Search Results for: blog no moment in life is too small

The Ordinariness of Life Is Quite Extraordinary

Do you appreciate the ordinary events of day-to-day living? I think too often we look at those as nothing more than drudgery. We are just making it from one day to the next. Sometimes it takes a rocking of our world to cause us to appreciate those unremarkable moments in life. Never have I felt this as much as I did a couple of weeks ago when our family went through a traumatic situation. I know I have referenced this a few times in my blogs and I feel a little guilty that I haven’t been able to expand on … Continue reading →

Life Is Short, So Appreciate It

Fellow blogger, Michele Cheplic, just wrote about the tragic loss of seven lives in the Bronx. It was a tragedy that has probably struck a chord in every heart. And as Michele pointed out, the realization that when it comes to our time, we do not know the day nor the hour. I want to play off that a bit with another passage from the Bible that you may be familiar with, “Teach us to realize the brevity of life…” (Psalm 90:12, NIV) Life is filled with uncertainties and while I cannot relate to the impact of a tragedy such … Continue reading →

FHE with Small Children-Setting Goals

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Have you ever thought about teaching your little ones about setting goals? I don’t think I ever really learned the value of goal setting until I became a missionary. I’m sure in my life up until that point, I had set goals and achieved them, but until my mission, I didn’t appreciate how setting goals can be life changing. We decided to have a family home evening with our little ones on how to set goals. It was a VERY simple lesson. We have been working with our oldest daughter, who is almost 6, on encouraging her to stop sucking … Continue reading →

The Crazy Origins of Pinocchio

“Pinocchio” started its life as an 100-some paged 1883 Italian novella by Carlo Collodi. Walt Disney was introduced to the story by one of his staff during production on “Snow White,” and he loved it so much he made it his next film. Given the greater length of the original “Pinocchio” than, say, one of the Brothers Grimms’ super short stories, I don’t have the space to do a full compare/contrast between the Disney film and its source text. What I’ll do instead is list the most notable differences between the two versions. Perhaps the most shocking disparities between Collodi’s … Continue reading →

What to Consider When Getting Another Pet

Room for more? Most pet owners are animal lovers and that often means we want multiple pets. We know, however, that we can’t be pet hoarders; we have to draw the line somewhere. How do we know where that line is? I’m thinking about getting another cat. Cole gets lonely both overnight (cats tend to be nocturnal) and when we are away for long. My dog Chihiro doesn’t play with him as much as she used to. The perfect solution is another feline companion. But how to know if that’s the right thing to do? When thinking about getting an … Continue reading →

It’s the Small Things That Sometimes Mean the Most

Photo by w1n → in Flowers There are moments in a marriage where a very small thing means so much. This past Wednesday I attended a Bible study at my church. It’s a new series on how to stay in love in marriage. The pastor who was leading it shared a story about what may seem to us an insignificant moment, but to him deepened his love for his wife even greater. I had the same kind of moment as well. It was on Monday when my husband and I spent the day at Children’s Hospital. Our 12-year-old son had … Continue reading →

FHE with Small Children

We have recently started doing Family Home Evening. I was surprised (although I shouldn’t be) at how much my 4 year old just loved it. When you have young families, it is hard to get excited about family home evening. We know that it is a promise from our leaders that if we hold these special family “meetings” each week, that it will keep our family close together. Our family home evenings are very simple. We have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. The favorite part so far is leading the music. Even our two year old … Continue reading →

On Blogging and Real Life

Yesterday was a wonderful day. We celebrated winter solstice. After the darkest day of the year, the light starts to return to the northern hemisphere. We began with trimming the tree in the morning. It is an outdoor tree, so it comes indoors for less than a week, beginning on winter solstice. We moved on to decorating the back yard with food for the birds and watched chickadees move from seed-covered cone to seed-covered cone. In the evening, we went on a lantern walk through the forest at a church near the ocean. We threw stones in the ocean to … Continue reading →

Making the Most of Moments

I truly believe that no moment in life is too small. Each moment counts and while I often fail to recognize that, I at least strive to. When I do manage to capture those moments, it feels so good. This past Monday I had one of those. I recognized that I had a moment and I needed to make the most of it. It was after a very long day. It was one of those days where you are exhausted from a lack of sleep, you felt pressed to meet deadlines for work, a simple trip to the grocery store … Continue reading →

Don’t Wait Too Long

People say that babies are expensive, but the truth is, you’ll probably spend much more money on other things in your lifetime. Choosing to become a parent is one of those things you simply cannot sum up between a dollar sign and a decimal point. The gain you receive from having a child is worth more than you can imagine and the interest is compounded by the minute. Don’t worry about the sleepless nights, the spit up or the poopy diapers. Those days come and they go, and they don’t make up the substance of what is so wonderful about … Continue reading →