I wonder how Mormons will fare in Tom Monaghan’s town with a Catholic theme, Ave Maria? As some of you may know, Monaghan is the founder of Domino’s Pizza. He sold the company and was left with a fortune. He has concentrated on projects that fulfill his conservative Catholic vision since then, including a new university, Ave Maria University. His new town, Ave Maria, on the edge of the Everglades, describes itself as a town with a Catholic theme. The linked London Sunday Times story says that means restrictions on the sale of birth control, no pornography and no abortions. Liberal groups are, of course, apoplectic.

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Well, she is Mitt’s wife, called one of his greatest assets in a possible presidential campaign. We definitely don’t hear enough about the spouses of high-profile Church members. Here’s one blogger’s attempt to change that. Click here for a Boston Globe profile of Ann Romney.

I’m not sure how this will work, but it’s an idea I’ve had popping around in my skull for a while, and so I figured I’d toss it out and see what happens (plus, all that bouncing was causing my brain to hurt).

This thread is about all those little blessings we get that we either barely notice, or (because they are so small or seemingly trivial) would feel a little odd about mentioning in a testimony.

An example might help: I’m thankful I can whistle. But there’s more to it than that – I believe I received a specific blessing from God that allows me to whistle. Let me explain:

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Tomorrow’s Young Women lesson in my ward is on the roles of wife and mother. As I am neither, how do I not sound like a total hypocrit when teaching this lesson to my Mia Maids? This lesson has been tormenting me all week. I don’t disagree that these are divine roles. That isn’t the issue. But all I hear in my mind as I prepare what to tell them is, “This is the most important thing you can do. Plan and hope for these goals. Of course, I’m not doing it, but that’s neither here nor there.” I believe I should be a good role model for the girls, and in all other instances I feel like I am. I like what I can bring to the lessons — the other lessons. However, this topic is outside my experience, so all I bring to the lesson is theory, and I don’t think that’s good enough.

I find myself hoping that the girls will be hyper and inattentive and we will end up on some tangent about Israel and patriarchal blessings (which we’ve actually already had as a huge but interesting tangent, but something else like that).

(If interested, this is the lesson, and I’m supplementing the lesson with this talk.)

I get Daniel Rona’s Jewish insights e-mailed to me each week. I thought this week’s were interesting enough to share.

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