My name is John, and I hope you enjoy my blog.

We must have met somewhere, and I must have enjoyed talking to you enough to give you my personal card!

I might have told you that I have 12 children—all from the same woman, my wonderful wife.

I recently decided to start a blog entitled, “Raising 12 kids in Seattle.”  It starts like this:

Raising 12 Kids in Seattle

… … … … years and years pass with no writing.  Why?  Anyone with 12 kids knows you don’t have time to write a blog until the kids start to grow up.  Every moment of life is consumed with an all-encompassing battle to provide for a family and give kids the best growing up experience you can.

Ok, that’s not quite true.  You actually do have some time when you are younger—even with 12 kids—but you haven’t got your priorities right yet.  It’s hard to think about priorities when you are in the thick of the child-raising years, but when you start to catch your breath and contemplate your life, there are certain things you want to make sure you accomplish.  You feel something growing in you, an overwhelming feeling of wanting to make a positive difference in this world.

While you have been totally consumed by providing for your family, as they grow up and you start to have more me time, you want to do more.  You want to help the people around you and the people you meet every day.  So many people struggle with so many problems—and they don’t have a family support system.  They don’t have a loving wife; they don’t have children.  They don’t have a purpose in life.  They want to be happy but don’t know how.  I love these words from Rabindranath Tagore, a poet from India:

I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was duty.
I acted, and behold—
Duty was joy

(See The Call of Duty)

When you are in the middle of changing your millionth diaper or hearing your child complain about something that is totally childish, it’s hard to remember that performing your duty is the path that leads to joy.  But as you get older you keep seeing the same pattern play out—especially when you have 12 kids and lots of examples.  You become convinced that duty is not something you should run away from.  You start to learn that the sooner you embrace your duty, the happier you become.

I also want you to know some other fundamentals of my happiness.  They are these:  I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  He lives and He loves us all.  Whatever problems we face, whatever questions we have, He can help us.  I know He can, and I know He wants to.  He is a God of miracles, and He can make miracles happen in anyone’s life.  He is coming to the earth again soon.  I invite you to learn more about Him at  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/.  He is my ultimate source of hope and can change anyone’s life for the better.

OK; now that you know a little about who I am to the core, I’m going to start blogging.  Enjoy.