It's been a great week . . .

having my sister Misty, and her cute family staying with us! Our house has been very busy with 10 kids running around, and 1 baby. Today we went to a splash zone, last night we had 9 kids sleeping over, and had a big Father's Day BBQ. We have 4 more days of fun to look forward too.

I also finished another book and wanted to share some quotes. The book is "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant, an interesting read that inspired me to read the story of Jacob and Dinah from the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. This book is written by a Jewish author, therefore written from a different perspective than that which I was used to. But I loved a few quotes from the end of the book, attributed to Dinah.


"Death is no enemy, but the foundation of gratitude, sympathy, and art. Of all life's pleasures, only love owes no debt to death." (p. 320)

"In Egypt, I loved the perfume of the lotus. A flower would bloom in the pool at dawn, filling the entire garden with a blue musk so powerful it seemed that even the fish and ducks would swoon. By night, the flower might wither but the perfume lasted. Fainter and fainter, but never gone. Even many days later, the lotus remained in the garden. Months would pass and a bee would alight near the spot where the lotus had blossomed, and its essence was released again, momentarily but undeniable."
"Egypt loved the lotus because it never dies. It is the same for people who are loved. Thus can something as insignificant as a name-two syllables, one high, one sweet-summon up the innumerable smiles and tears, sighs and dreams of a human life."
(p. 321)