09/11 family letter

09/11/11
All of us will remember exactly where we were on this day ten years ago, won't we?  It is the "day that will live in infamy" for our generation.  I wore red, white, and blue today to church as my own private commemoration. 

Well, it is Sunday night again, time for another weekly rundown.
It was our first week of school!  I'm pretty happy with how things are going.
Labor Day was nothing to get excited about.  I did laundry, Ben worked at home, and the boys did I don't know what.  It wasn't until Monday night that I really had a firm idea of what I was going to do about school the next day!
I still get back-to-school-jitters, as odd as that is, and I didn't sleep well Monday night, in spite of (or maybe because of) going to bed at the unheard-of time of 11 PM the night before.  :-)  I woke up at 3:00 and was mostly awake the rest of the night.  I started hearing strange sounds around 5:45 AM, and then saw flashes of light through the slats in the window blinds, as if someone were prowling in the backyard with a flashlight.  I went out into the living room to check it out.  See how brave I am?  I didn't wake up Ben to have him go out there with a baseball bat, I went out myself!  I didn't see anything, though.  By that time it was pointless to try to sleep 30 more minutes, so I got dressed and started getting ready for the day.  Ben woke up and soon came in to tell me that the boys were awake.  It turns out it was Brigham and Joseph who were the backyard prowlers!  They woke up early, too, and couldn't get back to sleep, so they dragged some blankets out onto the back porch and wandered about with their flashlights.  When I came out to the living room, they were lying, quiet as mice, on the couch on the patio, so I didn't see them.  So, we got started 20 minutes ahead of schedule, which was fine with me!
I'm happy with our homeschool program.  Brigham and Joseph are doing most of their work independently-- we have "morning conference" where I explain to them what they are supposed to do for the day, and then "afternoon conference" where we go over everything.  I do writing with them, and help them with math or spelling, as they require.  They have binders with agendas in the front.  They cross off each subject as they finish it.  They can take as long or as short as they want, as long as all their subjects are crossed off before they can be free for the day. 
I think it's gone pretty smoothly for the first 4 days.  We have some wrinkles to smooth out-- it doesn't work when all 3 boys want me at the same time for different things.  But there are enough things for them to do that most of the time they can move on to something else until I'm free.
One good thing that has come about is that Joseph has caught on, at long last, that the sooner started, the sooner finished.  He was quite excited on Wednesday when he was finished with all his schoolwork for the day by 11:45.  He starts off practicing flute at about 6:30 AM, so he can get through his work pretty quickly.  I think as the year progresses that his schoolwork will begin to get a little more involved, and there is another subject or two that I'd like to introduce after Christmas.  So we have room to grow.
We had time to go to the library on Tuesday afternoon, the first time in a long while.
Wednesday was our music lesson marathon-- 3 piano lessons and then straight to violin.
Thursday was our first art club of the year.  I'm teaching the first 6 week unit on singing.  The first lesson went great-- I held the attention of twelve 6-11 year olds for a solid 45 minutes, which is quite a feat.  And then there was the usual manic chaos of swords and guns and chasing up and down the stairs, until we (the moms) kicked everyone outside.  Which we could do, since it did not break 100 the entire week!  It's not lasting, though.  It was back up to 101 today, and 105 tomorrow, and 100+ forecast for the rest of the week.  Blah. 
We didn't do much this weekend.  Grocery shopping, etc.  Ben went to the BYU/UT game with some people from work.  Ben was disappointed in the outcome, but I think he still had fun.  I'm glad I don't care about sports.
Today was church.  After dinner we drove out to Steiner Ranch to look at where the fire was.  Once we got there, I felt like a jerk driving around looking at other people's tragedy.  I probably wouldn't appreciate people driving around looking if it were me.  Anyway, it was really heartbreaking to see the houses burned to the ground.  The fire didn't spread like I though it would, though.  I was imagining a couple of streets where all the houses were burned, but, at least where we saw, there was a house burned down here, then 2 houses that were untouched, then another house or two burned down-- it was very weird.  I can't imagine how it must have felt for those people, evacuating Steiner Ranch, and having no idea if their house would be standing when they got back.  So sad.
The Bastrop fire is still burning, but it's 50% contained now.  I do not understand how this "contained" thing works, but I think 50% contained means that it's definitely under control.  Bastrop used to be in the Austin stake not too many years ago, and there are lots of people in our ward who know people out there who have lost homes.  It's hard to know what to do to help, apart from donating goods, of which there is a plentiful supply thanks to the generosity of Texans (and Americans in general).
We continue to pray for rain.  The irony of the Steiner Ranch members of our ward fasting for rain last Sunday, only to go home to find their neighborhood burning has not been lost on them.  The last time we had a big regional fast for rain, a gigantic storm came in the very next weekend, and it didn't stop raining for the entire autumn, it seems.  I'm not sure that's going to happen this time.  I admit to being a little skeptical of the fasting for rain.  I think it's a good thing, in that it makes each of us humble as we realize that we are not as in control of everything in this world as we like to think, so as far as that goes, fasting for rain is valuable.  But, just in this particular drought, there have been, I'm sure, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people who have been on their knees every day, begging for rain-- I'm thinking of the farmers and ranchers all across Texas and Oklahoma in particular.  Does God not hear those prayers until the Latter-Day Saints in Austin and San Antionio fast for rain?  And none of us should be self-centered enough to think that this is the worst drought that ever has been on the face of the earth.  There have been many more droughts with far deadlier consequences than what we are facing here.  Did God not listen to all the millions of people who must have been begging for mercy then? 
I have no problem at all with the idea of God letting bad things happen.  It makes sense to me.  I accept it.  There is no conflict in my mind whatsoever between the concept of a loving God, and the existence of evil, pain, and suffering on this Earth.  What *does* puzzle me is why God ever does intervene.  Or does he?  Skeptics would say that 2 years ago when we fasted for rain and that big storm came, that we were at the natural end of that particular weather pattern (we were, and meteorologists had been predicting an end to the La Nina weather pattern we were in), and that nature took its course, as it always does sooner or later.  Is it totally faithless of me to lean more on the side of the skeptics?  I think God does intervene, but only on very rare occasions.  I'm thinking of the miracle of the seagulls and the crickets, and other such times when the very survival of the restored Gospel on Earth was at stake.  But a drought in Texas, while wreaking havoc on the economy and financial well-being of many people, I do not believe has any eternal significance to the unfolding of God's plan on Earth.  So I don't know why God would intervene.
Is this completely faithless of me?  Maybe the drought persists because I do not have enough faith (how's that for hubris?).  :-)
I still think that praying and fasting for rain is very important though, for the purpose of keeping us humble, and keeping our minds focused on the One who really is in control.
As of now, there is no predicted end to the drought, and many of the computer models are predicting another La Nina developing this winter, which will bring another very dry winter and spring to Texas, the time of year when we get most of our rain.  If this happens, the drought will last another year at least.  La Ninas don't *always* mean drier conditions for Texas, but about 90% of the time, they do.
Anyway, God, if you want to give me a sign that you really *do* care about the weather in Texas (well, I know you care, but that you are open to changing it on our behalf), then send us rain!  Then I will believe, and never doubt your weather-changing inclinations again!
There, now I really have doomed Texas to another year of drought, by asking God for a sign.  :-)

(In all seriousness, my faith in God is not at all tied to whether or not we get rain.  I submit my will to his, and I also fully acknowledge that my puny human brain has little, if any grasp on the eternal purposes of God.  It very well may be that fasting for rain with humility and faith will bring upon us the blessings we desire.)

And on that very appropriate Sabbath-Day note, I will sign off.  I love you all and hope you are doing well.

Love,
Gabrielle