prop 8 and president-elect obama

i think, for journal purposes, that it would be a good idea for me to comment a little about the recent election and not ignore that it happened all together.

monday night i found myself unable to sleep, and while i think there were many factors that contributed to my problem (probably some medication that i took), a few issues were on my mind. for family home evening that night, jon gathered the family together and we discussed the "economy" - what the "economy" is and what is going on in the world around us! also we discussed "proposition 8" and what was happening in california and around the country as the gay rights advocates protest against the mormons. we had a very interesting and enlightening discussion with the girls, they have been hearing a lot about what is going on, but i believe it was very important to talk to them about it all from our point of view, and what it all means to us as individuals and in our family.

my mind was very troubled because tuesday morning (the next day) i had an appointment to get my hair done, and the man who does hair in the chair next to my girl, is gay. i was pretty sure he would bring prop 8 up, and i was pretty sure he would have strong opinions about it! we have had discussions over the years about what i believe and why, about several topics. i'm not sure i have ever done a very good job of explaining the answers to his questions, but i have tried! so, i was trying to get my head straight about how i would respond to his accusation's. i had some great conversations in my head :).

in the most recent articles that i have read, it seemed the protestors were angry with the mormon leadership. the thought that kept coming to my mind was how wrong they were about these loving, kind, Christlike men. i knew i wanted to defend their integrity and our belief in the laws of God. unbelievably, the topic never came up during my two hours in the chair. i am very grateful though for a sleepless night, where i could get my head together about why we, as a church, became very active about trying to pass a law that stated marriage could only be defined as between a man and a woman. i am grateful to know where i stand and why.


president-elect obama. i have had such a mixture of feelings over the past year. with hilary clinton and mitt romney being in the mix for awhile, and then as things got narrowed down to the two, obama and mccain. let me just say this. i pretty much distrusted every candidate by the time we voted. if my opinions were to come only from watching tv commercials and listening to the powers that be on the tv news, i would have been very depressed. maybe america could ban commercials that have anything to do with politics. as it stands, with a new president elected, I HOPE HE IS SUCCESSFUL! i am praying for his success. i worry a lot about those he seems to surround himself with for advise, even more than i worry about him. but i hope the fact that america was able to elect a black president (and it didn't even seem like his race was really an issue), should help every black person in america feel like they can do and be anything they desire to. i like that he is a family man (maybe he reminds me of bill cosby:). he seems to be happily married and he is being a father to his children. he is an example of education, a great smile, and a willingness to work, for all people who live in our great country. i am hoping we will all see the light, and become hard-working americans again, who don't expect the government to take care of us, and make everything fair, but to take our lives in our own hands and make the most of every opportunity we get.

and that is all i have to say about that...for now.