Monday, March 30, 2009

Earth Hour


So....did you all participate is in Earth Hour this year? You know... where you were supposed to turn off all the lights in your house for one hour to show global solidarity in the fight against climate change?

Me neither. I think that was the night I was throwing all my Styrofoam cups and plates into a bonfire in my back yard while listening to Rush Limbaugh.

I'm just kidding, but I think I was doing something that involved an SUV. I know. I'm evil.

Anyway, this Earth Hour thing got me thinking. What if, instead of turning off our lights for an hour to save the planet, we dedicated an hour a week to help save the family. We'll call it Family Hour.

Oddly enough, I grew up with Family Hour. I did! Every Sunday we gathered as a family and had a gospel lesson. Either my parents would give the lesson or assign one of us kids to do it. I always liked listening to Bible stories using the flannel board. Family hour also included a family scheduling time with the calendar so we all knew what we had going for the up coming week.

Now on Monday we had Family Night. That was more about doing an activity together, like playing sports, playing board games, going to the mall or to the park, going to a baseball game or walking to the ice cream shop. Every Monday we'd ask with excitement, "So what are we doing for family night tonight?" Sometimes we would even combine with another family in the neighborhood and do an activity together.

What if the whole world did this? What if we all dedicated one hour a week to spend together as a family or as neighbors. What would the effect be? How could relationships and lives be changed?

I notice how starved some children are for attention. They want to spend time with parents. They want structure and predictability.

We had our 7 year old daughter give us a family hour lesson on Sunday about baptism. She did such a great job and WE LET HER KNOW IT! She couldn't wipe that smile off her face if she tried. Her confidence grew and she felt special. That is what it is all about.

You know what impressed me about my parents? They kept this up, even during the ugly teenage years. They probably didn't think we were listening or that we were falling asleep, but my love for the gospel and for my Savior was formed during family hour. Week by week, hour by hour, relationships were strengthened. I have never doubted my parent's love.

Some weeks will be better than others, but your efforts and diligence will reap rewards.

Do you have one hour a week to save YOUR WORLD?

Stumble Upon Toolbar

Friday, March 27, 2009

Environmentally Friendly



I first would like to start with a disclaimer.

I am not perfect. I'm not a good housekeeper. I'm not up for a Mother of the Year award.

But there is one thing that I
am....I am an idealist.

That is one thing that the environmentalists and I have in common. We have an idea in our head of what our planet or our homes could be if we followed certain principles. We want to be perfect, but life happens.

It's kind of like when Al Gore chartered a greenhouse gas exuding private jet to accept his Nobel Peace Prize. He just happened to be getting the prize for his work in raising awareness about global warming. The irony is delicious. But, I get it.

Today I caught myself yelling at the kids for having a messy room. I then walked into the living room and kitchen to see dirty dishes in the sink and on the counters, granola all over the kitchen floor and general messiness everywhere. How can I expect cleanliness of my kids if I can't set the standard?

So, I just wanted to make it clear that I don't count myself as the supreme authority on this subject. I am a work in progress. Just think of it this way. I want to use my home as a laboratory for my environmental experiments.

I want to find out how to create an environmentally friendly home. I believe that these efforts will help produce strong, secure children that have values, compassion and integrity. I believe that we can improve relationships between husband and wife. I believe that our homes can be a refuge from the storm. I believe that a happy home can brighten our whole outlook on life. I believe that we could truly save the world, if we could first save the
home environment.

It is time for us to clean out some of the toxins in our lives and in our homes to make it more environmentally friendly.

Here is some homework for you. Make a list of toxins in your home. What causes contention? What distractions plague you? What poisons have made their way into the house or into your life that take away from the peace?

Now can you do something for me? Will you leave some of your answers in the comments area? I would love to get a feel for what you would like to improve. Thanks!



Stumble Upon Toolbar

Friday, March 13, 2009

I Hate March!

I love the front cover of a new magazine. It's like it can read my mind. It knows what I want to do and learn. It knows what I need and desire. I really do want to beat ab flab. I absolutely need to know what snacks won't pack on the pounds. And and I really, really, REALLY want to be STRONG, SEXY & SCULPTED IN 28 DAYS. So I open the magazine to soak in all the wisdom that it has to offer. And as I flip through the pages, I start to notice a theme:

Green and Gorgeous- Green your beauty routine to protect the environment and look fabulous

Eco-friendly gifts we love

A t-shirt that reads, "GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK"

An ad for an earth-friendly makeup brush that "has a conscience"

29 ways to salute mother earth

A celebrity's "green twist" on health and fitness and her
eco-friendly home

Environmentally responsible clothing

Are you getting as annoyed as I am? If not, this blog is probably not for you. Maybe you should go Google Leonardo DiCaprio.

Bye, bye now. Go on.....up in the right hand corner...there.

Okay, now we can talk.

See, I hate March because we all get our April magazines in March. Poor April has been hijacked by the environmentalists. April is now Earth day, global warming hysteria and climate change awareness month. Well, not in so many words, but you get the point. I am getting so tired of being lectured about how I am destroying mother earth because my makeup brush doesn't have a conscience! My makeup brush is made of plastic and it is totally from
Wal-Mart. I am just coming clean here people.

We can learn a lot from the environmental activists though. They have created so many buzz words that have culturized the crisis. Green used to be my favorite color. Now it is just annoying. Just 5 years ago, I would have thought that a carbon credit was that weird carbon paper cashiers would use to imprint your credit card. And I probably would have slapped you if you told me that my "footprint" was the size of Al Gore's. No offense Al. I'm just sensitive about certain things.

Let me tell you where I am coming from. I love the earth. I do. I don't want to destroy it. And I think Al Gore is probably a really nice guy. I just think that it is strange that so much time, effort, money, activism, advertising, and legislation is going into.....the weather. That changes. Like it has. For many years now. Weren't we going through a second ice age a couple of decades ago? I mean, I wish the globe would make up it's mind because, I could actually go for some warming right about now. That's another thing I hate about March.

There is an environment that I do believe is under attack. I feel that it is crucial to clean it up. I know that it is the key to saving the planet. Like the climate, it is global. It has no language or borders. It affects us all. It is something that we all have in common. It is the family. It is our
home environment.

I am going to take a page from the environmentalist's handbook and use some of their buzz words to "raise awareness" about the
real problem. I want to tackle the home environment and I hope you will join the cause.

But before we start, I really need to do some laundry. I don't have a single, environmentally responsible piece of clothing to wear tomorrow.

Stumble Upon Toolbar