Running Backwards!

Public Speaking: Everyone Cries

2010-01-12T21:06:00.002-05:00

So I know it's been a long time since my last post but I'm just going to jump in almost as if I hadn't missed a beat. I was asked to give a talk this past Sunday in Sacrament meeting on the preeminence of the family in the Church. I may have mentioned before on this blog that I enjoy public speaking. Don't get me wrong, I don't know if I would like it giving major talks every week in Church, or any other venue, but the occasional talk is something I rather enjoy. I made the mistake of mentioning it over the pulpit and a lot of people in the ward have been teasing me a little bit about it now, but it's all fun. I actually think I made a lot of people in the ward cry as I was talking about Nana and Granpda, myself being one of them (I almost didn't know if I would make it through the talk). Anyway, I wanted to follow Robbie's example and post a copy of my talk, not because I'm a great orator or writer or anything like that, but because the topic is so important. I want everyone to not only know my viewpoint but to also hopefully start to think about how important it is. So here goes.

Good morning brothers and sisters, I’m glad to be here today. The scriptures teach us that there are two reasons why we came to earth, two closely related reasons. First we learn from the prophet Abraham that we were all spirits in the preexistence and we were sent to earth in order to be tested. “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;” (italics added, Abraham 3:25). The second reason we came to earth was to get a body. And not only just to get a body but to return it pure to our Father in heaven in order to become like God. The Prophet Joseph said that “we came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom. The great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his punishment” (Teachings of the Presidents Joseph Smith, pg 211). The Lord knew that to do that, to return our body to him pure, we would need help, we would need protection, and we would need instruction.

We know, from the Book of Mormon and the prophet Nephi, that when we say “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded” we also can say “for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7). Does that mean that we can keep all the commandments we read in the scriptures, and that we hear in General Conference? Yes, it does, but that is a talk for another time. The purpose for this talk is to think of that scripture and realize that our Heavenly Father has prepared a way for us to take this physical body and do all things that the Lord commands us and therefore return it pure to heaven at the end of our life. And the way, maybe the only way, to do that is in the family, and with our family.

Many of us have been on missions and the rest of us have known the missionaries and perhaps been taught by them. On a mission the mission president, and the missionaries, tend to focus, rightly so to a degree, on baptism. Our goal as members is to prepare investigators to be taught by the missionaries. The missionaries’ goal is to teach the investigators and prepare them for baptism. The converts’ goal (and each of us is a convert and should repeatedly be so throughout our lives) is to get ourselves and our whole family to the temple. Why? The temple is all about the family, the eternal family. Worthy families go to the temple and slowly perfect themselves to become eternal families with our heavenly Father. May I repeat: Worthy families go to the temple and slowly perfect themselves to become eternal families with our heavenly Father. Elder Bednar tells of when he was recently called to be the Stake President. In talking to a friend who was a former stake president, his friend mentioned how important his call as a temple worker was and how he wished he had been a temple worker before he was a stake president so that he could focus his stake on the temple and help to shepherd the Saints to the Lord’s house. I pray that we may all realize how important the temple is. The temple and the covenants contained and fulfilled therein are the only ways to make our earthly family an eternal family. They are the only way to take our whole family back to live in the presence of our Heavenly Father.

Please notice that the reason the church, it’s activities and it’s lessons and it’s leaders, focus so much on the temple is because of the covenants of the temple that allow us to have eternal families. The family is the central unit of the church because it, combined with the temple, prepares us and helps us to be pure in the presence of God. Parents teach their children how to live, how to act, how to speak, how to read the scriptures, how to attend church, how to pray, and how to attend the temple regularly and frequently. The scriptures are full of how parents can do that. Nephi teaches us that a major part of his preparation in becoming a prophet was his being “born of goodly parents” (1 Nephi 1:1). He had visions regularly because of his father’s visions “And it came to pass after I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the things which he saw in a vision, and also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, . . . was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost. . .” (1 Nephi 10:17). Nephi became a righteous man, leader, and prophet, because of how and what his parents taught him. No wonder the church places preeminence on the family unit.

Our Heavenly Father knows what our families go through. He knows what the world is like now and He knows that our homes need to be, and should be, a safe and righteous place for our families to be. A number of years ago the then Elder Eyring explained how the family creates in us a desire to return to our heavenly Father and the family helps us to do so by teaching us the gospel. He said he knew it would be hard because of Satan, trying to keep us from it. He quoted the prophet Brigham Young “The men and women who desire to obtain seats in the celestial kingdom will find that they must battle every day” (To Draw Closer To God, Henry B Eyring, pg 114). Our family helps us in that battle. President Hinckely said in an interview “ ‘We have a family home evening program once a week across the Church in which parents sit down with their children. They study the scriptures. They talk about family problems. They plan family activities and things of that kind. I don’t hesitate to say if every family in the world practiced that one thing, you’d see a very great difference in the solidarity of the families of the world’ (interview, Boston Globe, 14 Aug. 2000).”

In family home evening each week we can prepare our family to go out and not only face the world, but to return with honor, pure and clean and ready to approach God in humble prayer. Think of that, brothers and sisters, we teach our kids from when they are little to pray and then they will know forever that they have not only a loving Father in heaven who wants to help them and who loves them, but also that they can petition help from God, the creator, the all knowing and the all powerful. Do you think He will ignore us when we ask for help? I testify that He will not! Do you think He will abandon us when things seem to be going wrong? Again, I testify that He will not! Never! So in family home evening we teach our children to pray and how to face the world, in other words we prepare them for that battle that getting to the Celestial Kingdom is going to be. In that same BYU devotional from which he quoted the Prophet Brigham Young, Elder Eyring also told another story about his father. His father was a famous, world renowned and respected scientist who in his later years contracted, and eventually died from, bone cancer. He tells how his family would take turns sitting with his father through the long months of his illness and how they all had to watch him suffer from the terrible pain. Elder Eyring said “One night, when I was not with him and the pain seemed more than he could bear, he somehow got out of bed and on his knees beside it-I know not how. He pled with God to know why he was suffering so. And the next morning he said, with quiet firmness, ‘I know why now. God needs brave sons.’” (To Draw Closer to God, Henry B. Eyring, pg 116).

We will all face those moments in life when we will ask God to know why we are suffering so. Remember, God needs brave sons and daughters. Family provides that example of righteousness and strength for us. That brave example we rely on when the going gets tough, as they say. I watched my grandfather, for the last nine years care for my grandmother as she suffered through Alzheimer’s. He watched her at home until she could hardly remember her own children’s and grandchildren’s names and then he had to put her in a home. But he wasn’t done then. I remember many, many holidays where we got to go visit Nana at the cottages. She called all the men by the same name because she couldn’t remember who we really were and at first it was the name of her only son and then it was the name of one of her brothers. And all the women she called by the same name, her sister’s name as well, but she always knew my grandpa’s name. Eventually she lost all ability to speak anything but gibberish, and then eventually she lost the ability to recognize when people were interacting with her. Through all those long years that Nana was in the Alzheimer’s home, my grandfather would visit her three times a day, for every meal. I still remember how lovingly he would talk to her (even when she couldn’t and didn’t respond), how he would buy her things, how he would feed her when he could, and how he would kiss her hello and goodbye. Grandpa even got so forgetful with old age that he always asked me how I was doing in school and what I was studying, even though I graduated four years ago, but he still visited Nana three times a day. We maintain that he was holding on just long enough for Nana. She passed away on Mother’s day last year and within one month of her passing my grandfather began to forget people’s names and things he’d done. He doesn’t remember me very much anymore and Nana is gone, but I will always, always remember how beautiful a temple marriage can and should be.

It is from this example, and the example of my father’s parents and from my own parents, and even from stories of my ancestors, that I know what it means to be a Hamblin. Do you know what it means to honor your last name? We all need to remember that we have taken upon us the “family” name of Jesus Christ. When we take the sacrament we take His name upon us. Just as we worry about what our earthly parents think of us and we try to do what they tell us to do, we should try to do what our Heavenly Parents tell us to do. That means that we need to try and be in tune with the Holy Ghost as much as possible. He will tell us what the Lord and our Heavenly Father want us to do. He will help us as we read the scriptures, and we should read them every day, to know what lessons Heavenly Father would have us learn. All of these things will help us as we interact with our family members on a daily basis. Parents will learn, by reading and studying the scriptures themselves, how to teach their children and what they need to teach them. Family scripture study and family prayer will draw a family closer together, so when there are problems, when someone is being tempted or feels in trouble, they will know where to turn to seek the help they need, to the family. Each of us should compliment with sincerity our family members more often. When life gets tough we turn to those people on whom we can trust and who will help. If we are constantly demanding things from our family, never giving of ourselves, and we do not tell them nor show them how much we love them, when life gets tough for them they may not turn to us. And if that prevents us or them from drawing our family back to Heavenly Father we will forever be sad.

To have an eternal family what do we need to do? We need to have faith in Jesus Christ, we need to seek the guidance of the holy Ghost, we need to read and study the scriptures daily, we need to attend church, we need to be charitable to others, we need to teach our children and families to do these things, and then we need to take everyone we can to the Temple. We have to keep doing these things, but I promise we will be helped as we have family home evening and daily family scripture study and prayer. I know we will be blessed. I know the Lord wants us to do this and I know also that the lord will prepare a way for us to have eternal families.

Love It!

2009-10-28T10:32:00.003-04:00

I love the prophet Nephi's simplicity. I mentioned in an earlier post (July 8) about how hard and yet simple it is to be obedient and do what we are supposed to do. I wanted to post this as a follow up to that, a scriptural follow-up.

"And we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the law of Moses." 2 Nephi 5:10

Does he say they were perfect? No. Does he say they never made mistakes, never sinned, never committed a transgression? No. He just says they "did observe to keep" all the commandments. Did they make mistakes? Yes, I'm sure they did. But at this time in my life, the point of the verse, to me, is that they simply did it. They were focused on keeping the commandments; they tried to live how they were supposed to live; they wanted to be righteous and so did what it took to be righteous. It's all about choice! We choose whether we turn that corner and run towards the light, towards the Savior, or whether we turn the other way and go into darkness. Think about that as you re-read Elder Bednar's talk about the Parable of the Pickle. Also re-read Elder Porter's talk about A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit.

And what was the end result? Verse 11: "And the Lord was with us; and we did prosper exceedingly;"

The Weekend

2009-10-26T12:14:00.003-04:00

So, this was an up and down weekend. I helped Christina clean out her grandmother's garage, clean it out and organize it. It looks great now and I'll try to put a picture at the end of the post so you can see. Unfortunately we don't have a before picture, so you can't see how it was before, but it was a lot of stuff. So yesterday I was sore and that continues today a little bit. It still feels good to not only get a good workout but to, in the process, help someone do something that they couldn't do for themselves. Service! It's great.

In football this weekend there was a lot of up and down. Two of my top three teams won, so I'm happy about that, but my number one team, BYU, lost badly. They got spanked by TCU. I think they should have at least been able to make it a good game if not even win, but it seems like they didn't show up to play. I know TCU's defense is good and very fast, but BYU always seemed to make some stupid mistake that resulted in a turnover and points, a sack, a three and out series, a punt, etc. They are better than that! But Texas won and even FSU won on Thursday (not quite the weekend, but close (to the weekend and a very close game)).

Anyway, I'm left with waiting, again, this week to see if I get any job offers. I have two jobs that I interviewed for last week. One, with Capelouto (the pest control company) was a 2nd round interview, so when they call at the end of this week it will be with a job offer. The second, with Target, will call and offer me a 2nd round interview. I hope I will then be able to have two great jobs to have to chose between. That's what Christina and I keep praying for and we would appreciate any prayers from you all. Prayer really works.

Doesn't that garage look beautiful!??! Before you could barely walk through the middle. Yes, we took a truck load of stuff to the dump too.

Post Blog-Post Comment

2009-10-16T18:00:00.001-04:00

I would highly recommend this to everyone. It goes along nicely with my last post and I just love the way Elder Maxwell would write/speak.

Notwithstanding My Weakness Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Nov. 1976

Truth & Lies

2009-10-15T10:18:00.003-04:00

I read an interesting article in the Ensign yesterday and so have named this post after the title of said article, Truth & Lies. If you haven't read it, I recommend you do so, mostly because I think it will speak to you as it spoke to me. It focuses on the lies that Satan tries to tell us in order to separate our hearts and minds from focusing on the truth. The prophet and president Ezra Taft Benson taught that in the latter days Satan would specifically use "despair, discouragement, despondency, and depression" to overcome the Saints. How true that is!!

Now, you may say that this particularly struck a cord with me because, after 6 months of trying to find a job in today's economy it is natural to be despaired or get discouraged. I'll admit, that is true to a degree. It has been really hard for me (for whatever reason, most likely our culture, your self-worth seems to hinge, however incorrectly, on your ability to work/find a job). However I found that reading the article focused on so many other things that I thought it worthwhile to mention to everyone who may read my blog. I did not realize how insidious Satan is in the lies he tells. He has slowly pulled the whole world down towards hell, and therefore we see examples all around us of those lies. I promise that the Lord's love and mercy is so much greater than we realize! His divine love is not putting us on a rating scale; we are all loved as His children even though we have made mistakes and He does not love nor accept our sins.

The article fulfilled it's purpose. It reminded me of our Heavenly Father's and our Savior's divine love for me! It provided me hope and joy and peace by reminding me of the Lord's mercy and redemption.

A Reminder

2009-10-13T11:52:00.002-04:00

I was reminded today of one of the miracle's in my life. I love how our Heavenly Father provides opportunities for us to remember the good things in our life. I have been involved in a couple car accidents (both as driver and passenger) and of course there was the major head trauma/accident that I went through (see my very first posts) so my neck has to occasionally be adjusted by a chiropractor. With our recent move to Tallahassee I had to find a new chiropractor, and luckily my sister-in-law knew someone. I met with him last week and told him a little of what had happened to me, not going much in depth about everything, but just how it happened and being momentarily paralyzed the first few days after I woke up. The doctor did a bunch of tests on me and we met again today to analyze the results and look at the x-rays and discuss the exercises I should do. What struck me, and drove me to blog after such a long time of not posting, was how amazed this doctor was with me. Everything he showed me proves that I am completely fine after my accident. Not just that I am ok with residual effects of my accident, nor that I am ok with signs that I had the accident, but that I am completely fine. His tests show that my bones are fine, my muscles are fine, my neurological tests came back fine, my reflexes are fine, etc. He repeated a couple of times how blessed I am. That is why I wanted to post. I am reminded of how blessed I am. The Lord shows us His tender mercies all the time. We need to have open eyes and a humble heart to see them, but when we do how grateful we become. I am grateful for the Lord's power that healed me and that today reminded me of it!

Back in Florida

2009-07-17T11:44:00.003-04:00

Well, as everyone probably knows already (either by talking with us or reading my wife's blog) we have moved back to Florida. This time, however, we are in Tallahassee and living in a doctor's office below my sister-in-law's family.

Despite my love for my last job I was let go. I put a lot of hard work into getting the home health company off the ground from nothing to treating and caring for a lot of patients. It was a good learning experience and I had tons of help from lots of people, but I guess I wasn't the right person on the bus (for anyone who has read "Good to Great"). I left with good feelings towards the company and with a lot of good friends at Advanced Health Care and AHC Home Care. Christina and I talked and prayed about what to do next.

Everything seemed to be pointing us to moving to Tallahassee. I have wanted for years to get my MBA and FSU has a very good program that is cheaper than most. We would be able to live with family and therefore receive a break on rent (versus paying a lot for our apartment in CO). We also would be able to help my sister-in-law's go back to church. Given the current state of the economy we figured it would be just as hard for me to get a job in Florida as in Colorado. Then, one night while serving in the temple, I read the Ensign (I think it was the April issue), and discovered that the first 20 some odd pages were all about getting a quality education to further your chances in the world. The more I read the more it seemed to fit, moving to Tallahassee and going to school. I was the first one to suggest moving and when I specifically said Tallahassee I think Christina almost fell out of her chair! She of course moved with alacrity on that decision and hence she has a job already and I don't.

We have enjoyed our time here, even though we literally live in a doctor's office and only have one room and bathroom for our stuff. We spend most of our time upstairs with family anyway. I continue to look for a job so we can figure out what is going on with our lives and maybe even get a house sooner rather than later. I guess if anyone knows of something please let me know. We've been going pretty regularly to the gym we joined (I need to lose some weight and get back in shape) and being home more during the day has allowed me to start a new project with the help of my cousin Robbie. We are still working on it, but will reveal it in all it's glory as soon as we have it ready, so be looking forward for it! ;)

Simple, Yet Seemingly Difficult, Yet Simple

2009-07-08T07:28:00.002-04:00

What on earth could I be talking about? I was continuing my reading the other day in Mosiah and I noticed something interesting. Just a verse or two after talking about mankind's nothingness and God's greatness (see previous post) King Benjamin tells us how we can receive salvation. What the prophet Nephi calls the doctrine of Christ and then uses very similar words to describe what we need to do to be saved.

King Benjamin says that we receive salvation through the Atonement (Christ's sacrifice in Gethsemane and on the cross for our sins) and it is available to those who do three (simple) things. The first, put our trust in the Lord; in other words have faith. Second, be diligent in keeping the commandments, which is to say be obedient. Third and finally, continue in this faith and believe until the end of our lives. Simple, right?! Until we think and realize that we have to be obedient to ALL the commandments, even the ones we "don't like." We also have to do it for ALL of our lives, the whole endure to the end principle we hear preached. When you sit and look at it that way, it suddenly seems very difficult, but yet, it really isn't that hard.

We choose what we want to do everyday, so we just need to choose the commandments, the Lord's will. Nephi commands us to feast upon the words of Christ in order to have the Holy Ghost accompany us during the day/life, and that the words of Christ and the Holy Ghost will tell us everything we need to do. This, he says, is the doctrine of Christ. So no matter how seemingly difficult it is to have faith, be obedient in all commandments, and do that for the rest of our lives, it really isn't. We just need to make sure that in our drive to keep the commandments we are feasting upon the words of Christ, therefore we will have the Holy Ghost and we will gain, through His help, the desire to keep all the other commandments for the rest of our lives. Let's be honest, when you feel the Spirit you quickly realize that you want to feel it always and you know that keeping the commandments is not only the only way to have that feeling all the time but also the way you WANT to live (because you know it is just the right, correct thing).

Awakened [me] to a Sense of [my] Nothingness

2009-06-28T09:26:00.002-04:00

I was reading this morning in the 4th chapter of Mosiah. I have recently (and by recently I mean for the past few months) been reading from my facsimile of the first Book of Mormon. It's divided into chapters like a novel type book would be, not versus and short chapters like our current edition. It reads more like a story book, and that means you sometimes find yourself going back to read a paragraph or two more often so you can pick out the nugget of gospel knowledge that Heavenly Father wants you to know (aka what stood out to you as you read under the influence of the Spirit). And without the division into versus, sometimes the paragraphs you reread are long, almost as long as chapters in the new edition.

But back to what I wanted to share. The fourth chapter of Mosiah starts out with the King Benjamin's people just having heard the first part of his sermon from the tower at the temple. In that part of the sermon we have such jewels as Mosiah 3:19, a brief overview of the whole plan of salvation, Mosiah 2:17, how the Lord blesses us for everything we do and so we are constantly in His debt, and so many more gospel doctrines/principles/truths that I can't mention them all here (nor do I probably know them all yet, I'm still learning as we all are). But in chapter 4 verse 5-6 I was struck by a sense of my own nothingness and the greatness of God.

It seems to me that the Book of Mormon prophets often want to impress upon us the fact that we are as low as the dust of the earth. That in fact we are nothing and are so because of our fallen state, our inclination to sin and be wicked and not obey the commandments of our God. But as I was reading in verse 6 I realized that almost always, after telling us how we should understand that we are nothing, the prophets offer us the hope and the knowledge of a perfect Savior. We get a taste and a feeling of (especially if we are reading with the Spirit) His goodness, and grace, and mercy, and love. We don't have to wallow in our nothingness; the prophets don't testify of the fallen nature of man just so we will have a pity party. We are almost always immediately given, after being awakened to our human state, the upward look and the sweet taste of the heavenly state.

I imagine our Savior and our Heavenly Father talking about it before every revelation they give to the prophets past, present, and future. The love that emanates from them clearly tells us that they wouldn't have the prophets revel something that just talked about how we are nothing. They would make sure to tell the prophet, whomever it was, to tell us that we have a Savior who is full of mercy and goodness and light and righteousness. That there is a way for us to rejoice in this life because we can look up with hope and know, not just think or wish or dream but really know, that we can overcome our fallen nature and our wicked generation and our sinful inclinations. There is no other way nor means nor name that we can accomplish this and be saved, only in and through the name of Jesus Christ. How thankful I am to Him. I started off today reading about the nothingness of man and the sense of being lower than the dust of the earth. But I finish my scripture study and start this Sabbath day with hope in, joy because of, love for, and a re-dedication to the Savior. What a beautiful Sunday morning it is.

Technology!

2009-06-25T22:14:00.000-04:00

Well, technology advances and I have finally joined the wave. I'm actually making this quick post from my phone. I will try to make a real post soon that explains what is going on in my life. But for now, suffice it to say I'm enjoying joining the mobile-internet world.

Twilight: The Movie, Tiredness, and Old Age.

2008-11-23T17:18:00.005-05:00

"Edward, . . ." (theater full of pre-teen and teen girls shriek in over excitement)

"Bella, say it. Out loud!" (theater full of pre-teen and teen girls shriek in over excitement)

"Vampire!" (theater full of pre-teen and teen girls shriek even louder in excitement)

The much anticipated movie, Twilight, came out this weekend. I admit, I bought, read, and liked that series of books by Stephenie Meyer. I was also somewhat interested in going to see the movie. I mean, it had a lot of potential. I wasn't planning on seeing it on opening night, but let me explain what led up to the above mentioned situation.

A couple of days ago one of our friends from the ward contacted Christina and invited her to go with some other sisters in the Relief Society on opening night to see Twilight. My wife accepted and bought her ticket on Fandango. The week passes by and it's Friday afternoon. I have planned to do some laundry, play some PS2 BYU football, and generally clean up around our apartment, while my wife is at the movie. I was planning a surprise for her; to come home after a night out with her/our good friend and find that I had cleaned and organized the apartment. Lo and behold, I got a call saying our friend Michelle was really sick and wouldn't be able to go to the movie. She asked if I would buy the ticket off them, and I agreed. I hadn't planned on it, but now that the opportunity had presented itself I was excited to go. Little did I know that seemingly every 10 to 18 year old girl in and around the greater Denver Metro Area was planning on being in the same place for that movie.

Christina and I arrived at the theater almost an hour early, so that we could get good seats, and the line to get in the showing was already almost out the door (and we're not talking a single file line here, we're talking the middle school "line" of huge clumps of people standing behind the huge clump in front of them). Once we made it into the theater and had our seats everything would set off the screaming hordes of teen girl fans. The theater lights dimmed and they screamed. The projector came on and they screamed. The previews started and they screamed. The Harry Potter preview started (and that movie looks really good too) and they screamed. The actual movie we had come to see started and they screamed louder! Once the movie was playing they screamed at everything. Bella comes on screen (screams), she sees Edward (screams), they see each other (screams) and they say hi to each other (screams), they kiss (screams), etc., etc., etc. Everything induced screaming from them. Christina and I were laughing so hard we almost fell out of our seats. After it was all said and done, I realized that I felt more grown up and suddenly older than I felt I was (if that makes any sense).

If that wasn't enough, I was yawning my head off last night by 9:30 pm. I just wanted to go to bed early, but I had so much stuff to still do. In my own defense I get up very early every weekday morning and go, go, go during the day (as I'm sure everyone does). Because of my habit of getting up so early on weekdays, I also get up early automatically on the weekend. I find it hard to sleep past 8 am on Saturday, even though I stay up until past midnight on weekend nights. I hate to say it, but I felt old this weekend, and that is a scary thought.

Survey

2008-10-20T13:25:00.003-04:00

Well, it's done. Finished. Accomplished. I have helped my company successfully start AHC Home Care of Colorado. Two months ago we had only a plastic folding table and 8 white plastic folding chairs in what now constitutes a fully functioning and tastefully decorated business office.

Two months ago I was the only employee of AHC Home Care of Colorado. Since then I have learned a lot about the boss-employee interaction, paying bills and writing/signing business checks and payroll checks, recording and containing patients' confidential information, and a whole lot of federal and state and medicare guidlines that govern the operation of any business in healthcare. The survey, an in-depth audit of everything entailed in running a home health care, happened last week and went very well. The surveyor was very nice and even helpful in allowing us to fix most of the mistakes we had, which were minor, before she left Friday afternoon. We are now just waiting for the final go-ahead for us to start taking on more patients. I'm glad that worry is over, we were successful, and I can now get on with the business of making AHC Home Care of Colorado the most successful and profitable Home Care in the company!!

Constancy and Improvement

2008-06-29T16:37:00.004-04:00

It seems in life that we are constantly struggling between these two ends of the spectrum. We might even say that life is a dichotomy because we are either doing on of these or the other; there is not much of a middle ground. Sure we can take a look at our life as a whole and say we are somewhere in the middle, but that is just because the sum of all our individual actions and decisions is in the middle ground. We, however, are making decisions and moving towards one end of the spectrum or the other.

Now, on some things it really doesn't matter. I don't believe it matters whether we always eat our same favorite meal at our favorite restaurant. It doesn't matter if we drive to work the same way every day (unless you're a spy and you drive a different way every time to avoid getting caught, but that in and of itself would be regularity (you regularly go a different way). Besides, which one of us hasn't been a spy avoiding capture!). Hence the title of my post is not constancy and change. Change happens all the time and can be inconsequential in that respect, but improvement is what is important. Change in the right direction. I thought of this at church today. Nothing really specific that brought it on, other than I was impressed by the Spirit that i need to work on improving and not remaining constant in my sins and errors. Lest anyone think me representing myself in gross sin, let me just clarify that it is the usual "natural man" sins that we all make as we strive to live more righteously but are still in a fallen world. The Lord is so kind to me and forgives me when I repent. I can't help but have a strong twinge of guilt when I do something wrong, and that motivates me and helps me to work towards improvement. Constantly becoming something better than I am right now, constantly improving. And that brings our spectrum to a circle, or just a really messed up spectrum where you can be at both ends at the same time.

On a lighter note than the random, philosophical, spiritual ramblings you have just read, Christina and I had the opportunity to baby sit the 8 month old son of our friends from Church, while they went on a much needed date. This picture is of him showing how well behaved and cute he is. The following picture is of him when I gave him the PS2 controller to play some NCAA2008 football (as BYU of course!!). Needless to say (shout out to Robbie) he loved it!

At a Loss For Words

2008-06-22T18:48:00.000-04:00

It seems to me that it would be easier to write after not having written in quite a few months, because you would have all sorts of comments saved up or experiences lived through or funny stories to tell. I am finding, however, that that is not necessarily the case. I've found that all weekend long I've wondered and even worried a little about what to write. I could update on what has gone on since my last blog post and the subsequent weeks since, but that would take too long and would most likely be boring for everyone concerned.

Suffice it to say that I finally got offered, and took, the health care administrator position I was waiting two years for, with Advanced Health Care. I love a lot of things I've studied and learned about in my life, so much so that my freshman year of college I had charted out the classes I would need to take to get four different majors and two minors. I wanted to study everything, but what I would like doing for my profession left me scratching my head as I learned more and more. Like someone once told me, I know a little about a lot of things, but I needed to make money and support a family by knowing a lot about a few things (my career/job/profession). Those of you who know me even a little know that my passion is people! It took me a few years and a few majors in college to realize that, but I finally learned that I wanted to do something in business because it is about people. I love helping people, I love meeting new people, I like making money, and I have a natural proclivity towards managing (which I have nurtured through various situations, church callings, and jobs in my life). Administrator of a skilled nursing transitional rehab facility is the perfect job because it blends all of those things together. As Nathan (my trainer and boss) says, "it's a people business."

As you can probably tell by now, I love my job, and previous posts have told/shown that I love my wife. Let me know tell you that I love the Denver metro area where we currently live. We have met some great people at church, the weather is nice (and not humid like Florida, so the "hot" days here aren't really that hot), and there is plenty of stuff to do. I grew up in the mountain west so it's nice to be back. I just hope Christina grows to love it as much as I do.

So what does all this lead up to? The fact that above all else I love the Lord and my heavenly Father. Why, you ask? Because everything fell together so nicely since the time of my accident to lead me to the place I currently am today. I wasn't always as patient as I should have been with the Lord's timing, but I look back over my life for the past few years and am I eternally grateful for the kindness, love, and tender, watchful care of the Lord. For everything I have in my life, the only thing I have to offer in return is a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I'm not amazingly righteous (as I need to be), nor am I particularly humble (though I joke all the time about being the most humble man you know), and I'm not even faithful enough to always keep the commandments (as I should be), but I most definitely as trying my hardest to be all those things.

And I'm most definitely really, really, really, really, ridiculously good looking!

Long Time No Hear

2007-10-09T21:37:00.000-04:00

OK, OK I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to post again. Obviously you knew it was coming because of my last post (a few months ago), but still it's been too long. I will try to do better.

First, I love being married to the most amazing, incredible, beautiful, wonderful, cute, smart, spiritual, gorgeous, intelligent, hard working, and did I mention Gorgeous woman in the whole wide world!!!!! I wish I could spend every second of every day with her. It was wonderful starting the most amazing marriage in the world off with a very wonderful honeymoon in Hawaii. The first two of many pictures you will get from my blog are shown here below.

This is from Oahu, where we spent the first few days and visited the Polynesian Cultural Center. This photo does not do Hawaii complete justice, but you can tell, it was beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the woman I married!

Now, in this picture to the right you can see me with some of my new Polynesian friends! Notice the tattoo; I was living on the wild side as soon as I got married ;). That is until I got home and it washed right off and then I was back to the mild-mannered conservative guy I've always been!

Of course we went one place that means more than almost the rest of the trip. It wasn't the reason for the trip and we didn't get to go inside because of time constraints to catch our plane but this picture below shows the LDS Laie Hawaii Temple.

Now, before you think that I only am talking about the architecture or the beauty of the grounds let me explain. Part of the splendor and beauty of the honeymoon to celebrate and commence my marriage to the most amazing woman in the world is because it is a fun, vacation to get some alone time to get to know the other person and be together. A bigger part of the special aspect and crucial part of the wedding is shown in this picture. The wedding would just be until one or the other died if not for this building shown behind us and hundreds like it around the world. The temples are the house of the Lord; the only place on earth were specially called and ordained men can marry and/or seal a couple/family for time and all eternity. God did not intend that the true love and adoration that we should feel for our spouses stop at death. He ordained that as long as we live righteously and keep his commandments we can qualify for marriage and/or sealing in a temple and then, if we keep doing those things, we can stay married for all of eternity, not just until death do us part. That is why this picture means so much to me. It is the reason Christina and I are holding each other so tightly; because we know we can be an eternal family thanks to the plan the Lord has ordained for mankind. I love Christina with all my heart, and that is made stronger because of my love for heavenly Father and His love for us!

Busy, Busy, Busy (but no Beavers, sorry)

2007-07-11T09:51:00.000-04:00

OK, so planning a wedding and reception and honeymoon keeps you a little occupied. I'm sorry I haven't been able to post in awhile but, as you can tell from the previous sentence (where the "you" was figurative for everyone and literal/specific for me) I have been anxiously engaged . . . in a good cause as well as a real engagement (bonus points if you can name the scripture I'm referencing).

I think Christina and I are getting everything to come together and able to do so at a lower cost than we thought possible. We've had a lot of help from friends and family and the Lord. It's amazing and wonderful to watch everything come together in ways that you would never have dreamed possible when the Lord wants you to get something done. I guess it's a real life story of the example of Nephi going to get the brass plates and telling his father "I will go and do the things the Lord has commanded; for I know the Lord giveth no commandment unto the children of men save He shall prepare a way for them to accomplish the thing He has commanded." When the Lord wants two righteous people to get married He prepares the way, especially when those people are getting married in the Temple. I have been blessed and humbled by this experience, even with how hectic it is. Another witness that the Lord watches over all His children in their daily lives and activities; truly He is omniscient and loving and kind.

So, I have explained what is going on in my life and why I haven't posted in awhile and now will post some pictures to keep ya'll entertained until my next post (which again, might be a little while seeing as I'm busy)

This was in Miami, not our engagement pictures. It was actually before we got engaged, but you can read more about the trip on Robbie's blog.

I just like this picture. She is so beautiful, too bad there is that guy in the picture ;)

The Greatest Story of My Life, So Far

2007-06-07T08:54:00.000-04:00

I want to tell you all about the greatest event that has ever happened to me so far in my life. I offer a warning though, this post has pictures of the most beautiful, amazing, spectacular, wonderful, pretty, funny, and smart woman I have ever met. That's a warning because she is engaged to me, and no one else can have her. I am going to work the hardest I can for the rest of my life to make sure that I never do anything that will hurt her, alienate her from me, or offend her with words or actions. Now, that being said, lets get down to what actually happened.

I had known for awhile that Christina was one of the most selfless, hard working, dedicated people I had ever met. She always takes care of her family and does whatever they need. This picture below is just one example, babysitting her neices all day (they're cute kids though)

I knew that she had been busy helping prepare for the upcoming ward activity. She also had been helping me get ready to move to a smaller one bedroom apartment after my cousin, Robbie, moved down to Miami. I also knew that I could use this same business as a smoke screen for what I really wanted to do. So on the Saturday before, while shopping for some much needed items, I casually brought up that since it had been busy and the coming week was sure to be even more busy why didn't we go out for a relaxing, romantic dinner one night. Then, the day before we went out, I happened to bring up the fact that I had gotten reservations at a nice restaurant and we would have to dress up. In Christina's own words "So, if I recall accurately, which I ALWAYS do ;) Wednesday came along and Russ mentioned that I needed to dress nice for dinner Thursday, since it was more upscale then I was apparently use to, and that I may even have to potentially purchase a new outfit (buy something new? And I am forced to? No problem!) But he reassured me that wasn’t necessary, darn! And that church attire would suffice. Thursday comes along with not much of anything out of the ordinary, other than Russell informing me that it will be fun just to go out to dinner because we can." She didn't know what was coming!

We went to dinner at a restaurant called Christini's, it was not only one of the award winning restaurants in the area but I also liked the play on her name. Dinner was good and the conversation with her was even better (as it always is). My goal throughout the evening was to very specifically list some of the reasons why I loved her so much. I would try to mention something she had done, preferably recently, and how that made me realize the wonderfully amazing person she was and why I loved her for it. After explaining why I loved her I planned to surprise her. Once again I will quote Christina becuase I think she says it so much better than I do. ". . . Russell got up to go to the bathroom. . . So imagine my surprise when he came back within like 60 seconds. Apparently the bathroom was very close!? We ate our dinner, and then Russell again had to excuse himself from the table, this time because he really was going to the bathroom and ran into the waiter earlier. (That’s his story and I believe he is sticking to it.) Needless to say, the behavior was a little off, but all seemed fine. Russell returned and we were talking and he continued with his nice, kind, sweet words on why he loved me…. and then he kind of paused and looked and said, “So really, there is only one question left”. At this point in time the waiter sets a beautiful plate down with a rose, petals, and a ring with the writing, Will you marry me? I look up and Russell is just like, “Well?”. I am sure I was laughing/smiling nervously and then he asks, “Will you marry me?”. Of course I said yes! I was so caught up in the moment that Russell had to point out for me to listen to the song the accordion player was playing for us. It was Josh Groban’s, When You Say You Love Me." It was a great evening that was very romantic and special (even if the AC was turned on full blast and she was freezing cold, hence my jacket on her in the pictures). I have a few more pictures posted below, and after looking at them you will realize that I am the luckiest, most blessed guy ever!!!!! She said Yes, to me. It doesn't get any better than that! Until she actually says yes the day of the marriage, but I'm not worried about any other answer that day either ;)

Engaged!!

2007-06-04T10:28:00.000-04:00

It's true, finally. I found the most incredible, beautiful, perfect for me, wonderful, dedicated, kind, intelligent, friendly, smart, and spectacular woman ever. And for some odd reason she said "Yes!" when I asked her. Yes, Bishop Purcell, TLM is finally getting married (how Luke Bitton got married before me I don't know;), just kidding Luke) but I'm very happy. There will be more information and pictures to follow in the next post.

Change

2007-05-22T09:59:00.000-04:00

OK, it has taken me this long to figure out something to write for my new post, and I don't know if I even have it down coherently enough to make sense to anyone reading this (probably even myself, when I go back to read it). For those of you who may not know I don't like change very much. Oh, I don't mind little changes and of course I want to change myself so that I become a better person and become what my heavenly Father wants of me, but I don't like other things to change much. Of course this presents a problem for many people in their 20s! Changes come in the form of going off to school, changes come when you realize that your major isn't right for you and you have to change it and your classes (sometimes multiple times!), changes come when you are blessed and privileged enough to go on a mission and change the way you act and think every second of every day. Then, when you graduate from college and think you know what you want to do with your life changes come because this is the real world. You may change your job (and it may have nothing at all to do with your degree or the classes you took in college) or your roommate (though if your married you shouldn't and hopefully never do change that!). And that's what started me on this diatribe about change.

My cousin Robbie has been one of my favorite cousin roommates of all time (he's tied for 1st with Chris Porter and Jared Laney (and for those of you who know, Jared is not technically one of the cousins but we have adopted him as such so he counts!)). The other two are married (to wonderful and beautiful women) and I am happy for them, but I was very excited when I had the opportunity to live with Robbie again. Now he is going down to Miami and I am left without a roommate, and without furniture, and without the 42" LCD HDTV hooked up to the computer . . . I mean, without a roommate, yea, that's what I meant! I am happy for Robbie though, this will be a much better job for him and he seems excited about it. Of course the fact that he got an answer to go makes a world of difference too! I will miss having a roommate with crazy antics and jokes, someone to talk to late at night about life, the gospel, and girls. Before I go too much further let me just stress that I have just such a person that I can be with and talk to about all of these things, a best friend, she just can't be my roommate ;) ! So, basically what I am saying is that I will miss Robbie a lot but I wish him luck in his endeavors and work. And to all the ladies in south Florida, watch out! He's a catch!!

Super Hero Quiz

2007-05-14T12:31:00.000-04:00

I figured I would join the bandwagon and do what everyone else in my related end of the blogosphere is doing.

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man		85%
Superman		70%
Green Lantern		70%
Robin		60%
The Flash		60%
Catwoman		45%
Iron Man		45%
Supergirl		40%
Hulk		40%
Wonder Woman		25%
Batman		15%

You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Mothers

2007-05-14T11:15:00.000-04:00

With yesterday being Mother's Day I just wanted to say a few words about mothers. I am feeling particularly grateful to my mother and wanted to share that with everyone. I do apologize for everyone else in the world, you just don't have as wonderful, incredible, amazing, loving, friendly, nice, helpful, loved, beautiful, and all around great Mom as I do. I don't mean to rub it in, but my Mom is pretty much the greatest Mom in the world!

But enough about how lucky I am to have a Mom like mine, I just wanted to spend a second talking about the things I have learned from my Mom. One of the most important things in the world I have learned from my Mom, how to get, have, and keep a testimony of the God the Father and our Savior and his Atonement. That is the most important thing in life. Everything else stems from that. I learned from an early age, thanks to the wonderful and helpful example of my Mom, how to pray and (perhaps more importantly) developed the faith to know that God is listening to my prayers and that He answers them. What a marvelous blessing that is, to learn from my Mom how my heavenly Father is listening to my prayers and answering them. I learned the importance of scripture study; and I mean study, not just reading to get through a number of verses or chapters everyday, but really studying out what the prophets and the Lord are telling us and how to apply that in my life. I have seen my mother readying and studying the scriptures too many times to count in my life. I know she loves the scriptures!! And I therefore want to love them that much every day. I learned so much from, and am ever grateful for, the gospel Q&A sessions we would have as teenagers about once a month with my parents. My Mom's knowledge of the gospel is incredible and motivating to me. I could, but won't, go on about how funny my Mom is (she has a great sense of humor and there have been many nights where we would have family time that would leave us kids rolling on the ground with laughter), how dedicated to her kids she is (I learned a long time ago that my Mom will sacrifice anything for the well being of me and all her other kids, and that is an incredible amount of love!!!), and how dedicated and serving to others she is. All around I guess I am grateful that the Lord placed me in such a great family with such a wonderful, amazing, incredible mother. I love her so very much!

Here's a picture of my family from a couple of years ago when I was still in college. This was taken before my younger sister was married (the one with glasses) and back when my brother was still shorter than me:)

The Much Anticipated Explanation

2007-05-11T09:45:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to wake up and realize you were paralyzed? Have you ever thought, "Gee, I hope I can wake up in a hospital today and when I see my Dad the first thing he will say is 'Do you know who I am?'!"? Have you ever seen any kind of punctuation like what you just read at the end of that sentence?! Well, now I can say I have seen all three; I didn't ever particularly wonder those things before December 2005, but I have now lived through them. That's right, I make sentences with funny punctuation!

But in all seriousness, who wakes up in the hospital with a ventilator/respirator in their mouth and thinks "Well, I look ok with no body parts missing so I must be alright. This thing is annoying. I'm going to pull it out!" No thought of "What if it's keeping me alive because my lungs/body aren't working?" nor "Why is my right side paralyzed and my left hand tied to the bed?" nor even "What am I doing in the hospital with all these IVs and machines hooked up to me?" Nope, not me, it was a simple "I'm going to pull this thing out of my mouth." I then had to half-sit up so my left hand, which really was tied to the hospital bed railing, could get close enough to my mouth to pull out this ventilator/respirator. Of course, that became much harder when I had it half the way out and realized that it was connected to a Gastrointestinal Feeding Tube running down my throat and into my stomach and, wait for it, the "feeding ball" (for lack of a better description) was still inflated in my stomach and very painfully coming back up. For the record, let me just state to everyone that you do not want to pull one of those things out the 'hard way' as I did. I can still tell, even now, when I swallow what it did to my throat coming out!

Let me take it a step back and tell everyone who may or may not know how I got in this position (supine and paralyzed in the hospital with everyone wondering if I would remember my own name or ever move again). In November of 2005 I was 25 years old. Many people, if you asked them then, would have said that I was a very mature, responsible adult making my way in life with all the wonderful blessings the Lord had given me. However, while taking a family walk the day after Thanksgiving, in a moment of teenage boy 'test of manhood' type of thinking, I challenged my Dad to a race. Since we were already walking backwards to talk to my Mom and sisters behind us, we decided that it would be fun to run the race backwards! (Note to anyone reading, don't try this at home or anywhere else for that matter!). My Mom, wonderful and beautiful and smart woman that she is, insightfully observed while calling out to us "Be careful, someone is going to fall and hurt themselves." Rather than paying strict head and attention to my Mom I was thinking about how I could see my Dad off to my right side and he was in front of me (which when you're running a race backwards means I was winning). The next thing I saw was the aforementioned interior of my hospital room in the ICU. My favorite insight from my Mom during my hospital stay, in relation to the fall I should say, was that she told me my head "bounced like a basketball" on the asphalt. So when the prophets and apostles and scriptures say listen to your mothers, they mean it! I could have saved a lot of time, heartache, and money if I would have done a better job listening to my wonderful, amazing Mom.

As you can tell I'm actually all better. Most of the people reading this blog will have seen me or talked to me since the accident and so will know that I'm only as brain damaged as I have always been (does anyone remember the Bill Cosby routine about brain damaged kids? It's hilarious!!). Though I have tried to make this retelling as humorous as possible severe head trauma, subsequent stroke as a result of that trauma, a medically induced coma, three months of speech and physical therapy, and the fears and worries of all my family and friends are not laughing matters. I want to close with this testimony of the power of faith, prayers, and the priesthood. For those who think that medical science has all the answers or think that God is not watching out for us I must emphatically tell you that you are wrong. Through the faith, prayers, and fasting of so many people and through the priesthood blessings given me by my father and others I not only pulled through the accident but made a complete recovery with no serious side effects! The Lord and our heavenly Father truly do watch over and protect our lives. Thank you to all for your thoughts and prayers during that time. Thank you for the support you showed my family. Thank you for your love. Thank you.

It's Always Funny w/ Robbie

2007-05-09T17:05:00.000-04:00

This is probably one of those hilariously funny statements that you never want to hear over the phone, or anytime in your life for that matter (if you're a heterosexual guy, but if you're a female, you may just want to hear these words (but again, not over the phone)). I was talking with my cousin Robbie, who is studying to become a notary public, and who had called me to tell me that one of the things that he can now do is solemnize a marriage. Of course we are family and guys so he was giving me some good natured ribbing about how it would make my day and something about my girlfriend (who is the most beautiful, amazing, kind, incredible, gorgeous girl ever!!!!!!!) and a wedding (I don't know, his maybe?! but not to Christina!!). He ended the phone conversation by saying "So I just wanted you to know I can marry you." That's it, not "I can perform a marriage for you," nor "I can perform a marriage for you and (fill in blank) and give you oodles of money." Just "Now I can marry you." Needless to say, we got a really good laugh out of that!!

P.S. - I know I said my next post would be about why my blog is called "Running Backwards!" but I couldn't pass up this opportunity to tell you what it's like living with my cousin. My next post will be about the title, promise!

Random Musings from a Sunday Afternoon

2007-05-07T13:08:00.000-04:00

Now, most of you will notice that this posting actually occurred on Monday, despite what the title says. However, since the observations and feelings came from Sunday, yesterday, I felt the title was still appropriate. Most of the observations I make come from church, so you may think they are not really as random as you may have thought/hoped.

I suppose I should take a minute to explain some stuff for friends who are not LDS, or just at least not familiar with the LDS church or the "unique" culture of single's wards. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (as previously mentioned the LDS Church or the "Mormons") and a big chunk of my life focuses on my religion (anyone who knows me would understand how true that statement is). It has made me who I am today, what I have accomplished, and shapes the goals I have for the future. That being said, the church is not perfect, and when I say "the church" I mean the people in the church. The Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed by "the Church" is perfect, the ideal organization of "the Church" is perfectly set up to bring us to Christ, but "the church" (the people in the church, the members) are still very much human and NOT perfect. For anyone who has seen previous movies, documentaries, filmstrips, etc. about the LDS Church, or known someone who was/is LDS or Mormon you know that the people of the Church make mistakes and sometimes do things a little differently. But thanks goodness the Lord has called a prophet in our latter days with 12 apostles to lead and guide the Church, and to correct us when we go off course. I am eternally grateful for that fact.

The Bishop (the congregational leader of my ward (which is the geographic boundaries for the congregation), called me as the Ward Mission Leader. Which means that I am involved with everything missionary or mission like in my ward. I served a mission, for two years in Ecuador. Now I am responsible for helping the missionaries within my ward's boundaries in the Orlando Florida area in their work. I need to get the congregation motivated and excited to tell their friends about the church, I need to go out and talk to people, I need to work side-by-side with the missionaries in teaching people, getting them ready to join the Church or in other words get baptized, and then help them stay active in the Church by getting them to make friends, learn ever more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and get them out serving and helping others. It may sound like a lot of work, but boy am I excited!!!!!!!

The take home message from my Sunday musings was that the Lord always knows exactly what is going on in our life and what we need to do. He knows how to help us with our difficulties, how to buoy us up with friends and family and with His "tender mercies." He inspires and qualifies those whom He calls, even if they are the least of His servants (as I am). In other words, I am grateful for a Lord, Savior, and Redeemer who always watches out for everyone of His flock with such tender love and care!

P.S. - That is a perfect segue into my next post which will be, after much popular demand, the reason my blog is titled such!

Welcome to My Wing of the Blogosphere.

2007-05-05T12:21:00.000-04:00

I admit, for a long time I was unaware and uninterested in the blogosphere. But when it became apparent that I was losing touch with my friends and family (OK, not really losing touch, but missing out on some of the more fun goings-on in my extended circle of influence), I decided it was time to join the electronic world of blogging! This is my first, virgin, maiden voyage into the turbulent waters of blogging so please excuse if things are confusing or weird at first. I hope to eventually keep you all entertained and enthralled, but in the mean time, enjoy this awesome video from YouTube.