Sunday in New Mexico

Well we got in late last night here in Ruidoso, NM. We have a sweet 4-floor condo we are staying in. We even have air hockey and a pool table! It's my dad and step-mother, her 2 girls who are 8 and 11. My dad's parents(my grandparents...duh) and aunt (my great-aunt...for the sake of being annoying), all 4 of my sisters, 2 of which have husbands, and of course Riley and Izzy, Jenna's 2 little girls. So we have a pretty full place.

This morning we decided we would actually go to church since there is a nice new chapel right in town. We went there and noone was there except for a couple of the contractors so we figured it was still under construction. So we found out where they were meeting, which was about 8 miles out of town so we did get there a bit late. There was an actual little chapel out there!
We even had to sit out in the hallway since there were so many people. Anyway we found out why they weren't meeting at the new building. The building had been pretty severely vandalized and someone had actually tried to burn it down. It was sad to hear and I guess there was a few thousand dollars worth of damage to the interior of the building. It just goes to show you how Satan will try to prevent this work from going forward. We were glad to see the church's presence in that area though. The new chapel looks amazing from the outside.
My dad has this book called Golf: Lessons I Learned While Looking for My Ball. The book is by John Bytheway, a notable LDS speaker. I decided to read it since I have a pretty free Sunday to just relax and think about life. At one point in the book he talks about how much your game could improve if you stopped worrying about what had happened previous in the round or what you would have to do over the next few holes....and just took on the "next shot" mentality and focus on the here and now. And applying that to life...Focusing on doing the best you can right now, today, without fretting over the past and worrying about the future, will eventually add up to a wonderful life. I realize that I do worry too much about the past and future and not enough on what I can do NOW to make the best of life and each situation. I know, i'm getting all insightful and profound. Let's just say I'm trying to be serious about life. I realize that I love the game of golf, and not just because it's fun..but because you truly can find yourself and learn lessons about life itself by applying the principles within the game. I'm hoping over the next week I'll find some answers i've been looking for.

"Most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old-time rail journey-delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride." - Jenkins Lloyd Jones