Long time, no post

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted to this or any BLOG. There's been a lot on my mind lately and much had happened and changed since my last posting. We've continuted to have "liberty" discussions, though the group had changed and is now called the "Junto" after the Ben Franklin auto-biography discussion.

Our latest quest for liberty has been to be liberated from debt! We've sold our home, started a new budgeting program, including making it more of a priority to budget together, no matter how painful it is and are trying to get some land and build our house without going into debt! Seemingly impossible, yet oh, so desirable!

My Mom and Dad came up recently for the baptism of our 8 year old son, Samuel. It was a very special event for our family as all our children's baptisms are. My Dad left a great book with me to read and I have been really enjoying it as it has caused me to really think differently and more deeply about what holding and exercising the priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints means. It is called "Men of Valor" by Robert L Millet.

One quote in particular struck me as relating to "liberty". I include it here for you pondering.

" I have heard people say, and members of the Church too, 'I have a right to do as I please.' My answer is: No, you do not. You haven't any right at all to do just as you please. There is only one right that you have, and that is to ...keep the commandments of Jesus Christ. He has a perfect right to tell us so. We have no right to refuse. I do not care who the man is; I do not care where he lives, or what he is-when the gospel of Jesus Christ is presented to him, he has no right to refuse to receive it, because our Father in heaven has given to every one of us, in the Church and out, the gift of ...agency. That ... agency gives us the privelege to accept and be loyal to our Lord's commandments, but it has never given us the right to reject them. Every man who rejects the commandments of our Father in heaven is rebellious." - President Joseph Fielding Smith