So Very Blessed

I quit my job a few weeks ago, (as planned) to stay at home with Liam, but I wouldn't have been able to just not work if we were to make ends meet. The problem was that since Freddie lost his job in January and was essentially unemployed for six months the savings we had built up so I could stay home was drained. While my working through the summer helped to start to build it again it wasn't nearly enough. So I have been looking for a job at night for the last few weeks hoping to find something that would allow me to be at home with Liam during his awake hours (though it would have left me with little sleeping hours). At the same time we have been looking for a new, more affordable, centrally located apartment.

A few weeks ago I fell in love with a little cottage in Orem that is located smack between Fred's work and school. He could walk 5 minutes either way to get to class or the studio. It was a small, one bedroom, but so cute with plenty potential. I figured with a few IKEA bookshelves as room dividers we could make it work with Liam. We loved the land lady who was willing to go above and beyond to make the place work for us, and the price wasn't half bad. We were all set to take it, she drew up the contract, but for some reason I just felt like it wasn't right. I couldn't figure out why since everything seemed so perfect. But I couldn't ignore the promptings of the spirit. So we backed out before signing the contract and gave her our most sincere regrets.

Fast forward a few weeks to last Saturday night; Sue (the land lady) called me and said she had been thinking about us and wanted to make us an offer. So we met up with her yesterday and she asked if I would be interested in running her picture framing business and in exchange we would live in the apartment in the house where the business is located (which is directly in front of the little cottage we initially wanted to move into). I couldn't believe it. Of course we said yes.

This is an answer to prayer. We found a place to live and I found a job all at the same time. Not just any job, one that will literally be run out of my home. I won't have to leave Liam at all to work. He will be with me all day. How much better could it get? I'm a stay at home mommy with a job to help provide for my family.

This year has been one of the hardest Fred and I have ever faced together. Freddie lost his job, we had a baby (wonderful but hard), our car died and we had to buy a new one, I quit my job (which I loved, but I needed to be home with Liam) and various other things one after another. But in all the difficult things we have faced I have never once felt alone. Heavenly Father has comforted us and blessed us in ways I can't even begin to describe. So many wonderful things have also happened this year and while it has been the hardest for me the miracles I have personally experienced have far out weighed any of the negatives. I am so thankful for a mindful Heavenly Father. Freddie and I have grown so much from these experiences and I have truly seen what God can do and what he so badly wants to do for all his children.

God lives and he loves us. There is no doubt in my mind about that. He only wants what is best for his children and is simply waiting for us to acknowledge him and love him back.

Stay At Home Mommyhood

So, I have finally achieved stay at home mommy status. I quit my job and I only have two classes on campus, a total of three nights a week. So I'm now home with Liam all day, every day. It's awesome... for the most part. I have to admit that I'm not quite sure what exactly I'm supposed to be doing. I play with Liam, make dinner, and attempt to keep the house clean. My days are pretty simple which makes me feel like I'm not doing enough; especially when for the last five years of my life Sunday was the only day of the week I spent more than 9 hours at a time in the home.

Of course I do have homework, but ironically it's harder for me to find time to study now that I'm home all day then it was when I worked and went to school full time (good thing I'm graduating in December). Liam's naps and after he goes to bed are really the only times I have to hit the books. Even when he is playing by himself its difficult to concentrate on essays and reading assignments; he's just so darn entertaining. He's a bigger distraction than the television.

Anyway, here are his most recent pictures. These were taken (all by Freddie of course) just prior to the four month mark about a month ago.

I see a future heart breaker. He totally got his daddy's looks.

Dear Citizen, I have something to Say.

Dear Citizen,

In regards to the debate on a Mosque and interfaith center near Ground Zero, the burning of the sacred text of the Koran and all anti-Muslim propaganda and bigotry: I have something to say.

For a long time now I have sat idly by and listened as extreme and radical views regarding those of Islamic heritage and Muslim faith have pervaded the media, airwaves and internet. My frustration at the level of ignorance and bigotry that exists in America has been quietly endured as I told myself that it could not have affected the general population at large and was simply the product of the sensationalist desires of an entertainment seeking public. But I now see that radical extremism is spreading like a communicable disease, bigotry, ignorance and terrorism being the primary symptoms. This must stop! If we are to maintain not only the dignity of a democracy built upon the foundations of life and liberty but the freedom of religion as well, we must put an end to radical extremism of all kinds.

Muslims are not our enemy. Our country has not declared war on Muslims; our county has declared war on Terrorism and recent bigot sentiment directed toward Muslims reeks of Nazism, not freedom. If we were truly to fight a war against terrorism I would suggest we start within our own boarders and go to the homes, the schools and the institutions of our nation. As devastating as September 11 was and still is, it was not the first terrorist attack on American soil. Have we forgotten about the Oklahoma City bombing, Columbine and the myriad of abortion clinic bombings, racial hate crimes and raging domestic violence? Would not those also be considered terrorism? Ask the victims and they will likely tell you yes. So then who is the enemy? Terrorism is simply another pervading symptom of a larger illness. All of these things have one thing in common; they are the product of radical extremism of one kind or another. Therefore I submit that a war on just terrorism is not good enough as it simply addresses a symptom of the larger issue.

My fellow Americans, the battle of our generation is not against terrorism, but against radical extremism of all kinds. The War on Terrorism exists because there are extremists in the Middle East; we are fighting an ideology there born of radical idealists. Would we have ourselves take up the same banner of extremism in order to win that war? That is what will happen should the bigotry directed toward Muslims continue. I urge you to lay down your preconceived, media fostered prejudices and instead take up the banner raised by our founding fathers of freedom of religion, of tolerance, of peace. “For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Gal. 5: 13-14).”