Blessing Dress

I must have scanned Heather's blessing dress upside-down.  Love that little flower on the ruffle by the neck.  Seeing the scan brings back tender feelings. This little dress was well-worn.  I put it on her each Sunday until she outgrew it.  So it is not in good enough shape to pass along. Anyway, Heather will want the privilege of finding or making a new dress for her baby girl due to arrive in July.  We can hardly wait to meet her!

Adam and Sam

I didn't have brothers growing up but it looks like siblings really can be close and caring.  It does my heart good when I see our children as they show their love for each other.  It doesn't matter whether it is by way of advise given, a repair on a house, a hug or pat on the back or even kind words and a smile.  Keep it up.  I suppose we all pick up hurts of one kind or another over the years but family bonds are irreplaceable.  These two are friends of our grandchildren.  They come from one special family--as is ours!

Joel and Harriet Mears

This photo was taken on the sly when I was in Wales. Actually, we got permission because there was no postcard copy of it for the shop to sell.  It is hanging on the wall of the "castle" in Merthyr Tydfil, built by one of the coal mining "barons" of the 1800's.  The reason I wanted the picture was because it was a poignant reminder of how our ancestors must have lived.  Not so much like a photo, but an emotional rendering of how hard life was in mining towns at the time Joel and Harriet Mears lived there before they emigrated to the U.S.  The ground floor of the castle was made into a museum.  There are other touching displays which we viewed. Because the Mears couple adopted Art's grandmother and because of sealing ordinances, I believe these people have much more than a casual interest in the new baby who is due to arrive in July.  I imagine them sending love to her already.  After all, they took in little girl Frances and raised her as their own daughter all those years ago because they knew a great deal about how to give love.

Hello Baby

What an exciting time for new parents.  I remember how it was with Art and I.  It is gratifying to know that Heather and Jake are also having that special anticipation for the arrival of a new member of their family.  Hello, Baby, indeed!  Welcome to this transition time as you prepare to enter this world.

Thousands of years B.C. and Now

This particular statue from ancient Egypt fascinates me. I thought to include it on this post today because I used a basket to carry the clothing needing to be folded and put away. What was in the basket this woman carried? What is her story? Or was the statue just the creation of the artist's mind with no one in particular as model? I don't think I will be able to find out enough of the details to satisfy my curiosity. It's been ages, in the literal sense of the word, since this statue was created. It is likely that it was part of a burial process. Somehow it has made its way to the museum. When I feel overwhelmed with the complexity of this time in the world's history, this photo reminds me that women lived, worked and survived all through the ages. We are in a line (or is it a circle)of courageous people passing down a legacy even in something as mundane as carrying a basket or folding clothes. I have been reading a Relief Society conference talk today. Seems to me that it is appropriate to walk as tall as this Egyptian woman and to feel a sense of satisfaction in what we are contributing to the world, small as it may seem to be.

Scripture Study Suggestions

It will soon be time to watch/listen to General Conference.  Because I let myself get behind with my goal of reading all of last October conference talks, I have had to read two talks a day to catch up before next Saturday.  I have no idea why I let other things get in the way of my scripture study (and I do consider these talks from the Ensign to be current scripture).  Anyway, what a joyful experience to feel the spirit while reading.  I like these suggestions from Jay Jensen as printed in the Church News.  They have made my study more meaningful.

1. Pray.  "Make prayer a part of scripture study.  Pause to ask God for His Sprit to teach you."

2. Pay the right price.  "Whether you study and search the scriptures chronologically, by themes, or topics, or a combination, pay the right price; study search, ponder, liken, feast upon, compare, analyze and synthesize."

3. Look for patterns, themes, connections. "The footnotes and other scripture study aids are to assist you."

4. Create outlines and write scripture insights.  "Going through the scriptures regularly is good, but to have the scriptures go through you and having them change you comes with a price."

5. Mark, annotate and write in your scriptures. "Two purposes...are to (1) capture revelations you receive as you study, and (2) retrieve or recall what you have learned.  In a way, well-marked scriptures are a portable revelatory filing system."

6. Teach what you learn.  "By this you will demonstrate if you have truly mastered a topic.  Until I am able to articulate what I am studying, I confess that I have not  yet mastered it."

In order not to get overwhelmed, someone once told me to consider conference talks to be like a delicious  buffet, to take from it what you need at the time, knowing that there is plenty for all. It has worked for me.

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If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed.  If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed.  ~Mark Twain

I hope this is not totally true because I am a compulsive reader of the newspaper.  Although our paper has shrunk in size and advertisements, I am hoping it will remain a printed thing I can hold in my hands.  I love the Internet but it's not the same.  On the other hand, when we are muttering under our breath about all the newspapers we have to recycle you would think we'd welcome the change to online!  Not so.  I like the process of going from uninformed to sorting out what is misinformation or disinformation and what is truth.  And that's (to quote Martha Stewart) a good thing.  It is a challenge.  I admit that.  And I don't think it is appropriate to get opinions from only one source.  It is very easy to make a politician or a commentator into an idol.  Basing our life on something as seductive as idealizing celebrity is dangerous, no matter who it is or what the opinions expressed. But it is important to sort out facts from one agenda or another and try to find a balance.   Here's to holding on to values and principles, while sifting through information in an attempt to figure out what is best for our country and for ourselves.