Deep thoughts by Megan....

This is one of my favorite lines from any song ever written. It happens to be from our national anthem:

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

To me, this is a perfect description of America.

During school, the kids and I have been studying American history. On the side, I've been reading a book called Seven Miracles That Saved America. I feel immersed in the history of my country like I haven't been for a while. It is clear, even in reading secular history books, that God has had a significant and deliberate hand in the development of this country. I don't believe this makes us more special or more important than people elsewhere. Rather, it gives us a responsibility to share God's great blessings of freedom and prosperity.

Right now, we face difficult times in America. Between the wars, economic difficulties, crime, and the passing of laws lacking virtue, there is plenty to worry about. Today, I was reminded of a verse from The Book of Mormon:

"And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me." (Alma 36:27)

Throughout our history, God has supported our nation under trials and troubles of every kind. If we continue to put our trust in Him, He will, without question, deliver us.

Veterans Day

So, today is a holiday. It's one of those meaningful holidays that doesn't include a lot of wild parties. Let me list a few of the veterans in my family:

• My dad, Peter, served in the Army National Guard.
• My father-in-law, Bob, served in Vietnam.
• My brother, Jeff, served in Iraq and is active-duty Army.
• My nephew, Andrew, is in the Army and expects to be deployed to Afghanistan.
• My cousins, Tyler, Ellen, Jason, Ben, and Lewis have served (or still serve) in the Marines, Army, and Air Force. Ben served in Iraq.
• My uncles, Chub and Bert. Bert served in Vietnam and I believe Chub was in the Army, but I could be wrong.
• My husband's grandfather, Friday Hema, served and was killed in Korea.
• My great-great-something-grandfather, Mr. Rawlins, served in the Revolutionary War. Of course, he was a Tory and I believe he suffered a traitor's fate in the end. I should double check that story with my uncle.

The media is very odd on the issue of veterans. It seems they want to honor and support our military, but at the same time they are quick to latch on to any story of a member of the military who does something naughty. I am very grateful that I have my brother. When I am bothered by what I hear on the news, I ask Jeff questions. His answers, the way he thinks things through, and the way he acts, bring me considerable peace of mind. I am confident that we have many good men and women in our military who are trying to keep the world safe. Ecclesiastes teaches us that there is a time for war and a time for peace. As much as I want to live in a peaceful world, I recognize that it will not be completely possible until the Prince of Peace returns. To truly be Christian, we cannot allow bad people, wherever they are, to continue hurting others. In the situations we presently face, I strongly believe that we are the good guys. (And by "we," I mean American soldiers.)

I hope this is okay with Jeff...I would like to print something he recently wrote to me. "I know I'm a soldier, warrier, and a protector of the innocent. I do it because I believe God equipped me for it, and it is up to me and others like me to protect those who aren't necessarily equipped to protect themselves." Jeff does things I couldn't do. I enjoy my freedoms. I like my peaceful little life. I recognize that freedom is not free. I need people like Jeff to protect me.

The other cool thing about Jeff is that he feels passionately about democracy and freedom. He feels a passionate desire to share democracy with the world. (I can't print that word for word because it was a spoken conversation.) I love that about him. While he was stationed in Iraq, his particular assignment required a lot of interaction with Iraqi citizens. Jeff got the wonderful opportunity to be in Iraq during their first democratic election. He was assigned to arrange to get Iraqi police and military to the voting polls safely. He has the coolest picture of some of his Iraqi  peers, just after they voted, holding up their fingers stained with ink and smiling with the smiles of people tasting freedom.
I taste freedom everyday and I am daily grateful for those who provide it for me--both past and present. I know it's cliche, but I'll say it anyway. We are the home of the free because of the brave. Thank you to all who have served honorably, and especially those who do so with a positive attitude!

A little sidenote, Jeff couldn't be as successful in his career without his wife. She is AMAZING in her ability to find the positive in every assignment, in her support of her husband, and in her desires to share freedom in any capacity she can. It is because of women like Cami that we can have stable soldiers like my brother in the military.

I found this little Veterans Day tribute. Most of the youtube videos recognizing servicemen were set to country music. I don't like twang. And then I found this. This is Journey. Journey is among Jeff's favorite bands. (At least they used to be.) So, I thought it was fitting. If you'd like to watch, click here.

I still remember, even though it's the 14th...

Last Friday was September 11. I wrote a little thing that I meant to post on my blog, but I was having some blog-posting issues. Some of my loyal readership have already read this on Facebook. It's pretty much the same here. But, this is for Mom.

Today we commemorate the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, as well as the avoided attack that resulted in a plane crash in Pennsylvania. I have heard today some popular catch phrases along the lines of never forgetting. Sometimes I wish I could forget, but this day and what it means to me, weigh heavily in my mind. Here are some of the things I will never forget about September 11, 2001:

• September 11 is my mom's birthday. It's been her day for a long time. Every year, September 11 is a strange combination of birthday celebrations and memorial tributes.


• On 9-11-2001, I turned on the Today Show, as was my habit. I watched in horror and shock as the story unfolded. Oddly enough, one of my main concerns was that Katie Couric has little children. Did she know if they were safe? We kept the t.v. on for hours, but we finally couldn't take the depressing confusion anymore so we turned it off.


• As I drove somewhere that day, I saw that almost every house was flying an American flag. And every place of business had their flag flying at half-staff. It was very moving to me and I had to pull over to the side of the road to allow the tears to flow freely. I'm not really much for crying, so this was kind of a big deal.


• Everything closed--classes were canceled, football and baseball were postponed, office buildings shut down. The world was quiet. Perhaps most quiet were the skies. We are so accustom to air traffic, we almost don't hear it. But without it, the world was eerie...like one of those destruction-type movies that seem to attract Will Smith.


• The evening of September 11 was something I will never forget. I was exhausted--physically and emotionally--from the events of the day. The local television stations broke from the national news broadcasts to instead broadcast an unplanned Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert. As they sang, a great peace filled our home and my heart. I knew and was confident that God loves each of his children and He will give us peace--not as the world gives. His peace is not of the world. My world that day knew no peace until the time of the concert. The Choir sang patriotic numbers and a few hymns. I remember hearing "God Bless America," "Bring Him Home" (from Les Miserables), I think I heard "Danny Boy," and "God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again." Each song spoke to my heart and helped begin my healing. I know I live far from the tragedy and technically was not affected, but (like most Americans) that day changed me.


• The next few days were very strange. Life continued to be on hold. President Bush called for a National Day of Prayer. It was incredible to unite with others in my country to pray together. There was a great burst of unity in the entire country.


• I think we look at ourselves as likable people who want to help other people. This quality is at the heart of America. We may want to go about it in different ways, but we sincerely want to help people of the world. We feel greatly blessed to live in this country. But we, as a whole, do not feel that we are better than the peoples of other nations. We believe all people deserve freedom and accessibility to education, medicine, and the other things that make our daily standard of living so incredible. I think it surprised us, as a whole, that there are people who are so evil and filled with so much hate that they would come right into our country and attack us. We know there are terrorists elsewhere, but these people had lived here and had met some of us. I feel like Pam from The Office who said, "I hate the idea that someone out there hates me. I even hate thinking that Al-Qaeda hates me. I think if they got to know me, they wouldn't hate me."


• The first day the airplanes were allowed to fly again was monumental. I have always looked at air traffic as noise pollution and real pollution. A convenience, sure, but an environmentally costly one. I specifically remember standing outside with my 8 1/2 month old son and pointing up to the sky. There was a plane flying overhead. I told Ammon, "That is a symbol of our freedom." Our incredible freedom to travel wherever we choose to go in relative safety. What a great land we live in.


• Today I sat with my children. We looked at images from 9-11 and watched some videos. I explained to them what happened and why it happened. I made them cry. I didn't mean to make them cry, but I was sobbing. I hope they will let the meaning of this day become a part of who they are and make them better.


• A few days after 9-11-01, I read an editorial written by Jay Evenson. It was titled, "When evil besets, what do we tell children?" Because I am a mother, the best interest of children is always on my mind. He ended his article with this:

"I read advice from Dr. Carole Lieberman, a Beverly Hills psychiatrist who was quoted in the Los Angeles Daily News. She said the grown-ups who attacked civilians in the United States were taught as children to hate. Parents, she said, should teach children the importance of loving their fellow man. Remind them that 'we're all human and we're all fragile.'

"The trick, then, isn't to make the world look as if it is a safe place for humans. It is to make the types of humans who can grow up to make the world a little safer.

"As I think about it, that's really the best hope we have left."

How did this day change me? I am teaching my little children to love. I am teaching them to make the world safer. I sincerely believe that we can make the world a better place by simply being better people. I am trying to be a grown-up who can change my little part of the world to be better. I would never wish a tragedy like this on any country. But I am grateful for the lessons I have learned.

In celebration...

"I marvel at the miracle of America, the land which the God of Heaven long ago declared to be a land choice above all other lands." --Gordon B. Hinckley

"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." --Bill Clinton

"America has been another name for opportunity." --Frederick J. Turner

"America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy." --John Updike

"The best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation." --Jimmy Carter

"I would like to appeal to the Latter-day Saints ...that we pray for the president of the United States. He is our president. He needs our faith and prayers." --Ezra Taft Benson

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." --Martin Luther King, Jr.

"No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent." --Abraham Lincoln

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin

"To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race." --Calvin Coolidge (attributed)

"Freedom is never given; it is won." --A. Philip Randolph

"America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." --Alexis de Tocqueville

"Intellectually I know America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country." --Sinclair Lewis

"God bless America, for she is His creation." --Gordon B. Hinckley

"I love America for her great and brawny strength. I love her for her generous heart. I love her for her tremendous spiritual strengths. She is unique among the nations of the earth--in her discovery, in her birth as a nation, in the amalgamation of the races that have come to her shores, in the strength of her government, in the goodness of her people." --Gordon B. Hinckley

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure." --Abraham Lincoln

"Nations that truly love freedom love God. We in this land have a heritage of freedom. It has rewarded us beyond our brightest dreams. Our God-given freedom, a basic principle of religious truth, is still the most powerful force on the face of the earth." --Ezra Taft Benson

"The man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude towards the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested in our behalf. And it is my earnest prayer that we may so conduct ourselves as to merit a continuance of those blessings with which we have hitherto been favored." --George Washington

"You cannot become thorough Americans if you think of yourselves in groups. America does not consist of groups. A man who thinks of himself as belonging to a particular national group in America has not yet become an American." --Woodrow Wilson

"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harobors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power." --Alexis de Tocqueville

"Every right carries with it a responsibility. Every opportunity is a challenge. Just as we in the United States have been the most favored of any nation in our heritage, so we bear the greatest responsibility to protect and to pass on these blessings to others." --Ezra Taft Benson

"We should support our government in keeping the flame of liberty burning in the souls of the oppressed--wherever they may be throughout the world." --Ezra Taft Benson

"None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free." --Pearl S. Buck

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiiness." --Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence