Preparing for and Entering the Fair

Well it's been some time since we did this, but this year we actually put it together to enter a number of exhibits in the local fair. Preparation was intense, though not everything was done in the two weeks since school got out but here is a sampling of what was keeping this household busy since then...

A photography experiment looking through Naomi's glasses.

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So Naomi tried to do a photo story... she had the girls act out  fighting over a horse.

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So they got pretty into acting out the story - a little flair for drama...

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Action shot... Melodee did such a good job that Breanna felt like it was for real...

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With Melodee's triumph came came also real tears from Breanna.
Naomi decided at that point not to enter a photo story in the fair.
Maybe next year!

Sorry this one is sideways... This is Alisha's black and white drawing. It is fabulous!

Besides taking lots of pictures, drawing, painting, and gathering school projects from the past year we also did story writing, poetry, and even handwriting exhibits. When everything was ready we had 70 exhibits put together.

This took a lot of work and preparation and we really had to focus to be prepared. We had to think about the fair every day, even when we weren't home to do anything about it. While we challenged each of the kids to enter as many exhibits as they could there were some who chose not to think about it every day and those participants had far fewer exhibits to enter when the deadline hit than those who focused on their objective.

Life is a little like preparing for a fair. If we want the blessings and rewards that Heavenly Father has promised the faithful, we have to focus on that goal every day. We cannot sit idly by and expect to receive as many blessings as those who are anxiously working to fulfill their spiritual potential. Whether we are anxiously engaged or not, our actions do not affect how much we are loved by our Heavenly Father, but because He strictly keeps His promises, he can only bless those who have fulfilled the criteria for the promised blessings. When the deadline hits and we are taken home to our Maker, we will be held accountable for all our works (except those which through the Atonement of Christ have been repented of) whether they are good or not.

On a small scale, my children who didn't put forth the effort were rather disappointed with their rewards when they saw the real potential for what could have been theirs. They really wished that they had put forth the effort more diligently to enter more exhibits in the fair.

SO.... HOW DID WE DO? You are probably wondering... We did GREAT!!! Look at all the red ribbons the kids won!

I even won in a few categories!

Here all the kids and ALL their ribbons. What a day!

So as you can see that while all my children won, some won a lot more than others. Now that they understand the potential of entering many exhibits in the fair, they will know what they are aiming for next year - as long as they keep what they learned this year in mind.

In life too we have to constantly bring to our remembrance the blessings promised so that we don't forget and become complacent in our efforts to choose good over evil. What a joy filled day we had as we entered and participated in the fair. The joy we will feel from the spiritual blessings we receive for obedience will be many times a  thousand fold what we experienced this week.

All the kids excelled to one degree or another. Their smiling faces are great indicators of that!!!