sleeping beauty and the seven dwarves

dear sleeping beauty,

aunt amelia shouted out a wake up cry of frustration
to sleeping beauty bloggers yesterday.  it reminded me
of the famous quote, "all that is necessary for evil men
to triumph is for good men to do nothing." (burke and
tolstoy)

i choose to do something.  it may not be the same
thing you opt to do, but it will not be to do nothing.
there are several weapons in my arsenal:  to stay
informed, to appeal my representatives, and to pray.

the "weapons i fight with are not the weapons of
the world.  on the contrary, they have divine power
to demolish strongholds."  2 corinthians 10:4

if a leader ever typified a stronghold it is that "dark
dwarf" in iran mentioned by aunt amelia!

after 40 years of wielding my weapons  and seeing
evil strongholds fall to my left and right , i trust them
and the One who put them at my disposal.  i have
also watched in amazement, as many of you are
caring for infirm parents and grandparents, the way
you swing the club of love and selflessness, encouraging
us as you swing away (vee!)

tolkien may have been thinking of those same weapons
when he armed gimli, the good dwarf, and legolas, his
mate, to fight the evil at their doorstep.  the dark dwarf
in tolkien's world must have been hitler.

let's wake up now, my beauties.

love,
lea

ps. i accidentally omitted katharine from tolkien's warriors.

great books

dear emily,

are you still reading "little house on the prairie" to the kids?
i remember a blizzard so terrible that pa stretched a rope
between the house and the barn to not get lost.  that might
be from the "long, hard winter," though.

hans and i were discussing that of all the gifts we have given
our children, the love for reading would be at the top of the
list.  we cuddled their tiny bodies in our arms, reading them
nursery rhymes and bible stories.

as they grew older, they giggled at the antics of "hank, the
cowdog" and "the big friendly giant", better known as the
"BFG."  they shuddered at the perils of bilbo baggins and
cried when beth died from "little women." one of them
would say, "mom, do the voices!"  poor little beggars.

both the boys sort of stalled out at around 11 or 12, and i
resorted to gary paulsen's  "the river" and "hatchet".  his
thrilling adventures hooked them right back to the wonder
of well written stories, but they are not for young readers.

our local library asked me to host our children's author award
several years ago, and i flatly refused unless they granted the
award to gary.  after all, i really owed him one.  he was such a
colorful, salty guy, with a bit of a sailor's tongue, that the kids
were completely enamored.

that's what i love, a little salt, sugar and spice!  speaking of
great stories, you can find heartbreaking love stories, tales of
intrigue and spies, and brutal wars in the Good Book, too.

love,
lea
Source for great stories for young children