Saturday 30 July 2011

Time Out For Women

Today I went to Time Out For Women in Auckland - the first one ever.  It was so amazingly awesome I almost don't want to blog about it because I know I won't do it justice.  But I'll do my best :)

I was sitting with Rhona, Jasmine (her sister in law), Val (her visiting teacher), Kim H, Bex (Nikki's friend) and Nikki.  We got there pretty early so got some good seats near the front on the left hand side.  The them was Choose to Become.  The speakers expanded on this - choose to become what Heavenly Father wants you to be, not necessarily what you thought you should be.


The presenters were Hilary Weeks (my favourite!), Laurel Christensen, Brad Wilcox, Sheri Drew (CEO of Deseret Book) and Virginia Hinkley Pearce (Pres. Hinkley's daughter).

Laurel Christensen:

Laurel Christensen spoke to us first about her journey of 'becoming'.  She was really funny and made jokes of herself a lot.  She told us how she is a natural pessimist but working on becoming an optimist.  Some points from her talk....

None of us are still on our "Plan A", it might be Plan B, C, or whatever.  However we need to have faith that it's the Lord's Plan A for us.

Faith is Optimism and Optimism is Faith.  It is vitally important to pray with faith. Moroni 7:20-25 (http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/7?lang=eng) talks about how we can use faith to lay hold on every good thing.  3 Nephi 18:20 states "And awhatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you." so we need to pray for what's right and then we can have the faith it will be given to us.  So first when praying we should actually ask if it's the right thing to pray for, then we can be sure when we pray for it that it will be given. (See Doctrine and Covenants 9:7-8).

"If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now.  Don't give up when the pressure mounts.  Don't give in... Face your doubts.  Master your fears... Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you." Jeffrey R Holland, Cast Not Away Your Confidence, BYU Speeches 1999.

She told us that she had set herself a goal to run a half marathon.  She started running and training and figured it would be a good way to lose weight too.  She suffered a back injury and had to stop training and got in a downward spiral of depression about it.  The experience led to her deciding to be an optimist.  She went to the biggest loser ranch for two weeks where she was pushed so hard she really felt like she would die!  She had to do a treading class and had been told how really really really really really (etc...!) hard it was.  It involved running at your top speed possible for 5 mins, then 5 min rest, then run 4 mins, with 4 min rest etc etc.  She knew she couldn't do it, but thought, hey I'll start and then just quit.  At least I will have tried.  About 2 mins in she started to tell her trainer she just couldn't do it and had to stop because she felt she was going to die.  Her trainer "got all Gillian" on her :) and shouted in her face "Don't you dare quit - don't be the one thing standing in your way." and she carried on, despite all her pleading and sure knowledge that she couldn't do it.  She finished the 5 mins and in the cool down was just feeling proud of herself, but knew she couldn't do it again.  She got back on, planning to quit again and the same thing happened.  The trainer pushed her through it and she finished.  At that point she had a realisation that she had known she could not do that, but she just did.  She wondered how many other things she had limited herself with in her life because she knew it was out of reach and something she certainly couldn't do. But now, she knew that her idea of what she knew she could do wasn't actually accurate.

Ephesians 3:20 talks about doing exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh within us.  We need to have the vision of what we can become, like Joseph of Egypt, to help us have the faith through the things we think we can't do.  Joseph had the faith and knew the Lord was with him (see Genesis 39).

Often we have faith in an outcome when we should have faith in Christ.  Meaning the outcome may be different to what we hoped for, but we must have faith that it is what the Lord knows is what we need.

Finally she encouraged us to write down the desires of our heart so that we can start to see the vision of what we can become and start on our way to getting there.

Hilary Weeks:

Hilary Weeks sang songs throughout the day and also was the second speaker.  She did some of her really funny songs and had us crying with laughter because it's just so true! She quoted Sister Marjorie Hinkley: "Be kind - everyone is facing something difficult".  Some thigns from her presentation...
Once she heard that on average we have 300 negative thoughts a day, so she bought a clicker counter thing to count each time she had a negative thought.  After a week she felt really depressed and figured out that just by acknowledging those negative thoughts and taking notice of them, she was giving them more weight and power.  So she switched to counting the positive thoughts and her outlook was completely turned around.  She told us how much better it is to create positive thoughts instead of noticing negative ones.

We should apply this to our own self-analysis at the end of the day too - we should take note of the good we've done.  What would Heavenly Father whisper to us at the end of the day?  It wouldn't be all the stuff we're beating ourselves up about, he would be gently patting us on the back and telling us well done for the good things we did.

"How could a person possibly become what he is not thinking? Nor is any thought, when persistently entertained too small to have its effect.  The divinity that shapes our ends is indeed in ourselves."  (The Miracle of Forgiveness)

"The thoughts that we dwell on inside our minds, the feelings we foster inside our hearts and the actions we choose to take will have a determining impact on our lives, both her and in the hereafter." (Rest unto your souls, Oct 2010 general conf)

"To a great extent we accomplish what we think about.  Your thoughts, more than anything else, will be the determining factor in what you accomplish during your life." (Drawing on the powers of Heaven)

She told us about a realisation she had when spending time with her 9 year old daughter.  I will have eternity to spend knowing my children as adults - now is the only time I get to know them as children.  We need to make sure we are making the most of it - slow down and enjoy it.

Virginia Pearce:

Virginia Pearce is the daughter of Marjorie Pay and Pres Gordon B Hinkley.  She spoke about missing her parents and also her husband who died not long after her mother.  Her main presentation was about the mothering influence women have.  Some things from her talk...
We all have more than one mother - there are more women that have a motherly influence on us than just our own mother.  She gave the example of a friend of hers and Eliza R Snow as the one who started the Relief Society. (she may have talked about another too, but I don't remember now!)  She told us how Eliza R Snow is mothering us now by the foundation work she did to start Relief Society.
Her mother taught her to switch her plan to the lord's plan.  When your Plan A isn't working out, figure out what the Lord's plan A is and make it work.
In trying to overcome struggle the things we do to try to improve our life (eg scripture reading, prayers etc) changes our hearts, but often doesn't change the circumstances.  We just are able to cope with and understand it better.
Where are you in a mothering role now?  What influence are you having?  Am I aligned with the lord's vision of me and what he wants me to become?
Never underestimate the simple basic to-dos in the gospel.

Brad Wilcox:

He gave a really awesome presentation on grace and the atonement.  Some thoughts from his talk...
2 Nephi 25:23 It is by grace that we are saved after all that we can do.  It is grace that saves us, we can do nothing without God.  We are nothing without God, but nothing is not the same as worthless, it means powerless.

Lesson in a milk jug - a girl wanted to carry the milk jugs into the house but they were too heavy, so her mother picked her up while she held the milk jugs and carried her in.  She proudly told her Dad that she had carried them in all by herself.  This is like grace and the atonement - our efforts our pretty insignificant, it is the Lord who carries us and does the work we can't.

We need to become the right kind of person, it's not about the specifics of what we do - we are not called Human Doings :)  First we know then we do then we become.  It's the end bit that's important.

He knew of a young man who was struggling so Brad, Brad's mother and the boys father paid for him to go to EFY thinking it would be an amazing and changing experience.  He only lasted a few hours before he couldn't stand it and called his mother to demand he be brought home.  Heaven will not be heaven for those who have not chosen to be heavenly.  We should have a different perspective on how the judgement day will be - mostly we think about it as Christ standing there with a clipboard and us begging to be allowed in.  Actually it's the Saviour who is begging us to use his atonement to want to be changed and saved and want to be heavenly, so that we can feel at home there.

So actually the important emphasis on "after all we can do" is on the we - meaning me and the saviour.

On earth "we're not earning heaven, we're learning it".  Grace isn't about doing all we can to earn our place in heaven.  We can't even begin to earn it.  Jesus doesn't make up the difference, he makes all the difference.  It's not about filling in the gaps, it's about filling us.  He paid our entire debt, not just most of it except a few coins that we have to take care of.  What we're required to do is not fill the space, but fill us.

The piano teacher analogy - Mom pays the piano teacher.  Because she has paid the teacher, she requires certain things from the child - practice.  The practice doesn't pay the teacher and it doesn't repay the Mom, it grows the child.  Sometimes the child thinks it's unfair, unreasonable, not fun and just too much.   We need to see through His eyes what He is trying to make of us.

Jesus is not waiting for you to get everything fixed so you can go to Him.  Heavenly Father is not waiting for you to "be worthy" to pray, to go to church etc etc.  Grace is not given to those who are worthy  - it's the enabling power that helps us become worthy.

Hilary Weeks then sang He'll Carry You - go listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkRo42AbOfQ

Sheri Drew:

She encouraged us to look up the Church Historian's Press on lds.org and find the Joseph Smith Papers where there are the original minutes of Relief Society and 6 lectures from Joseph Smith.  Some thoughts from her presentation...

Root yourself in the gospel - John 4, Drink of living water.  Ask the Lord "What do you want me to be?" Rather than trying to figure out what you want so much, put it back to Him.

We root ourselves by learning and that's done through study and faith.  Do you know what it means to be a child of God? Doctrine and Covenants 138:55 tells us that our generation is noble and great - Heavenly Father has plans for us, we should ask Him what he wants of us.

The atonement is more than just for sinners.

With Rhona, Ruby, Dionne and Carly

Jasmine put her baby in her TOFW tote bag at the end :)
(Meredith Taylor's take on the day is here: http://taylorandmeredithnorman.blogspot.com/2011/08/time-out-for-women-tofw.html)

Thursday 21 July 2011

Amigurumi

Have you seen this??

http://www.gourmetamigurumi.com/

These are pretty amazing examples of Amigurumi

Adam vs Rope Swing

So the here's the story behind the rope swing.

When we were living here the last time we took a trip to Hahei with Sheri and her boys.  On one of the days we walked down to the other end of the beach where there's a really big rope swing.  You have to climb up the side of the rocks to go on it.  The boys all got up to have a go on it and then it came to Adam's turn.  He got himself all lined up, grabbed the rope up high and jumped off and onto the knot at the end.  Except he didn't think about positioning his landing on the knot and squashed some rather essential and sensitive body parts.  He yelled out and as he swung down the pain intensified so by the time he got up to the top of the swing on the other side he decided the pain was too great and just let go without much thought.  Remember he was at the top of the arc of the swing on the other side, but I guess that particular brand of manly pain overtook all rational thought as he just let go and fell flat on his back on the sand from about 15 feet high.

The rest of us were bent over laughing, it was just so funny to watch!  He could have let go at the bottom of the swing, just a couple of feet off the ground, but what was so funny was watching him wait 'til he was all the way back at the top again and then just totally letting go :)

So on this recent trip to Hahei we revisited the same swing, where Adam agreed to go back on it if Sam did first (not thinking that she would go through with it).  Her swing was pretty funny - after quite some time gathering her courage and positioning herself, the sound effects were pretty funny when she jumped off.  See her video here

Then Adam reluctantly climbs up and after quite a while of trying to get himself ready, he backs out :)  The flashbacks were just too vivid :D  So I get up and have a go (see it here) but afterwards Adam still can't bring himself to give it a go.  So Leilani comes up "Look, Dad, I'll do it and show you it's easy".  Now both Adam and I thought he was pretty safe with that one, there was no way Leilani would actually go through with it once she got up there.  So I help her up, give her the rope, but she's not quite tall enough to get up on to the knot.  So I crouch down and tell her to stand up on my knees - and she does! On the side of a pretty high bit of rock.  She gets herself ready and goes for it!  I was so impressed with her, she's got so much braver with stuff like that since we came here.

So after his 6 year old daughter had done it, that sealed his fate, there was no way he could go away being out done by Lani!  So he got up again, went through a fair bit of preparation making sure he was high enough and things were, um, positioned correctly ;) and then finally did it.  He admitted afterwards to holding on pretty tight to try and support his weight with his arms and avoid a repeat of his last experience :)  His swing is here.

Leilani also went back on and had a second go.  Unfortunately I didn't get a video of her turn because the first time I was up there helping her and didn't bother giving my phone to Sam to do it because I never thought she'd go through with it, and by the time of her second go I'd run out of memory :(  Will have to get her next time :)

Saturday 16 July 2011

Winter weekend in Hahei

Yep that's right, these photos are taken in the winter.  I know, I can't quite believe it myself :)

We got here last night, for our first visit here since the new beach house was built and it is gorgeous - very lucky to have the opportunity to use it!




This morning I was woken up early enough to see the sunrise and after breakfast we went out to find some geocaches nearby.  Took a nice walk down to Cathedral Cove and the kids had a lovely time playing on the beach together.  We were really lucky to get a nice sunny day and it certainly doesn't feel like winter!







Thursday 14 July 2011

Polkadots concert

Tilly and Zach got to go to their first proper Polkadots concert.  It was pretty cool :)

With each of the polkadots and Mr Bop afterwards (Polkadot Ashleigh is standing in for Dez while she's on maternity leave)
  






First Cinema Trip

I took Zach and Tilly to see Cars 2 at the Mums and Bubs session last week - excellent value, Adults only $9 and kids under 5 free.  Only downside is having to see a film with a partially lit cinema full of lots of under 5s ;)

Tilly was a bit too young for it really and only managed to sit still for about 20 mins.  The rest of the time she spent climbing over the chairs.  Zach was better, but the film didn't really hold his attention very well.  Still, they enjoyed the experience.




The latest goings on

I'm really struggling to get this done regularly - sign of a busy life I suppose!

Ok, so first up - Tilly is having huge tantrums at the moment.  Her personal best is 45 minutes of straight screaming with no breaks.  During that one I totally gave up trying to calm her down and went about my normal things - she just followed me around screaming at me while I ignored her and turning of the vacuum cleaner while I was using it :)  The photo below was taken the other day when she started screaming getting into the car ti take Zach to Kindy.  She carried on all through the car journey, getting out into the pushchair, the 10 min walk to kindy and the walk back to the car.  Then I got her in the car and she all of a sudden fell asleep in the middle of her tantrum, with her bottom lip still sticking out.

We had our first go at geocaching (google it!) and it was loads of fun.  The kids thought it was really exciting (and so did I!) and it was great figuring out the clues and hunting for the caches.  The Taylors came with us.


Finding the first cache
Looking for the next cache

Walking back - Zach was a bit worn out!