Lesson in Judgment

In my workplace there is often a lot of hostility. Some believe that they can improve their work situation by stabbing others in the back, tearing others down, or generally making life so rough for others that they find employment elsewhere. I have at times been the target of the hostility. There was a time when I had to be careful to protect my work from sabotage by those that would have loved to have run me off. One co-worker was particularly mean to me for no apparent reason. I hadn't been unkind to him and didn't deserve the harsh treatment, which included lying to the manager about me in an attempt to get me fired among many other things. This person spoke with profanity and perversion almost every time I was around him and had filthy habits. Everything about him seemed to be bad. I had every right to judge him to be pure scum, didn't I? Eventually that person switched to a different department, but still worked at the same place. Years later something happened. I saw something. This co-worker came down to my department to see someone and had to wait a while. He had his 9-year-old down syndrome daughter with him. While I worked, I watched him push his daughter around in a rolling chair. She squealed and laughed. He did this for quite some time and also entertained her with some other things that were in the work area. He was very careful not to let her get hurt while he helped her have fun. While I watched him interact with his daughter, I was overcome with emotion. I was allowed to see him in a way that Heavenly Father sees him and subsequently feel Heavenly Father's love. This was more than unexpected considering past experiences. This taught me a lesson in judging others. Mostly, it taught me that it is safer for me to judge not, rather than try to judge righteously. It also reminded me to be grateful for the circumstances that have led me to my testimony of Heavenly Father and the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amazing Grace, Amazing Love!

This is another sacrament meeting inspired post. A very talented flutist played a medley of hymns today and the first one was "Amazing Grace". The hymn brought the Holy Spirit into the meeting with intensity, in spite of the kids' energetic efforts to thwart any sacredness. Why is Amazing Grace such a touching hymn to so many people? Amazing Grace is played at funerals, parades, in sacred places, and in other places. This hymn has brought tears to so many eyes and anyone familiar with the words has a place in their hearts for Amazing Grace, which somehow explains perfectly the plan of salvation in its verses. When I heard this hymn today, I also heard the words "the worth of souls is great in the sight of God". This is a connection that all mankind can have with Heavenly Father. Even those that have strayed far from the straight and narrow path can feel Heavenly Father's love for them, which is more than any of us can comprehend. When viewing others, we should always "remember he or she is also a child of God, that very God who dearly wants that person to qualify for eternal life and return to Him one day" (Elder Russel M. Nelson). Because no language on earth has an accurate word or words to describe our Heavenly Father's grace, "amazing" will have to suffice.

Our Savior's Love

I served more than 9 months of my mission in the same area, which was a little branch in South Central Houston. I think the mission president figured that if he found elders that could survive in the area, he would leave things alone. I was companions with one elder for over 6 months there. We met in a rented baptist church in possibly one of the most dangerous areas in this country. So many things were different, but during sacrament meeting the Holy Spirit felt the same. One Sunday, a Sister Franklin got up during sacrament meeting for her musical contribution to the meeting. She had an old cello. The case looked well worn. She opened the case, stood up the cello, and began to play "Our Savior's Love" (page 113). I had a lot on my mind at the time, but the beautiful music of the cello immediately caused me to forget about anything except the Savior, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit touched me personally and with great strength, because I thought of the words of the song as she played. This song immediately became my favorite hymn and I have remembered this little cello performance clearly for all these years. This experience added to my testimony of the Savior in a tremendous way. Sister Franklin has no idea how this hymn touched me and that I will probably remember this forever. This experience also shows the importance of attending church. Many experiences that have built my testimony have come in little ways like this. What if I had missed this? "Our Savior's Love" and those feelings of the Spirit would simply be missing from my testimony.

We Shall Be Like Him

While listening to Elder Jeffery R. Holland's most recent conference talk (I have heard October's talks numerous times now), it finally hit me about some things he said. He said his dad "never wore a new suit or a new shirt or a new pair of shoes for two years so his son could have all of those for his mission" and that his "mother, who had never worked out of the home in her married life, took a job at a local department store so that (his) mission expenses could be met." While Elder Holland was talking about how his parents had paid for his whole mission at their own personal sacrifice, these words came into my mind: "When He shall appear we shall be like Him" (1John 3:2). Why would these words come to mind during Elder Holland's talk. I wondered this for a moment, but then it became obvious. Those who have seen the Son have seen the Father and I am certain that we have a Heavenly Father that would make the very same personal sacrifices in those circumstances. Our Heavenly Father almost certainly did make these type of personal sacrifices in His mortality. There might not be a better way for us to "be like Him" than to make personal sacrifices for our kids. I am grateful for parents that have made personal sacrifices for me and my brothers and sisters. There are too many of these personal sacrifices to count.

Savannah And The Hot Surface Ignitor

NEVER underestimate the faith of a child. When we came over to the new (at the time) house, we were shocked to find that the temperature in the house was about 40 degrees and dropping. Clearly, the furnace had stopped functioning. I went down and tried to figure out what was wrong with the furnace, but only managed to get very frustrated. I came back upstairs after trying every thing I knew. Jen instantly reminded me that the pipes were going to freeze if I didn't do something. Even though her statement was obvious, it didn't do much for my frustration level. It was Sunday, so I figured calling a company to come fix the furnace would be about as expensive as just buying a new furnace. Plus, I had just had a bad experience with an HVAC who guessed wrong on an $800 manifold in the old house. I was not going to call a company, but things were getting desperate. It was about that time that Savannah suggested saying a prayer "for the furnace to get fixed", so we all knelt down and she said the prayer. I then went back downstairs and when I removed the furnace cover once again, my flashlight immediately shined on the problem. I didn't even know what the part was called, but I could see a crack in it and I knew that was the problem. A guy at Home Depot told me that the part was a hot surface ignitor. We tracked one down and I installed it and the furnace then functioned properly and hasn't failed since.

Robbins dance 5

Robbins dance 4

Robbins Dance 3

Robbins dance 2

Robbins dance 1

Jacob's Progress

Point Loma

Jacob's first visit to the ocean (out of the womb).

Jacob liked watching the waves. This would not be the place you'd want to be when a rogue wave hit the point:

Jen wanted to see some whales, but we only saw a few pods of dolphins and a lot of surfers.

Point Loma is largely covered with the graves of military men. The pretty white graves are in perfect rows and they map the contour of the steep hills. There are over 50,000 military men buried here (Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery).

Jennie and I spent just a short time here, but I have reflected on seeing this place many times. I hold this place to be sacred. My thoughts about the service men who have died for the United States have overwhelmed me with gratitude to the point of tears. The sheer numbers of graves speak volumes to those that are grateful for our God-given freedoms. There are about 60 Robbins buried here and 2 Ostlers.

Male Turkey Combat:

So, I made Jennie go snake hunting with me during our San Diego trip. She said we wouldn't find anything. She was way wrong. We found some cool herps and this turkey that mistook our rental car for a rival male. It really wouldn't allow us to pass.

Polar Express

We went to Williams, AZ and rode the Grand Canyon Polar Express. We were thoroughly entertained by our southern hostess and her dancing:

This is just a theme ride similar to what the Heber creeper does, but the trains are full sized.

Everyone received christmas bells as the ride mirrored the movie.

The kids enjoyed the hotel swimming pool much more than the train:

I think that the kids would be content on vacations just to swim.

Or splash:

This hotel had a pool, but no espn.

Some were prepared w/goggles

A little color for some charm:

Smiling for the camera comes easy in the pool.

The next morning we woke to about a foot of snow on the ground and we decided to check out the Grand Canyon (south rim).

The Grand Canyon is awesome enough. The snow made it even more spectacular:

We never imagined throwing snowballs into the Grand Canyon.

Incredible views:

This day was a photographer's dream.

The evergreens were heavy-laden:

The shadows of the mountains moved quickly like high speed film:

These cliffs had quite an updraft on this day.

That's all for now. Bye!

Wrestling is very different this year

Did all the competitive wrestlers just disappear? There just isn't much of a challenge this year and even the older, bigger wrestlers can't beat Andrew. The coach asked for volunteers and a few kids raised their hands. The coach picked Andrew and paired him up with the biggest and most muscular kid in the group, who is an experienced wrestler at least 15 pounds heavier. This was in front of everyone and I thought Andrew might get taken apart, but instead he dominated the kid to the point that the kid got really frustrated and spent the entire match trying hard to get off his back. This video shows Andrew's biggest competition in his weight class this year. It is a kid that gave him some close matches last year. Not this year:

Some giggle time:

CO Trip (beware: long post)

Jessie knew we'd like this place called the paint mines. Like something out of "Star Wars", this was some of the most unusual scenery imaginable. It was like a small Bryce Canyon with many different colors, including pink.

This was the leader of the sand people, I think. It emerged to protect it's domain.

Cool cubbies were everywhere.

The sandstone was actually pretty sharp, because the crust was full of quartz. Most of the kids found that out.

A closer shot.

The high plains wind was relentless.

Mushroom?

These sandstone formations did not seem to be in the path of any streams.

Tight squeeze.

There were a lot of little hides, but nothing we'd actually call caves.

Have some fun, dang it!

We only had the energy to see about 1/4 of this place.

Traversing the formations.

No one got killed climbing, so that was a success.

Another one of those dang cousins.

Rock on!

At the funhouse.

No caption necessary.

Driveable bean bags.

Where else would Luke be?

The new look.

Give an inch and they think they're a ruler.

Let's get this party started.

If I lose, I'm going to blame the car.

I should be driving.

Now that is a real smile.

Kid heaven.

Don't make me get off.

Fun, fun, fun

Everyone had a blast.

Even frog girl.

Smiling on cue.

Under the kissing camels formation.

The boy who refers to himself in 3rd person.

Colorado River geology: incredible! The kids: not sure.

One good baby

The mountaineer

Support your local geology.

This looked man-made.

Pretty stuff!