The Heart of a Child

My in-laws had a quail's nest in their planter this summer, with a mother quail and several eggs. One day when they looked at it they found the mother quail gone and feathers all around. The mother had been killed by a cat or coyote wandering the neighborhood, and her eggs were left unprotected. Then, the eggs started hatching. My husband brought the chicks and remaining eggs home with him--they were adorable!--and we took them to a bird lady in Phoenix who knew how to care for them so they could survive.

As we were driving out to Phoenix, we had a discussion about how precious life is and how important it is to protect those who are weaker or more vulnerable than we are. It was a powerful object lesson for my children, one they still talk about. Who can look at a baby bird and not want to protect it and take care of it? That feeling comes from God, and it is strong in little children. If only we could all keep that pure child-heart! I think the world would be a much better place.

We are selling our lovely home!

466 E Fairfield St, Mesa AZ
2 Bed, 2 Bath, 1717 square feet, built 1971

Two large master bedrooms (12 x 12 and 12 x 18) each with own attached bathroom, two large living areas, brick entry, brick fireplace with beautiful wood mantel, wood flooring, large eat-in kitchen with cute cabinets and matching island, ceiling fans in bedrooms and living areas, bay window, fresh paint through much of interior, charming details throughout, built-in locking gun cabinet, covered back porch, attached laundry room/storage (access off back porch), new water heater, side-entry carport with storage room, brick-walled garden ready for fall planting, compost bin, green lawn with brick planters along front of house, covered walkway flanked by lush greenery, wonderful neighbors, good neighborhood, close to schools and grocery store.

Asking $184,900.  

   

Happiness

The Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.  What do these words mean?  What is the “pursuit of happiness”?

So many today seem to think these words ought to read “Life, Liberty, and Happiness”.  They think that their happiness and self-esteem should be guaranteed by the government.  After all, happiness is the foundation for the “American dream”, right?  Whatever the choices they make, they have a “right” to be happy, and Washington needs to give it to them.  But is man-made happiness good enough?  Well, some think it is.

If Washington says it’s okay to slaughter unborn children, ignorant women line up so they can be happy.  If they say it’s okay to marry your homosexual partner, men and women line up for marriage licenses so they can be happy.  If they say hope and change will make you happy, people vote for hope and change so they can be happy. 

What all these people don’t realize is that it is the pursuit of happiness, not happiness itself that is a God-given right.  The freedom to choose the path that we best feel will bring us that happiness.  The American dream is just that.  It’s the freedom from an over-reaching government so that all people can succeed in whatever legal money-making endeavors they choose. 

So many people today simply aren’t happy.  So, when they find anything that looks like happiness, they seek after it.  They don’t realize where true happiness is found.  Alma, an ancient prophet taught his sons that “wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10).  We can gain some happiness, for a time, when a negative consequence is taken away from us, but we cannot be truly happy until we choose a path that leads to that which is good.  Joseph Smith taught, “Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 255-56, emphasis added).  

True happiness, the kind of happiness that keeps you smiling through adversity, is to be found only by living in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ.  The prophet Lehi taught his son that “men are that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25).  Truly, it is the will of our loving Father that we, His children, would follow Him, and thus choose to be happy.

What makes a house a home?

We are getting ready to sell our house.  We talked with a realtor today, and as we discussed the details of listing our house for sale, I couldn't help but contrast the bare numbers that were talked about with the rich fullness of life that has been lived here.  Not all of it has been good, but much of it has, and all of it has been so much deeper than any MLS listing or sales flyer could show.

Here is the bare-bones description:
2 bedroom, 2 bath home, 1717 square feet, built 1971.

Here are all the things I love about my home that you won't see on its listing:
1.  Lovely big kitchen, spacious enough for everyone who wants to help with dinner to pull a chair up to the counter and work away.

2.  Charming bay window, just the right height for the older kids to build with Legos on without the babies being able to reach them.  (A life-saver.)

3.  Two large bedrooms, each with its own bathroom.  One bedroom is quite comfortable for us plus a baby, the other now holds all five of our children without being crowded.  Really.

4.  Sweet details add character throughout the house: brick entry, brick half-wall with rails separating kitchen from living room, reclaimed brick fireplace with wood mantle.  Little built-in desk in kitchen (I have used it for my sewing machine).  Little things make me happy. :-)

6.  Wood floor perfect for creative works of art.

7.  Back porch just right for building things together.

8.  Firesides in the back yard.

9.  Old-fashioned mustard-yellow bathtub and scalloped sink to wash off the "accidental" by-products of firesides in the back yard.  

10.  Family room with lots of light for countless stories, games, piano practice sessions, forts, family home evenings, and even the births of two darling daughters.  Lots of life going on in this room, always.

11.  A backyard perfect for little boys and girls, complete with lots of just plain dirt.

 12.  A front walkway that now looks like a rainforest because of the love my horticulturist husband has put into it.  Those bird of paradise leaves you see behind my children are now taller than the ceiling.

 13.  A front door perfect for first-day-of-school pictures.  All of our first days of school have been in this house, so far.

14.  Countless other moments and memories that are not captured in photographs but are treasured in my heart.  This house has been perfect for us, and I am so grateful for it.  I hope its next family will love it as much as we have.

Song for a Fifth Child

Song for a Fifth Child

Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peek-a-boo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo,
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.