The Soul Surfer lending a helping arm

My daughter and her friend watched the movie Soul Surfer.  I have not seen this movie but my daughter really liked it.  She and her friend decided that they wanted to base a fund raiser on that movie.  They decided to donate any money they made to the Make a Wish Foundation.  The idea behind their project was simple really, they would find sponsors, and the sponsors would agree to pay them a certain amount for every hour they went around with their hand tied behind their backs.  They called it lend a helping arm.  I was surprised at how many girls made it the entire 9 hours with the use of only one arm.  They raised almost $200.00 to give to the Make a Wish Foundation.  I was very proud of my daughter, I know at times she was discouraged by this event but she stuck with it and got it done.

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Tyler Perry why did I get married

I watched Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married the other day with my wife.  I really enjoyed the movie I have to say.  I was actually caught off guard by how much I enjoyed it.  I am not sure what I was expecting from the movie but it was really good.  My wife ordered it through netflix, which until very recently was a great stock to own. 

I wanted to share with you a line from the movie.  Tyler Perry's character is talking with three other guys and they are talking about marriage.  Tyler's character is trying to convince another character to stay with his wife.  Tyler's character talks about the 80/20 rule.  He says that in a relationship a person will usually only get about 80% of what they need.  He says why would you leave the 80% and go chase the 20%.  It doesn't make any sense.

I think in life that there are many many instances where we get 80% of what we need, it could be in a job, or in a marriage, or in a place to live, in an education, it can happen almost anywhere.  So why do we look at the 20% we aren't getting and long for it?  I honestly think it is because we take the 80% for granted.  We as humans tend to forget how blessed we are and look at what we don't have.  It is so easy to compare yourself to the neighbors or friends or colleagues, and say to yourself, why don't I have that?  I am about to spoil the movie a little if you haven't seen it, but in the end the one guy does leave his wife and he ends up regretting it.  The second movie really shows how much he regrets it.

My point is, if you are unhappy with something in your life, make a list.  One side put all the things that are great, all the areas you feel blessed.  On the other side put all the things you don't have.  I am fairly confident that you will find the list of good is much bigger than the list of bad.  I think that the secret to happiness in life it to always look at the 80% and ignore the 20.

I am a Tyler Perry fan for sure now!  Although I didn't like Why Did I Get Married 2 nearly as much.  Mostly because of how it ended.  Go see the movies, you might just enjoy them. 

Kim Kardashian Marriage

The other day I subjected myself to the worst thing imaginable.  I went to Walmart on Saturday afternoon.  I know I am completely insane aren't I? 

I admit, that Walmart is a far cry from horrible events in life, but of all the life experiences that don't really matter in the big scheme of things, Walmart on a Saturday afternoon is at the top of my list of terrible things.  I am standing in the longest check out line in the world watching old women dig in their purse for the checkbook or for that last coupon, and I cant help but over hear an older woman behind me.  She picks up a magazine with the Kim Kardashian wedding stuff on the front and she says "That silly girl finally got married".  Her husband grunts "Huh"?  The woman replies, "Her she finally got married".  The man mumbles something incoherent.  I am sure he was more concerned with the huge line we were in than the fact that Kim Kardashian got married.

I like to think about the generation gap when a situation like that arises.  I can only imagine what it was like when that elderly couple was young.  I highly doubt that anyone was a celebrity simply because they were alive.  I am positive that when that couple was young they didn't have a show about keeping up with people, who as far as I can tell, are only famous because the oldest daughter was seen out with Paris Hilton, and that she is naturally beautiful.  I am not saying I have anything against any of the Kardashians at all.  I am just merely reflecting on what our current society finds fascinating as opposed to what society found fascinating back 60 years ago.  What would people have thought about Snookie, or any of the other Jersey Shore characters?  No idea but I tend to think they would have found them ridiculous.  Again I am not saying get rid of Jersey Shore, just contemplating why they are famous.

I am happy that Kim got married, I really hope she is happy and that they are both willing to put in the work it takes to make their marriage last.

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Organizing the garage.

I saw a very funny cartoon once it was a Family Circus.  Billy was standing in the garage with his dad and the garage is a mess.  Toys bikes and kids stuff all over.  Billy says to his dad something like "Dad when I grow up I am going to keep my garage clean.  I think of this comic all the time as I am hurdling bikes, and trikes, and scooters, and wiggle racers etc. 

My wife is the greatest, on Friday afternoon I started moving all the kids stuff out of the garage so I could organize.  Out of the house comes my girls with my wife and they are going school clothes shopping.  I decide to go along mostly as a referee to keep my three daughters in line and make it easier for my wife to help them shop.  Because I went shopping I didn't get my garage cleaned out. 

Saturday morning my wonderful wife organized the children, which is something akin to herding cats, and we proceeded to clean and organize the garage.  I was amazed at how much junk accumulates in a single house.  Most of what I had to organize was stuff that belongs to my children.  We had a big load we took to Deseret Industries, which for those of you who don't know is like goodwill.  I was very pleased to get all that stuff cleared out.  I was able to almost completely empty one gigantic shelf that I built in our garage.  I almost don't know what to do with all the room.  But alas I am sure my children will have it filled back up in no time at all.  Until that occurs however I will enjoy pulling into my nice clean and organized garage.

Decisions

Here is another short message I found on decisions.  I like this video very much.  It focuses on a father and husband and the choices he makes regarding his family.  But I think that the message applies to all of life.  I have found that often I am faced with difficult choices.  I always try to do what is right.  I am not perfect of course but I try to make the best choice.  I firmly believe that the one thing that can never be taken away from us is our character.  No matter what may come, if we always do our best to make good choices we can sleep at night.  I have been through some tough times in the not to distant past and I have been able to sleep.  I have been able to sleep and relax because of two very important factors.  First I have done all that I can to make sure I am honest in everything I do.  Second, I have faith that God will help me have the strength to deal with any problem that I face.  I am not perfect, in fact I feel very far from it but I do the best I can each day.  Ok enough of the soap box.  Watch the video and hopefully it will make you think. 

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My daughter the Rock Star.

Here it is.  Her first rock video.  Hope you enjoy.

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Teasing your children??

I would like to pose a question.  Is it ok to tease your children?  For me teasing is a way I show love, maybe I am deluding myself but I tease the ones I love.  Let me give you an example.  Last night my wife and I took our youngest for a ride to get a treat.  My youngest did the funniest thing, but that is beside the point and a story for another time.  We went and got an ice cream and then went to pick up our oldest from her friends house.  On the way to the friends house my wife tells me about the joke she played on Mercedes. 

The road that her friend lives on had just recently had a coat of oil sprayed on it.  I don't really understand why the city does this, it frustrates me because it gets all over the car, but what can I do.  My wife not wanting oil on her car pulled through a church parking lot which is just across the street from the friends house.  She has stopped directly across the freshly oiled street from the friends house.  At this point my wife tells Mercedes that she had better run across the street so she doesn't get stuck.  Mercedes get out of the car and sprints across the street.  I love so much that she is so innocent that she actually thought she would get stuck. 

When Mercedes got in the truck last night we all had a good laugh.  I think it is so important to be able to laugh at yourself and not to take things so serious.  It makes life a little more pleasant.

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My daughters first rock video

I have three girls.  My youngest is 7 years old.  She is so funny.  This morning she came into my bed room with her guitar singing a song about picking scabs and getting a big scar.  No idea where she heard the song, or what made her decide to sing it to me but I was cracking up.  I took her to the front room and had her sing it for me again while I recorded it on my phone.  Needless to say I will be posting it on You Tube as soon as I figure out how to do that.  When I do I will post the link here on my blog.  The funniest part however is the end and I missed it.  She sings the song and at the end she raises her hands over her head and makes a noise like the crowd cheering.  I stopped recording and just as I did she takes the guitar off and pretends to smash it on the ground.  SHE IS 7.  I have no idea where she has ever seen anyone smash a guitar but it was hilarious.  Video coming soon.  Kids are the best!!

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Death of a loved one.

It seems that the older I get the more I know of people dying.  I am not sure if it is just the fact that I am more aware, or if its because the people in my family are nearing the average age of life expectancy.  Perhaps its just because as we get older our sphere of influence and knowledge expands.

My wife has lost two cousins in the last 9 months.  Both from the same family.  The parents are grief stricken to say the least.  At times like this I can't help but wonder why things happen the way they do.  As you know I am a religious guy.  I know that God lives and loves us despite what it may feel like at times.  I know that he is intimately involved in our lives and wants us to be happy.  I know that concept may seem very counter intuitive, but I would like you to consider this.  If you never knew what grief was could you possibly understand happiness?  There is absolutely no way at all for us to understand something unless we have the opposite.  If you had never been sick would you understand health?  Not possible.

I can only imagine the horror of losing a child, even if that child is an adult.  But there is one thing I do know, and that is that God will help us through.  He won't take our challenges and trials away but he will help us through.  If you are struggling with the death of a loved one I would encourage you to talk to God.  Get on your knees and tell him how angry, or sad, or hurt, or lonely, you are and he will comfort you.  He won't save you from the experience but he will help you get through.

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Honesty, how important is it?

I was recently looking at some Mormon messages on the web site for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I like to watch these as they usually touch me.  I wanted to share one I found with you.  It is about honesty.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.  I hope it made you pause to think the way I did.

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Help! I need a potty!

As you may know my family and I recently took a trip to Jackson Hole.  We love to walk around the town square.  As I am sure you can imagine, there are quite a few people in the square eating and shopping.  As a result there is a significant need for restrooms. 

This last time we were there we found that some of the stores who used to have a public restroom no longer offer those services.  I think I can understand why a store would close its restrooms to the public.  Traveling with three girls and two women requires a restroom.  Its just a fact of life.  I was a little frustrated to find that there were very few public restrooms available, and that some of the few available were locked, and to make it even worse, some people were using the public restroom as a hotel bathroom.  I saw teeth being brushed and heard of sponge baths taking place.  Needless to say if you needed a restroom a long wait was in store even if you are a guy. 

I really didn't understand how a high tourist area would have so few public restrooms.  If your a man you could go into an alley and turn to a corner is suppose if you were in a real jam.  But for a woman to do that doesn't work nearly as well.  Sorry ladies. 

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