Charity Begins at Home

Today in sacrament meeting Kylie gave a talk. It was a better talk than any I've ever given.

I've pasted the talk, in its entirety, below...

Charity Begins at Home

Justin thought it ironic as I moved around the house last night, moody and broody that I was to give a talk today on Charity begins at home. I can assume from his gentle retort that this talk is as much for me as it may be for you here today.

Oftentimes we are like the young merchant from Boston, who in 1849, as the story goes, was caught up in the fervor of the California gold rush. He sold all of his possessions to seek his fortune in the California rivers, which he was told were filled with gold nuggets so big that one could hardly carry them.

Day after endless day, the young man dipped his pan into the river and came up empty. His only reward was a growing pile of rocks. Discouraged and broke, he was ready to quit until one day an old, experienced prospector said to him, “That’s quite a pile of rocks you are getting there, my boy.”

Publicating

Academic life has several aspects that thrill me. And then there are those few things that drain my will to live. Administration is one. Marking is the other. I spent the best part of two days marking this week. But I am still alive – just.

Service

Very little to report this week. It’s simply been busy. Monday through Wednesday I don’t recall doing anything besides long days in the office. Evening were spent rushing a late dinner on returning home and then reading to the children. Reading each night is becoming the highlight of our day.

Thursday morning I was awoken at 5am by my phone ringing beside me. I wish I could say that I answered the phone with a happy voice, but that would be untrue. I growled into the receiver, “Who is this?” My tone was unwelcoming. I quickly changed my attitude when I heard a voice on the other end of the phone introduce herself as one of the producers of the TODAY show. She wanted me in the studios and on air in under two hours. Given that I had to drive a good 90 minutes that was a tall order. I changed, splashed my face, brushed my teeth, and got things moving.

Mum's Birthday Photos

These are the photos from Mum's birthday party. To see them more clearly, just click on the image.

More at timcoulson.blogpost.com.

Mum's Birthday

It’s been close to two months since I’ve had the opportunity to write. Things have been so busy that I have literally not been able to find a minute to keep things updated.

Ironically, other than the past week I find it hard to define precisely what has happened in the past 8 weeks. Life with five children will do that! Nevertheless, the past two weeks have been so monumentally significant that I felt I would be an ungrateful person if I did not make the time to document precisely what has happened.