A Place for Imperfect People
“Except for the Lord, we have all made mistakes. The question is not whether we will trip and fall but, rather, how will we respond? Some, after making mistakes, stray from the fold. This is unfortunate. Do you not know that the Church is a place for imperfect people to gather together—even with all their mortal frailties—and become better? Every Sunday in every meetinghouse throughout the world, we find mortal, imperfect men, women, and children who meet together in brotherhood and charity, striving to become better people, to learn of the Spirit, and to lend encouragement and support to others. I am not aware of any sign on the door of our meetinghouses that reads ‘Restricted Entrance—Perfect People Only.’ “
Modern Day Noah’s Ark
The massive central door in the side of Noah’s Ark was opened for the first crowd of curious townsfolk to behold the wonder.
Of course, it’s only a replica of the biblical Ark , built by Dutch Creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible. The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide.
That’s two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house. Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold. A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine.
Biblical scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been. Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and with occasional help from his son Roy.
Construction began in May 2005. On the uncovered top deck – not quite ready in time for the opening – will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats, and one camel. Visitors on the first day were stunned. ‘It’s past comprehension’, said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape. ‘I know the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big.’
There is enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater where kids can watch a video that tells the story of Noah and his ark.
Huibers, a Christian man, said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands, where church going has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years.
Recovery: Anderson Style
So, she’s home. This, of course is a good thing. Now begins the phase where (hopefully) she gets waited on hand-and-foot, people (me) bring her homemade chicken noodle soup–with super awesome homemade noodles, and we write down all the weird things she says while coming down off the morphine and lortab. Should be entertaining.
We’ve already had some pretty funny references to this trippy YouTube video (warning: it’s completely weird, but pretty strangely funny) that fits the situation rather well.
Jillian has the next few days off so she can get my mom up and walking around every hour or so. Apparently, when they do surgery by scope, they inflate you like a balloon with CO2. So, post-op, they want you to keep your circulation flowing to get the CO2 out of your system so it doesn’t settle anywhere odd and cause problems. Who knew? Also, the walking is important to avoid blood clots.
She’s in good spirits, smiling and cracking jokes until she falls asleep mid-sentence. We’re looking forward to having her back in good health.
But in the meantime, we’ve got the pen and paper out, and maybe a little video camera, just for fun.
April
Family ‘Success’
“Families unite when they do meaningful things together. Children should work together under the leadership of parents. Common employment, even on a part-time basis, is valuable. So is a family garden. Common projects to help others are also desirable. Families may establish a perpetual missionary fund. They can research and write family histories and share them with others. They can organize family reunions. They can educate family members in the basic skills of living, including managing finances, maintaining property, and broadening their general education. The learning of languages is a useful preparation for missionary service and modern life. The teachers of these subjects can be parents or grandparents or other members of the extended family.
“Some may say, ‘But we have no time for that.’ As for time to do what is truly worthwhile, I suggest that many parents will find that they can turn their family on if they will turn their television off. . . .
“President David O. McKay taught:
” ‘The home is the first and most effective place for children to learn the lessons of life: truth, honor, virtue, self-control; the value of education, honest work, and the purpose and privilege of life. Nothing can take the place of home in rearing and teaching children, and no other success can compensate for failure in the home.’—————