I’ll never forget a talk my husband once gave in Stake Conference not long after we were baptized. He told that old joke…. “Just because the cat has kittens in the oven doesn’t make ‘em biscuits and just because a person gets baptized doesn’t make ‘em a Mormon either.” That’s so true. It’s a process I can tell you….and a lifelong one at that. It’s been one step at a time, one foot in front of the other, precept by precept ever since. And it’s made all the difference to both of us and to our family.
Now a word about my qualifications to be writing a blog for others to read. I don’t have any. I don’t pretend to be an authority on any subject……most especially religion. I’m just a member. I’m sharing these thoughts because I’ve been asked to and in hopes that someone else may be helped along their way. Perhaps even someone I love or that I would love if I knew them.
Much of what you read here is a collection of what I’ve learned, gathered, written and told over the years at firesides, conferences, talks and the like at which I’ve kindly been asked to speak. Included are musings, helpful hints, foggy memories, epiphanies, (also known as apostrophes at our house, thanks to a phrase from a favorite movie), stories, (both true and made up), reflections etc. All are the truth. Even if they didn’t actually happen they’re still the truth. I usually start by explaining this at functions like youth firesides, but still there can be misunderstandings. Once when I’d finished speaking to a large group of young people, a boy of about 14 or so came up to me and asked quizzically “Did that really happen?” Well, the story I’d just told had a talking rock in it or something like that. It was about the dire consequences of making poor choices concerning drugs and alcohol, and I had explained to the whole group right at the start that I always told the truth in church. So I couldn’t lie. I looked him in the eye and said “Yea, kid. It happens every day. Every day some young person with their whole life ahead of them dies or worse because of dumb decisions they made about drugs or alcohol.” You get the idea.
By profession I’m a retired high school teacher. I was a teacher for a long time which doesn’t necessarily mean I have any special solutions for the problems in our schools…. just opinions. I retired from my career teaching in a big urban school in a large city in the southwestern United States. We had all the challenges you’d expect in such a setting. I once had a business card printed that said…
PROFESSIONAL WARRIOR
ENGAGED IN A DAILY STRUGGLE AGAINST IGNORANCE, APATHY, AND DARKNESS.
FIGHTING IN A BATTLE SO CRUCIAL THAT THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD HANGS IN THE BALANCE.
I TEACH.
I think all educators should carry one.
I’ve taught for more than a quarter of a century, in small rural schools and big city barrios, elementary and high school, regular ed and special education, for the most part a blessing and joy beyond measure. Too, I’ve held many different callings in the church, most involving teaching of some kind, as have most of you who may read these words.
But, those things don’t qualify me as having any special knowledge or wisdom. And they’re not the accomplishments in my life that give me the most satisfaction. The things of my life of which I’m the most proud are these...
First, I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Next, I’ve been married for nearly 44 years to a man that I’m still in love with. He tells everyone we’ve been happily married for about 37 years. He’s trying to be funny when he says that but it’s probably pretty accurate. You know what the old song says….some days are diamonds and some days are stones. And then there are even good parts of some bad days and vice versa. So, here we are, spending those days together, sealed for the long haul, trudging along life’s road, pretty much lost without each other.
Also, our children are all better than us, in every measurable way. They’ve accomplished more than we did educationally, spiritually, financially and vocationally. The married ones married well and are raising righteous families. They all have more skills and talents than we ever did and use them to help others more willingly and with little thought to their own comfort or needs. They now lead us.
Last, all of our grandkids have been born in the covenant. That’s a miraculous blessing for a raggedy old convert to be able to say for sure. Of course, we’ll see, down the road a ways if the great grandkids are able to claim those same great blessings. That would really be something now wouldn’t it? One can only hope and pray.
Oh, and one more thing, don’t expect logic or sequence in my ramblings…..there’s little to be found. It’s sort of like an experience I remember from years back. We were living in the mountains at the time…new from city life. Someone at school had told us about an old Forest Service orchard near the little town of Young with apples and sometimes pears free for the picking. That Saturday we took off to find it. It was a glorious day in early October…the sky impossibly blue and the air crisp…a new experience for us desert dwellers. We were used to balmy for most of the year except for summer. So off we headed down Highway 260 to the turnoff east toward Young as directed. The old dirt and gravel road led us through tall ponderosa pines mixed in with patches of oak and stands of aspen, puffs of dust billowing from our tires as we crunched along. All was well until we passed a grove of trees fluttering so glowing gold and green that two of us called “Stop!” at the same time. They seemed to be lit somehow from within! We all trudged out to stand in the middle of that aspen grove. Some call them “quakies” because of the way their leaves flutter in the slightest wind. We looked up into that amazing blue through a shower of gold and brown that a breeze sent dancing down on us. I reached out to snatch the most beautiful leaves as they twirled by. I thought “This could be a pretty accurate metaphor for life. Reach out to focus on the golden moments and let the rest go by.” That’s how it is with my stories….some are gold and some are brown.
