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A Song and a Prayer....

8/25/2013

A song and a prayer…..

Prayer first.

The faucet in our bathtub was leaking hot water at an alarming rate; I could almost see our water and natural gas bill climbing upward….so I shut off the hot water.   No water, no leak, right?

The solution was great for keeping the utility bills in check but it was not so good for the three teens in the house that shower much more often than they clean their rooms.

After three days of cold showers, it was time to seek help.   Darling Brother Jefferies is a gentleman in our neighborhood who also happens to be our home teacher.    [In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, male members are assigned as home teachers to families within the congregation.   Home teachers visit the homes of their assigned families about once a month to chat, give them a spiritual message and offer support and/or
assistance.] At the end of his visits, Brother Jefferies always instructs us to call him if we need anything.    We needed
hot water and so I called.

Quickly he came….and quickly he went; the leak fixed and the hot water restored.    Never has a repair job gone so smoothly. He had all the necessary tools with him and, serendipitously, just so happened to have a washer exactly
the size and type needed.    It was miraculous.    Really.

“You know,” he said as he left, his intent brown eyes testifying of his sincerity, “I am not so good at plumbing.    I knelt and prayed before I left my house and asked my Father to help me do this.” In my heart’s eye I can see him humbly kneeling and petitioning Heavenly Father for the skill necessary to complete the task; I know he knelt and I know God helped….both of us.   Ken Jefferies asked for a blessing for himself and the answer to his prayer blessed me.    I love how God works.

I really do love how God works…and I have noticed that His works often require us to work.

I worked this week….at Ogden Preparatory Academy (OPA)….every day.     Phew!    Though I love my job, it was rough.   I cannot work full time, serve the Lord as Primary President and visiting teacher, be a good neighbor to the many less fortunate people in my life, and function as a loving wife and wise mother.   Nope, nope, nope. Can’t do it.

Fortunately I don’t have to.   Monday school starts for the students at OPA, I will resume my work-every-other day schedule, and life will settle down to its almost-more-than-I-can-do pace.

Speaking of pace….four of us ran the “Focus Four” four mile race Saturday. Chick paced Miles and Miles won his age division (and a blue ribbon and $20) while Grace and I both earned 2nd in our age divisions.    Actually, it could be said that I was last place in my category—there were only two women ages 40-49 in the race—but I prefer not to look at it that way.

It’s all about attitude, right? Attitude and work….and sometimes working on one’s attitude…which brings us to the song portion of the letter.

Last Sunday we began our song practices for the family choir that will be singing in General Conference.  OH MY LANDS!
It was intense; “Breathe after “gladness”, “Don’t breathe between ‘ones’ and ‘know’”, “sing ‘proclaim’ as ‘proclaim-ma’”, “emphasize the words ‘blessed’ and ‘taught’ while singing softly the ‘and’ that connects them”, “pronounce His name ‘JE-sus’, not ‘Je-SUSSSSSS’”.      We were given specific instructions for every phrase, sometimes every word.

I am not an experienced singer; nothing associated with music is instinctive or natural to me. It all seemed overwhelming.
Tears choked my throat and threatened to trickle down my cheeks. I had a powerful urge to quit, to get up and to walk out.   But I couldn’t do that to my family; I couldn’t model “give up” behavior and I couldn’t let my weaknesses cheat them of
this incredible opportunity.

It will be intense.   We must memorize seven songs (and the instructions on how to sing every phrase in every song).   We
rehearse from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. every Sunday night through September 29.   We have a dress rehearsal Saturday, September 28, 8:30-11:00 a.m.    We are to arrive at the Conference Center Theater by 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October
5th to prepare for the 2:00 p.m. session. Men will be wearing dark suits, white shirts, and conservative ties.   Women will be wearing black skirts, closed toed, black shoes and solid, jewel colored, collared, ¾ sleeve blouses adorned by lipstick and blush but not perfume. Don’t know what ‘jewel-colored” is?   Watch the afternoon session of the October 5 LDS General Conference to find out!

If you do watch the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference you may see us as the camera pans the choir.
We will be there and we will be singing songs that we have memorized because, between now and then, we will be working.
Hard.  And we will be praying.  Intensely. And then we will sing. Beautifully.

A song and a prayer………..and a lot of hard work.

Don’t you love how God works?

Love,
Teresa

My new corner in my new room in our new school.....

The tomatoes that are not yet in the food dryer

Green peppers that are in the freezer but not yet in bags.

Cucumbers that are in the frig

The tomatoes that are in the food dryer

Blackberries that in bags in the freezer

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Blood

8/18/2013

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“Blood is thicker than water.”    Physically this is true; blood is thicker than water in both density and viscosity. For those of you who are interested (and for those of you who aren’t!), density is the mass per unit volume and blood is slightly denser than water. Viscosity is
the resistance of the fluid to being moved. Blood is nearly four times more viscid than water. [ http://www.simondodds.
com/Arterial/Occlusive/Haemodynamics/Haemodynamics.htm ]

Though it is physically true, the axiom “blood is thicker than water” usually does not refer to viscosity or density.   Instead it generally means that family ties (blood) are usually stronger (thicker) than bonds made with friends (water). When push comes to shove and choices must be made, time, energy and allegiance are allocated to family first.   The axiom is also sociologically accurate.

So, how does the axiom apply when friends seem like family, when the blood bond is non-existent but the heart hook is secure?    I don’t know…..and, actually, I don’t care.   It really does not matter how the phrase applies; what really matters is how the bond feels and this weekend, at my 30th high school class reunion, the bond felt GREAT!

The people who graduated from Sugar-Salem High School in 1983 are great, GREAT people.   Seriously. I had not seen most of them for at least 10 years, I have no family left in the area, and I only lived there three years yet joining them under the pavilion in the park in Sugar City Saturday afternoon was like walking into the back yard of the family home; they were warm and I was welcome.    I was welcomed, not because I am an overly talented or charismatic person (clearly not!) but because I was part of them; I belonged.   All of us were enveloped; invitations and updates were given on everyone, even people who moved from the area before beginning high school.   Though they have very little in common besides the fact that they attended school together and are all Homo sapiens, these people know about and care about each other.
For me, who had a rather nomadic school experience (it was not until BYU that I attended the same school for over three years in a row), it was incredible to feel that I had roots somewhere.   I drove away from Sugar City feeling like if something were to happen to me, these wonderful people would have my back; that, blood or no blood, “We Are Family” (Sister Sledge, 1979—when we were freshman).

More about blood……

“Mrs. Hislop?” queried the voice on my cell phone.
“Yes?” I responded.
“What color is blood?” came the question.
“Red,” I said.
“Isn’t it blue….” suggested the student.
“No. Red.” I said.   I could hear adolescent voices in the background….some laughing “I told you so’s” and some groaning “No way’s”.]
“Okay thanks,” the still unidentified student said as the conversation ended.

I am not sure when I became Mrs. Hislop The On Call Science Reference Option and Final Authority on Disagreement About Science Topics however being Mrs. Hislop the teacher is fine with me.  Being Mrs. Hislop the employee is a bit disconcerting.

The teachers at Ogden Preparatory Academy went back to school this week.   We have a new principal, Amie Campbell.   During meetings the first day she called several teachers by first name……Sam, Karole, Bev, Josh…..but she addressed me as Mrs. Hislop…twice.    I did not think a lot about it, assuming that she had probably forgotten my first name until Josh also
called me Mrs. Hislop. “Mrs. Hislop?” I said to my teaching colleague, “Why Mrs. Hislop?   Amie called me Mrs. Hislop too but I wonder if it is just because she forgot my first name.”

“Oh, I know your first name,” defended Josh, “It is a respect thing.”

Did I mention that both Amie (my boss) and Josh (my colleague) are at least a decade younger than I am? He
said “respect” but he could have said, “elder”.   I appreciate the respect thing but am not sure I appreciate my placement in the senior class..

Maybe I do need to be in the senior class   The close of county fair seemed to have closed the animal responsibility section of my psyche.   I forgot to feed (or nag the kids to feed) the animals for several days after the fair ended.   I also forgot to feed the neighbor’s cows as I had promised.   Senior moments are coming more frequently.   It probably has something to do with that 30 year class reunion.

Yes, the fair is over. And it was FAIR-ly fabulous. Miles’ hog did not make weight (it weighed 195 lbs. and pigs must weigh at least 220 lbs. to be sold at the auction) but it won a blue ribbon in the feeder class.   Not being able to sell at the auction cost him about $400; winning a blue ribbon earned him $3 in premium money…..and bragging rights.   He proudly carried his blue ribbon EVERYWHERE.

Grace’s pig earned a red ribbon…no bragging rights….but her hog did make weight (250 lbs.) so she earned about $400 on the hog and $2 in premium money.    She did not carry her red ribbon around with her anywhere but she'll carry a sizable amount of money to the bank.

A large part of showing animals at the fair is showmanship, that is the ability of the handler to show the animal to its best advantage.   And, as with anything, the way one dresses makes a difference.   This year, instead of using garage sale garments, the kids dressed the part: fancy jeans, belt buckles, cowboy boots, and belts. Ah
yes….belts….. I bought Grace a big, beautiful, bling-y red belt, full price retail. It was a once-in-a-decade spending event…and it was worth it. She looked beautiful and, more importantly, she felt beautiful.

Peter, our 1991 Toyota pickup with 266,000+ miles, is not beautiful. In fact, he is not even functional. His antifreeze is leaking into his oil and the mechanic gave him less than 100 miles to live.   Sad, sad day. I have had Peter longer than I have had Lance.

What to do about a dead truck?  Our savings will not support even a new-to-us truck and there is no room in our
budget for a car payment.   We cannot survive as a one car family as both Lance and I work…and our jobs are in opposite directions…. Egad.

Now we are truck-less but not luck-less.   My darling sister and her agreeable husband offered to sell us one of their vehicles at a price we could not refuse.   Actually, our good fortune has very little to do with luck and a whole lot to do with
love.   Blood is thicker than water….and I am so grateful that Marjorie values us more than money.

Love,
Teresa

For more about the color of blood, go to http://www.biology-online.org/biology-forum/about3136.html and scroll to the bottom of the page.

We are family!!! Sugar-Salem High School Class of 1983. BACK: Leslie, Debbie, Tami, Sherri, Shawna, Linda, Kim, Robert, Dorie, Diana, Karen, Denton, Mike. FRONT: Laureen, Teresa, Ryan, Keith, Tim, Bob.

Lance visited the Paul Mitchell booth at the Weber County Fair... Who knew that Paul Mitchell did beards too?

Miles with his priceless blue ribbon

Miles and Grace in their showmanship garb.....Look at that beautiful red belt!!!

Genuine hog showman always carry a brush in their back pocket. You probably don't want to know why...

Miles in the show ring. Notice the brush in the back pocket.

Grace in the show ring. Isn't that a great red belt?

This is what Grace does before entering the show ring.

This is what Grace does after exiting the show ring.

This is what Miles does before entering the show ring.

This is what Miles does after exiting the show ring.

Tanah's pillow case made it to the State Fair.

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Just a moment please.....

8/4/2013

1 Comment

Just A moment?   Just one???? NO WAY MAN!!!   Last week my post was about moments, many of them. This week I have many more moments to write about.   One does not have to have a family reunion to have moments.   One does not even have to have a family to have moments. Fortuitously, I had both this week (family and family reunion). Whaaa-whooo!

Last Sunday our Bishop (the spiritual leader of our local congregation)invited our entire family into his office after the worship service. Oh my!?     He told us that, after much thought and prayer he felt inspired to invite our family to sing in the Saturday afternoon session of the October General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.   OH MY!?!?!?!   He must have invested MUCH, MUCH thought and prayer as we, as a family in general, do not sing. At least, we do not sing well.

Apparently someone with a lot of authority decided that a choir composed of families would sing in the Saturday afternoon session of October’s General Conference.    Six Roy, UT stakes were invited to participate. Each bishop within those six stakes was directed to choose a traditional family (mother, father, children over 8) to represent the ward.   Bishop chose us.   We accepted the challenge with various degrees of enthusiasm. Miles wholeheartedly embraced the idea; he is excited about the possibility of being on T.V.   Grace and Tanah, who are fledgling singers, agreed with incredulity but without reservation.   I love to sing with choirs (if I am standing next to someone with a strong voice) and I love living stories; of course I accepted the invitation.   Chick, who NEVER sings, grinned and said yes. “On the outside I will act confident and will do everything that is asked of me,” he explained. “On the inside I will be scared to death and praying my guts out.”   Lance……Lance said yes but he is scared spit less. He has been told, on numerous occasions by countless people, that he cannot sing.   He earned an A in choir for NOT singing.   He played the leading role in a musical melodrama where the director re-wrote the script so that it was part of the story line that he could not carry a tune.   He is terrified but he is
willing.   He, too, committed to sing.

We are all committed. We will practice for two hours nearly every Sunday evening between now and October.   Lance will
shave his goatee.   On the first Saturday in October we girls will wear below-the-knee black skirts and solid, moderately colored blouses. The men and Miles will wear dark pants, dark suit coats, white shirts, and moderately colored ties.   We will sit quietly and will not look into the T.V. cameras.   We will sing earnestly. And we will trust greatly in the promise that those whom God calls, He enables.

I trust in lots of God’s promises, including His promise that He hears and answers prayers.   One morning last week I prayed earnestly asking God to help us with our finances.    Though the vast majority of our travel expenses have been subsidized by VERY generous friends and family, still it has been an expensive summer.  Money is tight, very tight.

A few hours later I was traveling rapidly down the middle lane of a busy three lane street when I hit a rock.   My front driver’s side tire instantly blew out. Blessedly I was able to pull to the side of the road without incident.    I had the spare tire out and was starting to jack up the car when a state highway patrolman pulled up behind me and volunteered to finish the job.   Philosophically inclined to reinforce positive behavior and physically motivated NOT to have to change a tire in July’s summer heat, I graciously accepted the patrolman’s offer.

I was very happy about the officer’s help but not so happy about having to pay for the dented rim and ripped tire that now needed replacing.   My cynical me mused about my early morning petition for financial blessings and my late morning predicament that generated an unexpected expense. That dang rock did not seem like an answer to prayer.

My more faithful side pondered the possibility that, traveling at the speed I was and traveling in the relatively heavy traffic that I was, a blown front tire could have easily catapulted me into another car or caused the van to veer into a ditch, we could have flipped and rolled…..There are all kinds of scenarios that would have been much more expensive.

Recognizing that faith brings much greater peace and happiness than cynicism, I chose to listen to my more faithful me and thanked God for sparing me the expense of a totaled van and hospitalized children.

God gave me further financial help Saturday.    In the mailbox was a check from the company that does payroll for Ogden
Preparatory Academy.    Apparently I did not cash a $500 payroll check in May 2011. The company found record of the uncashed check, subtracted a $20 check cancellation fee, and mailed me $480, which will pay for the new tire with plenty left over.    Thank you God.

I also thank God for amazing opportunities.    OPA paid for all my expenses to attend an AVID (Advancement Via Personal
Determination) educator’s conference in San Diego last week.   It was the most practically applicable, potentially powerful professional training conference I have ever attended.   AND, because they paid my travel and hotel expenses, because two could eat on the amount they gave me for one, and because we had a few spare frequent flyer miles, I was able to take Lance along essentially for free.  FUN!!!   The kids managed themselves home alone while Lance and I managed to have a great time away from home together.

While in San Diego we toured the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center. As a part of the tour, a darling sister missionary dressed a volunteer up as a Mormon Battalion soldier.   She gave the portly gentleman a leather ammunition pouch, an packet of gun powder, a piece of hard tack, a wooden canteen, and an Army issued “white” (gray actually) belt.   He was loaded and ready to go except for one thing….. “What is he missing?” the young sister asked.     “It is something to fight with…..” she hinted.

“A wife?” Lance suggested with mock sincerity.    The room erupted; laugher burst from every mouth.   The sister missionary chuckled heartily as she handed the volunteer a rifle.     [NOTE: Lance does not fight with his wife…or against her either!]

Love,
Teresa

Cute cousin Maggie's painted face.

Family reunion fun includes cousins and face painting.

Miles found this snake hanging out in the top of the blackberry bushes.

Grace won a free iFly session in a lottery drawing at SAA. Here she is, flying high!

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A Song and a Prayer....

Blood

Just a moment please.....

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