Eggs

So, today we are coloring eggs for the beloved Easter celebration tomorrow. This morning we decided to boil a dozen for coloring. All 3 of the older kids are super excited and want to "help". So, the each put eggs in the pot(big help). Jeremy, 8, asks:

J: Why are we putting them in the water to boil?
Mom: So that they are hard and we can color them.

(Jeremy ponders this for a minute)

J: So, if this makes them hard, how do you get them to turn into chocolate and stuff them with candy?

(Mom thinks for a minute about busting his bubble, answering sarcastically, or playing along)

Mom: let's go ask your Dad.
Mom: Daddy, Jeremy has something to ask you.
(Jeremy asks Dad)
Dad: (with a straight face)Well son, it is a lot like cows, you have to have a chocolate chicken for chocolate eggs, just as you need a chocolate cow for chocolate milk.

Thoughts

I know many that struggle with life. It is unfair and wonderful all at the same time ... After my surgeries and struggles through recovery I have found a new peace in life. This poem is the best description of that peace that I have ever read, and a good read that I would like to share.... Jeremiah Cottle

-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --
Not "Found in Old St. Paul's Church"! -- see below

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Perfect

What Was I supposed to be? by Ray Boltz