Do you know what Acts 26:28 says? It is King Agrippa speaking to Paul and he says, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."
I feel like as I read Laudato Si, the second encyclical of Pope Francis, I can place myself in Acts 26:28:
"Then Amanda said unto Pope Fancis, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Catholic."
Pope Francis says some seriously cool stuff. I'm loving his example more and more as time passes. I really believe he is called by God to be where he is, even though I'm Mormon and not Catholic.
I haven't finished reading it but I plan to. It is beautifully written and essentially talks about being better stewards of the earth and taking care of the vulnerable and poor. Lately I have been working out in my mind how to do both of those things so this encyclical really spoke to me.
Sometimes I wish I had the ability to see into people's hearts like Jesus did. He took such good care of the poor and always knew what to do. He spent time with people who others overlooked or looked down on. He knew how to take care of people in the best way to help them. I hope when I meet my Maker the same can be said of me.
If I could thank Pope Francis for his inspired words I would. My dad always said to me, "You know, Amanda, if we were not Mormon we would be Catholic."
Friday, June 19, 2015
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
I Should Be Packing
It's time again to update the blog. I really should be packing. One week from today we will be driving away from Las Vegas in our big Penske truck heading toward the Valley of the Sun.
I'm tired of packing. I had a hard workout today. I just want to sit down for a little while. I no longer use Facebook. I've already caught up on reading other friends blogs. I still want to sit down for a while. I won't shop. I try to avoid shopping unless I absolutely need something. All of my books are packed away. So I'll update my blog.
Life in Las Vegas has been good to us. I was really involved in a local choir, the Las Vegas Master Singers, and I loved that. We met once a week and performed 5 or 6 times. It was fantastic. I hadn't been in a choir in over four years prior to that. It was balm to my soul. Mark and I both faithfully worked out at the gym and participated in triathlons. It feels great to be strong and healthy.
The ward I am in is small so I did not make a lot of friends. But it isn't about quantity. It is about quality. I met and became friends with some of the most quality women I can imagine: Jamie, Dawn, Rachelle, Johanna, and Heather to name a few. I spent the most time with Jamie and Dawn. We have children that are the exact same ages. Austin LOVED to play at their houses or have them come and play with us. We went to splash pads, parks, and pools. We had lunch together innumerable times. They were so good to me and I am SO sad to be leaving them behind. It doesn't bear thinking about. Thank goodness I plan on coming back to Las Vegas annually to participate in triathlons here!
Mark became a biking king. He biked to work almost every single day he wasn't working at the VA and when he was at the VA, I biked the kids around in a bike trailer. You can't ask for better weather to bike in than Las Vegas. Mark really settled into his life as a doctor. I am not sure he would say it but I definitely saw a huge increase in his confidence regarding patient care. He grows more knowledgeable by the day. I'm so proud of him.
The program was really easy on us as a family. We had lots of time to spend together. We went lots of fabulous places: Red Rock, Arizona, Utah, the Grand Canyon, Eiffel Tower Restaurant, Bellagio Fountains, Exotics Racing. We did SO many fun things while we lived here. It was a growing year for us as far as memory making goes. We made some fantastic memories.
Austin is just finishing his first round of swimming lessons. I'm really proud of him for trying his best.
Sean can reach just about anything with a stool these days. We definitely have to keep our eye on our Angel of Destruction :)
We did have to say goodbye to our cat, Moses, while we were here. He got sick and we had to have him euthanized.
By and large, Las Vegas has been a great place to live and we can see ourselves possibly coming back here to live permanently if there is a job available when Mark is finished with his training. But it is goodbye for now.
Thanks, Las Vegas, for a great year!
I'm tired of packing. I had a hard workout today. I just want to sit down for a little while. I no longer use Facebook. I've already caught up on reading other friends blogs. I still want to sit down for a while. I won't shop. I try to avoid shopping unless I absolutely need something. All of my books are packed away. So I'll update my blog.
Life in Las Vegas has been good to us. I was really involved in a local choir, the Las Vegas Master Singers, and I loved that. We met once a week and performed 5 or 6 times. It was fantastic. I hadn't been in a choir in over four years prior to that. It was balm to my soul. Mark and I both faithfully worked out at the gym and participated in triathlons. It feels great to be strong and healthy.
The ward I am in is small so I did not make a lot of friends. But it isn't about quantity. It is about quality. I met and became friends with some of the most quality women I can imagine: Jamie, Dawn, Rachelle, Johanna, and Heather to name a few. I spent the most time with Jamie and Dawn. We have children that are the exact same ages. Austin LOVED to play at their houses or have them come and play with us. We went to splash pads, parks, and pools. We had lunch together innumerable times. They were so good to me and I am SO sad to be leaving them behind. It doesn't bear thinking about. Thank goodness I plan on coming back to Las Vegas annually to participate in triathlons here!
Mark became a biking king. He biked to work almost every single day he wasn't working at the VA and when he was at the VA, I biked the kids around in a bike trailer. You can't ask for better weather to bike in than Las Vegas. Mark really settled into his life as a doctor. I am not sure he would say it but I definitely saw a huge increase in his confidence regarding patient care. He grows more knowledgeable by the day. I'm so proud of him.
The program was really easy on us as a family. We had lots of time to spend together. We went lots of fabulous places: Red Rock, Arizona, Utah, the Grand Canyon, Eiffel Tower Restaurant, Bellagio Fountains, Exotics Racing. We did SO many fun things while we lived here. It was a growing year for us as far as memory making goes. We made some fantastic memories.
Austin is just finishing his first round of swimming lessons. I'm really proud of him for trying his best.
Sean can reach just about anything with a stool these days. We definitely have to keep our eye on our Angel of Destruction :)
We did have to say goodbye to our cat, Moses, while we were here. He got sick and we had to have him euthanized.
By and large, Las Vegas has been a great place to live and we can see ourselves possibly coming back here to live permanently if there is a job available when Mark is finished with his training. But it is goodbye for now.
Thanks, Las Vegas, for a great year!
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