Not in Vain

"They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them."

Isaiah 65:23

Another Blog-Book Option

Here's another possibility for converting a blog from electronic to hard-copy. I'm looking forward to trying something after I get a bit more blogging behind me. So many fun options!

www.blurb.com

No Time Like the Present

We shall do much in the years to come,
But what have we done today?
We shall give our gold in a princely sum,
But what did we give today?
We shall lift the heart and dry the tear,
We shall plant a hope in the place of fear,
We shall speak the words of love and cheer,
But what did we speak today?

We shall be so kind in the after while,
But have we been today?
We shall bring to each lonely life a smile,
But what have we brought today?
We shall give to truth a grander birth,
And to steadfast faith a deeper worth,
We shall feed the hungering souls of earth,
But whom have we fed today?

We shall reap such joys in the by and by,
But what have we sown today?
We shall build us mansions in the sky,
But what have we built today?
'Tis sweet in the idle dreams to bask;
But here an now, do we our task?
Yet, this is the thing our souls must ask,
What have we done today?

--Nixon Waterman
from the Book of Virtues

An Absolutely Bigger Hole

That one lonely front tooth didn't stick around for long! And unlike when Ian was in a similar dental position a few months ago, Anna actually whistles through that big hole sometimes when she talks. Very cute.

Ian helped his sister with the extraction of this one right before a toothbrushing session. After all, what are brothers for?

Scrap-blogging

A friend mentioned this site for converting a blog into an actual physical scrapbook. Sounds like the best of both worlds to me! I can envision doing some sort of family yearbook this way. If anyone has (or gets) any experience with this sort of thing before I get around to trying it, please impart your wisdom and insight.

www.scrapbookblogger.com

A Memorable Monday

Me at the sewing machine for more than necessary mending is a rare enough event in itself. Me at the sewing machine completing a project is something well nigh miraculous. So of course it must receive a post complete with pictoral documentation.

The four oldest children celebrated Memorial Day (including the nights on either side) with my parents last Monday, so I spent the ENTIRE day putting together a quilt (term used loosely--it's one top piece and one coordinating bottom piece with batting in the middle) that folds into a pillow for Lewis. I'd made one of these curiosities about fifteen years ago in my home-economics class. Looking back, how that teacher managed to help ten or fifteen of us make those things at one time is beyond me. Anyhow, that relic had been bequeathed to Ian, who seemed to be enjoying it, so I bought material to make one for Lewis . . . a couple years ago.

And not only did I get the joy that comes with finishing a major project, but it was done in time to give to Lewis on his fourth birthday two days later. Couldn't have planned it better if I'd tried! If only I could always be so relaxed about trusting God's timing for things.

"There Are No Menial Jobs, Only Menial Attitudes."

I try to avoid lengthy quotes, but William Bennett's introduction to his chapter on work in The Book of Virtues seems so apropo, it would be a shame to leave out too much of it:

"The opposite of work is not leisure or play or having fun but idleness---not investing ourselves in anything. Even sleeping can be a form of investment if it is done for the sake of future activity. But sleep, like amusement, can also be a form of escape--oblivion sought for its own sake rather than for the sake of renewal. It can be a waste of time. Leisure activity or play or having fun, on the other hand, can involve genuine investment of the self and not be a waste of time at all."

"Happiness, as Aristotle long ago pointed out, resides in activity, both physical and mental. It resides in doing things that one can take pride in doing well, and hence that once can enjoy doing. It is a great mistake to identify enjoyment with mere amusement or relaxing or being entertained. Life's greatest joys are not what one does apart from the work of one's life, but with the work of one's life."

"Parents show their children how to enjoy doing the things that have to be done by working with them, by encouraging and appreciating their efforts, and by the witness of their own cheerful and conscientious example." (emphasis Bennett's)