Saturday, January 15, 2011

It Takes Faith

So I read the article above the other day, because one of my favorite blogs I follow is mentioned (Nat the Fat Rat) and it's about Mormon mommy bloggers and how non-member women become obsessed with them and all that they portray. Now I definitely don't consider myself as one of the bloggers this article mentions but I did agree that those blogs tend to be more uplifting than the average. The article attributes some of it to staging...that these women are putting on their best front to he world but that underneath they are a crumbling mess of depression buoyed by medication. I know there are many women who are struggling with that and I don't mean to belittle their experience at all ( I have fought depression myself) but there is a critical aspect that the 20-something women mentioned in the article are taking for granted... Faith. Faith does bring joy into our lives daily. We aren't wives and mothers because we are Told to; we are because we Want to. It brings us Joy. Joy is not the absence of sadness or trials; it is having a greater perspective and choosing happiness over sadness. It is not easy and I am not smiling just to put on a good face. My mantra for this year is "life is what we make it". We have choices every single day. No, things are not perfect, but when something challenges us we choose how to react and how to let it affect us. I have to say this mantra to myself ALL THE TIME but I never have pretended to be perfect did I? :) A lot of people now-a-days see those with faith in a church or religion as naive but that is simply not true for me. In my case I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Our church is perfect as it's leader is Jesus Christ, but it's members are still human and not infallible by a long shot. I find joy in my family. I find joy in my Church. I find joy and peace through my faith... Not that I don't have to work at it, but anything worth having is worth working for. The Savior led a peaceful life and that is not the same as a quiet life without trials or hardships. He came to lead by example and to do what we could not do for ourselves. I follow Him and He leads me to happiness. Keeping our eyes focused on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ keep us unified as a family and gives us greater perspective and for that I am eternally grateful.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Ok so new year new blog?

(As I try and write this Eavie is clinging to my arm and going "MAMAMAMAMA". Yes folks this kid needs a nap)

Happy New Year! There have been quite a few new years resolutions going on in the Sliger house and dang it! Why not add a couple more right?! Quick recap: Eavie is now 8 months old.... holy cow when did that happen? Christmas was wonderful, although I missed my family in Orlando desperately. And....that's about it. Oh yea. We now have a dental situation with Miss Evalyn, in the respect that she now has one (1) tooth to speak of. This event occurred (painstakingly) over the weeks before Christmas and we finally broke through a couple day before....one night of great sleep quickly followed :) In more tragic news...we have recently learned that the next door neighbor to our recent dental eruption (that's a weird phrase) is attempting to be a copy cat... in other words we have discovered that Eavie has more than one tooth and that teething does not end after the first has come in.... oh yeah.
Work time soon, thankfully I just work in the next room ;)