House Encounters

Motherhood can really be rewarding, sometimes frustrating, but most of the time humorous.

Now that I'm on my third trimester, I can't help but sometimes fall asleep on the couch while Heavenne is playing around. But I noticed that her daily adventures in the house is progressing a lot to new level each day- or how should I say that.

Four days ago, while Kenji and I were preparing dinner we noticed how quiet she is playing inside our room. However we never thought of checking what's going on, because we're used to expect the "tornado disaster" which makes it acceptable and normal for us. But I suddenly feel like I need to lie down on the bed for a while, so I got inside the room and noticed nothing different. After a while she came to me on the bed and showed some drawings on a piece of paper. I showed her my appreciation for her talent and gave some applause. She got so excited and told me how she liked to paint also, I said that's good we'll try painting sometimes. Then I thought that was the end of it, but she got more excited and said, "look I already did some paintings there, see? is it beautiful?" while pointing on the opposite wall. To my surprise, she used some lip gloss and lipstick and did some scribbling with it. I almost screamed, but she managed to cover my mouth quickly. Well we got so lucky on this disaster because our chemist knows how to remove stains from lipstick and lip gloss.

Today, I just fell asleep on our couch after having lunch. When I woke up, I was totally surprised to find a little creature with eye shadow of purple and matching nail polish on toe nails and finger nails too. You wouldn't guess, but if she used the lip gloss and lipstick to scribble on the wall, this time she used the permanent marker for her make up and nail polish. Anyway, she greeted me right away when she saw me opened my eye in astonishment, "Isn't it beautiful?" while posing so I can see clearly her work of art. Anyway, that is just the first, I'm still counting. I was chatting with my sister and she's back playing with her toys in the room again. Suddenly she called me and said she'll stay there and just play with her toys, and I said ok. Again after few minutes she came out of the room, dressed in layers of clothes which is not unusual, she sat on the couch and said she's baking cakes for us. Then I said ok again, and she run back on our room, and came back with lots of baby powder mixed with water on her cooking utensil toys- that's it, her very own cake recipe!

I'll still be counting, but this time I'll pay close attention to prevent humorous disasters, the day is not yet over!

Choices

Choices! A simple word, a verb that's always present, every second, minute, hour, and day of our life. When I was young, I had this feeling that I'm tired of studying, and I'm very eager to finish my education because I thought by then when I got a job I'll be freed from making choices and I could just live my life the way I envisioned it. WRONG! Being a grown up doesn't mean I'd be free from making choices and tests. As grown up, you'll be given more privilege and more responsibility to make choices. The choices we're faced kind of evolves too, the younger we are the choices are simple and it gets more complicated as we age. However there is a beauty in it, it is indeed a privilege and a gift to us. Right choices will make us happy and happier, wrong choices makes our life miserable and lead us to more problems and more complicated life.

In marriage, it is not enough to make one right choice. When we are young we are encouraged to make the right choice of marrying in the temple. But if we wanted a happy family life, we must understand that it does not only begin and end in the temple marriage ceremony. As we live our life, we are faced with many choices, often hard to make, hard to contemplate, hard to figure out what is right or wrong thing to do. And some of the most difficult choices often involves timer, when your timer's up and you haven't made your choice you don't only forfeit the possible score of being happy but you also have to face the consequence as if you made the wrong choice.

Choice can be a privilege to live a happy life, or it can be a hard task that could lead to devastation or miserable life. The way we take each choice determines how we should feel in the end. It determines our integrity as a person. Adversity is very cunning and will always try to tempt us or beguile us to choose wrong, but I'm grateful for the guiding principles given to us or the so called "standards" which guides us as we make some of the most important choices in our lives. The courage to make right choices in spite of what others may think, or say about us will make us feel proud and happy for our choices in the long run.

I love and adore the story about the 2000 stripling warriors. this is how they were described:

“They were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.

“Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him” (Alma 53:20–21).

and to think these warriors were young, inexperienced, and yet they fought with so much courage, faith and they were men of integrity. And through the way they conducted themselves, they frightened even their enemies.

The courage to make right choices is not dependent on age or any other status. It is a gift given to all of us no matter how young, or whatever our educational attainment maybe. From the choices we make we reap the consequences, and that will determine wherever we're going be it the right path to happiness and success or the path that leads to misery- it takes courage, its all our decision.

Who Wants To Be Rich?

If you ask people to raise their hands if they want to be rich, everyone will raise their hand. If you ask them who wants to receive money everyone will raise their hand. If you ask them who wants to work and earn money some will raise their hand. And still if you ask them, who wants to work hard to earn money, only few will raise their hand.

When I was young, I remember a story often told by my mother. It's about a red hen who found a grain of corn ready to be planted. She then asked her household members (A pig, a duck, and a cat) to help her plant the corn seeds, but no one dared to help her and they said they were all busy. So she planted the corn seeds by herself.

When it was time to water the corns, she asked her household again, "who wants to help me water the plants?", but no one dared help her, they all said they have things to do and they were busy.

The red hen did a great job taking care of the corn plants, and soon it was ready for harvest. She asked her household again if they could help her harvest the corn. But everyone said they can't help her and they have things to do. So the red hen, harvested all the corn and brought it in their kitchen.

The following day, she told her household members that she finished harvesting the corn and it is ready to be cooked. She asked them again who wants to help her cook the corns, the pig, the duck and the cat all said they were busy and can't help her in the kitchen. So the red hen cooked the corn by herself. And as soon as she's finished cooking she said, "its time to eat", and the kitchen smelled so good. The household members gathered together in the kitchen, the pig, duck, and cat. All of them wants to join with the red hen eat the delicious meal.

Hard work is a virtue. We cannot expect to be rich by the end of the year without hard work. Although adversity is very cunning, easy earned money which includes those from gambling will never give us the happiness and fulfillment from the rewards we get for working hard. I still believe that we are because of what we do, our choices, hard work, and perseverance are some of the things that determines success and happiness in life.

Everyone wants to be successful but only few becomes such. The problem with many is that they know what they wanted to be but they fail to establish their course by working hard on how to get to their goal. They know what they want and yet they feel its "too hard" and find many excuses not to finish what they've started, and some are even too lazy to start it.

There is beauty in work, there are lots of joy after work. As a mother, I discovered the limitless opportunity to use the hand and the mind, and it does bring so much joy to be able to create something.

There's so much opportunity to work, if we would open our minds and learn to love the beauty of hard work.

They said there is no royal road to education, and I believe the same thing is true with success. There is no easy way to be successful. Those who attained success are the ones who truly learned to love work, and who have forsaken idleness. We can find so much excuses not to work just like the cat, duck and the pig in the story, and in the end find ourselves starving. While those who worked really hard can enjoy something good and special, just like the red hen, from their hard work by the end of the day.

"Without hard work nothing grows but weeds".-G. Hinckley

Training Our Little Girl To Be Modest

Its been more than a year since my last post. Anyway some updates, Heavenne and I are back in Jeddah since November 2010 and we're expecting a baby boy soon, we found it out Dec. 27 - and considers it as the best gift of 2010 to our family. Although Hevyn is telling she really wants a baby sister,with a serious face, she has now accepted the fact that its a boy unlike before when she would sob every time we explain to her its a boy and not a girl.

She's a grown up girl now, we think she is, and she always surprises us with her humor and thoughts. Training and teaching her is becoming a real challenge now that she's learned to reason out. Most of the time she wants to do things herself, this is what we often hear from her, "I can do it by myself". Yes, she does most of the things by herself now, she wants to take a bath alone and wash herself; change her own clothes countless times a day; and use the computer, she even claims that the laptop is hers since the time she asked Kenji if she could have it, who noded and said yes because he didn't thought that her daughter is asking it seriously.

Few nights ago, we decided that we need to take a walk outside and Heavenne dressed up, as usual she picked her own dress. Kenji noticed that the dress is cute but too sexy, which I thought would be just fine because it's really humid outside. While the little girl is looking at herself in the mirror, posing this way and that which is cute for a little girl. The father decided we need to talk to the little girl and ask her to put something that would cover her back and arms and its not too early to teach a child how to dress modestly- and I agree with him. Thumbs up daddy!

I wonder what happened to the fashion now. Most girls would take modesty as old fashion. I highly respect those girls who could keep their way of clothing modest and still be fashionable. The way we dress up outside does reflect on our virtue and our values as an individual. When we watched the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William, I noticed and adored how the royal family has preserved the elegance and modesty when it comes to fashion. That's the fashion that many women forgot as they cling to fads. I don't think the world needs to dictate what is beautiful based on how much we reveal our bodies. The high cost of textiles nowadays might also be the reason, but the value of each square inch on our body is worth covering too, and far more expensive than what you will spend on every yard of textile. Beauty is within every woman, it is in the way she conducts herself around people, it is in the words that comes out of her mouth, it is in her pure thoughts, and in the skills and talents she strive to develop, and it is on how she considers her body as a temple of God, how she treats it with respect and take care of her health. The way we dress sends a message to the world how much we value ourself, and our body. The rich and wise man doesn't flaunt with his treasures as he walk down the street, else he'll end up being robbed by it.

“Prophets of God have always counseled His children to dress modestly. The way you dress is a reflection of what you are on the inside. Your dress and grooming send messages about you to others and influence the way you and others act. When you are well groomed and modestly dressed, you invite the companionship of the Spirit and can exercise a good influence on those around you. …

“Immodest clothing includes short shorts and skirts, tight clothing, shirts that do not cover the stomach, and other revealing attire. Young women should wear clothing that covers the shoulder and avoid clothing that is low-cut in the front or the back or revealing in any other manner. Young men should also maintain modesty in their appearance. All should avoid extremes in clothing, appearance, and hairstyle. Always be neat and clean and avoid being sloppy or inappropriately casual in dress, grooming, and manners. Ask yourself, ‘Would I feel comfortable with my appearance if I were in the Lord’s presence?’ ”
For the Strength of Youth (pamphlet, 2001), 14–16.

This song about virtue sang by Jenny Phillips is for our daughter, I hope you will find your way on it, and find your own way being beautiful.