Search Results for: topic tag promised

My Day on the World Stage

In 1993 the opportunity arrived for me to shut up or put up. There was a woman by the name, or rather using the name, of Deborah Laake. She’d written a book called “Secret Ceremonies: Diary of a Mormon Wife” – a work of pure and sad delusion. This poor woman, if she told the complete truth, was at the mercy of a father who took unrighteous dominion to new levels. Whatever the perceived truth, she became extremely disenchanted with the church and proceeded to betray every covenant she’d half-heartedly made with the Lord. Where do I come in? Well, … Continue reading →

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s Off to Work We Go

When I had my daughter, I promised myself that I would not give up my volunteer work. And so it was that I trundled off to a meeting when she was six months old and proceeded to bounce her on my back throughout the meeting as she napped. Luckily, I have always been on boards and in groups that are accommodating. My daughter is the honorary member of several organizations and recently snored through another board meeting of our local gardening group that encourages people to grow food for those in need. Often, people think that I am crazy for … Continue reading →

Positive Steps to Confront Stereotypes

In recent blogs I talked about anti-immigrant feeling in America today and whether it will have an unintended impact on our adopted children. I was thinking primarily of our Asian and Latino children, but a third-grader from Ethiopia was recently taunted in my neighborhood and told to go back to her country. In some parts of the U.S. the immigrant African population may be larger than the African-American population, so possibly more and more people will assume that African-heritage children are immigrants as well. And some of them are—Haiti and Liberia have been native countries of significant numbers of adopted … Continue reading →

Disorder of the Day (1)

Illnesses such as depression, ADHD, and anxiety and behavioral disorders are being diagnosed in increasing numbers throughout First-World countries. While there is little doubt that people are being more up-front about mental illness, is this trend a true reflection of what is really happening in the lives of everyday people? A concerning aspect in this upswing in the use of medication to “solve” these conditions, is the accompanying upswing in the profits of the pharmaceutical industry. While most people have always traditionally wanted a “magic bullet” to solve their health problems, in the area of mental health, the pharmaceutical industry … Continue reading →

Family Home Evening: “Physical Health”

The next section in the “For the Strength of Youth” manual is “Physical Health.” This is a great topic to cover in family home evening. You can talk about the Word of Wisdom as well as good exercise, sleep and eating habits. You can begin the lesson by reading Doctrine and Covenants 89: 18-20. Discuss the different blessings promised with your family. Ask your family what the benefits of having these blessings might be. Read the section “Physical Health” as a family. You may also want to read the Word of Wisdom, which is found in Doctrine and Covenants 89. … Continue reading →