May's Theme

May's theme is WORK.
Every year I read Seventeenth Summer.  It was written in 1942.  I wish I could have lived in this time period.  It seems like the people weren't lazy.  Every morning the girl gets up and weeds the garden with her sister.  Every day her mom decides on a job that needs to be done.  They clean out all the closets and put the winter clothes in the attic, or wash all the windows.  It was just part of their life.  They didn't watch tv.  In the evening they would sit on the porch and talk to neighbors or listen to the summer rain storms.  I love the idea of life like this.  I want to be like that and I decided that part of what is missing is the work.  This book is one of the main reasons I plant a garden.  I want my kids to help me weed.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf wrote a great article entitled Two Principles for any Economy.  His first principle is WORK.  He says, "Work is an antidote for anxiety, an ointment for sorrow, and a doorway to possibility. Whatever our circumstances in life, my dear brethren, let us do the best we can and cultivate a reputation for excellence in all that we do. Let us set our minds and bodies to the glorious opportunity for work that each new day presents.

When our wagon gets stuck in the mud, God is much more likely to assist the man who gets out to push than the man who merely raises his voice in prayer—no matter how eloquent the oration. President Thomas S. Monson put it this way: “It is not enough to want to make the effort and to say we’ll make the effort. … It’s in the doing, not just the thinking, that we accomplish our goals. If we constantly put our goals off, we will never see them fulfilled.”4

Isn't that great?  I've been thinking a lot about this lately.  I want to raise kids who are hard workers and I think the way to do that is to be a hard worker myself. Plus, think of all I'd get done!  So there is my goal.  DO IT!