"As a Mormon, What Makes Christmas Special to You?"

To answer this question, I would like to share a blog I wrote 5 years ago:

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How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness? He sent His Son a new born babe with peace and holiness...

For hours, I have been searching for a perfect Christmas song to accompany my blog entry. Everything is, of course, absolutely beautiful and heartwarming. However, I would like to get off the bandwagon of just focusing in the Savior's birth. I want to see Christ's life in a song, to really define the very essence of His birth and His real purpose here on Earth. After a while, a thought came. I searched for the song and knew at once, this is it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrRg-5f58VA

We cannot deny it, because of the huzzle and buzzle of the season, this very important detail is often taken for granted or even forgotten. We are used to the loud and merry way of celebrating the day and sometimes neglect to pause for a while and reflect. Maybe now, we ought to remember the words of an old Christmas song 'O Little Town of Bethlehem': "How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given..." We need to reasses our lives and say to ourselves, "are we really worthy to face the Child Jesus in the manger?" We need to ask ourselves, what really defines Christmas? Is it the foods? The gifts? Or perhaps the merry making? If these give meaning to the season, then (in the first place) it shouldn't be called "Christmas".

We should remember that Christ wasn't born in the world just because. Even before He was born, He was appointed as the Savior and He is sent here to Atone for our sins. My father always says "without the Atonement, Jesus Christ's birth will just be an addition to Bethlehem's census..." We cannot celebrate with great joy the birth of our Savior without also giving appreciation to His great atoning sacrifice. Our chance to come back to our Father in Heaven.

Jesus Christ was sent to walk in the earth to show "what manner of men we ought to be". He walked humbly -- even being born in a stable, He loved the poor and the needy -- encouraged those with riches to give to them, He showed compassion to those who have sinned -- cleansed those who repents and gave charity to those who desperately needed it. He healed the sick and caused the dead to raise. He encouraged us to be like little children and to always follow "the will of the Lord" above anything else. He lived a life we OUGHT to follow.

I believe that more than any present, any gift, any Santa Claus, it is Him we ought to remember this Christmastime. I know that He loves us and He continues to live. His great atoning sacrifice and infinite love reaches not only the people of the past but also the people of the present. He and His Father love us and want us to come back to them. May we not forget to pause, think, pray and be grateful for the Savior who gave His life just to save us all.

What can we offer Him? A broken heart and contrite spirit and the willingness to follow Him.

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Christmas is special to me because it is a reminder to everyone of God's supreme, unconditional, love for us. Christmas did not happen because we need a special month where we can celebrate and have fun and acquire gifts; it happened because God loves us so much so He sent Jesus Christ. He is the Savior. He is the Gift.

Women and Men

"What do you think about the Feminist Movement?"

I am not a lawyer, nor a human rights activist, but there's one thing I know is true.

I would begin my answer by bearing my testimony of Heavenly Father. He is constant, His commandments do not change despite the ever changing times we have. I know He gave those commandments for our good because we are His children and He loves us and He wants the best for us. He is a Father who both loves His sons and daughters; He wants ALL OF US to become like Him. There is a purpose in every commandment given; purposes that we might not be able to understand but HE DOES for His thoughts are definitely not ours. :)

I am privileged to grow up in a family where my father and my mother taught us the ways of the Lord. I have seen how my father presided over us with love and with care; his highest priority is to make sure us and his wife are well provided spiritually, physically, financially, emotionally you name it. Our family has been blessed because of the Priesthood power that my father holds. The Priesthood is the power given by God to men to act upon His name. This Priesthood power has helped and is continue to helping our family to be healed from sickness, to be guided in times when we need it, to be comforted, and to be led in every decision. I am an ever grateful child because my father has this power.

My mother on the other hand is my father's greatest support. Although I consider my father as the head of the family, I have seen the great influence my mother has in his life. She is his best friend, his greatest supporter, and his refuge. I can still remember the times when my mother and father would just talk together, comfort each other, and be each other's adviser. My mother was a great listener and in her listening skills, my father found great lessons. :). I can say that my father sometimes depend on what my mother would say because he trusts so much in her wisdom! Haha. :) I have seen in my parents the relationship that I also want to share with my husband.

Now, why am I sharing these things for an answer? :). Well, it is because just recently, a group of women who are members of the Church demanded that the Priesthood will also be given to the female sex to have total gender equality at home and at Church.

My heart is heavy and sad with this news. I don't know what circumstance motivated these sisters to make that move. I respect their stand and I love them. I cannot judge them for I do not understand everything that they might feel or experience.

But let me tell you something.

Growing up in a Mormon family, I've never felt that my mother was the weaker sex. She was such a strong force on my Father. He loves her so much. The decision making tasks are shared, the child rearing properly brainstormed, husband and wife both share equal responsibilities (despite differences in roles :) ). My mother was equally respected like my father.

Even at Church, women are a great source of help. They have hearts that understand, hands that are willing, and minds that are wise. Priesthood holders in the Church clearly understood the role of women in the different organizations (primary org,for kids; Young Men and Young Women for the Youth, and Relief Society and Priesthood quorums for the adult men and women). I've always seen men revere their wives for the tremendous place they have in the Church.

The men hold the Priesthood but both the male and female sex greatly benefit with the blessings that come with it.

I am now married to a wonderful man who has kept and is keeping himself worthy to hold the power of the Priesthood. I stay at home and he does the work to support us financially. I have also never felt from him that I was inferior to him. In fact, he would come to me and would always ask "Honey, what do you think about this?" His Priesthood power has helped me a lot; I found comfort when I lost my twins, I became confident when I took the board examinations, I was strengthened when I was weak with sickness. All because of the power of the blessings of the Priesthood.

To end this, I would like to share what President Gordon B. Hinckley (Prophet of the Church) said "“Women do not hold the priesthood because the Lord has put it that way. It is part of His program. Women have a very prominent place in this Church. Men hold the priesthood offices of the Church. But women have a tremendous place in this Church. They have their own organization. It was started in 1842 by the Prophet Joseph Smith, called the Relief Society, because its initial purpose was to administer help to those in need. It has grown to be, I think, the largest women’s organization in the world... They have their own offices, their own presidency, their own board. That reaches down to the smallest unit of the Church everywhere in the world...

“The men hold the priesthood, yes. But my wife is my companion. In this Church the man neither walks ahead of his wife nor behind his wife but at her side. They are co-equals in this life in a great enterprise.”

I am grateful for a Father in Heaven who knows everything and who placed certain things in an order that will serve as a protection and help for us in the latter days. I am grateful that men have the Priesthood so they can bless their wives and their families. I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ who teaches the truth in all things. I would never ask for any other way. :)

To understand more about the roles of a Father and a Mother at home :

I Know How to Have Fun at Home

Welcome, welcome to my new blog!

There's something about fresh starts that make them so exciting, igniting. That, or maybe I just have an addiction for fresh pages I could not possibly explain.

Anyway...

The very reason I started this blog "Stay-at-Home Explorer" is to tell the world that being a wife who chose to stay at home is not that plain and boring at all. There are joys that can be found in being young, married, and taming the inner beast that says "Girl, you aren't born to stay at home! You gotta compete in the corporate world!"

This is dedicated to all stay-at-home wives and mothers who had enough of the world's "An independent woman is a woman who competes with men" ideology. This is for those selfless, unnamed, definitely not loud women who found joy and utmost satisfaction in the walls of the home.

Not because we don't go out does not mean we don't explore. :)