HOWDY FROM TAYHASS

Well, what a drive.....  in a rear wheel drive rig in that mess.

Never, I mean never attempt that in a three day period of time - from Seattle to Dallas.  That is was a humdinger.  Lots of wrecks in the mountains - lots of wind - lots of harrowing times.

I was originally going to tow a trailer - but thought better at the last minute; and it appears that was a good choice.  I saw several units about my size in the borrow pits when the trailers they were towing in the gusty wind appeared to have put them sideways and they spun out.  At one point, I was in the adjacent lane with the wheel cranked over trying to get back in the right lane and keep it on the road.  It will take days of hot tub work to relax the muscles and get the color back into my white knuckles.

Thanks for your prayers on my behalf over my father's sudden passing.  I felt the same peace that I did when I lost my son and I kept having this song loop through my head while doing a session at the Dallas temple two days before getting the news:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRP8d7hhpoQ

I was quite surprised when my nephew played this solo piece on the piano at my dad's funeral.  It brought tears to my eyes.

My dad was a good man.  NEVER faltered in his belief in God and his devotion to Him.  This is the most important gift he gave to me (along with my Mom) is a good name to pass on to my children.  A healthy body was the next good gift.  He always lived the Word of Wisdom and did so much else by the book.  When asking myself why I ought to do something that was difficult including keeping the Law of Chastity as a hormone-riddled teen, I could always default back to the rock-solid reason; because my Mom and Dad did and I would not want to spoil that legacy and good name.  I honor both of my parents for that.  Simply no greater gift from a parent to a child.  None.  I am far from perfect - but seek the same for my kids.  It is the one thing a parent OWES their child.

I have had my kids rail on me for not giving them the Millennial-entitled full complement of stuff that is their "right".  I simply come back to having given them a good, healthy body by having kept the WoW and Law of Chastity as well as a warm, safe place to live and a good name to live up to and a decent example of how to live.  Whether or not they got a flip phone versus a smart phone or a brand new car versus one that ran and was reliable every time, is a moot point.  The bedrock stuff was in place - and that is all that matters in my mind.

My younger daughter just got an I-machine for her birthday.  It was a big deal because every other kid out there in her social group has one.  She had to earn it because I do not believe in giving a kid anything.  She worked hard and made her goal.  She is a good kid - but was part of the fracases in smashing two screens on my wife's smart phones.  Having earned her own phone, she was quite insistent on getting a good protective cover for it - even though she had to pay extra for it.  When you have buy-in on something, you take better care of it than when you have it handed to you.

The same thing applies to a car, a college education and so much else.  My older daughter put herself through engineering school with minimal help from mom and dad - and she has rocked that part of her life.  I have seen too many educations frittered away because someone else was picking up the tab.  Either poor choices in degrees earned (that will not pay themselves back), or dropping out because they lost interest, or deciding in their Junior year what they want to be when they grow up.  At $20-60K per year, it is no joke and needs to be taken seriously.

Where it has mattered, I have bent over backwards to ensure a kid is on a good track.  My oldest got an internship that was too far away to take the bus.  She had a week to find a car and approached me about options.  I found one in Seattle, fixed every detail I could think of on it and drove it to Utah in one week.  She still had to pay for the basic car (sans daddy-O's time on his back under the machine) - and she seems to have taken good care of it.  But I pretty much stick to my policy of giving advice, direction and help from a distance and providing precision insertions of help where necessary (and where requested) - but allowing the kid to develop their own sense of agency and ability to make it in this world on their own.  Too many parents coddle and produce weak, addicted, lazy children.

I thank my father and Father for not indulging me in this manner.  And, I would add - this is God's way.  I have had many divine precision insertions of help (angelic ministrations) when I have asked for it and when it has been necessary to preserve my life when I have almost died about ten times.  The secret there is to recognize them, give thanks for them and have an attitude of gratitude.  This is what makes for many happy returns.  There is nothing more of a turn-off than an ingrate for a child.  There are many times that I just had to press on, regardless of the dangerous situation and I know that the only thing that sustained me was a merciful Father.  When thinking on those situations - I still tear up and am grateful with an uttered thanks to heaven.  Even though 15 years may have passed already.

I am going to do a piece later on today about respect.  I briefly saw an article on it while on the road and told my wife about it - an amazing piece that I called "angel class" - better than Gen Conf quality.  And now I cannot find it.  If you know what I am talking about, please comment and pass the link along.  It has changed my outlook on life and how I see things.  Every bit as much as President Benson's talk on Pride did back in 1988.  Almost every thing we do when it comes to personal interactions and our interactions with the Divine, come down to respect.

Have a wonderful, blessed day.  And never cease to pray for Trump and Pence - that they are safe and can live up to the immense burden they have before them.  Small biz confidence is as high as it has ever been since 1980 and the Reagan years after the Carter choke (not seeing any patterns here, are we??)...... 

Ten more days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!