We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.  ~Stacia Tauscher

You can learn many things from children.  How much patience you have, for instance.  ~Franklin P. Jones

In a dark moment I ask, “How can anyone bring a child into this world?”  And the answer rings clear, “Because there is no other world, and because the child has no other way into it.”  ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

I brought children into this dark world because it needed the light that only a child can bring.  ~Liz Armbruster, on robertbrault.com

1.  From Leo Babauta (zen habits):  “The Tiny Guide to Being a Great Dad”:

I am blessed with six wonderful children and a fantastic and lovely wife, and for this I am deeply grateful. But on a day like today, a lazy Sunday morning when my family is sleeping in and the soft light of the morning permeates the house, I reflect on what it’s like to be a dad.

Not just a dad … a great dad. This is a height I don’t always reach, but I believe I do inhabit that space sometimes. I’m a great dad, on my best days.

If you’re curious about my thoughts, as a dad of 19 years that has included countless sleepless nights, endless answering of questions, thousands of nursery rhymes sung and horsey rides given, hundreds of thousands of words read in children’s books, more than my share of wiping up spitup, poopie butts and much more … here is my offering to the world.

Don’t worry, it’s a fairly simple guide.

2.  From Jonathan Fields (jonathanfields): “When You Refuse to Abandon Hope (and Kids):

Friday seems a good day to share an inspiring story…

It started out as a way to engage a small group of kids who’d been given up on. High-schoolers, most hanging on by a thread.

The same old way of doing things hadn’t worked. Schoolshad largely given up, and so had the communities around them. But a small group of mentors found themselves unable to walk away. These kids, they believed, we extraordinary. They had heart, grit and purpose. And an ability to learn on an exceptional level. It just had to be unlocked in a different way.

So, instead of a classroom with textbooks, they chose a garage. Every week, what began as a ragtag group of at-risk kids and volunteer mentors, ranging from automotive engineers to architects to marketing and tech execs, gathered together to find a different way to light a fire in these kids souls. To open to gates to learning a different way. One that was hands-on, all-in. The project was called MindDrive.

3.  From Melissa Blake  (So about what I said): “Family photos: Hidden treasures”:

Fate works in mysterious ways sometimes, doesn’t it? I was doing some cleaning a few days ago when I came across a pile of papers we had saved when we cleaned out my father’s office shortly after he died. The photos above were taken in his office, and it was always such an adventure to visit him in his “shop,” as he called it, which was located in a deep, dark basement (well, it seemed like that when I was a child, anyway… ). And then I found this gem…

I couldn’t help but smile when I pictured my father reading the article, cutting it out of the newspaper and then backing it with a piece of cardboard! He was always doing things to make sure he raised us with a good dose of self-esteem; the fact that he saved this article is such a sweet gesture, don’t you think? Maybe finding these was his way of saying “hello” for Father’s Day? It’s a comforting thought… xoxo

4.  From Andrew Quixote ( The 4th Avenue Blues):  “With a Little Help from My Family and Friends”:

I am doggone tired, but happy and content at the moment.  I could write that again for added emphasis.  Dad, Charlie and I went on a “clean Andrew’s yard” adventure.  I mowed the tough backyard and dad mowed the much more forgiving front.  Charlie trimmed back vines and shaped up shrubs.  We were all glad to get back in the cool inside and drink some ice cold bottled water I had in the fridge. Dad and Charlie were then soon off to give Charlie’s yard the same.

5.  From Alan Knox (the assembling of the church): “Spending the week serving others with the church”:

My wife organized a week-long service project that we will be taking part in with some friends this week (Monday, June 18, 2012 – Friday, June 22, 2012). We’ll be traveling to a neighboring state to do construction work – primarily painting – for people who live in a low incomeneighborhood.

Our family will be taking part as well as several other families of believers that we meet with regularly. Also, some friends of friends will be joining us. On top of all that, believers from other churches from other areas will take part as well.

Most of the people who will be taking part in these projects will be teenagers. I’m looking forward to spending time serving people with some friends, and also I’m looking forward to getting to know some other brothers and sisters in Christ.

Photo credit.