Hi Everyone,
We are in Phoenix for one more day. I had a great time yesterday going to the temple (never been to the Mesa Temple) with Emily Chipman. She was such a gracious hostess. After the temple we drove ALL over Phoenix trying to find the Rental Car place for Sky Harbor Airport. Really, it probably took us an hour to find. She is a wonderful person, and I had a great time visiting with her and hearing her insights about the Mesa Temple, the gospel, and life. It was a great time. I love the temple so much. Thanks, Emily!
I just wanted to share a couple of quotes I read today. The first one is about parenting. Since I am not finished with that one, and you guys are all in the midst or the beginning of it, here goes:
"In my opinion, the teaching, rearing, and training of children requires more intelligence, intuitive understanding, humility, strength, wisdom, spirituality, perseverance, and hard work than any other challenge we might have in life." James E. Faust (1920-2007)
Great article on page 11 of the new Ensign. I am guessing you have all downloaded that stuff to your smartphones. The Ensign. scriptures and words of the prophets are ever present if you want to read them.
I am trying to improve my personal prayers. Once when I was visiting Colin and Lori the lesson at that Relief Society was about prayer. One lady made the comment that one of her roadblocks to prayer is that it is an emotional commitment to pray properly. It is sometimes hard to start when you know it is going to take some serious time and thought. That describes me. So, I am trying to pray better, more sincerely, with more depth. Here is the quote:
"To those within the sound of my voice who are struggling with challenges and difficulties large and small, prayer is the provider of spiritual strength; it is the passport to peace. Prayer is the means by which we approach our Father in Heaven, who loves us. Speak to Him in prayer and then listen for the answer. Miracles are wrought through prayer." Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 2009, pg 68. Also quoted in "The Privilege of Paryer", by Devn Cornish, pg 101-103, quote on pg 103.
As I read this quote I thought of Crystal getting a lawyer pro bono with her custody challenges, truly a miracle. Thanks for sharing that, Crystal.
Going home tomorrow. We went to the movie, The Artist, last night. Really good. I love you all.
xoxoxo
mom/debby
HISTORY
A Little History:
Our story begins in Pocatello, Idaho, circa 1972, when the lovely Debby Christensen agreed to a first, though fateful date with admirer, David Croshaw. Long story-short, he bade her follow him, and they went arm-in-arm to the Logan, Utah temple for establishment of an eternal family unit, Generation 1, on May 23 1973.
From their first blissful summer in Salt Lake City, educational pursuits took them to Provo/Orem, Utah, birthplace of Leslie and Rebecca, and to San Francisco/Oakland California, birthplace of Colin and Matt. Then, for establishment of livelihood, expansion of the tribe with Abby and Dana, and for raising/unifying of Generation 2, it was back to the roots in Pocatello for a rewarding sojourn.
In time, driven by a raging, but commonly shared sense of adventure and independence, one-by-one, Generation 2 escaped the homeland to distant regions of the country and the world, each ultimately developing their own tribal expansions by pairing with worthy mates and initiating Generation 3.
Now sensing fulfillment of their purpose in Pocatello, Generation 1 has also left those roots and transplanted to Cascade Idaho, from which base, they anticipate more abundant contact with The Posterity, Generations 2 and 3, in the future. That contact however, awaits fulfillment of a call to LDS missionary service in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, wherein they hope to help the state of the world by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
So now, including Generation 0 (Grandma and Grandpa Christensen) home base includes Yuma, Arizona, Pocatello, Idaho, Cascade, Idaho, Vancouver, BC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, Los Angeles, California, back to Boise, Idaho, and on and on (Generation 3+) to infinity.
Our Mission Statement:
This is the blog of our eternal family unit. Initiated years ago, it served well as a journal, but even more so, as an archive of our personal interaction. It was a gathering place, a confabulation instrument, a unifying force for four generations of widely dispersed and progressively prolific posterity, and their valued associates. Though it served these purposes well for many years, it eventually took a back seat to new-kids-on-the-block, Facebook, and Instagram, and was sadly forgotten.
We now move to resurrect this blog with an added functional purpose of archiving the missionary experiences of Generation 1, of their movements and activities as they participate with The Gathering of Israel in the land northward. In so doing, we hope that via their own comments and posts, this blog will again serve to gather and unify the posterity and their friends.
As in the past, that the young and vibrant may know the old and tired, that enduring bonds may be fostered and maintained, that experience and encouragement may be openly shared, that posterity may embrace truth, and that hearts may be knit together, we must resist detachment despite our geographic divergence. We shall do so here.
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2 comments:
Nobody reads the blog any more and comments are hard to come by. So, even though I'm on the inside on this post, I'll comment to say that I agree with everything you said, and I love you.
David
Sorry, it is just that you have to log-in to this blog and I am always logged in to my virginia.edu/gmail account, so to log on, I have to sign out of my virginia account, log back in with gmail, then look up the blog. It was definitely much easier when it was not password-protected.
I did not see this, till just now, so thank you for it. I am glad you guys had another good trip. You are so blessed to be able to see so many things at a leisurely pace and be able to enjoy the opportunity to see so many temples and so much family. Surely that is a blessing too.
As for the lawyer, I have not heard much from him, but I think it will be ok, the hearing is not until August. If a judge decides Valerie can go live with her dad, that I will not fight it, but his history speaks loudly for itself.
Finally, as a person in deep, and desperate prayer most every moment of my life these days, I know too, that prayer is a force unmatched in this world.
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