Sunday Reflections: 7/3/2011

The big news event of this week:  we had a black bear walking behind our back yard not more than 100 yards away.  This is the first time I have ever seen a bear up close and I went to grab my camera to take a picture.  Unfortunately, the bear was moving so fast I was unable to get a picture by the time I finally did find my camera.  According to the locals, bear sitings are a common occurence around here, but for the kids and I it was a first.  We all found it pretty enjoyable to be able to see it off our back porch.  I don't know if it would have been as enjoyable had the bear been on our back porch or in our garbage, but luckily that was not the case.  It also made me think twice about running the following morning as the location where we sited him was right by my running path.  I decided to go ahead and run, but made the decision to never run here before daylight or after dusk.

I love the fourth of July.  I love the weather, the picnics, the fireworks and the flags.  I love the stories of those who have fought in wars or are fighting wars for freedom.  I am grateful for all those that have and do serve in our armed forces to protect our rights.  I love to reflect upon the founding fathers and the vision that they had for our nation.  It is a great nation and we have many blessings and privileges here that others do not enjoy so freely. 

I read this http://lds.org/ensign/2011/06/the-power-of-education?lang=eng from the ensign today and immediately was flooded with memories of Argentines that lived this way.  I am so grateful for the public education we have access to here and for the teachers who dedicate their lives to teaching us and our children.  Many in Argentina do not have the same opportunities to be educated.  In many places I served, it was rare to find one who attended school past the eighth grade and if they did, their education was usually through a very expensive private school.  Because of this, many are without jobs and training.  I remember visiting one brother in particular who made diez centavos (10 cents in Argentine money) for every letter he delivered and he did it because it was the only job he could get.  That day that we had spoken to him he had earn un peso.  I remember many times visiting the Bolivian families who had come to Buenos Aires because there was more work there than in Bolivia and seeing them work in a sweat shop atmosphere sewing clothing.  One night I was told they received 1 penny for every pair of shorts they sewed. 

I remember coming home from Argentina and feeling so grateful for my country and home.  I remember feeling guilty for living in a 900 square foot apartment that I shared with four other girls.  I felt guilty that I had heat, AC, carpet, a dishwasher, commodities that those I taught many times didn't have.  I remember being invited to almuerzo after church one day as a missionary by a middle class family there and watching the mother wash the dishes by hand with a bucket of soapy water and a bucket of clean water to rinse.  I remember another time visiting a very poor, large family on a rainy night in their home of corrugated tin walls, dirt floor and leaky roof.  I can still feel the damp wetness of that night.  Many was the time we would visit an older lady, Ramona, on a cold, damp day to find her still in bed because she did not have any heat in her home and her bed was the warmest place.  I hope I never take for granted these things.

I found this quote on another blog that I visit occassionally and I thought it appropriate to end on:

"I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors...;

in her fertile fields and boundless forest; in her rich mines and vast world commerce;

in her public school system and institutions of learning.

I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution.

Not until I went into the churches of America and heards her pulpits flame with righteousness

did I understand the secret of her genius and power.

AMERICA IS GREAT BECAUSE AMERICA IS GOOD,

AND IF AMERICA EVER CEASES TO BE GOOD,

AMERICA WILL CEASE TO BE GREAT."

-Alexis de Tocqueville