Sunday Thoughts

So today as I was sitting in church, I recalled a conversation that I had with one of my good friends who isn't a Mormon like I am. We were talking about whether or not the Bible is literal or figurative, specifically about Jonah and the whale. She pointed out that it seems unreal that a whale would swallow a man, but I pointed out that we do know they threw Jonah overboard, so maybe the whale actually did swallow him.

I pondered that for a while today, about Jonah being swallowed by a whale. That in itself seems unpleasant, I mean, in all the pictures of whales I've seen, their mouths are pretty gross... But as I thought about Jonah, the story came to mind.

Jonah, as we know, was told to do something by the Lord, but he didn't want to do it, so, being the smart man he was, he ran away and hid from the Lord. But the Lord sees all, and knows all. He knew Jonah was on a ship and sent a storm. Jonah knew what had to go down. He told the sailors to throw him overboard and they would be saved, so they did, and a whale swallowed Jonah. He spent three days in the belly of the whale and then the whale spit him out on shore.

Now, I've heard that story quite a few times but it occurred to me recently that for someone who hadn't heard that story in their childhood, that might seem strange. But then I thought, "What if the Lord hadn't sent the whale?"

Jonah likely would have drowned. He'd be dead. Or the sharks would have eaten him. Or maybe he would have drowned and then the sharks would have eaten him.

So in punishing Jonah for running away, the Lord saved his life, in more ways that one, even. He saved Jonah's life from physical death, and he also saved him from spiritual death. When Jonah was in the whale, he repented and prayed. He returned to his Lord and knew that when he thought he was hidden on a ship from the Lord, the Lord can hear him and speak to him even in the belly of a whale at the bottom of the ocean. And then the whale spit Jonah out on shore and he went on to do as the Lord commanded, teaching and preaching and, I think, bringing many souls to the Lord.

That to me shows a loving and merciful God. His punishment of Jonah, while not the sort of punishment my parents or your parents would deliver, was what Jonah needed to get back on track.

So I wonder, what is the Lord doing to get me back on track? I wonder what my spiritual whales are. That's something to think about.

Blog Post: Sister Blog

This blog post is just a quick blog post to refer you to another blog post. I posted a really long blog post on the blog that I share with my two sisters. It's awesome. Go look at it.

http://transisterradio.blogspot.com/2012/09/this-sister-loves-halloween.html

And there it is! Look for another blog post to follow here. Blog post. I don't think I said that enough. Blog post. Sounds like a frog. Blog post.

Embarrassing Moments

This blog post is brought to you by an embarrassing moment from this past weekend.

So, it being the long weekend due to Labor Day, my lovely neighbor and I decided to take a trip down to Provo to see our old roommates from last year and my best friend from the home state, whom I haven't seen in a while. We got to Provo Saturday evening, and decided that we were going country swing dancing. (I'll get to the embarrassing part, I'm just setting the stage.)

We were at country swing dancing, and, typical of Mormon boys ('scuse me for stereotyping but it's TRUE), us lovely girls were hardly getting asked to dance, so we took it upon ourselves to ask the boys to dance. The majority were wonderful dancers, I don't know why they simply didn't ask.

So a certain boy was pointed out to me by my roommate to be a great dancer, so I stepped out and asked him to dance. He was wearing a button up shirt with pearl snaps. He consented, and we danced for the rest of the song. After the song, he initiated a conversation, and we chatted through the next song. Then one of my favorite songs came on, so it would have been rude of him not to ask me to dance again, so we danced again. And thus we became friends.

We didn't stick together the rest of the night, but as we bumped into each other throughout the rest of the night, we would chat, or make a comment, or just smile and say "hi".

And now I'm ready to tell you about my embarrassing moment. He asked me to dance again a little while later, and it was a cowboy cha cha. (You don't need to know that, I was just adding it for effect.) So as we were dancing, he brought my hand closer and twirled me around, and (are you ready for this? It's about time) my thumb hooked in his shirt, pulling apart the snaps.

How embarrassing is that?? We stopped dancing and he let go to put his shirt back together, and makes the comment that, "Well, I know we're friends but I don't think we're THAT good of friends...." while I stood there, completely aghast and knowing I just ruined all chances of him getting my phone number, and repeated over and over, "I'm so sorry! Oh my gosh! I'm so embarrassed! I'm sorry!" Hoping that the words somehow would erase what had just happened. All he had to say to that was, "Geez, you got three whole buttons!" And then we both laughed and finished the dance.

He didn't completely ignore me the rest of the night, in fact, he actually asked me to dance again later, and we chatted for a while. But that embarrassing moment is worth a prize somewhere, I swear.

Wide Open Spaces

Welcome to my new blog! Let me begin by saying that I chose the name because sunshine and fresh air are the two things that make everything better. Stressed out? Go outside! Broken heart? Take a walk! Stubbed your toe? Limp out that door!

I had the chance to spend my summer working on a cattle ranch in the beautiful mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. The ranch sat on the border of the two states, so we lived in Colorado and worked in Wyoming when we moved cattle. There's something about riding a horse in the Colorado sunshine and breathing in the fresh mountain air that just soothes the soul. Then you kick the horse into a lope and as the wind blows through your hair and you feel the rhythm of the horse moving, you just know that there's no place you'd rather be. Even now, as I type this sitting on the couch in my apartment back in the city, I can still feel the warmth of the sunshine on my back and hear the birds chirping and the noisy cicadas going by.

One thing I've discovered is that while I fell in love with the mountains and the view, I still love the prairie. Living here in the Rocky Mountains of Utah, I miss the wide open spaces of my home state, South Dakota. I miss the pine trees and the grass, even though it was usually deadish grass. I miss the Colorado sage brush as well, and the river rushing by. I thought I wouldn't miss the constant wind from Wyoming, but I actually do. Even in Colorado, it would've been too quiet if it weren't for the river.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is I love the country. The Salt Lake valley here makes me wish that I could see what it was like before there were buildings and houses everywhere. The beauty of the mountains is almost cut off because of all the marks that people have made on the land, with the roads and power lines. It makes me want to move to Montana, or Wyoming, or Arizona. I've had the hankering lately to go to Arizona. I'm not sure what's in Arizona, but I want to see the desert and the red rock.

Being young and unattached anywhere, I can do that. I can pack up and go where I want to, and enjoy the experiences that I'm able to have before settling down somewhere. It's exciting what the future has in store for me. Maybe I'll go to Texas next summer.