Picture by Liba Dilla Words by Appreciable Goodfaithpoet
I asked my Children the other day, "Children, what is the way to be happy?" "To be nice" they answered. "What happens when someone is mean to you, how do you feel?" My youngest daughter answered sweetly, "You might feel like you need to kick them."
Picture by Liba Dilla Words by Appreciable Goodfaithpoet
My four year old son and I recently went on a Father-and-Son campout. My Son was worried that if some babies came to the campout with their fathers that they might chew on his flashlight. He said that if babies came that he would hold his backpack over his head to keep it safe. During the first evening around the campfire my Son had marshmallow and dirt all over his face. I said, "Son, come over here so I can wash your face." My Son asked with a smile, "So people can recognize me?" After he was cleaned up I said, "You're a handsome boy." He replied with enthusiasm, "You can say that again!"
Picture by Liba Dilla Words by Appreciable Goodfaithpoet
One day my Daughter said, "Mommy can you tuck me in?" Mommy replied, "But, Sweetheart, I already did." My Daughter said, "I know but my covers are all wrinkly again."
The Atonement of Jesus Christ By Appreciable Goodfaithpoet
The loving Atonement performed by our Lord Can help us to find harmony God loved us so much that he sent forth the word To reach out and to save you and me
Jesus alone could rescue and save And help us be made perfect too He Helps us to get the mercy we crave By showing us what we should do
The penalty warranted by all our sin Required the infinite gift The battle with Satan we each can win Our burden the Lord helps us lift
From the beginning the Lord was ordained To die for what justice demands Salvation from sin can now be obtained By following Jesus' commands
We each can dwell with our Father above As we follow the Lord's righteous course His sacrifice shows a supreme act of love Let us drink from this spring at it's source
The Savior has suffered these things for our sake To redeem all mankind from the fall Upon us his name we gladly will take He offers his love unto all
We can all go where there's nothing unclean Through Jesus alone this takes place We can be saved from things evil and mean To again see his loving face
The Savior had power to lay down his life And take it up after its end He asks us to flee contention and strife And come home with him as a friend
He suffered temptations but gave them no heed And lived life in pure innocence He knows how to help in our hour of need For all he has made recompense
The blood of the Lamb for our sake was shed He gave his life freely for me He prayed to our God as he suffered and bled For help to endure agony
Because of the love that our dear Savior had For the will of our Father and God Our hearts fill with joy and are truly glad For he finished the course that he trod
We can find peace through the powerful name That broke bands at Gethsemane We can be lifted up out of our shame By the hope found upon Calvary
We must accept the Atonement he gave Or face pure, strict justice alone We all need the grace that's might to save We deserve no mercy on our own
Our Lord took away the sharp sting found in death He was the first of those who slept We shall live again after losing life's breath Joy comes to his children who’ve wept
The Savior invites all the world unto him We'll be judged for the works we have done That day will restore each joint and each limb Through the power of God's perfect son
Those who are righteous will have so much joy And praise the Lord eternally His sacrifice saves each girl and each boy That died in their pure infancy
So let us have faith in our dear Savior's call And overcome evil today Let's deliver his sweet invitation to all To be baptized and walk in his way
We all can become truly born again Receiving the spirit to guide And this must take place in the hearts of all men To be filled with his pure love inside
If you will repent he will receive you Come feast on his love to the end Trust in the Lord in all that you do And his grace he freely will send
Partake of his love so exquisite and sweet Drink deep of the doctrines he'll send Some day we will kneel at our dear Savior's feet Where our pains and our sorrows he'll mend
He knows all the trials we each face right now Come cast on the Lord all your care We all can be healed and he'll show us how He atoned so that we could come there.
Uniformity seems to play a large role in their cultural traditions. Harmonious interaction is the goal that leads to their code of traditional worship-day dress. The most interesting manifestation of these rituals is to be found in the powerful cultural and social trends which influence the male practitioners. Social norms require each male to purchase an elaborate and expensive costume made of natural fibers which are dyed to a very dark color. A bib-necklace is also worn over the top of this costume or uniform. Some of the most powerful men in the community are the cleansing doctors who are the only ones capable of cleaning these uniforms in the prescribed way. If a male wears a different costume to these religious ceremonies he is noticed and extended special warmth and kindness. However, if this male continues wearing non-traditional garb to the religious services, arrangements are made for a used costume of worship-day finery to be provided at no cost to the visitor. If these gifts are not accepted, the visitor will be treated with suspicion by the frustrated local leadership of the snomrom. This leadership may consider requesting a meeting with the discordant individual about his choice of apparel. The instructions given to these adherents in their sacred books are that no one should be excluded from attending these ceremonies regardless of the composition of their clothing fibers. However, no man, young or old, is encouraged to participate directly in the work of these rituals unless clothed in the appropriate costume, complete with the colorful bib-necklace. Who are the American Snomrom and where do they live? To answer this question, simply spell Snomrom backward. That is correct! The culture of which I speak, exists among those who are American Mormons like me. Wearing a suit and tie to church on Sundays, (Clothing that must be dry-cleaned), is a strange tradition from the perspective of many of those who live in different parts of the world. (In the above section, I borrowed heavily from the Ideas of Horace Miner as found in Introduction to Sociology Sixth Edition by Anthony Giddens, et al. pp. 68)
Picture by Liba Dilla Words by Appreciable Goodfaithpoet
My wife and I were visiting another couple in their home recently. One of my Daughters and her little friend came into the room dressed up in her friend's play clothes with crowns and dresses. My Daughter announced in a very royal voice, "Look, Dad we are dressed like princesses. Now we are beautiful." As they left the room, I heard my Daughter say enthusiastically to her friend, "Now lets go find some boys so we can get married."
Picture by Liba Dilla Words by Appreciable Goodfaithpoet
One day my wife and I were talking and my oldest Daughter came and joined us. My Daughter told us about the drug awareness program at her school (She is in kindergarten) I said, "Daddy doesn't smoke or use drugs." My wife added, "And Mommy doesn't smoke or use drugs." To which my Daughter replied, "Well, I smoke sometimes." My wife and I froze and just looked at our daughter (Who is only 5) not knowing what to say. After a few seconds my Daughter added that she smoked on cold mornings when she could see her breath. My wife and I were greatly relieved to hear these additional details.
Picture by Liba Dilla Words by Appreciable Goodfaithpoet
"Give, said the little stream" must be one of the most universally misunderstood songs in the world. Instead of saying "Give said the little STREAM", one of my siblings believed for many years that this song said, "Give said the little STRING." This led to a lot of confusion about the correlation between giving, a string, and why the grass would grow greener still wherever this magical string went. One day my Daughter was singing "Give, said the little stream", and I finally heard the way she was singing it, (Instead of "I'm small, I know but wherever I go the grass grows greener still") she used to sing "I smiled, I know, but wherever I go the grass grows green and still." Even funnier still, my Son also sings "I am a child of God", creatively. He was singing this song recently and belted out, "I am a child of God and so my knees are gray."
Picture by Liba Dilla Words by Appreciable Goodfaithpoet
I took my children Christmas caroling in our neighborhood. At one door, as we sang about peace on earth, my two youngest children started boxing with each other. (I judged the bout in favor of my son. Thankfully the winner was not decided by knock out.) The person for whom we were singing thought it was quite funny and ironic as well. We just smiled even wider to cover our embarrassment and continued singing. Peace on earth can be hard to find. We must start with peace in our own heart and then do our very best to help others to have peace and love in their hearts as well.
