Families Supporting Adoption Area Conference

My daughter Amy and I attended the North America Northeast Area conference of Families Supporting Adoption.  We loved it.  We attended sessions on advocating for adoption, open communication between birth mothers and adopting couples, and financing adoption.  (The Church subsidizes adoptions done through LDS Family Services.)

One of the highlights of the conference was a panel of birth mothers, who told their unique stories.  Every one of the four women on the panel bore testimony of how God had supported them in making the difficult decision of placing their child for adoption and guided them to the couple that was right for their child.  They knew God had been involved, and they had no regrets for the decision they had made—pretty heroic.

We came home thinking that we would benefit greatly from establishing a sub-chapter of Families Supporting Adoption in Pittsburgh.

The Arbor - October 2009

Two articles in the October 2009 edition of The Arbor focus on how the Atonement help us to stay in the light, and how the Addiction Recovery Program can help us learn about and take advantage of the Atonement.

Divorce?

In the hopes of providing sound guidance in trying times, Brigham Young University professor of Family Life Alan Hawkins and divorce attorney Tamara Fackrell have teamed up to write “Should I Keep Trying to Work it Out? A Guidebook for Individuals and Couples at the Crossroads of Divorce.”

Extreme Job Searches

Have you ever been desperate enough to hang a signboard around your neck to advertise that you're looking for a job? You can read about the outcomes of such extreme job search approaches in Joann Lublin's "Lessons of Extreme Job-Hunting"and Dana Mattioloi's "Brave or Brazen? Bold Tactics Don't Always Get the Job" in the September 1 edition of The Wall Street Journal.
Bottom line? "Recruiters say the best ways to stand out don't change with the unemployment rate: network, craft a well-written resume and cover letter, and be prepared during interviews."

The Arbor - August and September 2009

In the August issue of The Arbor Jessica Wesel explains why the Addiction Recovery Program can be called the Atonement Recovery Program.  The September issue includes testimonies on choice and Step 3, Trust in God.

"Farewell, Tranquil Mind"

In D&C 38: 30 the Lord promises us that "if ye are prepared ye shall not fear." Without such a promise we might well fear the disasters of the world in which we live. Andrew F. Krepinevich has written about some of the awful possibilities in 7 Deadly Scenarios, which Bret Stephens reviews in "Farewell, Tranquil Mind" in a recent edition of The Wall Street Journal.

"Mr. Krepinevich's concern is with the worst that can plausibly happen to the U.S. . . . within the next decade. What's plausible?" He spins out possible scenarios involving nuclear bombs being detonated in U.S. cities, a global avian-flu pandemic that "sends a desperate human tide coming up from Mexico" and others.

The Lord has counseled us to prepare both spiritually and temporally. "Prepare ye, prepare ye, for that which is to come . . . ." (D&C 1: 12)

Danger to the Food Supply

A February 10 article by Jim Carlton in The Wall Street Journal documents that "Shrinking Water Supplies Imperil California Farmers." This is not good news for any of us who rely on California to produce much of our fresh produce. The article reports that "California is locked in the third year of one of its worst droughts on record, with reservoirs holding as little as 22% of capacity." As a result, "managers said they plan to sideline 9,000 of 11,000 acres they used to plant with tomatoes, onions, broccoli, and other vegetables."

This is the time to put a little food supply away in our homes if we have not done so already. Begin now to put aside the food your family normally eats until you have a three-month supply of those items. Then begin to think about longer-term storage items.