The Birds' Gift: Showing Kindness to Others

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I enjoyed the Ukrainian Easter tale "The Birds' Gift" by Eric A. Kimmel, so much that I decided to bring the story to life for my little ones.

The story tells of how a family and then an entire village provides shelter for hundreds of birds who have been caught off-guard by an unexpectedly harsh and early winter.

The villagers open their homes and even their church to these birds who in turn make the long winter seem more bearable.

I love the line by Father Roman who, when opening his church to the little birds says,

"There is no better deed than showing kindness to others."

Winter is not quite over when the birds begin acting funny, gathering near doors, and flying into glass windows.

The villagers consult with Father Roman who advises the villagers to let the birds go free.

The people are sad to see their little friends go...

But in the spring, Easter returns, and so do the little birds who leave beautifully decorated eggs as their gift for the kindness that the village people have shown.

The villagers make pysanky Easter eggs every year to remember the eggs left by the birds.

This is really a nice book.  I especially enjoyed the sermon given by Father Roman where he talks about "a time to come, when lions would lie down with lambs and all creatures would live in peace."  Of course, that time is the time when Christ will return again to the earth.  

His sermon brings the Easter narrative full-circle.


At Easter, we celebrate what Christ has done for us.
We follow his example of kindness to others, and we look forward to his return.

The birds are really quite easy to make.  I found the directions at Family Fun.  That was the first time I'd ever blown out an egg, so that was neat, and our dining area is so magical now with our special friends flying around reminding us the importance of serving and caring for all of God's creatures, at Easter and always!

I just had to include this video of my daughters blowing out an egg...
so easy, a two-year-old can do it! :)

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When He Comes Again

People often assume that my daughter Scarlett is named after the fabulous female lead of Gone With The Wind.  While, it is true that I once spent a whole day of Christmas vacation in seventh grade completely entranced by that movie, she is not named for Scarlett O'Hara, not directly anyway.

Actually, I knew and worked with a girl named Mari-Scarlett who was just a ton of fun, sweet, beautiful, and good-natured, and it confirmed for me that I liked the name Scarlett, so I tucked it away for future use.

The third thing that kind of sealed the deal for me is that my Grandmother Gladys loved the color red, and as a tribute to her (and my own affinity for the color), I made sure she received the name Scarlett.  (Steve wanted to name her Ivy, but I knew the moment she arrived that she was definitely a Scarlett!)

And she has been true to her name "Scarlett True."  True being another family name.

Scarlett is passionate, compassionate, and full of life and has been that way since before she took her first breath.

I recently told Scarlett that her name means "red", so she always says, "That's red for me, because I'm Scarlett," as she chooses red items over other colors whenever she can.

I also told her that the scriptures say that when Christ returns to the earth in his glory, he will be wearing red.  Now she likes to remind me of that fact, so her name has become a special reminder of not only who she comes from, but who she is to look forward to seeing again some day.  (It's not "maher shalal hash baz", but it's meaningful to us nevertheless!)

Scarlett moved from Nursery to Primary on Sunday (that's what we call the sunday school for children ages 3-11), and I just had to peek in on her between classes.  She was sitting in the front row with all of the other "Sunbeams", proudly wearing an "I Am A Child of God" crown.  The crowns, which were handouts for her lesson, were cut out of various colors of construction paper.     Of course, her crown was red.

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Questions About Mormonism: Answered By A Mormon

Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

This video is from a Harvard University panel discussion on various religions.  You can read more about this discussion here.

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The Final Inning: Preparing for Christ's Second Coming

My Dad used to joke whenever we read about the creation of the world in Genesis. Instead of "In the beginning," he'd say, "In the BIG Inning..." We believe that we are now in the "Final Inning" of the world-the last days-and as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are looking toward and preparing for the great day when the Lord Jesus Christ will return to the earth.

We believe that God has reserved his most righteous and talented spirit children to come down at this time to prepare the world for the second coming of Christ and to build his kingdom here on earth. These "choice spirits" can be found both in and outside of the church. As I look around at the incredible pace at which the human race is advancing in every field, I realize that this is true.

We believe that at the same time that the Lord is gathering his most righteous, Satan is working over-time to stall that great work, to deceive the brightest of God's children, to cause darkness and confusion all over the world. Regardless of this fact, we are taught to rejoice and find joy in these days. (You might enjoy this talk on the subject called "These Are Your Days". It's one of my favorite.)

We are taught in scripture that not even the angels know the exact hour when Christ will come again, but here in mortality, we are hoping that regardless of the year, day, or hour, we will be prepared to see Him again.

Of that great event it is written that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Christ. The brief video below is a compilation of quotes from our prophets and leaders with reminders of how we need to prepare and live during these latter days:

Preparing for Christ's Second Coming

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