Today is my sister's first Mother's Day. She has a gorgeous, yodeling, wild haired boy. She has a handsome Sicilian for a husband. I find her to be one of the strongest personalities I have ever met. When she knows what to do, she does it. I love her, and wish her family the best. We are on the phone with her and her fam, and her baby is chortling. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
Now, to talk about my own mom.
On April 14th, I was able to convince my mother to buy the first season of Chuck. Three hours into watching the show, we had already ordered season 2 on DVD off Amazon. By the time I was half way through season 2, we had order seasons 3 and 4, and pre-ordered season 5. We connected ourselves to special events in the characters lives as the show progressed, including buying chess puffs, dressing up for the wedding (Awesome and Ellie get married at the end of season 2. Sorry to spoil it) and buying bottles of bubbly. We would drink fruit juice from wine glasses while watching White Collar, and eat yogurt with Michael Westen in Burn Notice. We squealed with delight at the union of Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1970's and 80's TV show), and giggled madly at the fight choreography.
We have had an enormous amount of fun watching so many seasons of so many shows in the last year. It has been thoroughly enjoyable. I leave my family in less than a month, and I will miss my mom the most. I did not realize that until now, but there is little that my mom has done that I would argue against.
For everyone who loves their mother (and to quote Meg Ryan "Everyone loves their mother. Even people that hate their mothers love their mother."), thank them for everything they have done. I cannot even begin to fathom the will power it took to not give up on me when I was a kid.
Thank you mom, for everything I know you have done, for everything I don;t know that you have done for me, and for so much more that I know that you will be doing for me in the future. Love you tons.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
I'm getting mixed signals here.
When I lived in Burke Hall, I dabbled with the idea of playing rugby or la crosse, and eventually decided on the latter. But that is a story for another day. I will instead tell a story of institute.
For those of you who don't know, institute is a form of Gospel Study designed for young adults in the Church. We study doctrine and gospel teachings at the home of our teacher on Thursday nights. Now I am using the term "we" somewhat loosely because, thus fa, I have been the only one to attend class with our teacher (excepting her husband and daughter). It is very sad because she does have so much to teach, so much to offer, and a unique perspective on the material within the lessons. It is kinda cool as well because once the lesson is over I get to just hang out with the family and talk with them about life, my upcoming departure, school, work, kids, etc.
This past week, the lesson was on Matthew 20. I did not recognize the scriptural reference off the top of my head, either, so I have included a link to my favorite set of online scripture. The passage speaks of a master of a vineyard who, through out the day, hires workers, who work hours between 1) the whole day (6am-6pm), 2)portions there of (9-6, 12-6, 3-6), and finally 3) those hired in the 11th Hour (5-6). At the end of the day, every laborer is paid an equal amount. Those hired first claim that this is unfair, that those who worked far less than they should be paid an equal share.
The main point of this parable is that no matter when the master of the vineyard comes to you, no matter when you come unto him, you will be rewarded in full. I find another valuable lesson in this.
When the master of the vineyard announced that every laborer would be paid in full, there was a bickering among those that had worked the fullness of the day, but had received wages equal of those who had worked as few as a single hour thereof. The master told them that the wage had been agreed upon before hand, and that there is no unfairness in his dealings, yet there is still anger among many of the laborers. Now, it is no business of the first laborer what the master does with his money, so long as his agreement is fulfilled. It is not up to the laborer to claim what is just and fair. The laborer must accept that by being paid, the master had done his part, and all that is left for him to do is be thankful.
Far too often we absorb ourselves with the goings on of others lives. We spend hours of our days surfing the web to get the latest scoop on celebrity gossip, or pay $8 an issue to learn the juicy details of a recent arrest, love tryst, marital argument, or drunken escapade. We then complain about how these people get the breaks, earn 75K per episode for acting like idiots on network TV, or earn multi-million dollar contracts top play a game.
It is not our place to point the judging finger, but we all take the opportunity to thrust it in others directions from time to time. If we want to act in movies, or marry royalty, or play at Wrigley Field/Lambeau Field/Yankee Stadium/The Mercedes-Benz Superdome/Fenway Park/(Insert your favorite sports complex here), then you had an opportunity. Yes, some people got the break of meeting Prince Henry, or not blowing out a knee in the midst of a great senior season, or having parents that have the political clout to get you in touch with talent scouts (even you have no semblance of talent whatsoever (REBECCA BLACK!!!)), but it is still your life.
It is up to you whether or not you are happy. I still want to play for the Pack on Sundays (although I would prefer it if all of our games were scheduled for Monday and Thursday night). If I worked uber hard, I might still be able to pull it off by the time I'm 29 years old (Brandon Weeden). But the truth is, I do not have the drive to do that. So it is, therefore, my fault that I am not playing football. And I can live with that.
We can only do as much as we can. After that, it is up to us to accept that we have been given the payments of our labors. Don't worry about the other guy/gal. Just worry about yourself.
For those of you who don't know, institute is a form of Gospel Study designed for young adults in the Church. We study doctrine and gospel teachings at the home of our teacher on Thursday nights. Now I am using the term "we" somewhat loosely because, thus fa, I have been the only one to attend class with our teacher (excepting her husband and daughter). It is very sad because she does have so much to teach, so much to offer, and a unique perspective on the material within the lessons. It is kinda cool as well because once the lesson is over I get to just hang out with the family and talk with them about life, my upcoming departure, school, work, kids, etc.
This past week, the lesson was on Matthew 20. I did not recognize the scriptural reference off the top of my head, either, so I have included a link to my favorite set of online scripture. The passage speaks of a master of a vineyard who, through out the day, hires workers, who work hours between 1) the whole day (6am-6pm), 2)portions there of (9-6, 12-6, 3-6), and finally 3) those hired in the 11th Hour (5-6). At the end of the day, every laborer is paid an equal amount. Those hired first claim that this is unfair, that those who worked far less than they should be paid an equal share.
The main point of this parable is that no matter when the master of the vineyard comes to you, no matter when you come unto him, you will be rewarded in full. I find another valuable lesson in this.
When the master of the vineyard announced that every laborer would be paid in full, there was a bickering among those that had worked the fullness of the day, but had received wages equal of those who had worked as few as a single hour thereof. The master told them that the wage had been agreed upon before hand, and that there is no unfairness in his dealings, yet there is still anger among many of the laborers. Now, it is no business of the first laborer what the master does with his money, so long as his agreement is fulfilled. It is not up to the laborer to claim what is just and fair. The laborer must accept that by being paid, the master had done his part, and all that is left for him to do is be thankful.
Far too often we absorb ourselves with the goings on of others lives. We spend hours of our days surfing the web to get the latest scoop on celebrity gossip, or pay $8 an issue to learn the juicy details of a recent arrest, love tryst, marital argument, or drunken escapade. We then complain about how these people get the breaks, earn 75K per episode for acting like idiots on network TV, or earn multi-million dollar contracts top play a game.
It is not our place to point the judging finger, but we all take the opportunity to thrust it in others directions from time to time. If we want to act in movies, or marry royalty, or play at Wrigley Field/Lambeau Field/Yankee Stadium/The Mercedes-Benz Superdome/Fenway Park/(Insert your favorite sports complex here), then you had an opportunity. Yes, some people got the break of meeting Prince Henry, or not blowing out a knee in the midst of a great senior season, or having parents that have the political clout to get you in touch with talent scouts (even you have no semblance of talent whatsoever (REBECCA BLACK!!!)), but it is still your life.
It is up to you whether or not you are happy. I still want to play for the Pack on Sundays (although I would prefer it if all of our games were scheduled for Monday and Thursday night). If I worked uber hard, I might still be able to pull it off by the time I'm 29 years old (Brandon Weeden). But the truth is, I do not have the drive to do that. So it is, therefore, my fault that I am not playing football. And I can live with that.
We can only do as much as we can. After that, it is up to us to accept that we have been given the payments of our labors. Don't worry about the other guy/gal. Just worry about yourself.
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