The Gage Cage: August 2008

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Pauls Birthday Night at Yosemite Ranch

Starting from front left side and working to the back:
Tod Dunning, Danny and Denise Sampson, Jason and Katrina Reider
Right side from front to back:
Tracy dunning, Dennis and Jill Shelly, Paul and Krista Gage

The top picture is better of some people but you can't see Dennis and Jill in it so I posted both pictures.

THANK YOU to everybody that came!!!! I know Paul felt special and we had a GREAT time with you all as usual. We were a pretty big group so it took a long while to get seated, even though I called ahead to get on the waiting list. It worked out good though. It just gave us more time to visit with eachother. I have to say that I LOVE our church family. We could have easily added a hundred more people to our night out. We have been blessed with SO MANY AMAZING relationships in our ward and we LOVE them ALL!

When I invited everybody I told them the RULE was that there were to be NO gifts! Tracy shocked Paul (me at least) with a hilarious card. Dennis and Jill gave Paul (RULE BREAKERS!) a book on one liners. Dennis told Paul the one liners in the book were clean. Paul replied, "Then this is no good to me." Such a witty man, that one. He is FULL of one liners. I LOVE HIM!

Also a HUGE THANK YOU to my Dad for babysitting. Kayla got sick that day and threw up in the afternoon. I called my Dad to tell him about Kayla being sick. With out hesitating he said he wanted us to go out and not worry about him taking care of the kids. Thankfully Kayla only threw up the one time for me. Dad said she was fine for him. They got to hang out at G and G Z's place and take a bubble bath in their huge tub. Being with Grandparents is such a highlight for my children. They are so lucky to have such involved and loving grandparents! Kayla slept fine for us and woke up fine as well. If all goes perfectly today she can go to church tomorrow.

FYI: Today is Katrina Reider's birthday. There is a ward party at her house tonight. If any of you go be sure to wish her a Happy Birthday.

Friday, August 29, 2008

First Day of School Fall 2008

Bella Ramos, Kayla Gage, Eliza Dunning 1st day of Kindergatren
On Thursday I invited Eliza and her brother Brock to come over and play. I have Kayla in the afternoon kindergarten class with the two girls from primary. (Bella was sick otherwise she would have come over too) So we had them over to play before school. I painted thier nails and gave them matching hair styles. It was the beginning of many fun mornings. I couldn't ask for better friends for my children!
"Can we go to class yet?"
Eliza and Kayla first day of school.

The morning of the first day of school 2008. Kayla 5yrs old (kindergarten), Heidi 7 yrs old (2nd Grade), and Cannon 9 years old (4th grade).

Every single one of my children have AWESOME teachers AND friends from church in their class. LOVE THAT!

My typical day:
Get up at 5:10am. Drink tuns of water and wake up. Lisa, Amy and I work out every week day morning at my house starting at 5:45am. After we finish that I take a FAST shower and get dressed. While I work out the children wake up, make their beds, get dressed, and put away their pj's. Also, my BEST HELPER, Cannon is helping me potty train Jet by taking off his pull up, taking him to go potty, putting underwear on him, then gives him (and all the other children) some candy....all this happens while I work out. After everybody has finished their responsibilities they can play on the computer or watch TV in my room. So..after I am showered and dresses I do the girls hair then make breakfast. After breakfast, brush teeth, put lunches in the back packs, family prayer, then off to school. We say goodbye to Cannon and Heidi. Kayla, Jet and I have all morning to to the everyday stuff together...laundry, grocery shopping, ect.. We have lunch together then take Kayla to kindergarten. Then Jet and I go home for nap time. This is the first time I have only had a sleeping child at home during naps. LOVE IT! I take a power nap, study the scriptures, read a few blogs, fold some laundry...and I do it all in QUITE. It can do whatever I want. I hope to learn to sew this fall during nap time too. Then I pick up the kids from school and it's back business. Homework, dinner, baths and clean up, family scriptures, read a book n the hallway (while my kids fall asleep in their beds), pack lunches, set out clothes, hang out with Paul, then go to sleep and start over again the next day at 5:10am. I LOVE my schedule this year! Life is blessed!

Happy 33rd Birthday Paul!

I thought these pics of Jet would make you smile. I'm SUPER excited to celebrate your Birthday tonight at Yosemite Ranch. I LOVE you and hope you're having a great birthday so far.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Heidi's First Shooting Star

Heidi just came out of her room VERY excited. She was standing in a bouncey sort of way when she came to tell me that she saw a shooting star. Her brown eyes were as wide as pretty brown eyes could be and had an equally huge smile. She was supposed to be sleeping but I guess she was looking out her window instead. Typically I am very strict when it comes to bed time but I couldn't reprimand her at all because she came to me with such a cheerful demeanor and I could see pure joy in her eyes. I asked her if she made a wish. She said yes and she didn't want to tell me what she wished for. She asked me if I have eve seen a shooting star before. I told her that I have and that Grandpa Z also loved to look at the stars. She bounced, hugged me with a little giggle, and with her bright happy face went back down the hall into her room. Childhood is precious!

Gary Lawrence

I was mistaken about the author these articles. It was written by Gary Lawrence. I called Elder and Sis. Lawrence this morning. They didn't write the article but completely agree with the content.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

The War of Words, Vote Yes on Prop 8

Peter Watkins; Orange Second Ward November 28, 1999

Wonder What the War in Heaven Was Like? Watch California This Fall

By Gary Lawrence

"There was a war in heaven," my dad said as he taught me about our pre-earthly existence and the purpose of life. It had only been a few years since he had returned from service as a Marine in World War II, so it was natural that his 10-year-old son immediately imagined a great battle with planes, tanks, and bazookas. What a war it must have been, thought.

How disappointed I was when he told me the implements of that special conflict were ... words.

Words? How exciting could that have been? I liked my version better.

But I soon grasped the importance of this hinge event in our existence and the "weapons" we used to defend the principle of agency and God's plan for the happiness of His children. And I grew to understand that this war has not ended, that only the battlefield has changed.

That battlefield is now California and the parallels between that pre-mortal conflict and the battle over the definition of marriage are striking.

The scriptures tell us the beginning ("Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man" ¹) and the end of the heavenly phase of that war ("he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." ²), but they do not reveal the details of the conflict itself. We can deduce, however, that Lucifer and his followers must have used very effective arguments to turn a third of the hosts of heaven away from the Father despite pure knowledge of God's will.

From 35 years of studying arguments in political campaigns, and a bit of reverse engineering, here is my stab at what these arguments might have been.

Argument 1: Equality. Lucifer sets the foundation by appealing to fairness and the equal worth of every spirit child.

We are all children of the Father. It's only fair that all of us be together forever and enjoy the same things the Father has.

Argument 2: Sympathy. Having set the logic, Lucifer turns to emotion.

Under the Father's plan, some of your friends will never return. Look at Brother Jones here, or Sister Smith over there. How are you going to feel when you find out that people such as they — good, deserving people — may not make it back?

Argument 3: Hate. After playing on the victim angle, Lucifer gradually steers emotions to the negative. Knowing that rebellion against righteousness can never be sustained without hate, he sows doubt about the Father Himself and leads the gullible step by step to that absolutely necessary ingredient if he is to win.

Father doesn't really love you as much as you think He does. He has already prepared three kingdoms for us — a first-class kingdom, a second-class kingdom, and a third-class kingdom. None of us should be second-class citizens. This is unfair. This is discrimination. This is bigotry. This is hatred. ... And it's okay to hate in return.

Argument 4: Change. Now Lucifer returns to logic.

The old ways have not worked. On the worlds without number the Father has created, too many were left behind and never returned to the Father's presence. It's time to do things differently. It's time for change.

Argument 5: Guarantee. Amid the arguments about the consequences of each choice, Lucifer administers his clincher.

Follow me and do what I say and I will guarantee that we will all return and live in celestial glory. And when I have the glory and power of the Father, I will make you my leaders and we will rule over those who did not follow us.

It's the familiar guarantee of happiness and power that every tyrant in history has promised his followers. If he had been asked the details of his plan, Lucifer never would have admitted that he did not know how to create physical bodies for his followers to inhabit, and would not have revealed his plan to take over the bodies the Father would create. Lucifer would have couched his guarantee in amorphous language that appealed to those looking for an easier way without work. He's not called the father of lies for nothing.

Now turn to the present battle. Whereas the principle under fire in the war in heaven was agency — the right to choose — the target in 2008 in California is marriage, both a principle and an institution. Just as agency is essential to our progress and happiness, so is marriage "central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children." ³ And the arguments of those supporting same-sex marriage are eerily familiar:

Equality. Together with its ally fairness, equality of outcome will always be the beginning point for those opposed to any part of God's plan.

Gays and lesbians are people, too. They have the same emotions as anyone else. It is only fair that they be given equal rights. They should not be second-class citizens.

Sympathy. Emotion is evoked by specific situations, in this case having two women in their 80s be the first same-sex marriage in California.

Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin have the same loving and caring feelings for each other that any man and wife in a traditional marriage experience, and have been true to those feelings for five decades. Why can't society allow them a simple measure of happiness?

Hate. The opposition must be shamed, vilified, and demonized. These descriptors of defenders of traditional marriage can already be found in anti-Prop 8 literature and blogs, and the list will grow:

Christian extremists, anti-gay, right-wing radicals, old-fashioned, hung-up, homophobes, bigots, stupid, intolerant, mean-spirited, knuckle-draggers.

Change. With emotions high and the opposition villainized, a bow to fairness makes the proposed solution look reasonable.

It's time to change, to break free of oppression. There are many types of families, and marriage should be broadened to include all of them. It's only fair, and if it will make them happy, why not?

Guarantee. This time the guarantee is not what someone will get, but a reassurance of what will not change.

Same-sex marriage will not harm anyone. Heterosexual marriage will not be hurt. Nothing will change except all people will have every right that anyone else has.

In short, if the arguments used in the war in heaven were persuasive enough to draw billions of God's spirit children away from Him, why should we not expect them to be used on the present battlefield? The same minions cast out from the Father's presence still remember what worked up there.

The stakes are critical. If same-sex marriage advocates can dilute and hollow out the central part of the Creator's plan, the whole structure collapses — the family, the nation, and in time civilization itself. The time has come for those of us who believe that God, not man, created marriage (fortunately still a majority) to take a stand and defend it.

Proposition 8 is a defining moment, a tipping point, a critical battle in our existence, melodramatic as that might sound. This is not a political sideshow. Long after the world only vaguely remembers a President McCain or a President Obama, people will continue to be affected by what happened in the California battle to protect marriage in the fall of 2008.

Notes

1 Moses 4:3

2 Revelation 12:9

3 The Family: A Proclamation to the World

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Vote YES on PROP 8

Six Consequences If Proposition 8 Fails

1. Children in public schools will be taught that both traditional marriage and same-sex marriage are okay.

The California Education Code already requires that health education classes instruct children about marriage. (§51890)

Therefore, if the definition of marriage is changed, children will be taught that marriage is a relation between any two adults. There will be serious clashes between the secular school system and the right of parents to teach their children their own values and beliefs.

2. Churches will be sued if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their religious buildings that are open to the public. Ask whether your pastor, priest, minister, bishop, or rabbi is ready to perform such marriages in your chapels and sanctuaries.

3. Religious adoption agencies will be challenged by government agencies to give up their long-held right to place children only in homes with both a mother and a father. Catholic Charities in Boston has already closed its doors because of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

4. Religions that sponsor private schools and which provide housing for married students will be required to provide housing for same-sex couples, even if it runs counter to church doctrine, or lose tax exemptions and benefits.

5. Ministers who preach against same-sex marriages will be sued for hate speech and could be fined by the government. It has already happened in Canada, one of six countries that have legalized gay marriage.

6. It will cost you money. A change in the definition of marriage will bring a cascade of lawsuits. Even if courts eventually find in favor of a defender of traditional marriage (highly improbable given today’s activist judges), think of the money – your money, your church contributions – that will have to be spent on legal fees.

And think of all the unintended consequences that we cannot even foresee at this time. Where will it end?

It’s your children, your grandchildren, your money, and your liberties.

Lets work together to protect them.

I believe this was written by Gary Lawrence. Please help get the word out. Copy and paste this info and post it on your blog and/or email it to your contacts.