Voice of the People

Scripture of the day:  "And now it came to pass that Ammon and king Limhi began to consult with the people how they should deliver themselves out of bondage; and even they did cause that all the people should gather themselves together; and this they did that they might have the voice of the people concerning the matter."  -Mosiah 22:1 (The Book of Mormon)

Upon reading this, it was immediately apparent that this verse describes a quality of a good leader or even a parent.  I'm definitely guilty of occasionally trying to make plans without consulting the Lord on what He knows is best, and at the same time, I cannot forget how equally important it is to also involve those around me, especially those who are directly affected.

I know Mr Medic and I will have many opportunities as parents to involve our children in decision making.  Not every decision made will be one that everyone agrees upon 100% of the time, but I'd like to think that having "the voice of the people" will facilitate keeping everyone a little more happy, or at least help each member of the family feel like their opinion and ideas are important.

As I imagine involving our children more in decision making, I can see it helping them build confidence, be more willing to contribute in other areas of family life, and enable them to better execute their personal decisions more effectively.

Later in the same chapter the king hears an idea from one specific person and ends up accepting that plan to free his people from bondage.  It could be likely that the king already had a solution in mind, but it is also possible that his idea may not have been the best way.  Great ideas can come from unlikely sources!

What's in a name?

I should probably explain the name of the blog...SLOTH is the Searcy family mascot.  I know, sounds AWESOME right!  Here's what Wikipedia has to say about the sloth: "Sloths have become icons for relaxation and slow movement, in many societies." Now that we have that established, I will share with you a little experience Mr. Medic (my husband) had upon returning home from a mission.

The family sits down for a nice dinner, everyone begins to eat and talk when out of the blue Dad Searcy says "Who are we?" Everyone responds while doing an extremely slow Jersey Shore style fist pump in the air "SLOTHS!" Now envision a 4 year old little girl (Mr. Medics littlest sister) who can't yet pronounce her S's doing this cult like chant by saying "LOTH!"  They explain that the family dubbed the sloth as the family mascot because they are all homebodies and somewhat introverted.  A little strange right?  Needless to say Mr. Medic was weirded out, but it sticks.

Mr. Medic has always been one of the more outgoing of the bunch, and to top it off he married ME (loud, comparatively aggressive, opinionated, competitive...pretty much the complete opposite of a sloth)  We pride ourselves these days in being the odd ducks (or should I say sloths) and being NOT SO SLOTH...alas the blog name!