Robert Paxton

Husband, Father, Son, Brother, Friend; lover of Liberty; striving to be a follower of Righteousness

[Robert Paxton @RobertCPaxton]

Beautifully told. Thank you, Matt.

[Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol]

My son,

One day, when you're older, you will come across this post and this video of the two of us walking up into the mountains.

I hope you watch it more than once.

We always begin the same way. You go bounding off ahead, certain the whole mountain belongs to you, and for a little while it does.

Then the path gets steep.

The air gets thinner and your legs get tired.

You stop, you turn, and you look back at me and say: Dad, is the view really worth it?

I will tell you a secret.

I ask myself the same question.

I'm climbing my own mountains you can't see yet, fighting things I hope you never have to fight, and some days the weight of it all feels like more than I can carry.

Mom and I both put on a brave face, but it isn't always brave underneath.

There are mornings I feel I am carrying the whole mountain rather than walking up it.

But that's not a flaw in you or me, it just is what the journey is.

You will meet climbs that burn your legs, there will be days when every step asks more than you think you have, and there will be MANY MANY times when turning back seems the only sensible thing thing to do

...don't be ashamed of wanting to.

Everyone wants to turn back.

But WANTING to turn back, and not doing it... well my son, that is the stuff strength is made of.

There will be days when everything feels uphill. When the world feels unfair, and you’ll wonder why it has to be so hard.

The summit will never stoop to meet you and the path cannot be talked into being shorter.

What changes... what is changing in you even now while you're reading this, and especially on days that feel like nothing but insane amount of work and heartache...

...is YOU.

You are the thing that grows.

The world stays gloriously, stubbornly large, and you rise to meet it.

So climb.

Not because it is easy, but because you were made for the climbing.

And when at last you stand in the high place with the wind in your face and the whole green country spread beneath you, you will understand something that cannot be told to a man but only shown to him: that every aching step was a kind of payment, and the view was the thing it had been buying all along.

It will not feel like a reward.

It will feel like coming home to a country you have never been to, and somehow always missed.

I will be there.

Lower on the trail by then, most likely.

Slower. Catching my breath against a stone.

But I will be watching you go up, and there will be no prouder man on the entire freaking mountain than me... the man who is proud of the boy who simply will not stop putting one foot in front of the other.

Keep climbing, son.

I am always on the trail.

I love you,
Dad

[Robert Paxton @RobertCPaxton]

@EricCMeadows Our stake in Georgia has a YSA program that my wife & I help with. Most of our college age youth head West, too, so numbers are small. But there is great value the program in spite of the challenges.

[Robert Paxton @RobertCPaxton]

@dickiebush @unrollthread

[Robert Paxton @RobertCPaxton]

#GoCougs

[BYU Cougars @BYUCougars]

Quote tweet this with hashtagGoCougs for a surprise

[Robert Paxton @RobertCPaxton]

Great song from Morgan! Check it out.
https://t.co/U0tzrYZl13

[BYU FOOTBALL @BYUfootball]

Almost Heaven.

[TheBlaze @theblaze]

Rest in Peace, Charlie 🙏

[Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson]

It’s not about the money.

[Robert Paxton @RobertCPaxton]

This

[Robert Sterling @RobertMSterling]

I don’t want to connect my coffee machine to the wifi network. I don’t want to share the file with OneDrive. I don’t want to download an app to check my car’s fluid levels. I don’t want to scan a QR code to view the restaurant menu. I don’t want to let Google know my location before showing me the search results. I don’t want to include a Teams link on the calendar invite. I don’t want to pay 50 different monthly subscription fees for all my software. I don’t want to upgrade to TurboTax platinum plus audit protection. I don’t want to install the Webex plugin to join the meeting. I don’t want to share my car’s braking data with the actuaries at State Farm. I don’t want to text with your AI chatbot. I don’t want to download the Instagram app to look at your picture. I don’t want to type in my email address to view the content on your company’s website. I don’t want text messages with promo codes. I don’t want to leave your company a five-star Google review in exchange for the chance to win a $20 Starbucks gift card. I don’t want to join your exclusive community in the metaverse. I don’t want AI to help me write my comments on LinkedIn. I don’t even want to be on LinkedIn in the first place.

I just want to pay for a product one time (and only one time), know that it’s going to work flawlessly, press 0 to speak to an operator if I need help, and otherwise be left alone and treated with some small measure of human dignity, if that’s not too much to ask anymore.

[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints @Ch_JesusChrist]

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke (cont) https://t.co/nu99oPaD90

[BYU FOOTBALL @BYUfootball]

the reason for the season.

[Robert Paxton @RobertCPaxton]

Joseph Smith, Prophet of God, was born on this day. He revealed much vital information about the Savior of the World Jesus Christ.

https://t.co/6QpZXj301T

[Harrison Schenck @FractionalList]

🚨Wholesome timeline cleanse incoming🚨

Dad teaches son how to fish. The kid will remember this forever. And a big reason why is the enthusiasm shown by the dad & the positive reinforcement he gives his son, especially around the 1:13 mark, when he reinforces a verbal lesson about keeping a positive attitude (because the kid was probably complaining before this was shot)

*Side note this kid is maybe ~5 and he's already caught a bigger bass than I ever have in my 37 years on earth

[Robert Paxton @RobertCPaxton]

Terraced vegetable garden coming together.

[Robert Paxton @RobertCPaxton]

On this Palm Sunday, and everyday, let us welcome into our hearts the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
https://t.co/8k2Klj8hzg

[Robert Paxton @RobertCPaxton]

Excellent points. I particularly like the definition of "meekness."

[The Chivalry Guild @ChivalryGuild]

“Never wrestle with pigs," GB Shaw is famous for saying. "You both get dirty and the pig likes it.”

A similar lesson is expressed in Tennyson's Idylls, when Sir Geraint is needlessly insulted by a small man. Geraint's hand goes for the hilt of his sword. But then he halts...

[Robert Paxton @RobertCPaxton]

After the rain. Enjoying my little spot of earth.

[David A. Bednar @BednarDavidA]

“Remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world” (Helaman 5:9).

[Jeffrey R. Holland @HollandJeffreyR]

Unless we see all the meaning and joy of Christmas—the whole of Christ’s life, His profound mission, the end as well as the beginning—then Christmas will be just another day off work with food and fun and festivities.

The true meaning—the unique, joyous meaning—of the birth of Jesus Christ was not confined to those first hours in Bethlehem but would be realized in the life He would lead and in His death, in His triumphant atoning sacrifice, and in His prison-bursting Resurrection. These are the realities that make Christmas joyful.

This year, let us remember the greatest gift ever given: the Atonement and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[Robert Paxton @RobertCPaxton]

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

[Ulisses Soares @Ulisses__Soares]

What a glorious time of year the Christmas season is! Because of the Prince of Peace, hearts are softened. Voices are raised in worship. Kindness and mercy are reenthroned as crucial elements in our lives.

There is an accelerated reaching out to those in distress. There is an aura of peace that comes into our homes. There is a measure of love that is not felt to the same extent at any other time of the year.

Our joy at this season is because He came into the world. The peace that comes from Him, His infinite love which each of us may feel, and an overwhelming sense of gratitude for that which He freely gave us at so great a cost to Himself—these are of the true essence of Christmas that all mankind deserves to know and enjoy.