Saturday, February 04, 2012

Shangri-La

We love our library and I try to take the kids once a week to check out books. They get so excited about going there to find something new to read and say hi to their favorite librarians. I know that we aren't exactly the quietest crew that comes in....ok, whom I kidding, we are super loud and everyone stares at us...but I'm working on that. I've got four kids ya know?? Sometimes I have wondered if the women working there think - Oh great, here comes that crazy lady with the loud kids that check out 40+ books every time they come. I am sure at least one or two do, but a couple weeks ago when we were there I received a really great compliment! One of our favorite librarians checked our books out for us and as we were leaving she told me that sometimes she thinks of our family and how we live and how our home must be like a Shangri-La. I smiled and replied that we had a lot of fun at our house. I didn't want to admit to her that I wasn't exactly sure what Shangri-La was, but I was hoping it meant a fun place. Ha!

When we got home that day, I looked it up and this is the definition I found:

Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. Hilton describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia — a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world.

I thought it was awesome that our librarian would say something like that! I really strive for our home to be a place of fun and laughter. I want my kids to someday look back at their childhood and be able to say "We had a great life!". We may not have the best clothes or take the best vacations and money is always tight, but I can say without a doubt that we have plenty of love and laughs at this house! And in the end that is what I hope they remember the most.

3 comments:

chodgkiss said...

What a compliment, Jess!! You are doing a great job as a mommy...keep it up!

Anonymous said...

Yes, you and Shawn are doing a great job as parents. When I see you all together with my two daughters (they are doing a great job as well) and their husbands and children, it thrills my heart. Looking to the Lord for direction in all that you do, can make for a very blessed, happy and abundant life.
Love you all, Ex-Uncle Clem :)

Our Family said...

Thank you to both of you! And to set the record straight, you are and always will be my uncle:) It's a great testimony to you Clem that all three of your children grew up loving the Lord and living for him! Love and miss you.