Matters of New Starts

The holidays are almost over and tomorrow is that magical day of new starts, do-overs, and hope for the fabulous! A couple of times in my life I have actually written down new year's resolutions and crossed them off as I accomplished them. Of course, I never get skinny or exercise every day, but despite those "un-crossed-off" items, I do love new starts and setting up goals. So, I have spent three days cleaning and organizing my basement. Through the last seven years of living in our house. we have had all but one of our seven children living downstairs and leaving boxes of their things intentionally and a few things unintentionally. It was time for a thorough clean up. Forcing my children to take charge of their own junk was the hard part. Four loads to DI and a truckload to the dump later, the unfinished room in my basement looks ready to be finished. What a great "new start!"

Inevitably I am also starting a diet and a renewed commitment to Curves. I would also like to start walking and use those Zumba DVDs I got for Christmas 2010, but I would hate to make too many new starts! I will consider it.

There are always the money goals... I have enough, so...

2012: a year of new starts, gentle intentions, and faith

Technology Matters

Cameron called me yesterday to say he was “so MAD at Dad” for leaving his cell phone home. Isn’t it funny how dependent we become on technology? We get so used to being able to contact anyone at any time that it is frustrating when we cannot reach someone. If my computer is a little slow, I get irritated. If my husband’s mailbox is full (which it always is because he does not know how to check voice mail or delete messages!), I get aggravated with him. We expect the answer to any question at the tip our fingers online and instant contact by email, Facebook, or Twitter. We have all seen the latest sensations or the funniestLucy episode on YouTube. We are embarrassed to ask the five-year-old how to move to the next level on a game. Bowling now means flicking your wrist with a controller to send a virtual ball hurling toward virtual pins. I was not nice when I had to re-write electronic forms so that I could type on them (twice this week!). This is the technology age. It is making me impatient, intolerant, and demanding. In this techie world, we must still work with people. We must be patient, tolerant, and accepting. I wonder if I can find instructions for that online…

Matters of Faith

I find it interesting that a Baptist preacher gets so much press from declaring (backed up by the Southern Baptist Confernce) that Mormons are a cult and are not Christians. Why does any group get to say whether this church or that church is not Christian? I, a Mormon, belong to the Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I declare myself a follower of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Redeemer. I believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ. I declare that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was founded not by a man as the preacher says but by Jesus Christ who was also head of the ancient Church. Joseph Smith was his prophet, called as was Moses. I declare my belief in the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, as well as the Bible, as far as it is translated correctly. Other declared Christians can in all validity say that Mormons are not Evangelicals; Mormons are not Protestants; Mormons are not Baptists--but they have no right to say that Mormons are not Christians. I would not decide that Baptists or Methodists are not Christians because they do not follow every doctrine that I embrace. 11th Article of Faith: "We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God, according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege. Let them worship how, where, and what they may." I love and support all who claim Christ as their Savior and Redeemer and support their right to claim the title of Christian, as I do for myself and Mormons around the world.

Matters of Civility

Sometimes our course is set by the immediate needs of the children before us. When we see a child in pain, ridiculed, belittled, we reach out to do whatever is in our power to correct it. And so it was this last week at Copper Hills. A rather strange little girl, odd and different in so many ways, was the object of a cruel game perpetrated by her classmates. They were mocking her, name calling, poking, and pushing. Not only one or two students joined in, but whole classes sided against this singular child. Her teacher wondered what could be done. I called the District’s attorney and the head of student services. Bullying. What is to be done when it is 94 against one? The lawyer took it personally as the father of children on the autism spectrum. The teacher was heart-broken that her students could be involved in such unkindness. The girl and her mother, sadly, said it was okay—they were used to it. It was not okay! We had a meeting with all the students to appeal to their hearts and minds because it is not ever okay to stand by while one child hurts. It is our duty and our choice to make a difference to the one and to the 94.

Matters of Age

Eighty does not seem as old as it used to! Yesterday we joined family to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday. We sat and watched a video collage of her life from the time she was small. Time sped by on the screen. There was Jim as a baby in his mother’s arms and then in his first suit, off to Easter dinner with his family. Evidence of traditions touched each picture. Who knew that Audrey loved horses as a teenager in Victor, Idaho, under the Tetons? Now recovering miraculously from a broken foot, Audrey does not seem old, not eighty, but there are 80 years scrolling by as a girl, wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. I think of all the service she gave to scouting, the children she raised besides her own, and the twists and turns of life that made her into the woman she is today. Eighty years and counting!

Food Matters

Three young men, university students, from Korea spent the last month living in my home and student-teaching in my school. It was quite an experience. Jin, Jin-Ho, and Jason quickly fell in love with America—especially the food! They ate and ate and ate, but somehow stayed very thin. I guess that is what happens with 24-year-old men. I laughed when they took pictures of the food and oooo-ed and ahhhh-ed over everything we cooked for them. Of course, they LOVED Golden Corral and all the meat choices there.

Jin and Jason also loved the shopping. WalMart was a daily favorite along with the malls (especially the Outlet Mall in Park City) and COSTCO. America certainly is about retail!

All three boys (as Cameron called them) would have liked to stay in the United States. It became like home to them very quickly. What they expected to find in America was not necessarily what they actually found. They expected to find undisciplined chaos in the schools. They were surprised to learn that students are engaged and learning—disciplined with classroom-management strategies and positive-behavior reinforcement. They thought the children had a sweetness and a happiness that made them endearing. The BOYS also loved being part of our family. It must have seemed a little overwhelming to eat and play with our large, extended family at celebrations through the summer. They enjoyed the games, the laughter, and the food. Cookie salad was a hit.

When the boys had been gone for a couple of days, Cameron asked, “Mom, you miss the boys?” Yes. They became a little part of our hearts—besides, they loved my cooking and insisted I was a “hero” for fixing them yummy food. No one else seems to appreciate it that much. They will miss the food and family and school, and maybe we will be a little part of their hearts, too.

Matters of Strength

I had a conversation with a dear friend a couple of weeks ago. She was distressed over a particular hardship her family is challenged with. She said she sometimes gets angry with God that someone she loves has to go through such hard things, even if it strengthens all of them to be better people. I have been thinking about our conversation a lot lately as I watch those around me dealing with their struggles. Another friend almost lost her darling daughter who was giving birth and lost half her body's blood. She said she didn't know what she would do if anything happened to any of her children. The next day we welcomed our beautiful twentieth grandchild under perfect circumstances. Another of my friends prays for her youngest son who is fighting a brain tumor, his fourth bout with cancer, and awaits her husband's open-heart surgery in a couple of weeks.

All of us deal with trials, tragedies, suffering, and heartache. At this point in my life I am finally developing an eternal perspective. I look at my Cameron and know that he will be whole in the resurrection. He is who he is. Would I change him? I used to think people were lying if they said they would never change their special-needs child, but now I can see Cameron's mission in this life as a ministry to the rest of us. He makes us better people--all of us. I think of the song from My Turn on Earth, "You can never know the good if you've never known the bad; You can never be happy if you've never been sad. You have to know the bitter so that you can taste the sweet; You have to be hungry to be glad you can eat..."

If we could choose, most of us would never have anyone we love experience pain or loss. We would have all of our children be perfect--beautiful, brilliant, popular, happy, healthy, and untouched by broken marriages, lost jobs, or financial struggles. The funny thing is that none of us can become who God wants us to be if nothing in life causes us to stretch, question, search for answers, forgive, heal, and learn. I want the kind of strength that will make my children become the best they can be, and in order for them to do that, they will have scrapes and bruises along the way.

I remember the day my grandparents stopped by our house on the way home from Island Park to the disasterous news that my mother, their beautiful, 39-year-old daughter, had slipped from this life suddenly and unexpectedly. I remember their tears and their lamentations that no parents should ever have to bury a child. It was a hard time, but it was the start of a testimony-building time for all of us. We became stronger, better, and more faithful. It was not what any of us would have chosen. We have an eternal perspective that we are a family forever. Now my grandparents and my dad have joined my mother, and through the losses and pain I've come to understand better Heavenly Father's plan for me--and for my children and grandchildren. I can understand Cameron's purpose. I can understand a little more why it is important to learn through trials.

They say that if everyone hung his trails out on the clothesline, they would gather their own back in at the end of the day. "Teach me all that I must BE to live with Him someday."

THEY Matter

Rango is a strange little movie with a great lesson. On a vacation trip our little green gecko and his aquarium get bumped from the car, and Rango is left in the desert, not knowing what to do next. He meets a wise old armadillo who sends him on an adventure to find Dirt. “To find water, you must first find Dirt.” Rango tries to help the little town find water, but he becomes an accidental hero along the way. The expectations seem too overwhelming when he realizes he is up against some pretty tough characters. He is ready to give up when he meets the wise armadillo again. Rango argues that he cannot be the hero. It is too hard. (Maybe he has never heard of “I can do hard things!”) The armadillo argues, “It is not about you. It is about them.” So, Rango is inspired to go back and save the townspeople (if you can call rodents, reptiles, and varmints ‘people’!).



We sometimes find ourselves in circumstances that don’t really seem to fit us. We wonder what we are doing here. We think another job would be easier. I think we don’t land in education by accident. We look around and say, “What am I supposed to do here, in this situation?” It is not about us. It’s about them. We are going to make a difference to somebody. We can be someone’s hero. We can do hard things! Have a great week. I’m glad you landed here!

Matters of Pain

My husband is such a help to me that I am quite spoiled. We had a big weekend coming up last week when his back and leg practically crippled him. Saturday morning we were trying to put together salads and good food for the family party that was to follow our granddaughter's baptism. I wanted everything spruced and cleaned becaused our ex-son-in-law would be bringing his family, and his new wife's family would be joining us. The whole situation was a bit stressful, and Jim's indisposibility was frustrating. He hates to take medicine, but finally gave in to the pain, and I sent him in to get a couple of Alleve. I told him I had some in a baggie in my medicine box--little blue pills. I went about, preparing my talk and working on the party preparations. Everything went well. As the family gathered for lunch, however, I was quite irritated that Jim kept dozing off. I always tell him that he can sleep if he wants, but he must NOT look like he is asleep. He said the pills did not really help the pain that much. It was a frustration to try to entertain all these people without his attentions. Then, this morning I went to get him more Alleve and saw that the only blue pills in the baggie were Tylenol P.M.!!! (Now aren't you ashamed that you thought I was going to tell you about those other little blue pills?)

Have a wonderful, happy week! If you take little blue pills for what ails you, make sure you know what ailment you are treating.

Awake, Arise, and Come Unto Christ

I taught Relief Society today. It was a fifth-week lesson, and I had to choose my own subject. After reading many conference talks and a couple of books, I decided to focus on the 2008 BYU Women's Conference, especially Sheri Dew's keynote address, "Awake, Arise, and Come Unto Christ." She says we awake by realizing who we are and what our value is; we arise by ministering to others as instruments in the Lord's hands; and we come unto Christ by walking away from the world and choosing Christ. "Those who think of life as a ministry tend to be less lonely, less likely to feel that life has spun out of control, more inclined to have a gentle heart, more filled with purpose."

In his talk at the same conference John Bytheway says, "Faith is not turning what we want into reality. That would be faith in what we want. The first principle of the gospel is not just faith, but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ."

I like to start my Sunday mornings by listening to BYU television, watching scripture discussions or the Tabernacle Choir or a devotional talk. This morning I was inspired by Douglas Prawitt's address given July 19, 2011, at BYU. He says, "We can and must be kind and merciful with ourselves even while being fully and deeply committed to the knowledge that we can and must do better...We can and must love ourselves even if we are not completely satisfied with what we are or where we are at the moment." It was such a wonderful talk! Sometimes I think that we teach our children, inadvertently, that they must be perfect and always choose the right all the time. Of course, none of us can live up to that! We need to teach more that even though we make mistakes, the miracle of the Atonement brings us back to our loving Heavenly Father through repentance. We have to forgive ourselves and keep trying.

Heritage Matters

Today is Pioneer Day, and again I marvel at the faith and fortitude of those early Saints who were chased from their homes under order of extermination or mobs of injustice and hatred to found a beautiful home in this mountain desert. I cannot even imagine the life of a farmer, let alone the trek leading up to the plowing and the planting and the plucking up of that which was planted. I wonder at my own faith as I think of them, burying their loved ones along the way and singing "And should we die, before our journey's through, All is well; all is well!" One thing kept them moving--FAITH that it was the Lord's will. The pioneer faith and fortitude is celebrated this weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah, and around the world. We can be told how we are today's pioneers, but I think little can compare with families and converts who sold or gave away all that they had and marched across the Plains to this salty mountain desert. I honor my own progenitors who were numbered among the faithful who came--mothers who buried their children under sea and under rocks, fathers who left their lands, language, and loved ones. "Blessed, honored Pioneer!"

The picture is from the beautiful Yosemite Park where we vacationed earlier this month.

Choices Matter

I do not like snakes! Jim and I went to see 17 Miracles yesterday. In one part of the story two little pioneer girls in the Willey Handcart Company had skipped off from the group to spread and gather blossoms when they came upon a nest of rattlers. The snakes were paused, ready to strike. After a prayer the girls skipped and hopped through the venonmous obstacle course, unharmed in the end. One whispered to the other. Her friend asked why she was whispering. "I don't want the snakes to hear our plan!"



It reminded me of the old tale of an Indian brave who passed a rattlesnake sunning on a rock at the base of a tall mountain. The reptile hissed to the young man and asked to be taken to the top of the mountain. The brave resisted, saying that he knew about the venom in the snake's fangs. He knew the danger that was foretold in the rattle clicking its warning. The snake persisted, promising that he would not hurt the boy if he would just get him to the top of the mountain. Upon insistance the snake prevailed. The young brave slipped the diamondback into his bag and climbed to the summit. Reaching into the leather pouch, he pulled his passenger into the sunshine atop the peak. The sharp fangs sunk into his brown arm and the boy recoiled in shock and pain. "How could you?" he cried. "You promised you would not harm me!" "Oh," said the crafty rattler, "but you knew what I was when you picked me up."



If you do not like snakes, do not pick them up! We cannot expect good results when we already know by experience what one practice or another leads to, what the probable results will be. We can do hard things. Our kids are worth it!

Competency Matters

It was one of those stormy days early this spring when the Midwest was hunkering down during devastating tornadoes, and Salt Lake was watching storm warnings. Dark clouds and threatening winds thundered in. Leslie and her family had returned from initiating their new camp trailer and parked it along the street when a ruckus came charging down the road. A horse was dragging a trampoline! Someone thought it would be smart to hitch up their horse to their children’s trampoline. The horse thought differently. Leslie watched as neighbors somehow calmed the horse when it veered into their yard and got the mangled trampoline unhitched. Tragedy averted! Trailer unharmed! Horse survived! Trampoline unusable!

Sometimes we hitch up our hopes to a program or an idea that looks sturdy and strong. When the storms roll in, everything gets wild, and our hopes for success are drug through the dust and mud. I guess the lesson is: be careful what you are hitching up and what you are hitching up to. We cannot take a great new Common Core, for example, and hitch it to shoddy practice or weak knowledge of the subject. Make sure that we are competent and ready and stable before we add a new core. Let’s not let the Core drag us. We can do hard things! We do whatever it takes because our kids are worth it!

Learning Matters 6.11.11

My husband and I just had a conversation about motivating our learners. At school we are just finishing up our year-end core testing (No Child Left Behind). I received this note from one of my fantastic teachers who had 100% of her students pass the science test, 93% pass language arts, and 96% pass mathematics:
"The Value of T-Time
It is often difficult to inspire unmotivated students. Many have low ability and don't believe that they have the ability to master various concepts. Just getting some students' full attention and participation for short periods can be a challenge.
However, our new T-Time has proven to be the boon for which I've been searching.
Halfway through the year, our principal asked that we institute "T-Time" to help inspire the unmotivated learner.
I implemented daily T-Time using YPP Custom Tests. Each day after morning recess my students took a YPP Custom Test.
Instruction, practice and review of the particular concept being tested was given some time beforehand.
Each student strived to do his/her best on the daily concept quiz because each knew that a good score meant s/he would get to participate in a fun learning activity during the last 30 minutes of the day.
At 2:40 each afternoon, those who had mastered the morning quiz got to work on various learning activities while I worked with those who needed extra instruction and practice.
It was surprising for me to see how motivated all students became when this "reward" activity was offered to them. Engagement went way up during instruction time since students knew they had to master the test in order to receive the reward.
Thanks for T-Time. I believe it is largely responsible for some in my class scoring so high on the core test. I will implement this activity again this coming year."
T Time got its name because our school mascot is the Thunderbird. It has reference to flying high, time to step up and hit the ball, time for our little thunderbirds to learn, etc. We are focused on student learning and data-driven instruction! One thing that the great teachers "get" is that we have the power to motivate learners who are not really motivated at home. Finding the key to that motivation is what T Time is all about. It is a time for re-teaching, remediation, enrichment, and fun learning. It is about making kids WANT to learn! Some call it Power Hour, Flex time, or Intervention Interval. We call it T Time, and our teachers are using it to make the most out of learning. Whatever it takes; our kids are worth it!

Learning Matters

My grandchildren helped at my house on Saturday afternoon. Cassie owed me for paying for her haircut, and Bryce wanted to earn $5. Because I am old and cannot do everything I used to, I am willing to pay. I am not sure it was worth all the whining and complaining, but we did get some flowers planted and the whole house vacuumed. The children also learned a few things. One lesson: Grandmother does not pay for a job that you decide on yourself. You must clear the desired assignment with her first and do a job that is good enough that she can tell the difference between the beginning and ending. Lesson two: Grandmother will only pay or count against your bill that which is done to her expectations.

This morning on "Music and the Spoken Word" I was reminded of the story behind "Amazing Grace." We are watching the movie again tonight! Newton also wrote that "We think we know so much only because we don't know all that we haven't yet learned (paraphrased)." Sometimes as I read or learn, I lose track of whether it is something new I've learned or something that is merely coming back to mind in a different light. We have so much to learn!

Breakfast Matters

Monday Memo 5.31.11



Dear Friends,



One morning last week my grandchildren arrived early. I take them to school with me every day, but on that morning I was still getting ready. My twelve-year-old granddaughter came to my bedroom door and asked if she could have some breakfast. I replied that she would have to find herself something since I was running a little late. Her uncharacteristic cheerful answer should have alerted me, “Caution! You should pay attention to this situation!” Entering the kitchen, I saw Cassie eating a bowl of CHOCOLATE CHIPS! Breakfast of champions? It just reminded me that kids need constant guidance and direction! ...Even when they are twelve!



Here we are at the end of our school year, still trying to prompt and teach our students. We want them to go on well-prepared to face the learning challenges of their next school year. And even though you and I might choose chocolate (have you tried chocolate Cheerios? Yum!) for breakfast, let’s keep teaching them that choices have consequences. I hope you touched on nutrition this year! Whatever it takes, our kids are worth it. We do hard things! Hurray for you! Have a great week.

Faith Matters

The speakers and lessons in church today inspired me! The first speaker talked about prayer. It was a great reminder how prayers are answered. A few months ago I was praying for one of my children. In my prayer I was fervently praying "whatever it takes..." when I sort of caught my breath and paused. Maybe NOT whatever it takes! Yes, of course, whatever it takes...Where was my faith? I am always saying I believe the Lord's hand is in everything. The next day I found out that my son had lost his job, and I could see that the Lord's hand is in everything. I put my faith and trust in him. It has taken nearly five months for my son to find a new job. He has become a better, more faithful person through the hardships of being out of work. I truly believe that putting it in the hands of our Heavenly Father and trusting in Him is the only answer. Donovan starts a great new job in a week.

The second speaker talked about life after death. Both speakers are older widowers who have lost their wives in the last year or so. I reflected on the death of my father, nearly ten years ago. It was a very warm night in the first of July, and I was in bed asleep when the phone woke us. My sister was calling to report that Daddy was gone. He was only 75--a very young and healthy 75, and we had hoped to have him for many years yet. After calling my brother and other sister, I returned to bed. I was shaking and shivering as if it were the icy dead of winter. I couldn't stop. Finally, I slid from my bed and onto my knees, pleading for help and solace and strength of testimony. It came into my mind to turn on the television. I flipped to BYU-TV, and there, in the middle of that July night was a replaying of Elder Bruce R. McConkie's last Conference talk before his death. It was like fire to me, warming me to the bone and calming my shivering, shaking body. His testimony pierced my soul. His last words from that final talk:

"And now as pertaining to this perfect Atonement, I testify that it took place at Gethsemane and at Golgotha. And as pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God who was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person. I am one of His witnesses. And in the coming day I will feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet His feet with my tears. But I shall not know any better then than I do now that He is God's almighty Son, and He is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through His atoning blood and in no other way. God grant that all of us will walk in the light, as God our Father is in the light so that according to His promises the blood of Jesus Christ his Son will cleanse us from all sin...(Bruce R. McConkie, April Conference, 1985, died thirteen days after giving this testimony.)"

Matters of Experience 5.23.11

Monday Memo: Coyotes and Cockatiels

I am here in Broomfield, Colorado, enjoying the beautiful morning. Yesterday, on the way to church, we had to stop in the middle of a four-lane street in the middle of town to yield to a coyote crossing the street. He turned his head toward us and seemed to smile at the power he had to stop a car. His home covers acres in the middle of this north Denver suburb. It is called Broomfield Open Space and is home to coyotes, foxes, hawks, eagles, raccoons, and other assorted animals.

Every morning I awaken to a very noisy cockatiel singing (whistling actually, but I know he has no lips to put together!) "Pop Goes the Weasel!" and other assorted musical renderings. I think that this is the same bird that the then little girls pulled the tail feathers out of fifteen years ago! They have been listening to his jabber and screeching for a long time!

No matter where we are and what we are doing, there are always bumps, stops, and irritations along the way. We have no choice but to wait, back up,and wake up before we continue on. All the interruptions make our lives more interesting and full. As you wind down this year, it is guaranteed that there will be some interruptions in your plans--we deal with little human beings, after all. Have a great week. Keep doing hard things. It may not be easy, but it will be worth it!

Matters of My Heart

janjimks: Matters of Heart: Matters of My Heart
I attended my second granddaughter's high-school graduatiion yesterday in Broomfield, Colorado. It was such a reminder that "time flies on wings of lightening; you cannot call it back!" It slips past without conscience.

Twenty-three years ago we welcomed our seventh child into this world. Cameron was a beautiful, eight-and-a-half-pound baby with a round face and fuzzy strawberry-blonde hair. When the midwife handed him to me, something in his face caused me to have a passing feeling that there was something...

A few hours later the pediatrician stood by my bed and kindly went over the signs that my sweet baby may have Down Syndrome. The eyes...the simian crease...the short fingers and small ears. He said we would not know for sure until we had a genetic screening, but I knew. The Asian doctor smiled. He himself surely had slanted eyes. He showed me his own simian crease. Like anyone, my first thoughts were, "Why me?" "Why me, who had never tasted alcohol, tobacco, or drugs?" "Why me who had never even known anyone with special needs?" "Why me, who has six brilliant, creative children?" Then, "Why NOT me?" "Why not our loving and faithful family?" "Why not?" I called my husband, who had just left the hospital and returned to our children. In his shock, he also searched for an answer. Our children worried and wondered how our lives would change...

We broke the news to family and friends over the next few days, and went on with our busy lives as if nothing had changed. Indeed, it had not. We were determined to have this baby be as "normal" as possible. I had no idea what the next few years would bring for our Cameron. What would it be like when he entered nursery at church, kindergarten? What would his elementary years be like? Junior high? High school? Life after that for this little boy who won the hearts of everyone who held him and looked into his blue eyes?

Here we are twenty three years later with a wagonload of memories that we would not trade for all the "normal" boys born those years ago. We always say Cam makes our lives "interesting," but it's really much more than that. Loving a child with special needs makes me a better person. I am more compassionate, patient, humble, self-aware, courageous, faithful, generous, and happy because twenty-three years ago God sent an angel. He wasn't the baby we ordered--he was so much more.

Education Matters: Monday Memo 5.16.2011

Every Monday I write a "motivational" message to the
staff at my school . Here is this week's message:

Dear Friends,

I think spring is finally here! Spring brings hope and happiness if we let it. Remember my globe willow tree that was caught up in a twister and wretched from the ground, snapped at the roots and flung into the corner of my back yard? My son cut the tree back and sawed the wood into logs, leaving a stump that he would later pull out. The stump never quite got hauled away, and now, nearly three years later, the tree is strong and growing again. It seems like a miracle that the tree could flourish after nature’s destruction! Nature often takes care of itself in that way. Have you been to Yellowstone Park following the massive forest fires wiped it out several years ago? It is fresh, beautiful, and new.

Every time a disaster enters our lives we need to remember that it may be a chance to start anew. We sometimes need a fresh start to learn and grow to be the best that we can be. A new grade assignment, a new school, a retirement, new students in the new year, new team members, a new idea: all make us better at what we do. Experience—new experience—is for our good. We can do hard things!

Whatever it takes, our kids are worth it! Have a great week. Do hard things. You are the best! Celebrate all the good things about spring!

Faith Matters

I have a wonderful friend who is recovering from a double cancer surgery. On the same day that she found out she had renal cancer and would have her kidney removed, the doctors told her that a suspicious lump on her mammogram was most assuredly cancer. Marge looks at this double diagnosis as a blessing. She is sure that finding two kinds of cancer at the same time was what got her the best care in the world at the Huntsman Cancer Center. I thought she was probably in denial when she was actually facing her trial with faith and confidence that she was in the Lord's hands, and He knew what she needed. There she was, wrapped in a pink scarf honoring breast-cancer awareness, and ready to teach Sharing Time! Faith matters.

Today was the last of almost three years as Primary president. The last Sharing Time. The last of all those funny little things I learned from Sunbeams and all the profound concepts I learned while teaching the children of our ward. This year's theme is "I Know the Scriptures Are True." Today's lesson in sharing time was "Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration." I am so grateful for the true and restored Gospel of Jesus Christ! I love the children and will miss teaching them, but the inspired Primary program will go on teaching children 18 months to 12 years old (and the adults who are called to teach and lead).

Matters of Heart 5.15.2011

Inspired by my sister's blog, the many other women who have shared by creating blogs, and my own love for sharing and writing, I jump into this venue with excitement and trepidation. I have been thinking of writing for weeks and sharing the matters of my heart--those things that matter to me. I will be writing about:

• Education Matters


• Faith Matters


• Music Matters


• Reading Matters


• Parenting Matters


• Teaching Matters


• Family Matters


• Marriage Matters


• Service Matters


• Taste Matters


• Health Matters


• Mondays Matter


• Miscellaneous Matters

I am a devoted mother of seven children and grandmother of almost 20. My husband and I are both educators. Jim teaches history and government at a public high school, and after teaching for 20 years, I am an elementary-school principal. After raising six boys and one daughter and spending most of my life in education (learning and teaching), I have a few things to say! I am a woman of faith, a life-long Mormon. Over the years I have learned from my many friends and family members. I love to create, decorate, read, sew, write, and learn. I love movies and television. I belong to two book clubs. And now--I am a blogger!