Forgiveness Flour

This poem was shared in Relief Society the other day and I really liked it so I wanted to share.  

Forgiveness Flour     by Marguerite Stewart

When I went to the door, at the whisper of knocking, 

I saw Simeon Gantner's daughter, Kathleen, standing 

There, in her shawl and her shame, sent to ask

"Forgiveness Flour" for her bread.  "Forgiveness Flour,"

We call it in our corner.  If one has erred, one

Is sent to ask for flour of his neighbors.  If they loan it

To him that means he can stay, but if they refuse, he had

Best take himself off.  I looked at Kathleen...

What a jewel of a daughter, though not much like her

Father, more's the pity.  "I'll give you flour, "I 

Said, and went to measure it.  Measuring was the rub,

If I gave too much, neighbors would think I made sin

Easy, but if I gave too little, they would label me

"Close."  While I stood measuring, Joel, my husband

Came in from the mill, a great bag of flour on his 

Shoulder, and seeing her there, shrinking in the

Doorway, he tossed the bag at her feet.  "Here, take

All of it."  And so she had flour for many loaves,

While I stood measuring.

Matthew 7:1-5

Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

UPDATE!

Lots going on at the Hatch household!  see the following 3 new post to update what's been going on in our lives.

Face Plant

Emily tried to plant her beautiful face into the cement last week.  The principle at the school called me and sounded very concerned but trying to be calm and I think keep me calm, he said, "We have Emily here and  she's bleeding".  I said, "I'll be right there".  He said, "Are you really close? there's quite a bit of blood"... I think he was ready to call paramedics if I couldn't get there right away.  She had been on her scooter, on her way to the yearbook signing party, and the scooter hit a rock or something and just flipped her onto her face.  When I got there, she was covered in blood, her tooth was busted out... barely hanging in there, and her nose had a huge deep gash.  After assessing that her injuries were not life threatening, I took her to the dentist to get the tooth taken care of.  The dentist just numbed the area and then shoved the tooth back in.  Her tooth should be just fine, it will stay in place but may have to have a root canal later.  They made a clear plastic retainer to help keep the tooth where it's supposed to be until it heals completely and to protect it from further damage.  We then got her nose stitched up.  She's actually healing very nicely and didn't have too much pain from the incident.  I just felt so sad for her!  She'll be back to normal before you know it. 

I had planned to do another photo session with her for her senior portraits but I guess now with a scabby banged up face, these pics I took of her earlier in the year will have to do.  Now that I look at them, (and I finally got the editing done) I am quite happy with them.  She graduates next week.

 Isn't she gorgeous!!!

The Mission Call

Kendon has been called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the South Carolina Columbia Mission, Spanish Speaking.  His Dad served in the North Carolina Raleigh mission and spent a lot of time on the very southern border.  He reports to the MTC on August 8th.  We are so excited for him and very pleased that he has chosen to dedicate the next 2 years serving the Lord and teaching his children in the State of South Carolina.

ZEKE'S PHOTO SESSION

We had these beautiful newborn photos taken by a true professional.  She is an amazing photographer and a very sweet person.  If you want to see more of her work, her blog is http://www.hollybrimhallphotography.com/   It was a very sweet experience to be there while these photos were taken.  Zeke is so very precious and his parents are too.  These photos speak for themselves.  There's no way I could pick a favorite.  He is just absolutely perfect and the photos are too!

I love these with the fur and the stump.  Very masculine, very cave-man-ish!

just a tiny bit of a smile in the photo above

 This cute little duck was crocheted by a patient of Grandpa's and Claudia is going to take Zeke's photo next to the duck every month to see how he's grown.

This photo isn't one of my favorites but this beautiful wooden bowl was made by my favorite cousin.  He is so talented and I loved the idea of a photo with the baby in the bowl.  It's not a bad photo, just not my favorite.

ZEKE

Our beautiful sweet grandbaby has arrived! He is absolutely perfect!!! He has a really long and fabulous name but he will be called Zeke. And every grandparent I've ever talked to has told me it is so much better being a grandparent... they are absolutely right! The coolest thing is, he is mine... but not my full responsibility!Here is baby Zeke just hours after his birth, very alert and checking out the world around him.
He looks a lot like Josh but he looks just like Claudia's baby picture too. This is her at a week old.
Claudia was amazing! She did everything she could do and she did it perfectly! I am always amazed at her courage and her determination. After doing all that she could do, she still ended up having a C-section. Now, several days later, she is doing very well. Again, she is amazing! She is a fantastic mother! So natural at it!
Josh is amazing too! So patient and sweet with Claudia. So worried and concerned with her safety and wellbeing. And so protective and concerned with the safety and wellbeing of this new little precious life that he now has such a tremendous responsibility for. He is the perfect mate for my daughter. He is a wonderful father and husband. I am so glad he is in our family. All this birthing and whatnot, really did him in though. He doesn't know why he is so sleepy... welcome to the world of parenthood!

My Grandbaby

Can't wait to meet this little one!!! Due March 30th! Don't know if it's a boy or girl?