compassion ~ Of all the good character traits floating around out there, this is one that I try very hard to instill in our boys.  It is so easy to take for granted the things we enjoy!  Each morning during our prayer time, I am careful to thank God that we have a home, beds, clothing, and food; things which many of the world and some in our own country do not have.  As of late, the boys and I have been working on "compassion" projects following one of the character traits we are studying in this incredible book.  As Americans, I think it is easy to see what we do not have rather than viewing life through the lens of blessings and contentment.  As the old saying goes, "Riches won't make you happy."  Through our studies we have discovered a beautiful definition of compassion ~ "Feeling others' hurts enough to do something for them which may not be convenient for me."  That is powerful!  It is easy to give when we do not have to extend at all, but as David stated, we should not give to the Lord that which costs us nothing!  Admittedly, God is working on me in this area.  Due to our commitment that I will be at home with our children, we have done a lot of scraping while Troy was in grad school.  And it was scraping like you couldn't imagine!  :-)  Yet. . .we are still better off than most of the world!  Through this experience, I feel like I have been gently reminded of how little I really need to live, and that true treasures are stored in Heaven - not in the house in which we live, the car we drive, or the clothes we wear.  Yes, I think we should do our best to be presentable to promote a good testimony, but it is easy to carry that too far.  So, to make a long story short to keep a long post long, I have decided to always have the boys work on a compassion project. Bless their little hearts, they have been raking leaves, doing other outside work,

and then baking some more cookies.  They have also been blessed by some who "let the kids keep the change."  :-)

The boys were thrilled to reach their first goal:

The second is still a work in progress but is through this organization.  They were so excited to go to the store and purchase many items for other children.  I love seeing the happiness they receive just thinking about the joy they will bring to complete strangers in another part of the world.  I hope they never forget that feeling. . .

as many laughs as it did us!

Enjoy!

Two guesses as to which son just received the honor!

P.S. I am so embarrassed!

On Friday, I ended the blissful sleep of two boys.

What a mean mother I am! :-)

It was a good trade though as we hopped in the van and headed for. . .

For months, Ethan had begged to ride on a train and a Ferris wheel,

and I actually found a place to make those wishes come to pass.

I cannot remember the last time I was so

excited about taking the boys somewhere!

Their reaction was no disappointment as they

fell in love with the place and want to return.

It was a day filled with -

~lots of historical pieces,~
~Lone Ranger and Tonto,~
~jail time,~
~picnic,~
~Lots of slobber from the petting zoo.~
~At the end of the day, we had a
very tired (and cinder speckled) traveler.~

For another perspective, you can visit this blog.