Is there enmity in your heart? Whose team are you playing for--not whose jersey are you wearing--who are you actually playing for?

Founding Father Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence and “father of American education” (until about 100 years ago) brings things in perspective.

I have been alternately called an aristocrat and a democrat. I am now neither. I am a Christocrat. I believe all power … will always fail of producing order and happiness in the hands of man. He alone who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him. David Ramsey, An Eulogium Upon Benjamin Rush, M. D., 1813, p. 103

May each of us raise and rally around the Title of Liberty, and put down those king men who would usurp power and set up a king. May we discover and develop the faith that produces the courage to fight the evil that threatens our lives and liberties.

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I am finding my voice. I implore you to find yours and use it.

"From every man, young and old, who bears the priesthood, I ask for a stronger and more devoted voice, a voice not only against evil and him who is the personification of it, but a voice for good, a voice for the gospel, a voice for God. Brethren of all ages, unbind your tongues and watch your words work wonders in the lives of those “who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it."

Haste to the battle, quick to the field;

Truth is our helmet, buckler, and shield.

Stand by our colors; proudly they wave!

We’re joyfully, joyfully marching to our home.

(Jeffrey R. Holland, We are All Enlisted, Oct. 2011 General Conference)

If our forefathers died for this nation, shall we not live for it?