In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth

Image from lds.org

Yesterday I took my Little Man on a short walk to the neighbors swing set (which they graciously offered to let us use whenever).   Little Man loves the swings and the slide, so he of course wants to go more frequently than I am able to take him.  But I had some time yesterday, and Jake needed some Little-Man-free time to work on the shed, so away we went.

As I was swinging, I was looking around their beautiful yard and thought that the Garden of Eden probably looked much like their yard.  It made me even more grateful to live in the beautiful valley we have the privilege of living in. Perhaps that feeling was intensified because I had recently been studying the Creation.

 I have no way of knowing how many times I have read or heard the account of the creation in my life.  I don't remember a time in my life that I didn't know or believe it to be true. Only recently have I realized how much of a gift that knowledge has always been.

Several months ago, I observed a "conversation" on facebook where several people whom I knew to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) were discussing their thoughts on evolution.  Quite frankly, I was shocked to see how many of them seemed to accept evolution as "fact" and practically totally dismissed the account of the creation as found in the Bible and the Pearl of Great Price.  Some claimed the LDS Church had no standpoint on evolution. Some tried to reconcile evolution with the account of the creation by saying perhaps God used evolution to create Adam and Eve.  Some claim the evidence of science is so great that to not believe in evolution is foolishness.

 Because of the nature of the conversation and my inability to articulate in "rapid" discussions (arguments), I chose not to comment in the discussion.  Instead, I took the opportunity to study my beliefs as an LDS person more fully. Studying the accounts of the creation in the scriptures and the words of modern prophets on the subject proved to be a spiritual experience.  It strengthened my testimony that what I have always believed is indeed true:  God created the earth and placed the various forms of life on it.

In my study, I found documentation of the LDS Church's stand on the theory of evolution, particularly as it relates to human life.  A statement from the First Presidency in 1909 and reprinted in 2002 clearly states our belief that Adam was the first man upon the earth, and that he was not a descendant of lower orders of life.  (see The Origin of Man).  Other articles expanded on the scriptures and allowed opportunity for the Holy Ghost to testify to me that evolution was not the process used in the plant or animal kingdoms either.  God created all things and placed them on the earth where they "brought forth after their own kind"  (see Genesis 1)

I know many claim the evidence of science in support of evolution is overwhelming.  I don't know all the arguments, and I don't plan to attempt to dispute them here.  I value science--especially the convenience it brings to my life.  But I also choose to have Faith in my life.  I think that science can help us to understand many things.  And in many ways those things will help prepare us for eternity.  But when science contradicts the revealed word of God, I will always choose to believe the words of God.  Any other choice would indeed be "foolishness" (See 2 Nephi 9:28-29).

I know some people will judge me to be naive for my beliefs, but I don't care.  I choose to put my faith in God above science.  I have felt the Holy Ghost testify to me that we are children of God, that God created this world, and that the words of the prophets are true.  I don't claim to know everything, but I do have faith that in time I will understand all things.  Until then, I put my trust in God.

Hello Officer....

View from near the bottom of the driveway

I've been thinking about changing the picture on my blog to a picture of my driveway.  I didn't do it earlier because I hadn't taken a picture that actually had the driveway in it.

I remedied that this afternoon because we had a funny driveway story.

Jake was out working on our new woodshed and I had gone out to watch him finish up.  A few minutes later we saw a car going towards the neighbor's driveway, then it backed up and drove up our driveway.  As it was starting up the bottom of the drive, I noticed it was a sheriff's car.

Now, to be perfectly clear.  Jake and I don't do things that should require a sheriff's visit.  Still, there is a certain tenseness that happens when you see a cop coming up your driveway.

Our driveway is a little long (and has a circular portion)....so we had 20-30 seconds before he made it up to the house.  When he reached the top of the driveway, he paused, told Jake "Sorry, I just didn't know where this road went."  And he continued down the driveway.

Jake and I kind of chuckled because on the 24th we had several 4 wheelers come up the driveway looking for a path to the mountains.   Because of that I had commented that we should put a sign at the bottom that says "Private Drive"......guess if we had gotten around to doing that quickly, we wouldn't have had the chance to show our Little Man a cop car up close ;)  

Night time fences

Last  night we set up Little Man's new bed. So far, he seems to like the bed.  But liking the BED and liking to SLEEP on the bed aren't quite the same thing ;).

Previously, we had him on a full sized mattress that was set on the floor.  Our nightly routine included laying by him as he went to sleep.  And lately he has been doing that pretty fast.  Some nights when he was wiggly, we could even tell him that he needed to stay in bed and we would come back to check on him.  When we would come back a few (10-15) minutes later, he would either be asleep or still in bed.

Last night, however, I think the excitement of the new bed and the change in routine made falling asleep challenging for him.  He kept talking about the "fence" on his bed.  After 30-40 minutes of sitting with a very wiggly Little Man, I told him I was going to leave and I would be back in a few minutes.  Apparently, the "fence" on his bed made him think of horses because when I came back to check on him, he had left his bed and was riding his rocking horse.

I put him back in the bed and stayed for a few more minutes.  During that time, he kept telling me about the "fence" and "opening the gate". Again, I left telling him I would be back to check on him.  A few minutes later..........he was back on the rocking horse. 

Maybe we'll have to get him a horse to keep in his "fence" while he sleeps so he can stay in bed ;)

Let the Adventure begin

Well, it has taken a long time, but I finally decided to join the world of blogging.  Don't get your hopes up about frequent posts quite yet.  I still have to figure out if I'm actually going to like doing this.

But anyway, here I am.

Some of you may be wondering about the title of my blog.  Mostly it came from a joke last winter when we purchased a new home.  Our new home happens to have a long, fairly steep driveway since it is on the side of a mountain.  Probably because it is on the side of mountain, it also gets a lot of snow......and most people who came to visit us wound up stuck.

At one point, I was joking with someone that I could write a fairly entertaining blog about the various ways people got stuck....or unstuck in my driveway.  But I didn't get around to doing it then.  I'm sure there will be many opportunities this winter to write about the adventures of digging people out of our snow drifts. ;)  Unless of course people decided last year that visiting us in the snow wasn't worth it.

Aside from that, my Little Man is constantly providing us new adventures.  So regardless of the number of driving stories that make it to the blog, I'm sure there will be quite a few about the adventures (joys and challenges) of raising our Little Man.

So welcome to my blog.  Enjoy.  And if you don't enjoy, feel free to click away to another site.

Let the Adventure (sharing) begin!