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PASSION!

8/30/2015

Passion.   Passion. And more PASSION! Oh my lands!! I have witnessed lots of it recently…..on the football field…..hot, sweaty bodies…..heavy breathing……intertwined limbs……LOTS and LOTS of passion……and it is awesome. Absolutely AWESOME!

“I love football,” Miles tells me repeatedly, passion evident in the tone of his voice, in the carriage of his body, and in the fire in his eyes.   “I just love it.”    He does love it. Passionately.

Passion, Google tells me, is “when you put more energy into something than is required to do it. It is more than just enthusiasm or excitement, passion is ambition that is materialized into action to put as much heart, mind body and soul into something as is possible.”    Miles is passionate about football and it is fun, SO, SO FUN, to watch him.

He began the season as a starting cornerback.   In his first game he made some great plays, including two unassisted tackles. Another time he tried to tackle a guy, got juked, but did not stop. The guy juked another of Miles’ teammates and, in so doing, put himself back in Miles’ range. This time Miles brought him down.    Later in the game Miles covered the intended receiver so tightly that the quarterback couldn’t pass to him, which contributed to a quarterback sack for Miles’ team.

Kellie Hale, last year’s football “Mom” told me that this year’s coach [Jason] asked her husband who he should pick for his team. [In Roy City, city league football teams are created by a draft.] Her husband recommended Miles saying, “I know he is small but he has a tremendous work ethic; he runs everywhere and simply never gives up.” “That’s what I want on my team,” Jason responded, and selected Miles.

Miles in on the Roy PeeWee Gold 2015 football team and, in a very real sense, so am I.   The parents group associated with this team in incredible.   I have felt like an outsider on every team (city, recreation, junior high, charter school, high school) of every sport (soccer, cross country, basketball, wrestling, football, track) that every one of my children (Chick, Tanah, Grace, Miles) has ever participated in—which actually says a lot more about me than it does about the parents associated with the various sports—but it does not change the fact that I have always felt like a fringe figure.

The group of parents associated with the Roy PeeWee Gold 2015 football team has pulled me in and I am so appreciative.   Sheila, the official “Team Mom” and Jason’s wife, makes a point of greeting me at practices and games.    Kellie, as she was last year, is wonderful.    People whose names I don’t know invite me to sit by them and tell me Miles is great; “Your son is a monster,” one dad told me after yesterday’s game.   We joke together about the refs, share comments about the weather, and chat about topics totally unrelated to football. The team has a Facebook page where people post encouraging notes and exciting news.   Though I look much more like the soccer, charter school and cross country parents than I do many of these football parents (I don’t have any piercings or tattoos…) I am much, much more comfortable with my football “family”. I cannot express how nice it is to be included. Really. I’m 50 (and a half) years old—you’d think I’d be beyond that—but I’m not. Being included has affected me greatly and I’m so appreciative.

Miles is more than appreciative of his football experience; he is passionate. He lost his starting position last game but he has not lost his passion.   He still runs his heart out on every play, every time he goes on or off the field, and in every drill.   Every day when I ask him about school he tells me how many pics (interceptions) he made, how many sacs he got, how many TD passes he threw, and how many fumbles he caused during recess.   He describes how he jukes X men and takes down running backs.   His is a “heart, mind, body, and soul” investment: passion.

C.S. Lewis said, and I agree, that there is not enough passion in the world. “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses

Passion. DO IT!!!!!!!

Love,
Teresa

P.S. Tanah and I decided we wanted to invite a new-to-our-congregation family to dinner to get to know them. Miles agreed with the plan saying “Yea, that way I can see if their daughter is cute.” Hum…..some kinds of passion need to wait!!!

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Are You a Quality Person?

8/23/2015

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“Are you a quality person?” Jamie asked me, her dark eyes sparklingly a challenge.

BAM!   The points I had been trying to make converged and nailed me to the wall. Was I a quality person?    Great question, I thought.

“Great question,” I said.

Naturally reluctant to blatantly brag (covert bragging is a different story!), my initial reaction was to dismiss and/or diminish myself.   Quickly (and I hope accurately) I realized that, if I wanted them to own their ability to decide to be high quality people, I had better own mine.

“I am not perfect,” I continued, “but yes, I do my best to be a high quality person.”

QUALITY is a theme in my classroom.   Our discussion about QUALITY the first week of school lays a foundation upon which I build the entire year. I use the word in reference to assignments, behavior, and life in general.

What is quality?    We define high quality as a person, place, or thing that meets or exceeds expectations.

What are the characteristics of a high quality person?   I love this discussion.   Often the words “rich”, “smart”, and “fancy” appear on their lists, alongside words like “nice” and “kind”.   In first period one of the students disputed the word “nice”, arguing that he knew some rich people who were not nice.   Good point.

The ensuing discussion, in all classes, led to the truth that education, wealth, ethnicity, cultural background, gender, family background, and religion do NOT determine a person’s quality. The decision to be a high quality person is a personal one; being quality is up to me! It is truly a wonderful and amazing journey to make with my students and I love it. LOVE IT!

Darling James! Oh my lands. A quiet, diminutive boy, one who had never previously volunteered to say anything in class, he raised his hand near the beginning of fourth period’s discussion on quality. In a soft voice, his mouth nearly covered by hands encased in the sleeves of the sweater that he had pulled over his knuckles and held tightly in his clenched fists, he said, “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from.   Anyone can be a quality person.”

Oh bless you James! Where you found the courage to speak out when all of your body language indicators broadcast reticence I may never know but bless you, bless you, bless you for finding the courage to participate.

Have I mentioned that I love my job?

My first week back to work was tough. TOUGH!   I had to be at school every day for training meetings.   I still had to teach my online Electronic High School class.   Relief Society responsibilities exploded.   And, hardest of all, my children were at home without me.   My only desire was to be with them consequently I had a difficult time maintaining a good attitude about the fact that I have to work.   In fact, I was only marginally successful.   It was tough. TOUGH.

This week the students returned and so did my good attitude. I had a blast (to use an 8th grade word) the first day of school watching students discover that it is the length of the pendulum’s string, rather than its weight, that determines how fast it swings.   A former student dropped by, dressed in suit and tie, to tell me that he landed an internship with a credit union.   A current student sought me out after school to tell me that she would volunteer to help with whatever needs I have. I teach with amazing people who are sincerely dedicated to student success.   I am truly blessed to be paid to interact and associate with such wonderful—such high quality—people.    I love my job!

I also love my not-job. Our school is on an A/B schedule.   I am an A day teacher which means that I do not go to school on B days.   I love, LOVE the feeling I get on A days at 4:00 p.m., knowing that the work day is drawing to a close and that I get to stay home the next day.   It is almost like getting a vacation day every other day and it is very heady. I love, LOVE being at home.

Working in the garden with our children is one of my favorite activities, though it is not necessarily theirs.   Tanah and I have had some marvelous chats through blackberry vines.   She really is one of my best friends.

Going to the Roy Aquatic Center ranks high on Miles’ list, though not necessarily on mine. Thursday I shoved my reluctance to put on a bathing suit into a bathing suit and joined him in the water…..and had a marvelous time.   For most of our time there, I stalked him around the pool, tackled him, and wrestled him and he escaped so that I could do it all again.   What’s not to love about being with an 11 year old boy who is ecstatic to be spending time with his mother? “Are you having fun Mom?” he asked sincerely. “Yes,” I answered honestly.

Grace participated in the Highland Invitational as a member of Roy High’s cross country team. It was conveniently scheduled on a B day so I was able to attend. About 1500 people converged on Sugarhouse Park for the event.   My chances of finding a parking spot and of meeting up with Grace were equally miniscule.   I managed to parallel park in between two busses. First blessing. When I ascended up the bank after wading across the creek that bisects the park (I love my Chaco hiking sandals!), I heard Grace’s voice say “Hey Mom!”. Second blessing. Having a daughter who is willing to work and to run hard…best blessing.

Marriage to Lance…another blessing, indeed a veritable miracle.   Marriages are miracles, don’t you think?   In this day and age, finding two people who are willing to do what it takes to make a marriage work…almost miraculous, certainly a blessing, and definitely an indication of quality.

Thanks to YOU, my friend, for being a high quality person in my life.

Sincerely,
Teresa

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It's Fair!

8/16/2015

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It’s Fair!

Every year the County Fair falls on the first full week of August in Weber County. This year the Fair fell on us.

The kids did nothing except feed the pigs this summer. Nothing.   They did not work with them at all; no time spent training them, handling them, working them in the pasture or the corral.   The first time the pigs were washed was at the Fair.

I could not pray that the pigs make weight or that the kids do well at the fair. Because faith without works is dead and the kids had not done the work , I could not pray in faith for any help with the pigs.   Instead I prayed that the lessons that needed to be learned would be learned.

Heavenly Father answered both the prayer I did utter and the prayer I did not.

Tanah’s and Grace’s pigs made weight.   Because Tanah had a leadership retreat during fair week and because Miles loves showing pigs at the fair, he and Tanah traded pigs; Miles showed Tanah’s pig at the fair.   The pigs did well enough in the market class—blue ribbons, 6th and 7th in their respective classes of 12 hogs.   The fact that the pigs made weight and earned blue ribbons was a tender mercy. (God’s answer to the prayer I did not utter.)

Knowing that she had not worked with her hog, Grace decided not to compete in the showmanship class.   Knowing that he is awesome (Miles is not afflicted with a lack of confidence) and emboldened by his previous successes in the show ring (Reserve Grand Champion Junior Showman last year and invited into the Championship round his first year), Miles decided to compete in the showmanship class.   Ever confident, Miles honestly expected to do well.

He did not do well.

Showmanship comes in the afternoon when the pigs are hot, tired and cranky. All they want to do is lie inert in their pens; they have no desire whatsoever to parade around the show ring in front of a judge.   In such situations the difference between pigs that have been trained and those that have not is crystal clear.

Miles’ pig had not been trained and it was belligerently uncooperative.    No matter what Miles did, it simply refused to walk around the show ring, insisting on remaining at the end next to the exit gate.

We watched Miles melt. He worked the pig, desperate to get it moving around the ring, but met with no success. Fear, frustration, devastation, and finally tears showed on his face. He knew he was losing and there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing.

He did get the pig out of the corner once. On his face, as he worked to keep eye contact with the judge, was a heroic attempt to smile that showed up as a heart-wrenching (for me), heart-breaking (for him), pain-filled grimace that slightly turned up the corners of his mouth but failed to remove the desperation from his eyes.

Frustrated. Humiliated. Sad. Angry. Heartsick. A bit bewildered. Not winning, not doing well in showmanship, was not something that had occurred to him as a possibility. But it came as a stark reality and it hurt. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

An 11 year old boy (or a 50 year old woman or even a 350 lb linebacker for that matter) cannot make a 250 lb hog cooperate. No one can. Cooperation is a function of training and that takes time. Period.

Miles’s anger and bitterness accompanied him out of the ring. It was the ornery pig’s fault and bad luck’s fault and…. But the truth was that he did not do the work necessary to succeed in showmanship. We call it the Law of the Harvest and, painful though it may be, it is fair.

Later he said to me “Now that I am back in my right mind, I have decided that next summer I will work with my pig in the morning and in the afternoon. Is that okay Mom?”     If that actually happens then Heavenly Father answered the prayer I did utter as well.

Love,

Teresa

P.S. If you see Miles, please do NOT mention the fair Fair experience to him. Research and experience have shown that lessons are best learned when self-internalized.   A lecture or comment from anyone outside himself will not drive the lesson home and may drive it away.   Thanks!

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Grasshopper Summer

8/9/2015

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Remember the fable of the ant and the grasshopper?   ( http://www.umass.edu/aesop/content.php?i=1&n=0 )   The ant industriously uses his summer hours to prepare for winter’s storms.   The grasshopper frivolously frolics his summer away, thoroughly enjoying the moment.

It’s been a grasshopper summer for us.   The list of things we did not do this summer is filled with tasks. The list of things we did do is filled with memories.

We did not:

§ Re-roof the chicken coop. It appears the chickens will be dodging leaks for yet another year.

§ Repair the zip line.   Perhaps it will be done in time for grandchildren…..

§ Clean the carpets.   Our cream colored carpets look gray. Gray is a nice color, right?

§ Scrub the cupboard doors.   Fortunately their textured, dark green paint hides filth well.

§ Thin the peaches.    Lots of small peaches taste just a good as fewer, larger ones…

§ Spray the apples.   Wormy apples have more protein…

§ Read 1,000 pages (Miles). There are still two weeks before school starts for him… Perhaps if I don’t let him play on the computer until he finishes……

§ Run during June and July to train for cross country (Grace).   She has been running with the RHS cross country team for the past two weeks though, and loves it.

§ Take two classes online that she needs to graduate but does not have room for in her schedule (Tanah). Hum…

§ Re-write the EHS Earth Science class curriculum (Teresa). DANG!

§ Remove the old carpet from the orchard. (Lance)   He started……

We did:

§ Swim, boat, run, hike, chat, eat, work, and do dishes with Noel cousins, siblings, aunts, uncles, parents, and grandparents at Zion’s Camp.

§ Stand in awe, amazed at the grandeur of the Redwoods

§ Sit in awe, amazed at the magnificence of the Calgary Stampede

§ “Oooh” in awe at the glacially carved cirques in Glacier National Park and “Eek” in amazement (and alarm) as two male mountain goats raced past us on a narrow mountain trail there.

§ Listen to rain pound our tent top at night, look at Lone Star Geyser erupt just minutes after we’d completed the 2.5 mile hike that lead us to its base during the day, and linger at dusk, watching a black bear meander in a meadow in Yellowstone National Park.

§ Relish two days at Daniel’s Summit Lodge with 250 other former missionaries (and their families) from President Sorensen’s era in the Dominican Republic where we shared testimonies and memories, Teresa danced merengue (it will never happen again), Lance absolutely stole the show with his performance as a six star general running the S.S.A, i.e. Secret Service Academy (“My apologies to those of you who are dyslexic…”), and Miles spent $27 of his own money on arcade games.

§ Drive with Michael Drago to Maryland and then flew back in a three-day, transcontinental blitz. (Lance)

§ Swim (break-taking), bike (butt-breaking), and run (leg aching) in her first (but probably not last) triathlon. (Teresa)

§ Fly to Washington State and Las Vegas, attend Girl’s State and Girl’s Camp, and participate in the Roy High Leadership Conference and the Chamber Choir Retreat at the North Fork Environmental Center. (Tanah) No wonder she did not have time for her online classes!

§ Get her Learner’s Permit and start driving. (Grace)

§ Backpack into the Uintah’s for a three day fishing trip (Miles and Lance) and start football practice (Miles).

Tomorrow Lance and I have to report back to work.   Exit grasshoppers. Enter ants. May the memories of our grasshopper summer sustain us through the toils of our ant fall, winter, and spring.

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PASSION!

Are You a Quality Person?

It's Fair!

Grasshopper Summer

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PASSION! ﻿

Are You a Quality Person?

It's Fair!

Grasshopper Summer

Author

Archives

Categories

PASSION!