"He Shall Direct Thy Paths"

"Heavenly Father knows us better than we know ourselves." Usually I just hear that and think that's really nice. But today it really struck me.
This is a super important principle, guys.
I don't really know myself very well. At all. I'm still figuring that out. So, until I know who I am, I am probably not be the best person to plan out my own life. I certainly don't want any other human planning it, though.
So it's a good thing Heavenly Father knows me. I can turn my life over to him. He can make it so much better than I can.

When I Get Married

When I get married someday, I don't want a relationship based merely on emotion. I want it based on service and Christlike love. See, things like this don't sound like a very solid foundation for the rest of your life:

I mean, this is nice. None of them are inherently bad, and they are probably great things to feel. But imagine basing your life off of feelings like this, which can pass away at any time. When it does pass, you're stuck with this person. Either get a divorce or stick through it, bickering with each other all the time and being generally miserable.
It seems to me that serving each other and loving each other with a heavenly love rather than just an earthly love is much more stable. For example, these:

I guess that is all I have to say. It's just something I think about fairly often, because I see marriages all around me, and some of them work well and some of them don't. I want mine to last forever.

My Sister

My big sister is beautiful. When I was smaller, we fought all the time, and sometimes we still get in minor fights. But whenever there's a day where I can take a few moments to just listen to her and appreciate her, I start seeing how lovely she is: her maturity, the deepness of her love, her earnest attempts to be better, her ideals for herself and her family. I just love her so much.

Change

Things change. People leave. It's part of life.
Right now, my big brother and two friends are preparing to go on a mission,  my friend is going to college, three of my cousins and then another friend are moving, and I had to experience some of my classmates graduating high school. That isn't even mentioning people that I just don't talk with anymore.
Do I like any of this? No, not really. I don't want people I love to leave. I would much rather have all of them stay right here. Then we could all be together, and it would be so happy.
But it's okay. Sometimes things happen, and we just have to deal with it. Everything will be all right.

My Educational Ideal

I recently finished a Study Skills class, and as part of that I put together a lapbook sort of thing for my educational ideal. Mostly this is just something to look at when I really, really don't want to study and lose my sense of purpose in education.
Here is a list of everything that I put in my book:

A picture of the angel Moroni.


"Always be where the Lord can find you."


A list of the Young Women Values: Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, Integrity and Virtue.


"It is the rhythm of the dancers
That gives the poets life.
It is the spirit of the poets
That gives the soldiers strength to fight.
It is the fire of the young ones,
It is the wisdom of the old.
It is the story of the poor man
That's needing to be told."
-City on the Hill, by Casting Crowns

"A beautiful face doesn't mean anything without a beautiful heart."

"Remember all the sadness and frustration, and let it go."
-Iridescent, by Linkin Park

"Be with someone who makes you happy."

"The future belongs to hearts even more than it does to minds."
-Victor Hugo

"Beauty and ugliness surround us. We decide what we see."

"When you feel you're alone,
Cut off from this cruel world,
Your instincts telling you to run,
Listen to your heart.
Those angel voices,
They'll sing to you.
They'll be your guide
Back home.

When you're suffered enough
And your spirit is breaking,
You're growing desperate from the fight

Remember you're loved
And you always will be.

When life leaves us blind,
Love keeps us kind.
It keeps us kind."
-The Messenger, by Linkin Park

"I want my heart and my passion to be the most beautiful things about me."

"She had blue skin,
And so did he.
He kept it hid,
And so did she.
They searched for blue
Their whole life through,
Then passed right by-
And never knew."
-Shel Silverstein

"Do what is right, not what is easy."

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."
-Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

"Awaken."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere, I want it more than I can tell."
-Belle

A list of possible people in my future family:
Atticus Gregory
Caitlyn Leann
Laurence Levi
Persephone Lynn
Marcab Eli
Laura Rose
Dallin Pierce
Hope Ryanne
Brenden Xavier
Anna Jane
David Emmanuel
Stephanie Vin
Jared Royal
Sarah Faith
And especially for my husband, whoever he is.

"We're lost in a cloud
With too much rain.
We're trapped in a world
That's troubled with pain.
But as long as a man
Has the strength to dream,
He can redeem his soul and fly.

Deep  in my heart, there's a trembling question.
Still I am sure that the answer is gonna come somehow.
Out there in the dark there's a beckoning candle,
And while I can think, while I can talk,
While I can stand, while I can walk,
While I can dream,
Please let my dream
Come true."
-If I Can Dream, by Elvis Presley

"Because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path, utterly alone, we don't have to."
- Jeffrey R. Holland

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."
-e.e. cummings

"Adversity: Let it make you better, not bitter."

"Today is the day!"

"I hate the idea that, when it comes to books and learning, hard is often seen as the opposite of fun. It's strange to me that we should be so quick to give up on a book or a math problem when we are so willing to grapple for centuries, if necessary, with a single level of Angry Birds."
-John Green

A picture of a tree.

A list of some qualities that one of my best friends sees in me, and I am trying to develop.

A list of how far I want to be in thirty years in these areas:
Language Skills
Places Travelled
Relationships
Writing Skills
Reading Skills
Math Skills
Relationship Skills
Visual Arts Skills
Musical Skills
Core Knowledge/Skills
Impact
Other

Anyway, that's all I have. So far it has helped me a lot, while working on academic subjects, building relationships, and trying to be a generally good person.

Infinite Shades of Grey

"We are all assumed these days to reside at one extreme of the opinion spectrum or another. We are pro-abortion, anti-abortion. We are free traders or protectionist. We are pro-private sector or pro-big government. We are feminists or chauvinists. But in the real world, few of us hold these extreme views. There is instead a spectrum of opinion."
-Michael Crichton
This will help us a lot, I think, in trying to be kind and compassionate people.  Just want to leave this with you today.

My Stance on Gay Marriage

Gay marriage. Hearing that phrase makes me, personally, uncomfortable, just because whenever people start talking about it they usually wind up arguing heatedly.
I don't expect to change anybody's mind with this post, and it is mostly just for myself. But I figured I might as well share. Here are some questions I had about this issue, and answers that I found:
Question 1.
Why is this such a big deal?
I honestly can't figure out why. Why does part of society refuses to let the other part do get married? Why will the other part not be satisfied with civil unions, which are pretty much the same?
Question 2.
Do I think same sex marriage is morally right?
No. It isn't. God has said so, and I fully agree.
Question 3.
Do my own morals have to determine everybody else's lives?
No. People must make their own choices and decide on their own morals. It's a basic part of life. It is why we were sent here, actually. And if those choices don't infringe on anybody else's rights, it is not an issue that the government should forbid.
Question 5.
Is same sex marriage going to change anybody's lives materially?
Not really. Marriage is just an official recognition of a relationship. Anybody who is going to get married will be in a relationship, anyway. So this won't change anything except a name.
Question 6.
Is this going to harm the institution of the family?
Hmm. Does divorce harm the institution of the family? Yes. But do people still get divorced without good reason all the time? Yes. So even though this does redefine marriage, it is no worse than other things that are done all the time.
Honestly, a family should be defined by love and loyalty. If you are concerned about your children or whatever thinking that same sex marriage is a morally right thing, just teach them correct principles and let them decide.
Do I support the legalization of same sex marriage? Why?
Yes. I have thought this through, and I do not see any reason why two adults can't be recognized as married by the government. This might complicate things with religion, but as a civil matter there really isn't any reason to oppose this.

Anyway, that's what I think. Feel free to comment. (: