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Connecting the Dots, Part 2

5/26/2019

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Just 3 weeks shy of 12 months after his relationship with Syracuse Arts Academy (SAA) ended, Lance was hired by Sunset Junior High to teach 7th grade College and Career Awareness and 8th grade Computer Literacy.   Lance has a job!!! HALLELUJAH!!!

Someone very wise people (Steve Jobs, Dieter F. Uchtdorf and me) have said that, in life, connecting dots is a backwards activity.   In the present dots appear random, even chaotic, but when looking backwards one can see how the dots connect and, if one is astute, God’s role as The Dot Connector becomes clear.   As we look back over the last 12 months, we can see God’s Hand connecting our dots. Following is a partial list of our connected dots.

Lance and I have never effectively budgeted.   We are not free spenders. We have a decent savings account and have never requested credit from RC Wiley but we have never stuck to a budget either.    I am a penny-pinching, tight-fisted saver and Lance savvy investor. The two strategies have kept us out of debt but have not compelled us to learn to live within a budget.   It is an important skill we needed to learn. Living on two-thirds of one teacher’s salary taught us to make and keep a budget. Dot #1.

In the dark years of our marriage, Lance and I were on parallel but separate paths.  We stayed side by side but we carried our respective burdens and battled our respective monsters alone.   This time, once again challenged by a reduced income, we were on same path. We carried our burdens and fought our mutual monsters together.  It has been a time of tremendous growth for us. He learned that I had his back. I learned that I had his back It is a lesson we both needed to learn.   Dot #2

In February Lance applied for a job as a part time teacher’s assistant at North Davis Preparatory Academy (NDPA).  He was not thrilled. Going from full time teacher to part time teacher’s assistant is a hit. It hurts the ego and the economy.   And he was to work in the elementary. (Yuk) And he was to work with Special Ed (SpEd) kids. (Double yuk! It takes a certain type of person to work with those kind of kids and Lance is not that kind of person.)   But, recognizing the family need for a supplement to our income, he applied for the job. Somehow the job morphed to a full time position at the junior high. Still working as a teacher’s assistant and still working with SpEd kids but full time with unexpected financial bonuses.  Dot #3.

The SpEd teacher with whom he worked said the boys under Lance’s tutelage did more work the first two weeks he was there than they’d done the entire year to that point.   And Ryan, the principal, said Lance would have a job at his school as long as he wanted it. Now, when prospective employers called to check his references, Lance’s most recent boss had good things to say about him.  Dot #4.

Though Lance was working with SpEd kids--not his forte---Lance was working with teens, which is his forte.  Lance is good with teens. He just is. And he loves it. He just does. When his financial planning business folded, he fell back into teaching.   At the time, it was a fall back option; it was NOT what he chose to do. In his mind, he was at teacher because he could not do anything else. Working at NDPA he learned he loves teaching.  In his heart, teaching is what he wants to do, what he really, REALLY wants to do. He was not seeking a teaching job because he cannot do anything else; he was seeking a teaching job because he wants a teaching job.  He learned loves teaching. Dot #5.

Lance’s teaching licence was due to expire in June.   To renew a teaching license one has to accumulate 200 points over a 5 year span.  Lance had 192 points. The documentation for 2 years of inservice was lost when he left SAA.   When he met with Ryan about the 8 point deficit, Ryan suggested Lance talk to Dale, his former principal at SAA.    Now it is important to know that Lance has harbored very NOT kind feelings for Dale. Resentment and anger and hurt over the way he’d been treated has festered in Lance for 3 weeks shy of 12 months.    Recognizing that he’d probably demonized Dale and hoping interacting with Dale would re-humanize him, Lance swallowed his pride and made an appointment. Dot #6.

Although the appointment with Dale did not go as planned, the angst and anger disappeared.  Tender mercy #1. And, as an added bonus, the students and faculty members he saw in the SAA halls and office gave Lance a huge heart-felt, heart-warming welcome.   “Hislop is here!” the students cried as they flocked to him in the halls. The secretaries jumped up from their seats and the photography teacher, a bearded giant of a man, bulleted across the room to give him a hug.   He experienced a tremendous outpouring of love which was another tremendous tender mercy. Dot #7.

After meeting with Dale about the relicensure points, Lance discovered an online listing, housed with the Utah State Board of Education, that showed he had an additional  87 points recorded with them. Later an SAA teacher-friend emailed him certificates for another 100+ points. If he had known about either of those earlier he would not have forced himself to meet with Dale, Dale would still haunt him, and Lance would have missed his bucket-filling SAA encounters.   Dot #8

I was offered a full time position at Ogden Prep.   [I currently teach every other day.] The offer was generous and our financial situation was in need of a generous boost.   But I love both my jobs: teacher and mother. On my not-in-the-classroom day I mother and minister. If I were to teach full time, I would have to give up that day. And, of the two jobs, mothering and ministering is my favorite.  What should I do? I went to the temple with my question. The answer came. I did not have to work full time. Everything would work out. Dot #9

Three days later he received a call from Sunset Junior High offering him a teaching position.  He will be working in Davis School District, which means he gets health and retirement benefits, things not offered at SAA.    He is will be doing what he loves at a school located on 4 miles from our home.

God connected the dots and we are so, SO grateful for the beautiful picture that has emerged.

​

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Miles' Mile

5/19/2019

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Miles became the fastest miler in our family last week, a record Lance held for almost 40 years. [Lance ran a 4:58 as a sophomore in high school.   I have no idea what my fastest mile time was but I know for a fact that it was not anywhere near the 5 minute mark.]

On the way to his record breaking performance, Miles did a workout at Ben Lomond High School with Grandpa and Shanney (a girl Grandpa is coaching).  He (Miles) had an amazing workout, running 4 sets of 600 m--1 minute rest--200 m at a 4:50 mile pace with only a 3 minute rest between sets. HOLY COW!   Originally Grandpa told him to run at a 4:55 mile pace but he went out strong and stayed strong so Grandpa just let him go. Grandpa was excited and, when he told Miles what he had done, Miles was excited as well.   The fastest time in the mile in the district at that point, was 5:04. He had gone from not being eligible to make the fast heat at district to being in contention to win the race.
  
He did not win the mile race at the district meet but he did break the 5 minute mile mark.  In fact, the first five finishers all broke 5 minutes in the mile. It was a beautiful race.   Miles ended up placing fourth with a time of 4:55.89. He was very happy….and very tired.

Going into district, Sand Ridge’s medley relay team (two 200m legs, a 400m leg, and an 800 m leg) was undefeated.   Running the anchor 800m leg, Miles often passed several people to give his team the win and was accustomed to always crossing the first line first.

Things are district are different though.  Gabe Hinkson (former OPA student, winner of the mile in 4:44.84 and winner of the 800m race in 2:09.72) ran the 800 leg of the North Ogden medley relay at district.    Miles was super NOT happy about that. “No one else in the district could take the victory in the medley relay away from me, except Gabe,” he said. And Gabe did take it away.   

Traditionally Sand Ridge’s medley team has had a weak 200 m leg.   They just don’t have many sprinters on the team. At district a distance runner ran one of the 200 m legs.  Miles’ coached him: “You are a distance runner. You know how to run through pain. I want 100% the entire 200 m.   Run as fast and as hard as you can. Run through the pain.” And he did. Miles got the baton in first place. And he held onto first place for over half a lap.   Gabe caught up to him, slowed a bit, then sped up and passed him. After passing Miles, Gabe tried to slow down a bit again but Miles would not let him. Miles stuck with him and forced Gabe to race.  And race they did. When it came to the final sprint, Gabe pulled slightly away from Miles but not much. Miles’ 800 split for the race was 2:11. [His previous PR for the 800 was 2:17] Though disappointed that he did not win, Miles felt great about his race, as he should.   His 800 m split time would have earned him 2nd place in the 800m run. The third place medley relay team finished 60 m/11 seconds behind Miles and Gabe.

Sand Ridge also got second to North Ogden in the 4 x 400 relay.   And, again, the race was between those two teams; third place was nearly 10 second behind Sand Ridge.  Miles’ 400 m split was 58, 4 seconds faster than he has ever run the 400 m before. He had a tremendous meet and is a very happy boy.

At the junior high level, the district meet marks the end of the track season.   At the end of the district meet, Grandpa said to Miles “Do you know what tomorrow is?”

The correct answer was “My first day of training for next season.”

Yep.

​

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The race for the mile
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Miles and Gabe
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One of Miles' greatest fans
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Fourth place in the mile
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Second place in the relay
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Miles artistically displayed his ribbons on our fridge. He is more than a little happy about his performance Except for the fact that they are SF 49's colors, he is VERY happy about his ribbons.
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Mother Gifts

5/12/2019

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Traditionally Mother’s Day brings gifts.  Today I reflect on the gifts given me by my mother.
  • Blue eyes.   Given that blue eyes are a recessive trait, I would have have them had she not contributed a non-dominant allele I would not have blue eyes.
  • Giggle.  I really do NOT giggle very often.   (Mom actually giggles more than I.) But, when I do giggle, I hear my mom.
  • Canning.  Mom taught me how to can.  I remember canning pears as a teen, in our mobile home in Madras, OR.  I was NOT happy to be canning then. I can happily now.
  • Gardening.   Yesterday, sitting in the soil between two freshly dug rows, poking bean seeds into the ground, I was in a happy place, a place introduced to me by my mother.
  • Reading.  Mom would spend hours nursing my younger siblings as she sat in the rocking chair with a book.   Now that I’ve nursed children I know it does not take hours. Thanks to mom, I also have known hours and hours and hours of happiness, lost in the pages of books.
  • Note writing.   I grew up with the sure knowledge that my mother loved me and I have written evidence to prove it.  Mom’s personal, handwritten letters were (and are) both a blessing and an example to me.
  • Brother Jefferies.  As a youngster I remember sitting (sometimes squirming) while Mom visited with Brother Jefferies, an elderly and lonely widower in our congregation.   For years Mom went out of her way to bring light to his life. Her service blessed him and me. Now her service to Brother Jefferies blesses my children and the “Brother Jefferies” that we have adopted over the years.
  • NOT varicose veins, long and strong fingernails, or a love of cooking.  Those gifts Mom gave to my sister, Marjorie.
  • Patience.  I remember coming home from college with a need for a new dress.   I was short, irritable and ingracious. Mom was creative, comforting and kind.   She looked past my prickles and did not bristle at my brutishness, responding instead with grace and gentleness.  When I find myself responding graciously, I know the patience must have come from her because I do not have it on my own.
  • Absolute devotion and fierce loyalty.   Mother bears are real. My mom was a mother bear for me, willing to face even my father if she felt I needed and mertited defending.  That’s my Momma!!!
  • LIFE.  Thank you, Mother-my-Mother, for the gift of life.    Literally and figuratively, you have put your life on the line for me and I thank you for this most precious of all gifts.
Love,
Teresa

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    Teresa Hislop
    thislop@msn.com

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