MaeLyn's Musings

How would you define the word "strong"? Look it up in a dictionary, or just Google it and see how many definitions there are, how many different kinds of strength there can be. Synonyms include powerful, athletic, tough, intense, forceful, compelling, influential, passionate, deep-seated, secure, indestructible, tenacious, vivid, concentrated, and extreme. In general we associate strength with muscles. Muscles are strengthened as muscle fibers that are damaged through use are fused together to form new, thicker strands. In other words, muscles are strengthened when they are used and challenged. When muscles are not used for extended periods of time, they atrophy, or waste away. The mind, like a muscle, must also be used to be strengthened and to avoid atrophy. Peter at 3 months People need to be strong physically and mentally to survive all the challenges we face in this life. Luckily, we seem to be born knowing this instinctively. As infants we kick and squirm a...

I was a passenger on a bus in an underground warren of streets in what reminded me of an airport terminal. The bus driver had been commissioned to deliver us to a particular gate, but didn't know how to get there. Another passenger had a map, but since none of the gates were labelled in any way, it was impossible to tell where we were or which of the gates we saw was the one we wanted to reach. I had a strangely familiar feeling like I'd been there before - not familiar in the sense that I knew the way to where we were going, more in the sense that I'd been in that same situation before, that we were going around in endless circles. Steven's alarm clock went off. It was 5:30am, and time to get up for family scripture reading before the boys went off to seminary. We gathered the kids, and it took repeated knocks at Hannah's door before she awoke- she'd had a late night and was in no condition to drive the boys to seminary. After our family scripture reading, I ...

I called my neurologist's office this morning and asked if they could change my prescription to something different. I haven't broken out into a horribly deadly rash. I haven't been contemplating suicide. I haven't even had a seizure recently. But life has been hard for me these last three weeks. At first I wasn't sure if I wasn't just coming down with a cold or something. But day after day, I've felt tired and drained... and a bit spacey.  I felt like I would on a fast Sunday when I've gone without food and water for 24 hours, except that I've been eating and drinking normally. I've felt like I do when I'm sleep deprived, but I've been getting the same amount of sleep as I normally do, if not a bit more because I've been so tired. A few days ago it occurred to me that the seizures I am experiencing are a symptom of some condition of which the doctors don't have a clue, and that I am taking a medication daily that is having a ...

Small and useful gifts. All must fit in the suitcase Destined for Brazil.

If you see this (It's called "ring around the collar") ,  Then do this:  Add a bit of this (Dawn dish soap - look for it around the kitchen sink) to a splash of this (Hydrogen Peroxide - look in the medicine cabinet) so it looks like this:  Rub in gently.  Note this is an old toothbrush! Let sit for a few minutes...  ...then wash normally. Tada!

Somehow along the line, I neglected to teach my youngest child how to load a dishwasher, in spite of the fact that it has been his chore for a week, every four or five weeks for the last several years. I knew he didn't like to do it, but this morning he complained that one of the reasons he doesn't like to is because he doesn't know how. Well, I've been thinking about posting instructions in the kitchen by the sink for a while anyway, (I think he isn't the only child confused about what can and what cannot go into the dishwasher) so I guess it is time. I'm typing this up for me, but I'm posting it here just in case it helps any one else. 1. What CAN NOT go into the dishwasher: WOOD - Chopsticks, Wood handled knife, potato masher, wooden spoons, wooden cutting board, don't put it in the dishwasher CAST IRON - Don't even think about it. This needs to be scraped/ wiped out WITHOUT soap, dried thoroughly and lightly oiled so it doesn't rust.  ...

Have you ever felt fear? I had been in Brazil for a few months and was just beginning to feel comfortable with the strange culture when my missionary companion and I arrived home late one evening. My companion was getting some food in the kitchen when I went up the dark stairs alone. It was when I reached the hall at the top of the stairs that I sensed something rushing towards my head in the darkness, fast. I was overwhelmed with terror - not a roller coaster adrenaline rush type of fear, or the kind of fear from which you can run away screaming. The only sound I could get out was a strangled gasp. I never thought to wonder if it was a panther pouncing or a maniac swinging an ax. This was a mind numbing, body paralyzing kind of fear. I was petrified. It wasn't until after it swooped past my ear and out the open window behind me that I was able to turn around and see the bat winging off into the night and then make my shaky way back down the stairs to the comfort of a lighted roo...

This morning I was reading some of the mass of new information that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has put out regarding church history in the last year or so, and I wondered why church leaders felt it so important to clarify so much information about the history of the church just now. In Relief Society on Sunday, our counsel was about getting the most out of General Conference, and the discussion evolved to why General Conference is important, and why we should pay attention to the things our prophet and church leaders are telling us. An example that was brought up was the The Family: A Proclamation to the World that was issued by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1995. At the time, many of the statements in the proclamation seemed obvious to us. It didn't seem like a big deal. This was issued before governments started feeling the need to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. This was before there was so much confusion ab...