Never mind

"Be kind,

for everyone you meet

is fighting a great battle."

Okay, so I lied. I guess I don't really want to take a break from blogging. I don't know what my problem is... My last post probably sounded preachy, though I didn't mean it to (case in point). I don't really know what the purpose of this blog is. Some people use their blogs to communicate with family and share pictures. I do that sometimes....Some people use blogs as a writing outlet, which I do sometimes as well. I use my blog to vent, to share, to connect. And I don't want to give that up. I DO think there is harm in living too much in the virtual world, but I think my blog has it's place as a means of connecting to family and friends. Facebook on the other hand . . . I should probably learn to live without it. It has it's place, I think, but I've had a few run-ins with that blasted website that have left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

*SEGUE*

I've learned a HUGE lesson in the last few days. That is that we (and by "we" I really mean "I") need to be kinder to our fellow men. Not just in action or in how we treat people, but in how we think of them and in how interpret their actions.

I recently learned that I had unknowingly and unwittingly offended someone. It was a mess of miscommunication, and everything has been straightened out and its all water under the bridge now, but it taught me the value of giving someone the benefit of the doubt. I certainly want for my friends and acquaintances to give me the benefit of the doubt, but it wouldn't be fair of me to expect that of other people unless I do the same. I think one of the worst feelings in the world is to know you have hurt someone. No one wakes up in the morning and says "Who can I hurt today?" At least no one I know. :) So we should assume the best of people.


An example: Today a little neighbor-boy was locked out of his house. My friend Kattie had come over to pick up her son who I had tended that morning, and she noticed it. We went over and banged on the door and rang the bell for several minutes. Finally the boy's dad came to the door. He had been sleeping, and said he thought he had locked the boy inside. Now, part of me really wanted to be angry and assume the dad had purposefully locked the kid out, but I made a choice in my mind to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. I don't know these neighbors well, but I know they are nice people. Maybe when he had locked the door, he really had assumed the boy was inside. Maybe the boy snuck out another way. Who knows. I wasn't there. Granted, I don't think I would be sleeping if I had a rambunctious three-year-old on the loose, but that's none of my business.

Another example: there's a certain individual in my ward who has rubbed me the wrong way on many occasions (obviously its not someone who reads this blog or ever would, so nobody freak out). I was observing her one Sunday when the Spirit whispered to me that I need to have more charitable thoughts toward her. Something in the way she carried herself that day, the bent of her shoulders or the tilt of her head, just signalled loud and clear that she is probably carrying burdens I have no inkling of. Sure she's treated me gruffly more than once, but so what.

ANYWAY, I think I'm still sounding preachy (don't mean to), so I'll shut up. Here are some recent pictures of my Muffin. Her hair is long enough that I can put it in a ponytail in the back. It kills me!!!!! Where has my baby gone???