Father is another name for love

Earlier this week, when Barack Obama was asked to compare his duties as a parent to those of the President of the United States, he responded, “There’s nothing more fun than being a father.”

And nothing more important.

Here's a beautiful tribute from a son about his father, made in about 544 BC.

"...my father... was a just man -- for he taught me in his language, and in the nurture and admonition of the Lord -- and blessed be the name of my God for it--
...and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart."

Enos wrote this about his father Jacob, who had been a prophet and teacher. (Book of Mormon p136.) It's not surprising that Enos became a spiritual leader and teacher as well.

And blessed be the name of God for all the men who are caring for and influencing the children of today in ways that will lead them to live happy and productive lives. There's nothing the world needs more than that right now.

As William Wordsworth said, "Father! - to God himself we cannot give a holier name."

wildflowers in wild places

Today when I left on my walk the sun was obscured by a light fog, but look what greeted me from a ditch beside the road.

A friend once told me that if you just show her a yellow flower on the side of the road it will make her happy. She loves yellow that much.

If you show me any flower on the side of the road it will make me happy. I love wildflowers that much.

But if you show me a flower in a ditch, that will make me really happy.

Flowers in a ditch make me feel closer than a few eons away from that time that "God said let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself...."

I imagine the seeds that have laid in the ditch waiting through drought and cold and flood for just the right conditions to grow and blossom are descended from the original "herb yielding seed."

All the roadside flowers that grow without any cultivation, fertilizer, irrigation or even notice from humans make me happy because they thrive where it's surprising to even see a plant at all.

It reminds me of the familiar saying "Bloom where you are planted."

Which, if we remember who the Gardener is and what He can do, should give us confidence that we really can.

some assembly required

This is our favorite spaghetti. I got the recipe when we were on a sailing trip in the Virgin Islands about 20 years ago. The sailboat was from Spain, so this might be Spanish style spaghetti. We call it Bacon Spaghetti.



Here's what you need to make it:
1 lb box of spaghetti
bottle of marinara sauce
pint of whipping cream or half and half
package of bacon
parmesan cheese

Here's how to do it.

Use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces, then cook it in a sauce pan to the doneness you like. Drain the grease.

In the meantime, cook the spaghetti. If it gets done before the sauce, drain the water and add a little olive oil and keep it covered.

Then add the marinara sauce to the bacon and heat through. Add as much of the whipping cream as you like. I usually use almost the whole pint. (I've also saved calories on this recipe by using turkey bacon and evaporated or skim milk.) Heat but don't boil.

That's it! Pass the Parmesan cheese.

Thanks Mom!

Holding hands - Joelle and Wally

"I have learned to place a high estimate upon the love of mother. I have often said, and will repeat it, that the love of a true mother comes nearer being like the love of God than any other kind of love."
(Joseph F. Smith, “Love of Mother and Father,” Ensign, Aug 2004, 8–10. Joseph F. Smith became an orphan at the age of 14. He served a mission to Hawaii at the age of 15, where he became deathly ill and was nursed to health over a period of months by a Hawaiian woman who he later referred to as "My mother, my dear old mother.")

don't be a goat

What did the goats do that was so bad?

In the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), the goats end up in everlasting fire after the King has separated them from the sheep. When I read this, I imagine you have to do a lot of really bad things to be sent off to everlasting fire with the goats rather than to be called blessed and welcomed into God's kingdom with the sheep.

As He separates the sheep from the goats, the King does explain why the goats are sent one way and the sheep the other. He tells the goats that they did not help the hungry or thirsty, did not take in a stranger, didn't give clothes to the naked, didn't visit the sick or those in prison.

And when they didn't do those things for the people around them, they didn't do it for Him.

So it turns out that the goats didn't do a long list of bad things, or really, any bad things. They just didn't do the good things.

Now that's a sobering thought.

proverb from the philippines

The early bird may get the worm
but the late rising worm lives.

dessert for breakfast

This is my favorite way to have oatmeal.
Use a pretty big bowl.
Scoop 1/2 cup oatmeal into the bowl and add 1 cup milk.
Cook in the microwave for 2 mins or so, be careful that it doesn't boil over.
Slice a banana into the warm oatmeal, slice a few strawberries in, break up a few pecans over the top. (You can use any fresh or dried fruit you have.)
You'll think you're having dessert for breakfast!