Reasons To Be Thankful For

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will ^acall upon the name of the Lord. (Psalm 116:17)

With the Thanksgiving holiday season rapidly approaching I thought I would make a list of some of the things I am thankful for this holiday season:

I am thankful for a Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ who are always there for me and for the atoning sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross for the sins of all mankind so that we might all have the chance to return to them and live in their presence.

I am thankful for the scriptures, no matter where I turn to in them they always provide me with the answers that I need.

I am thankful for my three families...My wife who has shown me nothing but unconditional love whom I am glad to be with for eternity, and for my soon to be daughter Tielle, I did not know I could love her already and she has not even been born yet.  My mother and father and my niece and nephews whom I love and miss very much and cannot wait to see them again.  To my mother and father in-law and all of my other in-laws, they are the best and I am blessed to have them in my life.

I am thankful for all of my friends I have in my life, Brian and Ellen.  My two best friends, even though I am thousands of miles away I value their friendships and remember the times we had in the past.  Larry, who I value like a father and brother in the gospel, I am blessed to have the opportunity that he re-baptized me and am grateful to him for never giving up on me.  To Eric, although we have only known each other a short time you are always there for me and my life is richer for having you a part of it.  All of my other friends I have made, I thank you all for being a part of my life.

I am thankful to be in school and to be reaching my dream of someday becoming a school teacher and to have the encouragement and support of friends and family who never give up on me.

I am thankful to have found a new job that I absolutely love.

I am thankful for my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (www.lds.org) (www.mormon.org) and for Jesus Christ's true church restored on the earth and through his plan, and his holy temples (www.ldschurchtemples.com) we can return to live in their presence and be with our families for time and all eternity.

I am thankful for the soldiers (past, present, and future) who sacrifice their time and lives to defend our freedoms.  We all owe them brave warriors a debt of gratitude.

I am thankful to live in the greatest country in the world, the United States of America, where we all have the right to worship how we wish and to live in a democratic nation.

I am thankful for my calling in the Elders Quorum as the Secretary and to have my chance to serve Heavenly Father this way.

These are just some of the many things that I am grateful for this season.  I am sure many more will come to my mind soon.  Perhaps if they do I might update this blog again?

Obama vs Romney

     As a lot of people know I love politics, especially when it comes to the office of the President of the United States.  My wife can tell you, I watch all of the political shows no matter what channel they might be on.  We have an election coming up on November 6th for the President.  This election will decide the course of our country not only here at home, but foreign policy as well for the next four years.   have belonged to the Democratic party ever since I was first able to vote in the 1996 election.  Until recently I have decided to vote for the "other" party in this election.  Let me give you 2 reasons why I have switched my vote in this election:
1. Stagnate Economy: Obama promised an improved economy. But, the unemployment rate has remained above 8% for 43 months. Supposedly the unemployment rate has dropped to 7.8% recently, but many feel these numbers are inaccurate as the GDP did not also reflect a spiked improvement. Rosier jobs reports exist only by not counting people who have given up on looking for jobs. If these individuals were included in the jobs numbers for this country, it is estimated that the unemployment numbers would actually be around 11% or so. This generation of young adults seem to need a new nickname - the “boomerang” generation, as many young college graduates are unable to find work in this economy and are moving back in with their parents.

2.  Food Stamp Increase: Never before in the history of our country have so many Americans been on food stamps as they are right now. Food stamp spending has increased 100% since Obama took office. This can be attributed to the horrible state of the economy, and perhaps also because of the ads put out by the National Ad Council, marketing entitlements to the general public. Dependency over self-sufficiency seems to be the agenda of this administration. Especially telling American who have developed their own businesses, that “You didn’t build that!” Obama believes that the government is the answer, not creative, hard-working individuals – he couldn’t be more wrong.

     I sincerely believe these are just a few reasons why our country needs new leadership, and Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan are the people who can steer us into a new direction.  A direction of fiscal solvency, a direction that might not make it better for me, but will make this country better for my children.

Education: Is it worth it?

     Here I sit at the computer early in the morning while my wife lays asleep in bed doing some major thinking in my brain, Education: Is it worth it for myself?  I find myself on the precipice of just giving up over a lack of passing algebra once again.  I am very frustrated at spending my money on this class and not being able to pass it.  Since I must retake algebra again, this will now be my 5th time.    I am asking myself this question, is it worth spending my money on a class that I cannot pass when I have a child on the way?  The answer I keep coming up with is no.  I am literally sick and tired of putting my heart and soul into my dreams, into my education, only to keep getting let down time after time.

     I am honestly tired of being told to "keep trying", or to "never give up."  Lets be realistic here, everyone is good at something, algebra is one of my weaknesses.  Since a weakness stands in my way, I see no way of overcoming the weakness.  I put my heart and soul , mind and spirit, along with lots of prayer into passing this course this time only to once again come up short. 

     As I sit here and type this I wonder if God is even there for me, or if he even heard my prayers?  I feel my life is currently at the crossroads and I do not know which way to look for direction.  Do I want to keep going and try to achieve something that is unattainable?  Or, do I want to stop and be realistic and stray from the path of education and just work at a job and bring home a decent wage for my family?  The fact is, I do not know what to do.  Everytime I honestly put my heart and soul into something, everytime I feel that I have the confidence that I can achieve something in life, the door is constantly slammed shut in my face.  Well I am tired of having the door slammed in my face.  Maybe it is time to take the door off the hinges and throw it away and be realistic with my future.

A Year of Change

     A while ago I made a blog post titled 2012: A Year Of Change? and made a list of some of the changes that I wanted to make this year.  So far, a few of those changes that I wanted to see happen have now come to fruition.  In no particular order here they are:

1.  I am now 4 classes away from completing my Associates degree.  In January 2013 I will be halfway through my degree.  Not many people in my family can say that they have accomplished this.  I am very proud of this and it has been a lot of hard work and frustration along the way, but I am half way to achieving my goal and life long dream of finally becoming a school teacher.  Also, I know that I will be able to provide a living for my future family.

2.  Speaking of family, this topic is next.  My wife and I are expecting our first child nex year.  I look forward to the impending days of fatherhood and raising a child together with my beautiful wife, with our help, and the help of a wonderful Heavenly Father, (and family too), I know that we will be able to do this.  I am not a parent yet, but from what I have seen and talked to other parents too, being a parent is not always easy but it is worth it.  Former LDS Church President Spencer W. Kimball once said that  "A home is a haven against the storms and troubles of life."  I want my children and neices and nephews and all family and friends to know that my home will be a sanctuary to where they can come to with anything, and the spirit will always be there.

3.  This was probably my biggest concern for 2012, one that has caused me a lot of emotions over the last year or so.  I have wanted a new job.  I am proud and happy to report that August 31, 2012 will be my last day with my current employer.  I am not going to sit here and bash my current employer.  That would not be the right thing to do.  As unhappy I was with my job, I was very grateful to be employed in this economy.  The fact is, I knew it was time for a change.  I graduated high school in 1997 and obtained my first real job in 1998 in the retail industry.  This is all I have been doing for 14 years now and I just felt that it was time for a change.  I heard a piece of advice on television several years ago and for some reason it has stuck with me ever since..."The day you wake up and hate your job, you know it is time for a change."  Well it is time for a change and I am now making those changes. 

     The next several months will bring wonderful changes to my life and I look forward to those changes with much anticipation, and I wonder where the Lord will lead my life next.  As one door closes, another opens.

Fatherhood

     As you can all guess by the title of my post, I am going to be a father.  This time next year, I will really have a reason to celebrate Father's Day.  I am very excited that my wife and I are expecting, but also scared.  I am scared that I am not going to be a good enough father, or role model for my child.  I am scared that I will not live up to the standards of what a father will be.  I do know one thing, I look to the future of raising this child with my wife and applying the principals of the gospel to fatherhood, or I should say parenthood. 
    

My Visit Home

     Recently I had the opportunity to fly back home to Pennsylvania for 3 weeks to visit my family and friends that still live there.  While I mostly hung out with my family and only went a few places to visit, it was the fact that I got to return "home" and visit everyone. 

     I did get to hang out with my two best friends, Brian and Ellen.  With Brian I attended church with him, while Ellen and I went to a Pittsburgh Pirates game.  For the Pirates game we got there a bit late (3rd inning) as the 2012 Pittsburgh Arts Festival was also happening) and even though my father gave us the tickets and we had a free parking pass we could not find the lot for which we were assigned to park.  After driving around for a long time we finally found the parking lot and went into PNC Park and watched the game.  We had fourth row on the left field.  Thank you Ellen for attending the game with me and it was awesome to spend time with you.

     I also got to attend my old ward back in Pennsylvania.  It was great to see everybody again, including the person who re-baptized me into the church in 2009.  Larry you are one of my fellow Brothers-in-Christ and my thoughts and prayers are always with you.  I also attended a family reunion while there.  My aunt on my mom's side throws a family reunion every year and it was a pleasant afternoon getting to see people whom I had not seen in years.

     My father and I got to take my two oldest nephews to Kirtland, Ohio and to visit the Kirtland Temple.  My oldest nephew who is not of my faith got to see the temple and visit some of the historic sites that are offered, he even asked some really great questions.  My other nephew, I hope he remembers this visit, as i look forward to attending his baptism when he turns 8 in two years.  I enjoyed my visit home and I hope that I get to come back next year and see everybody again. 

From Online to Campus

     Life certainly is moving right along for me.  In two weeks I return back home to Pennsylvania to visit my family and friends once again.  I am truly excited at the chance to visit once again with everybody.  What I am also excited about is the opportunity I will have later this year as I finish my Associates Degree and then transfer to University of Alaska-Anchorage to obtain my Bachelors Degree for Elementary Education. 

     In just 2 more years I will finally be able to say that I have accomplished my life long dream of becming a school teacher.  Granted, it will be happening a bit later in life than I originally planned it but hey as the old saying goes, "better late than never."  I owe a lot of this to my wife for motivating me to return to school shortly after I moved up to Alaska.  I also owe this to my favorite teacher of all time, the man who has inspired me to become a teacher...my former 3rd grade teacher Mr. Macuga.  I know that if I can be half the teacher that he is, then I will have truly succeeded as a teacher. 

     Receiving my Associates Degree will be very gratifying for myself.  I never thought in all of my life that I could ever achieve something like this.  Truth be told, I always thought of myself as working in a grocery store all of my life and never being able to achieve my goals and dreams.  One of the other reasons why I want this is because I want to be able to provide a life for my family when my wife and I start to have children, and truth be told, working at Walmart is not going to provide me that opportunity.  So here I sit almost halfway through my goals, with a big smile on my face from my hardwork.  Hardwork does pay off.