this and that

Sorry for recording this Cooperdog. It will be a great family legend in 20 years.

Cooper (age 9--not yet in puberty) woke up yesterday and announced that he'd had a wet dream. Tell me about it, I said.
Cooper replies, "I dreamed Wilson and I had a waterballoon fight and when I woke up I was wet." Probably need to review a few things with him.

Overheard a very serious 4 year old conversation today:

"OW, OW there is a bee in my shoe and it's stinging me on the toe!" Max says.
"Yep, it's hard to concentrate with a bee in your shoe!" replies his friend Thommy.

We had a service primary activity on Tuesday. I explained to the children that many people in Peru were poor and sometimes didn't have enough to eat, or clothes to wear. One of the activities was to write a letter to the children in Peru in English and then translate into Spanish. Some of the children said things like, "Dear poor people," or "I'm sorry you don't have enough to eat today." These were not mean spirited comments, but they were a red flag to me. I think there is a fine line leading from compassion, to pity, to disdain, to scorn. The lesson for me was to emphasize the doctrine that we are all children of Heavenly Father and he wants us to share with others because we love Him. I guess we have to beware of pride even when we are trying to help people.

Three days off of school this week. It was nice to relax a little. We gave the kids the choice of going to a movie on their day off or donating the money to humanitarian supplies. They all voted to donate. I probably set that one up a little unfairly, but oh well.

Yesterday was a day of rekindled friendships. Out of the blue I received a visit from my friend Denise. She drove all the way out to St John and we spent the afternoon catching up. I'd forgotten (maybe suppressed) how much I miss her. I also really like her kids. Later that night Tony got a call from our friend Rick. Rick lost his wife two years ago to cancer. He and Tony talked for a long time and laughed and cried. Rick told Tony that he misses his wife more every day. I felt grateful for these friendships that have and continue, even after years of little or no contact, to inspire me to be better. Perhaps I am coming to know Jesus Christ by recognizing His personality traits in the amazing people around me.