starting out

As I was watching a movie the other night with the girls, one last hoorah before school started, I decided to work on my sketching goal: one simple sketch every day. I am just going to draw something simple on the bottom half of the planner pages, but it will be fun to see where this goes and what I learn along the way.

Working through the photos from 2012 that I haven't yet posted.  There are so many I'm not quite sure how I will display them.  One common theme I found as I was sorting was the flowers.  I love flowers, their beauty and design. I marvel at the details God has created for us to enjoy and be inspired by.  

Gus captured her own details while up the canyon one brisk October day.  These were taken for a science project, but I see color, shape, light, and composition.  Although most of the beautiful autumn leaves had already fallen from their trees the sunlight cast a lovely hue on the color that remained. I love the images she captured.

Many years ago my in-laws gave me this beautiful original 5x7 watercolor titled "Country Garden" by Sharlene Christensen, a local artist.  I was so thrilled, and it has hung in various rooms in our home. I was looking at it the other day and wondering what it was that I loved about this particular painting. 

When I was a young mother with only two small children, I was talking to a neighbor and good friend one evening when in the course of our conversation she learned that I had not finished my degree at the university.  She said that I would regret not finishing it and it would define who I would become.  She commented that I was the type of person that needed to see this through. I think my reply was something along the lines that a piece of paper (meaning a diploma) did not define whether or not I was an educated woman.

I have thought about our conversation over the years, especially over the holiday when my little brother asked each of us at a family dinner about our educational choices.  Would we choose the same areas of study if we were to go back to the university today?  What I would study if I started again?  Would I continue to learn about things I was passionate about, or would the practicality of everyday life cause me to choose another path?

 I thought about the educational journey that I have had since leaving the university. I have grown in ways I never anticipated, and in the process I have searched and yearned for more knowledge. I hope that I never lose that thirst for knowledge. I hope that as my children see both John and I continually studying and working to improve our minds we can instill in them the same desire to learn and grow.

"There is no limit to your potential learning as a child of God." (President Henry B. Eyring, "Do What They Think You Can't Do", October 1998, New Era)

Comments

[laura solomon]

I SO needed to hear this today as I struggle with the embarrassment of not finishing my education but KNOWING that my street smarts and life lessons got me much farther. xoxo

[Jane Wang]

Really good post! Don’t know can come next time, but I really appreciate what you wrote.