Mowing the Lawn

You have to check out what is going on over at The Shepherd's Watch .  I mentioned it in my last post , but it's better when you can see it in action.  Different members of the elders quorum in my ward are taking turns sharing their personal scripture study with the rest of the quorum.  What's interesting is that the idea of scripture study is extending beyond the traditional definition of scripture—the standard works of the Church—to include the words of living prophets and apostles.  It may not be the conventional definition, but it is a doctrinally sound one. I'm looking forward to the next few entries and then getting together on Sunday to discuss the exercise as a quorum.  Here are some highlights from what has been posted so far. Bill Bailey  shows how much there is to gain from reading even a few verses a night with young children who may not be able to handle much more.  Whenever I read 1 Nephi 11:31 from now on, I'll think of Bill identifyi...

I'm writing this post in response to an assignment from President Williams, the Elders's Quorum president in my ward.  He asked our quorum for a different volunteer each day this week to share insights from their personal scripture study.  I accepted the challenge for today.  My experience will be posted on our quorum blog, The Shepherd's Watch , along with experiences from other quorum members throughout the week. I wasn't sure what to study.  Usually when I study the scriptures I either read slightly ahead of where my family happens to be studying The Book of Mormon or I study something I've been asked to read by a priesthood leader.  This afternoon I decided to go with the first approach and read 2 Nephi 16 which is roughly the same as Isaiah 6. I was struck by one verse in particular which has perplexed me in the past.   2 Nephi 16:10 : Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes—lest they see with their eyes, ...

Our bones might crack this weekend in the Pacific Northwest as we experience our first real warm spell of the year.  It's raining now (which is great for my lawn), but the temperature is expected to reach the upper 70s on Saturday.  It shouldn't be a big deal, but anything over 68 qualifies as sweltering in my book. The onslaught of solar oppression has me thinking about fans and air conditioners.  Sadly, my trusted fan is on it's last leg.  For some reason, it will occasionally wait a few minutes between the time I turn it on and the time it starts to blow.  Maybe it's old and needs a breather.  Maybe it's time for me to accept that life is brutish and short and I need to move on. Thelma mocked me when we bought the fan at Costco.  I saw it one day and came home all excited to tell her about it.  It's a tower fan, so it doesn't have the hazardous legs that jump out to viscously try and trip you.  That's an important consideration for me...