I have a testimony: Beauty in familiarity

Sometimes, it's fun to do the new and exciting. Sometimes, you want to rearrange your room or cut and dye your hair or buy a new outfit that's totally different from your usual style. Sometimes, you can't wait to move on to the next stage in your life and have new experiences with new friends.

And sometimes.....you don't. (Well no duh, Marie-Rose, we knew that)

I have a testimony of fasting and prayer

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend Stake Conference for the first time ever. Yesterday was my mom's birthday, so I didn't think my parents would let me come. BUT my neighbor, seminary class, and various leaders prayed and fasted that I would be able to go.

Friday night, my dad told me I wasn't allowed to go. I was majorly disappointed, especially cuz Katie would be speaking. More specifically, she had been asked to speak about her work as a member missionary, being involved in both my conversion and the conversion of another friend (whom I call BatMoose on the internet). (PS I've asked Katie to email me her talk so I can put it up as a guest post for you guys!)

A Strange Christmas

So on Sunday, Dec 22, my family got together and kinda celebrated Christmas. No gifts that day, but some of my aunts and uncles (being in the medical field) had to work on Christmas and/or Christmas Eve. 

On Monday, my immediate family took my grandma out to lunch. Then we took her back to her assisted living place and talked for a bit. 

Sometime Monday night, my grandma fell. She broke her pelvis and her arm, and already had a broken rib from something else. She was confused and disoriented (probably from the pain). 

They operated on her arm Christmas morning. 

Christmas Eve night, we were all on pins and needles, worrying. My aunts and uncles (being in the medical field) kept talking about it and most of it went over my head. But I did understand that we should maybe probably have a document of her final wishes on hand and she could have trouble coming off "the vent" (machine that breathes for you). 

Needless to say, I was beyond worried. 

So what did I do? I texted some of my Mormon friends and asked them to pray for her. Their quick response and willingness to pray, not just for her but for our entire family, was amazing. 

The surgery went well, she's doing fine, and she's sleeping off the meds :) 

But what I wanna talk about is the power of prayer. My grandma is almost 90 years old. Yesterday could have been rocky. But many people prayed for her. A lot. It could be just a coinkydink. Maybe she would have been fine even if we didn't pray. I have no way of knowing. But if all my medical family members were that worried, then there was a legitimate reason to worry. 

It makes me feel so comforted and loved to know that so many people prayed for my grandma. It calmed me down considerably. 

I'm not entirely sure what I'm trying to say here. Mostly, I just wanna say that prayer is awesome. "Hope Always and Pray Constantly." And all those prayers Christmas Eve and Christmas morning... 'Twas powerful. 

<3 Marie-Rose

Be grateful!!!

I just watched this video for extra credit for speech. I thought you guys might enjoy it.

 Sorry this post isn't longer, but I have a lot of homework... 

<3 Marie-Rose

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Dear Americans,

We have a problem. Thanksgiving is a very important holiday. But retailers can't make very much money off of it, can they? Not unless they sell food or decorations. So they have a nifty solution- make Christmas bigger. Ooh yes, they can make a lot of money off of Christmas shoppers. How do they make Christmas bigger?

Well.

Let's look at the history of Thanksgiving. It used to be on the last Thursday in Novemeber, did you know that? Always the last one, even if November had 5 Thursdays. And now it's on the 4th Thursday, which is sometimes the last Thursday but not always. When did that change? According to Congress, Dec 26, 1941. 

Image source

But FDR started observing Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday in 1939. Yup, during the Great Depression. Thanksgiving was on the last day of November that year, according to the "last Thursday" tradition. Retailers were afraid of losing money during the Christmas season because shoppers had fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And most people, at that time, didn't do their Christmas shopping until after Thanksgiving.

Okay, so they moved Thanksgiving. Big deal, that was 72 years ago! Why am I writing a blog post?

Because, my friends, Thanksgiving is being completely disrespected. By retailers. Again. (Well, I don't have a problem with them having moved it. Especially cuz it was the Great Depression. But saying "again" just makes my point sound better)

WHY are stores open for Black FRIDAY shopping on THURSDAY night?? And after doing a little research, it's not just Thursday night.

It looks like Lowe's opened at 4am on Thanksgiving morning. Kmart wasn't much better- 6am. A few other stores opened Thursday morning as well.

I understand why. Retailers are increasing profits this way. But what happens when stores start opening at midnight Thanksgiving morning? At 8pm Wednesday night? When will it stop??

Just because I understand why they do it doesn't mean I think they should.

This whole phenomenon is totally disrespectful of Thanksgiving (and Christmas, too, if you think about it). Whatever happened to a day of giving thanks and eating way too much food and spending time with family? It's quickly turning into a major shopping day. And when you picture Black Friday shoppers, you picture loud, rude, selfish people who will do anything to get the "best price" on some materialistic thing. They're not spending quality time with their families. They're not being very thankful.

I have never been Black Friday shopping. But I've worked on Black Friday, twice now. I'm lucky to have my job, and not work at Walmart or something. We opened at 8am Friday morning (we usually open at 9am). It was awesome.

See, I work at this company called Hobby Lobby. We are closed on Sundays. Our CEO runs the company based on Christian values. We don't open at ridiculous hours just to make a little more money. 

Image source

So guess what, big greedy companies? It's possible to be less greedy and still make money. 

Be thankful, people. Spend time being thankful. And AFTER you spend a day being thankful, THEN you may go shop. Gratitude makes you happier. I promise.

I apologize for not knowing the image source on this one.

<3 Marie-Rose

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm sitting at my grandparents' house, and my dad and uncle and grandpa are watching the football game. This morning we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This, my friends, is Thanksgiving :)

There's a lot that I'm thankful for. Where to even begin??

I'm thankful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It has brought so much joy to my life. I'm so glad my friends shared their beliefs with me :)

I'm thankful for the many promptings I have received and recognized over the past week. I feel so loved :) each one came at exactly the right time (obviously, cuz His timing is always perfect!!!) and I felt so much better knowing He's watching out for me :)

I'm thankful for my friends. Their love and support is simply amazing.

I'm thankful for my blog :) it makes me happy! Even though I only have like two readers :) I love you guys! And your comments make me happy!

I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my job. For the awesome food we just ate :) turkey and cranberry sauce and squash and potatoes and pickles and fruit salad and brown 'n serve rolls! I'm thankful for music. For internet. For scriptures. For scholarships. For fuzzy socks. For scarves. For my phone. For books. For khaki pants. For pillows and blankets. For jewelry. For those days when my hair cooperates. For my speech class. For snow. For sunlight. For sleep. For rocking chairs. For nail polish. For getting a good grade on my calc test a week or two ago. For school spirit. For happiness. For purple, cuz it's an awesome color.

I'm thankful for life on Earth :)

Most of all, I am thankful that "We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us me we love Him" :)

What are you thankful for today?

<3 Marie-Rose