Church today

The good things:
1. It's now at 8:00 a.m. I realize that for some this would be deadly, but for me--it's wonderful. I'm home by 11:00, and I still have a whole bunch of hours to play with my kids. Yay!
2. There were some really wonderful things said in testimony meeting--things I needed to hear. Not just during the testimonies, but in the hymns and and in my thoughts. I like it when that happens.
3. I skipped Sunday School because Darrin was supposed to turn off a pot of stew and I kept being certain that he hadn't. When I got home I was locked out of my house because I forgot to take a house key and DJ wasn't with me to bail me out. So I had to slide through the hole I made in my garage door when I hit it with my car (no, it's not fixed yet--I have to see the dentist on Friday so I thought I'd wait until my dental visits were over, just in case). I am happy to report that I not only made it through the hole, but I did so without tearing my pencil skirt, running my stockings, or getting incredibly dirty. I'm not thinking about the neighbors who were watching me out their windows. Turns out Darrin had taken care of the stew, so my errand was for naught--but I still got to skip Sunday School.
4. When I went back to church a van pulled up next to me. Out popped a young boy (around nine years old, I think). He stepped onto the iced-over parking lot and slipped right under his van. His mom stepped out and said, "Hey--where are you?" He waved his hand at her from under the van and said, "I'm okay." And I know this probably shouldn't be listed as a good thing, but it made me laugh really hard because, well, no one got hurt and I thought it was funny.

The bad things:
1. The parking lots were iced-over (please see above incident for slipperiness description). I like wearing heels. Tall ones. Walking was difficult.
2. I was cold in church. This is nothing new because I'm almost always cold, but today it really bugged me.
3. Now comes the rant...stupid bishop man suggested to YM president man that for our combined YM/YW meeting the movie Johnny Lingo be shown. I hate that movie. Passionately. Why?
a) It glorifies a practice that objectifies women and portrays them as property. I don't care if it was cultural. I don't care if Mahanna lived happily ever after with her new owner, Johnny (and why does he get an Anglicized name?). It ticks me off and should only be remembered with reprehension and never held up to our youth as a parabolic example. Notice, please, that when Christ taught, he used modern examples, not those that were outmoded or outdated, and aren't we supposed to be following his example?????
b) Underlying storyline: women get self-esteem from men. What a load of CRAP!!! And if we teach our young women (or even implicitly agree with) this premise, we open them up for abusive relationships because they don't know how to be whole people. Women and men have worth because they are children of God. End of story. If a woman suddenly becomes someone because her husband loves her, there is something very wrong with the family in which she was raised, the church to which she belongs, and the first time she and hubby fight, all that she has become will be lost. Not healthy in the least.
c) There are so many things we could be teaching our youth that have greater importance in their lives. Bottom line--some of them won't marry, some of them will divorce, some of them will face the death of a spouse. And even if that doesn't happen, they need to have a very strong sense of who they are as individuals in order to be good parents and healthy adults. I believe our time would be better spent teaching them how to live authentic lives, rather than wasting a class period with outmoded, non-gospel drivel.
So--I left the class. I thought about taking my kids with me, but I didn't want to push my luck. Besides, when we got home I was able to indoctrinate them about the evils of Stupid Johnny Lingo, which made me very happy. Never miss a teaching moment...
4. My mother and Bishop's Wife were talking in the hallway outside the YW room. They were discussing a young woman in our stake whose family is good friends with my parents and with my bishop's family. It was discovered around Thanksgiving this year that this young woman was being molested by her father (she's also a friend of Tabitha's). Understandably, the topic was a little upsetting to me, as it would be to anyone. Bishop's Wife mentioned a female family member who was preparing to get counseling to help her learn to live with the fact that she was molested by her father, uncle, and grandfather for a number of years. I said, "Does she understand how long it will take?" And then I started crying. ACK!!! I never cry in front of people. My mom explained to BW that I was in therapy for a similar experience. BW apologized and said, "If I had known I would have been more careful. I wouldn't have said anything." And being my normal self, I said, "No. We need to talk about this. We need to shout it from the rooftops. It's time to stop being silent, especially in the church." And I continued my soapboxing for another few minutes while I bawled my stupid head off. It was horrible. Be very grateful you didn't have to witness it in person.

Hmmm...I think I wrote more about the bad stuff than the good stuff. Sigh.

I've decided to have an "I hate Johnny Lingo" party at some point. If you agree with me at all, you should consider attending. I'm thinking of having a pinata.