Disengaging

(The Jonesons, youngest to oldest)

Well, we did it.

We said our goodbyes (soooo sad)
and drove from the Jones's cabin in Arizona to the ranch, where we 

  finished packing our belongings late at night.

 Then we fell into bed exhausted and, I'll admit, a little emotional.

Change is never easy, but like I have said before, 

we are no strangers to change.

We should be good at it by now, but is anyone good at change?

We'll miss the ranch so much.  

We'll miss the sky, the colors, the people, and what could have been.

Pulling out at dusk, we drove down Route 66 with a rented trailer behind us,

saying goodbye to New Mexico. 

The evening was gorgeous, the colors breathtaking.

A train hummed by speeding past us in the opposite direction.

 And just like we always do when we see trains, 

we rolled down our windows, stuck our hands out, motioning to

the conductor to honk his mighty train horn.

Then we scream and shout, and Angus barks and howls.

I'll miss doing that.

For the next 3 days, we'll be eating on the road and listening 

to download books in the car.

The Little Nies will switch up where they sit 

between my car and Mr. Nelson's car.

We'll eat gummy treats, point out license plates,

and everyone will get a turn to listen to his/her favorite music

 (even if we hate it).

The Little Nies will probably fight a little,

 but we are all together, and that's all that matters.

* * * * * * * * *

Last Sunday night at dinner with the Jones's,
Mr. Nielson, the Little Nies, 

and I watched our prophet (RMN) Russell M. Nelson,

and his wife, Wendy, give a devotional to the youth of the Church.

It was SO inspiring!!!

First, President Nelson asked each teenager to choose seven

 consecutive days to disengage from social media and carefully

 pay attention to any differences in how they feel 

and think during that period of time.

"Give yourself a seven-day break from fake!" he counseled.

Although social media can be used for positive purposes, 

he said its power to create a sense of false reality and become a 

distraction from the whisperings of the Spirit is detrimental.

"It will be your sign to the Lord," he explained, 

"that you are willing to step away from the world in

 order to enlist in His youth battalion."

Read more HERE.

In counseling with the Little Nies, our family has decided to cut

social media out of our diets for a week.

I decided to fast from Instagram.

It's going to be cool.