Church Statement on Court Ruling

The Church issued the following statement following the California Supreme Court Decision on Proposition 8 on May 26, 2009:

Today’s decision by the California Supreme Court is welcome. The issue the court decided was whether California citizens validly exercised their right to amend their own constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. The court has overwhelmingly affirmed their action.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognizes the deeply held feelings on both sides, but strongly affirms its belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman. The bedrock institution of marriage between a man and a woman has profound implications for our society. These implications range from what our children are taught in schools to individual and collective freedom of religious expression and practice.

Accordingly, the Church stands firmly for what it believes is right for the health and well-being of society as a whole. In doing so, it once again affirms that all of us are children of God, and all deserve to be treated with respect. The Church believes that serious discussion of these issues is not helped when extreme elements on both sides of the debate demonize the other.

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Find Someone Who Is Suffering and Help Them.

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Moderation In All Things...Except Bike Riding.

Steve competed in a 75 mile bike race on Saturday (actually 77).  We're so proud of his hard work and finishing race results!

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Radio is my First Love.

I started my career by working in radio...so I'm super excited about this new radio station called The Mormon Channel.  Admittedly, I am curious about the name they chose, since the church has been asking the media for years to call the church by its full name (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) instead of " the Mormons".    Well, here is a little information about this new radio station.  You can listen to it live and download podcasts online. 

The Mormon Channel is the official radio station of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The channel originates from Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah and broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Content for the station comes from the vast archives of the Church, along with several new series created specifically for this station. The Mormon Channel also features great programming from various partner organizations, including Deseret Book, Bonneville, the Deseret News, LDS Business College, and the campuses of Brigham Young University.

You can listen to the Mormon Channel live online anytime at radio.lds.org. There are also downloads and podcasts of content available at the same address.

In addition to online delivery, the channel will be available via HDRadio in every Bonneville radio market. Among those markets are Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, Phoenix, and Seattle. For more information on getting a compatible HDRadio, visit www.hdradio.com.

Additionally, soon you will be able to listen via an iPhone application, and a Facebook and blog widget. Other distribution options are currently being explored, including satellite radio and other mobile devices.

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The Future Is As Bright As Your Faith.

I believe this. Do you? I hope so...

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They Call It The Miracle of Life For A Reason...

The Lord created the world.  I do not understand how, but He did.  And every time I see life springing forth into this world, I am amazed and humbled by the wisdom and intricacy and simplicity of it all.  

I stumbled upon this scene today in my back yard.  It's a robin's nest.  Two birds have hatched (quite recently, perhaps an hour ago?) and two blue eggs await their Grand Opening.  I love how the two hairless, fragile beings snuggle on to each other for warmth.  They flop and wiggle and use all of their strength to cry out for nourishment from their Mother.  It is just so sweet and it's just the way that the Lord patterned all families.  

Whether we realize it or not, we are all fragile like these little birds and require nurturing, care, and protection.  This is the great purpose of families.

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Defend Marriage? "Yes We Can!"

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are called to strengthen and nurture marriage and families.  I like this letter-to-the-editor printed in our local paper today, because it does just that.  I thought I'd share:

Defending marriage

The Revs. Robin Jarrell and Chris Boyatzis in their recent letter describe a problem which should be more alarming to anyone interested in the future of marriage than the current debate over same-sex marriage. That is the current divorce rate. The projection is that if current trends remain the same, 40-50 percent of today's marriages will end in divorce.

Marriage is definitely in danger, but largely by decay from within, rather than by attacks from without (although both occur). Marriage is losing its place as a fundamental unit of society.

We have treated marriage too selfishly and look too frequently to ourselves and what we believe we are entitled to, rather than becoming one with that person with whom we made our vows.

Who cares?

Will people actively involved in the same-sex marriage debate spend the same amount of time and energy on encouraging people to value marriage as though it were something important to society? Will we recommit ourselves to a spouse or children and seek their happiness above our own? Will we put more effort into achieving success in the home than achieving success in the workplace? Will we lend a hand of support and encouragement to friends and family who may be experiencing the troubles of life within their marriage? Will we try to learn from our hard times rather than conclude that life's troubles must mean a marriage that needs to be ended? Will we remember how to love; the family should be the source of the most valuable training in how to love?

I say, "Yes, we can!"

Nathan Gee,

Danville

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What It Takes To "Grow Up Unto The Lord" - An FHE Idea

Because our children  are so young, we like to use the simplest kinds of hands-on lessons during our Family Home Evenings to teach them about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Since we have been putting together our family garden this week, we used that to talk about what it means to "grow up unto the Lord". (See Helaman 3:21)

Just as a plant needs certain things to grow healthy and strong, every person needs and can do specific things to grow in faith and righteousness.

Using scrap paper, I created a simple-looking flowers with my children's faces in the middle.  I used a very thin dowel for the stem, but a chop stick or even a drinking straw would work just as well.  

At the beginning of FHE, my kids planted themselves in "gospel sod" (our veggie garden) and we discussed the following scriptures which you might want to pick and choose from:

Lesson/Discussion Points: (Roughly based on this talk by Anne C. Pingree, May 2006 Ensign)

Making and keeping covenants with the Lord is like planting yourself in good soil

Keep Covenants:  Doctrine and Covenants 35:24

Daily prayer and scripture study is like sunshine and water to our souls

Pray Always: 2 Nephi 32:9

Apply the Scriptures to Your Life: 1 Nephi 19:23

Repentening as often as we need to keeps weeds from weakening us unnecessarily

Keep the Commandments and Be Happy: Mosiah 2:22 and 41

Repent When Needed:  D&C 19:16-17

Service and Following the Prophet will make us stronger and cause our roots to run deep

Service:  Mosiah 2:17

Follow the Prophet's counsel:  

After this brief discussion, we proceeded to do our regular planting...getting nice and dirty before bath/bedtime.

(Note:  Obviously, you might not get to each of these points, but this might be a discussion for you to continue with your children whenever you have quiet moments out in the garden together...)

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YOU are the Champion, My Friend!

YOU are the Champion, MY Friend!

Congratulations to Cherry, the winner of my General Conference challenge on Facebook.

Cherry brought the words of the prophets to life by creating this poster and displaying it for all of her co-workers to enjoy.  She also gave a wonderful talk about this in her home ward.  You can read it on her blog.  Way to Go, Cherry!

(Send me your address so I can send you your prize.)  Thanks for playing!

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