Gratitude Lists

Zach gave our FHE lesson last night. He chose a story from the Friend magazine about showing gratitude. Then he had us make our own gratitude lists. Zach very much likes to be in charge. I can imagine him being a CEO one day. I asked him if he wants to be the boss where he works when he grows up. He asked me if the veterinarian is the boss at the clinic. I assured him that he would be the boss if he had his own clinic. He was very bossy about who read what last night and how much they read and what order we read in. I had to laugh. He likes power.

Anyway, here is Nathan's gratitude list. I think he worked the hardest on his. The other kids' papers were scribbled on or torn up so I couldn't scan them. And in case you are wondering, I did list the military as something I am grateful for. I am grateful that Mario has a good job and that we are blessed to live in this free country.

Deployment Part 3

Well, I may as well delete that last post about Mario's new calling as YM President. He will no longer be around to serve in that calling. He came home last night and sat me down to tell me he has been non-volunteered into a deployment to Kabul, Afghanistan working with NATO. He would leave in late February. I must admit, I cried pretty hard for about an hour. But after the initial shock I calmed down a bit and now I only cry occasionally when I think about it.

In the 11.5 years he has been in the military, he has never deployed. He hasn't avoided deployments but has never been in the position to deploy. We were in Guam when the terrorists attacks happened. He was in the process of getting his first Masters and so his commander didn't deploy him. In Hawaii, he taught ROTC so he was not deployable for those 3 years. In Illinois, a deployment came up to Cuba and he asked for it but was turned down because it wasn't for his unit. He was finally tasked with one to Africa but he was accepted into a Masters program in Monterey, so he couldn't go on that one either.

We knew that his turn was coming up and now it is here. I admit, I would rather him go to Latin America but I guess this is where the Lord wants him to go. He prayed about a deployment to Ecuador and didn't feel that it was the Lord's will to volunteer for it. After being told that he would get this Afghanistan deployment, Mario said he felt comfortable with this one. He assures me that he will live and work in a large protected compound. It is comforting to me that we can talk almost everyday and also email and Skype. That should make this so much easier.

I don't know how much sleep I will get between now and late August when he returns. I hope that I can have more faith that he will be safe and the kids and I will survive without him for 6 months. I am also comforted that we have been sealed in the Temple. Mario assures me that his work on this earth isn't done and he will be fine. I pray he is right.

New Calling

Last night we got a visit from the entire Bishopric. To make a long story short, Mario will be the new YM President in our ward. Now I get to practice a lot of patience and sacrifice. Two things I am not good at, but I will have to learn.

I am excited for Mario and I think he will do an great job. He knows first hand what a difference good YM leaders can do for a boy's future. I am so thankful for YM leaders and great Bishops that Mario had when he was a youth, because I know if it weren't for them, Mario would probably have never served a mission and we wouldn't be married now.

I have to laugh because Mario's current calling is Teacher's Quorum advisor. He recently saw some needs in Scouting and started aggressively attacking some issues. I told him that I thought he may be a little too assertive (the military officer in him was coming out) and may step on some toes of the leaders in YM. Well, I guess he doesn't have to worry about that anymore. I feel for his counselors when Mario shows up to meetings with his long "to do lists." There's work to be done and a lot of weight on Mario's shoulders.

Flu

Looks like the Perez household may be hit by the flu. Eric is down with a wheezing cough, headache, and very tired. Mario has been complaining that he is having a hard time recovering from Fast Sunday. Every once in a while I feel a little stomach ache. I am wondering if we are all getting sick....

I shouldn't have been quick to brag that our family has been so healthy (except Eric's migraines) since moving to Arizona.

Update....Turns out that Eric just had a cold and the rest of us stayed well. At least for now.

Halloween

We had a great day today. Mario dropped Eric off at the Stake Center at 6:30 this morning for a merit badge camp. He came home with two completed merit badges. While Eric was gone, Mario took the other 3 kids to the Kartchner Caverns while I grocery shopped and cleaned up the house. Then we had a relaxing afternoon waiting for the real fun---trick-or-treating to begin.

Being Consistent

I couldn't get Dave Ramsey's podcast downloaded to my MP3 player today, so I decided to listen to a Conference podcast instead while I ran/walked. I probably need that more than Ramsey anyway. I took comfort in Elder Bednar's talk where he described FHE in his home while his boys were young:

"As our sons were growing up, our family did what you have done and what you now do. We had regular family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. Now, I am sure what I am about to describe has never occurred in your home, but it did in ours.

Sometimes Sister Bednar and I wondered if our efforts to do these spiritually essential things were worthwhile. Now and then verses of scripture were read amid outbursts such as “He’s touching me!” “Make him stop looking at me!” “Mom, he’s breathing my air!” Sincere prayers occasionally were interrupted with giggling and poking. And with active, rambunctious boys, family home evening lessons did not always produce high levels of edification. At times Sister Bednar and I were exasperated because the righteous habits we worked so hard to foster did not seem to yield immediately the spiritual results we wanted and expected.

Today if you could ask our adult sons what they remember about family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening, I believe I know how they would answer. They likely would not identify a particular prayer or a specific instance of scripture study or an especially meaningful family home evening lesson as the defining moment in their spiritual development. What they would say they remember is that as a family we were consistent."

So, I know I have no control, but I can be consistent. Eric gave his first talk as a Youth speaker yesterday. I got an honorable mention when he talked about reading scriptures. Eric said, "My mom makes it a point to read every night." I looked up his talk to get the exact quote. He wrote the following in his talk, but must have changed his mind about saying it: "Once we were at the table, about to have cake, when my mom pulled out the scriptures and made us all wait to eat until we were finished reading."

I think I am on the right track. Hopefully my kids will look back and say we were consistent (and not just consistently yelling! :)) Honestly, Mario is way more consistent than I am. But I try really hard!

Control Freak

I came to a realization today. It only took me 35 years to figure out I am a control freak. Maybe that's why my twins cause me so much frustration. I cannot, no matter how hard I try, control them. Mario just laughed when I told him this today. Of course, he knew these things all along.