How is it that the heavens weep? (My thoughts on the election)

To set this straight right off the bat, this is not about who won and who lost. This has nothing to do with how I feel about the outcome. In fact, I will say nothing about my personal views toward the outcome. That really doesn’t matter (and no matter what your views are, I’ll still be your friend). I also realize that any of my thoughts on the election don’t really matter overall either. But I keep thinking about these ideas, and when I keep thinking about them in a way that I would write them, I know I should just write them down.

In Moses 7, Enoch has a vision and sees God the Father, but he sees the Father doing something he didn’t expect: weeping. “And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains? And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?” (Moses 7:28-29) In other words Enoch is asking, How can the God of heaven, who is perfect in every way and has absolutely everything, how can He weep? What is there for Him to be sad about? He has every reason to be filled with the most profound joy. I think many of us might have asked similar questions. When I picture my Heavenly Father I don’t often, if ever, picture Him weeping or experiencing sadness.

The response that God gives to Enoch is, for me, one of the most heart-wrenching replies in all of scripture. “The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency; And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood…. Wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?” (vs. 32-33, 38) God created man, His very crowning creation, “that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25). He gave man everything necessary to achieve joy. He gave the ability to learn and have knowledge and understanding. He gave agency, the ability to make choices. But He didn’t just give the tools to achieve joy; He also told man exactly how to achieve joy: love one another and choose God (love God). Yet when He looks out over His beloved children He doesn’t see love, either for Him or for one another. He sees hate, without care or regard (affection) for one another. These children would not be able to experience the joy He intended for them. Instead, they were bringing suffering to themselves and to others. Any person who has witnessed a loved one make choices that would only bring them suffering can’t help but empathize with the Father. It’s an experience that breaks your heart, just as this sight of His children broke the Father’s heart and caused Him to weep.

Now I don’t know whether the Father is “weeping” over the outcome of this election, and again, the outcome isn’t the point here. But I do know that He is weeping over the way people are reacting to the outcome, over the hate that is abounding on all sides of the lines we’ve drawn. I recognize not everyone is being hateful. There are plenty of people who are dealing graciously with the results of being on the “winning” or “losing” sides. However, it’s no secret that there’s a lot of tension, frustration, and outright anger being thrown around. It’s everywhere. It’s in what we read. It’s in what we watch. And in some cases it’s in what we’re saying and doing to one another. Let me be clear: this is not ok. Many worry that our leaders are the ones tearing our nation apart, but we’re doing that ourselves. We draw the lines and then tear along them when we choose to see everyone who does not agree with our views as “bigots” or “ignorant” or just as “bad people”, and then attack and belittle them for those differences. Again, this is not ok.

I believe that the outcome itself is far less important in the effect it will have on our nation than our personal reactions to the outcome. The election has happened. It’s done. It’s in the past. We can’t change the results (not without some serious upheaval and far more suffering for everyone). But we have every power to change our own behavior going forward. We can be the kind of people we hope that our leaders would be, and that would have a more profound and lasting effect on our nation than anything one leader can do.

Those Simple Days

At the request of my dear Uncle Ken, I present to you this blogging update. Actually, I’m glad he asked me to do it, challenged me really. There’s been too much time between posts lately and every time I sit down to write, I remember how much I love it. And if you don’t believe be, I’ve got 21 journals to prove it.

Well, I’ve been in California now for over a month and I loooooooooooooooooooove it. Love, love, love, love, love. I think I love it even more knowing I’m missing the worst winter Provo’s had in years. Sorry friends! It’s gorgeous here. It’s warm here. It’s fun here. Did I mention that I love California?

In spite of all that love, I miss Provo. I really do. I miss those beautiful mountains I’m blessed to see every morning. I miss the closeness of everything there (traffic is a nightmare here – only thing I can’t stand). Most of all, I miss the people. I miss all the amazing people I had to leave behind when I set off on this adventure. This experience has taught me to appreciate the simple blessings of friendship and love I enjoy when I’m there, and I think that’s why we go through experiences like this. I get to learn about gratitude for three months. And I can go to San Francisco, and the Oakland Temple, and the Jelly Belly Factory, and Malibu while doing it. :)

Mr. and Mrs. Howard

Remember a couple posts back when I said I would post pictures from my most recent photography excursion? Well, maybe you don’t, but I certainly do. Sometimes I think I remember too much. Anyway, promised post is here. Feel free to “Oooo” and “Aaahh.” They are quite lovely. Thanks, David and Jessica, for letting me be a part of your special day.

Want to see more of this beautiful couple? You can see their full album here: Flickr. I’m also still in the process of editing some of their reception photos, so keep checking back.

Now, I’m not finished yet! There are still some other things I want to say. A new semester is here, which means new opportunities for mischief. And it promises to be busier than ever, which is good, because it keeps me from thinking about how much I want to leave already. I am less than thrilled to still be in Provo. Don’t get me wrong, I like BYU, and I’m super grateful for the AMAZING education I’m getting. But I won’t be sad when it comes time to leave. I promise that is the extent of my complaining.

On a happier note, I am officially half way finished with my college education. How’s that for optimism? And that’s one of my New Years’ resolutions: be more optimistic. Others include finally getting that model body, buying my entire Pinterest wardrobe, and zorbing (if you don’t know what that is, click here). Ok, more realistically, my goal this semester is to run 150 miles by the end of it. That works out to about ten miles a week. Totally doable. I bet I’ll even finish early. And now that I’ve told the world, I have to follow through. I trust you to keep me motivated.

A HaakLalChip Christmas Production

Welcome to Christmas with the Haakenson-Lallatin-Chipman brood. And you can’t forget about the Bests, Strahans, Cooks, Brintons, and Getzs. We have quite the party every year. There are always new faces to be seen, and all the chaos you could want. You really couldn’t ask for a better time.

Let me just say that I love, love, love Christmas - the atmosphere, the smells, the decorations, the anticipation. All of it. It’s such an exciting, beautiful time of year (not to mention a nice break from school). And this year I got to be HOME! We have such fun traditions that I love being a part of. Although, the drive home was a beast. Not as bad as the drive back to Utah, and certainly not as bad as the drive home for Thanksgiving last year (18 freaking hours!!!). I will not sit in a car for more than an hour at a time for the next three months, at least.

Aside from actually getting there, being there was lovely. I saw my best girlfriends and some other good friends from high school. We played a little Just Dance 3 (we’re a hilarious bunch btw), went “classy” classic roller skating, and went down to the resort like the good old days. My first day back I sunk my teeth into a delicious Huddy burger. I’ve had a lot of good burgers, but none compare to the perfection of a Hudson’s Hamburger. Of course we had cousinpalooza up at the Schweitzer condo and hit the slopes early enough the next day to get first tracks. Dang, I need to brush up on my skiing. I used to be skiing at least once a week. Now it’s like once a year. Unacceptable.

Now for the real reason you are here. How does my crazy family celebrate the most wonderful time of the year? It all begins Christmas Eve. Everyone gathers at either the Lallatins or the Haakensons for Christmas feast number one.  We open gifts from the different families, and we usually have a visit from some character who is acting as Santa’s Helper. Last year it was the Grinch. This year it was the Cat in the Hat (or Kat in the Hat).

Merry Christmas!!

Kat in the Hat and the grandkids.

Christmas morning rolls around and at my house we wake up to stockings filled with chocolate and little presents, gifts from Santa, and gifts from each other. After tearing into those, we have strawberry waffles for breakfast. They’re the best when you spread sour cream all over them and then top them with yummy strawberries. And you can’t forget about the Satsuma oranges on the side. When Christmas falls on a Sunday we go to church for Sacrament meeting, and then head to Sunbar for the rest of Christmas Day. This year, we switched it up and went to serve Christmas dinner at a nearby restaurant for the less fortunate. It was so fun, and I’m not just saying that. I really enjoyed serving and chatting with the people there. They were so friendly and so grateful. It made me realize how incredibly blessed I am. I don’t have to worry about some of the simplest things, like where my next meal is coming from.

We did go to Sunbar (the grandparents’ house) afterward for Christmas feast number two and for round two of stockings. Santa also stops at their house for all the grandkids. We play games and ice skate and eat until we can’t eat no mo. In the past we’ve had some pretty intense games of Cranium. When my Aunt Sneena and I are on a team, we are unstoppable (in any game, not just Cranium). Seriously, we’ve never lost. You’ve been warned.

And now you have officially survived a Christmas with us! Congratulations! There is no better way to celebrate the Savior’s birth than with such amazing people, in my humble opinion, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Although, I could really use some sunshine right about now. Can it be summer already????

13.1

If you had told me a year ago that within the next year I would run a half marathon, I definitely would have laughed at you. I could barely run a mile! I must give credit to Miss Carrie Cook (aka Carrie Cool) for being my inspiration. She ran her first half back in the spring, and it was then that I decided a half marathon was on my bucket list. Now I figured it would be a couple years before I got around to it. But lo and behold, I was talked into the Halloween Half – just five months away. I started training right after I got back from Europe. I printed a nice little training schedule, with short runs or cross training four times a week, long runs on the weekends, and two rest days. I’m proud to say that for the most part, I followed it pretty closely. I have to thank Susie for whipping me back into shape after two months of delicious Spanish food, and for suggesting that real running shoes might help my knee problems. They did.

Training became slightly more difficult once I got back to school, but I kept to my schedule as best I could and ended up running 13 miles at one point (but not 13.1. I was saving that for race day). I’ve found that once I get past four miles, I can just go. I don’t know what it is about the first four, but they’re tough. My four milers were always the hardest.

Race day – October 29 (Happy Birthday Uncle Ken!) – came bright and early. I was up at 6:00, ready to go. My momma (so glad she could be there!) dropped me up at the starting line, where they had a huge tent for all 3000ish racers. We were way up above Sundance, and it was FREEZING. I think it was 26 degrees when the race started. Luckily, all the body heat kept everyone warm. The race started at 9:00, but we had two heats, so I started around 9:20. In the meantime there was a costume contest – this is the Halloween Half after all. I wasn’t too extravagant. I just wore all my clothes inside out and backwards. My shorts looked pretty funny though. They have the built in undies, so it looked like I was wearing a diaper when I put them on inside out. I got a good laugh out of it.

Like I said, I was off at 9:20 down the canyon. By mile nine, my feet and knees were starting to ache, but I just kept going. There was nothing else to do but keep putting one foot in front of the other. As cheesy as that sounds, that really was my thought process. My initial goal was to finish under 2:45:00, since that’s how fast I ran that 13 miles I mentioned earlier. I finished in 2:23:01. Yeah, baby! What a great feeling. I smoked it.

You can bet I loaded up on the protein afterward, yet I was still more sore than I’ve ever been. Come Monday, I could barely walk down the stairs (and of course I live on the third floor). I was hobbling around like an eighty-year-old. But I kinda like that super sore feeling. It makes me feel like I made it through something super tough, which I guess I did. I’d like to give a shout out to all my friends and family who encouraged me through this process, especially my parents who were both there to see me finish. I really couldn’t have done it without you.

Is a full marathon in my future? I can’t quite say yet. I’m not sure I’m physically capable of doing that. But a year ago I thought I couldn’t possibly run a half either, so I guess you never know. I’ll probably keep doing halves every now and then. It’s brutal, but the feeling of accomplishment afterward is so worth it.

I also practically ran 13.1 miles mentally this week. I had four, count ‘em four, midterms. But like last time, I had no class the entire week. It was great. I finished up Thursday morning and enjoyed my nice, long weekend. No more midterms this semester! I can’t believe it’s almost over. Seriously, where the heck have the past two months gone? Is it weird that I’m feeling sad about leaving this semester behind? Yes, yes it is. I’ve just been having so much fun though. I’m crossing my fingers that the next one is just as good, or even better.