Some Encouragement.

My mom shared this on her Facebook and it so impacted me I wanted to share it here with you.



For those of you who would like the words:

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully.
Before it blossomed, he examined it. He saw a bud that
would soon blossom. He also saw the thorns, and he
thought, "How can any beautiful flower come from a plant,
burdened with so many sharp thorns?" Saddened by this
thought, he neglected to water the rose, and before it was
ready to bloom, it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul, there is a rose.
The "God-like" qualities planted in us at birth, growing amidst
the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and
see only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking
nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to
water the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never
realize our potential.

Some don't see the rose within themselves. It takes someone
else to show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person
can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns and find
the rose within others. This is the truest, most innocent, and
gracious characteristic of love - to know another person,
including their faults, recognize the nobility in their soul,
and yet still help another to realize they can overcome their
faults. If we show them the rose, they will conquer the
thorns. Only then will they blossom, and most likely,
blooming thirty, sixty, a hundred-fold, as it is given to them.

Our duty in this world is to help others, by showing them
their roses and not their thorns. It is then that we
achieve the love we should feel for each other. Only then
can we bloom in our own garden.

Author Unknown
The Parable of the Rose

As a mom I have had those moments where I look at the world around me and all I see are the thorns but it has been my friends and family who have helped me to see the roses.

Do you have any special people in your world who help you find the rose within ?

Blessings

A visit to Australia Post Sorting Facility

About 12 years ago my Dad had the priviledge of going to a post sorting facility and told us all about it, because of his interresting storries it is something I have been wanting to do ever since.  Whilest in New Zealand we tried to organise a trip but could not get permission for our group to go on a tour. Two months ago I saw the trip advertised on a homeschool email letter I jumped right at it and reserved a spot for Sir N and myself. 

Unfortunately we could not take photographs on tour but I did manage to take a few outside and of the models of the facility.

Some of what we learned:

• Post that is unusually shaped is still hand sorted today.
• Hand sorters sort mail at a minimum rate of 25 letters a minute.
• Post has a 24 hour turn around in Melbourne.
• There is a substance embedded in stamps that the machine can read and know if the correct amount of postage is attached to a letter.
• The facility works mainly at night.
• They process on average 6 000 000 items per night.
• This rate climbs to 11 000 000 items per night during the Christmas season.
• The facility operates six nights a week.
• The facility operates Sunday night till Friday night.
• Parcel post as a bussiness is growing by 15 % a year.
• Standard personal mail is dropping by approximately 4 % a year.
• Unclaimed mail is kept for a year. 
• After a year unclaimed post is sent to auction and the proceeds are donated to charity.
• Last year this auction collected AU $ 3 000 000 for charity.
• The strangest item posted and delivered was a banana.
• Redirection orders are handeled by the postie on your round.
• Around 20 USB keys are destroyed in each sorting machine each night due to being to thick and posted in a standard envelope.

Here are our photos:

Painting in the reception area

Olde post box at reception door.

We had to wear visitor safety vests.

Facility Model

Australia Post trucks at the depo.

What was Sir N's favourite part ?

• When we saw the letters shooting past on one of the machines.
• Looking at the model of the facility.
• Seeing the man polishing the sensors on the post carrier up near the roof.
• Being allowed to play with the rollers on the table
• I liked seeing the outside where the trucks come to fetch the post.
• I liked the lift which took the boxes of letters up to the roof to go on the conveyer.
• I liked looking at the conveyer up near the roof.
• I liked that they still hand sort today.

 Blessings

Tuesdays Treasures (1-8)

Little Bears Trousers

 When Little Bear gets up one morning, his trousers are gone. Where could they be? Old Bear doesn't know. Sailor, Camel and Rabbit have seen them and used them in some un-trouserly ways. But no one can tell Little Bear where his trousers are now. When Little Bear finally discovers his trousers, even he is surprised at what he finds.

This book is one of Sir N's favourites at the moment.  I love the feel of all of Jane Hisseys books. Each and every picture is full of texture and detail, and are so beautiful little people spend hours looking them over.  My first two loved her books as well and as a result we have a few of her titles around the house!

Details

• ISBN13: 9780099265436
• Language: English
• Pages: 32

Other books we have enjoyed:

• Old Bear (1988)
• Little Bear Lost (1989)
• Jolly Tall (1990)
• Jolly Snow (1991)
• Hoot (1996)
• Little Bears Alphabet (2000)
• Old Bear's All-together Painting (2001)

Who are some Authors you and your family have enjoyed because of their beautiful paintings ?