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Too Much Preaching

12/28/2014

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“I feel like my letters have been quite preachy lately,” I said to Tanah.

“Then write a funny one,” she suggested pragmatically.

Right.

Following is my attempt to follow Tanah’s advice.

“I don’t want to go to bed tonight,” Miles said.

“Why not?” I queried.

“Because if I go to bed then I will go to sleep and the night will pass very quickly and then it will be tomorrow and then I will have to go to Maturation and I don’t want to.   If I don’t go to bed then the night will last a long time and I won’t have to go to Maturation as soon.”

Though his logic was questionable, there was no question about his feelings concerning the upcoming maturation talk scheduled for fifth grade boys and their parents; he DREADED the ordeal he imagined it would be.    I am happy to report that he survived the maturation talk and will mostly likely survive his personal maturation as well.    Today is his 11th birthday and all is well so far.

Matt, a very bright student and genuinely good person, came into my classroom before school carrying a huge tote filled with presents.   “Merry Christmas Mrs. Hislop,” he said as he handed me a gift bag.   I thanked him and put the bag aside until lunch at which time I sampled its contents.

Matt has my class after lunch so, when he came to class, I thanked him again for the gift and told him it was better than the lunch I’d brought from home.

“What was it?” he queried, explaining that his mother had assembled the gift bags.

“Gourmet pretzels and some Biscotti spread,” I said.

“Are the pretzels good?,” he asked, “My mom loves them but I have never had any.”

“They are really good,” I confirmed.

Pause.

“May I have one?” he asked.

Of course.  I opened the bag and gave him a handful.

“May I try the spread too?” he asked.

Pause.   Why not?

I opened the bottle of Biscotti and we both dipped and dined.    I know for a fact that I was not the only teacher to whom Matt gave a gift but I am very confident that I was the only teacher with whom Matt shared his gift.

“I love this kind of bread,” the Wal-Mart checker said as she scanned the Italian seasoned loaves I found on the day-old rack for $0.60 each.   

“I am sorry,” I said, “I took all of them there were there.”

“Oh, I know how it goes,” she said, “The good things disappear quickly around here.   I love apple crisp yogurt but they are always gone when I get off work so I have to hide some.   I put them behind the diet peach.   Do you think that is bad?”

Heavens no!   Anyone who endures working at Wal-Mart during the holiday season deserves a treat….though I do know where to look next time I want apple crisp yogurt…..

At the Christmas fund raising auction, the Drago family spent $40 for the dubious privilege of spending a Family Home Evening with the Hislops (us).   I strongly suspected that one of the primary reasons for their purchase was Joe Drago’s love of Tanah’s Triple Chocolate Cake, which we promised to provide as dessert.    Tanah made said cake and put it into the oven to bake however the oven, which had pre-heated with promise, turned off and promised not to turn on again.

Without an oven but not without a neighbor, I called next door to the Brixeys.   Darrell answered the phone; his wife, Chris, was not home at the time.   “You want me to bake a cake?” he asked incredulously.   I assured him that I would do all the baking; all he had to do was turn the oven on to 3500.   Being of a good (great) heart, he agreed though doing so was clearly out of his comfort zone.    

Chris pulled into the driveway as I came out of their home, baked cake in hand.  “You just did something that I have not been able to do my entire married life!” she said.

“What?” I asked, clueless.

“Get Darrell to bake a cake.”

Bless Darrell!   Again and again!  I needed to bake another cake the next day.  Again Chris was not home and again Darrell stepped out of his comfort zone for me though this time he was less uncomfortable…. Today cake, tomorrow soufflé!

“I picked the scab off my cat’s ear,” Charlene said, “Can I look at it under the microscope?”   Gotta love 8th graders!

Our around-the-corner neighbor John is always doing nice things for us.   Hoping to express our love, we decided to do the 12 Days of Christmas for him but were not sure what to get; trinkets are pointless, he declines candy when we offer it, he avoids healthy food almost as effectively as he avoids Church…… hum….. Finally we decided to give him potato chips because it seems he always has an open bag of chips sitting next to his recliner when we visit him.  I bought a box of assorted Frito Lay chip bags from Sam’s Club and we began leaving two bags/night on his front porch, accompanied by a little note.

Five days into our project John visited us, bearing gifts.    He gave me a grapefruit, the girls Egg Nog, Miles some candy,  and Lance some socks.   “And here,” he said, “I have been receiving a lot of these lately and I can’t eat them; too much salt,” and he gave us 10 bags of assorted Frito Lay chips, minus the notes.   Re-gifting at its best!

“Today in science we learned that the Earth was made by volcanoes,” Miles told me, “but I know how it was really made.”

“Oh,” said I, “how was it really made?”   The science teacher in me was intensely curious to hear his answer.

“Jesus made the Earth,” he stated confidently (and correctly).  

“True,” I confirmed, “but don’t you think Jesus could have used volcanoes to make the Earth?  Jesus is the greatest scientist of all time, you know.”     There is no conflict between science and religion that a better understanding of one or both won’t eliminate.   I love that.   (Ope, was that preachy???)

Have a fabulous week,


Teresa


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Miles was quite concerned about the earful he feared he would get at the fifth grade maturation talk.
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We dipped and dined together
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One never knows what one will find behind the diet peach yogurt....
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Surprise!

12/21/2014

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On a  mid-December Saturday several years ago I found an infant lamb in the barn.   We’d been gone for a week and she’d been born sometime during our absence.  She came into this world unaccompanied by fanfare of any kind and spent her first few days on this Earth in relative obscurity, her existence unknown to anyone but her mother and the other two ewes in the pasture.   I was filled with wonder as I held her in my arms; wonder at the miracle of her birth, wonder at the purity in her eyes, and wonder at the perfectness of her little being.  And to think she had been there for days; right there in my barn waiting for me to discover her.   I was surprised by her presence; surprised and very happy.   

At this time of year, my thoughts wander to another Lamb who was also born in relative obscurity, unaccompanied by fanfare, whose presence on Earth was known only by a relative few.   As I think of Him, my heart fills with wonder; wonder at the miracle of His birth, wonder at the purity of His life, and wonder at the perfectness of His being.  I also wonder how many times He has been right there, in my barn so to speak, waiting for me to discover Him.  Often I am surprised by His presence; surprised and very happy.

Christ is THE gift; His presence is our present.  His birth was the first Christmas gift and His atonement makes His gift last; thanks to Him we can last forever as resurrected beings, living with our families in eternal peace and joy.  First and Last, Alpha and Omega.  Praise (and thanks) be to God and the Lamb, forever and ever, Amen!

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Teresa

P.S.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) created a short (about 3 minutes) video titled "He is the Gift" that is a must-see.   Powerful and poignant, it shares a message that connects all of God's children, regardless of of race or religious affiliation.   I highly encourage you to watch it (again!).   http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529



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Pipe

12/14/2014

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Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be a pipe?  I think I know.   I think it feels warm, comfortably warm, deliciously warm, even.

Let me explain……

God is love, right?  Yes.   (1 John 4:8).  The more I learn about God and the more I learn about love, the more this statement rings true.  God IS love.    I know that all He does is motivated by love and I strongly suspect that it is His intense love that gives Him His immense power.    I also believe that all love comes from God; He is the source.  It flows from Him as water flows from a spring and, like water, brings life to all that take it in.

This is where the pipe fits in……..

Love from God flows to me but it can also flow through me.   It can flow through me to touch the lives of those with whom I associate.  I can be a conduit, a pipe so to speak, carrying God’s love to others and, when I do, it feels warm, comfortably warm, deliciously warm, sometimes even hot.    Like a hot shower on a cold morning, it is a feeling I cannot get enough of.    Blessedly, unlike a hot shower on a cold morning, the water heater never empties!

I’ve been in the pipeline position a lot lately.

Lori gave us tickets to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional; an act of love that I hope warmed her.   At the last minute (okay not quite the last minute, actually 15 minutes before we had to leave), Lance declared himself too ill to attend.  Against most odds, I called Michelle, hoping she’d be eager and available to attend.   She was both; in fact, she was not only eager and available but also excited and enthused.   It was so cool (in a warming sort of way) to share a sacred experience with a special friend.   I love, love Michelle and I love, love the feeling of loving her.

Lonnie, my next-door-neighbor, south side, said, “What would your kids think if I used my mower to pick up your leaves so they would not have to rake them?”   It was one of easiest questions I’ve been asked lately.   “They would think you are the greatest ever!”  I told him.   He did and they do.  I get a warm feeling every time I look at our frost-covered front yard.

Chris, my next-door-neighbor, north side, gave me a box of chocolates.   Talk about a warm feeling!  I hid them in my dresser and ate them one-a-day, savoring the salivary sensation.  My chocolates ran out before my days did.  I suspect someone has been in my drawers…..(Lance?!?!?!)

The kids, the three at home, all have new pajamas in their drawers.   Darling John, the neighbor four-doors-down-and-around-the-corner, bought superhero footie pajamas for them.   Every time they wear them (which is a LOT) their feet are warm and so is my “pipe”.

Pipes were figuratively bursting at school Wednesday; the love-flow nearly overflowed.    Miles brought a lamb and was surrounded on the playground by adoring classmates, which he loved.  Then he sat on a chair inside and all three 5th grade classes, one class at a time, sat at his feet on the floor while he taught them about sheep—things like “We cut off its tail so that it can poop properly” and “Look, it does not have any teeth on its top jaw”—which he loved.   Hearing him articulate agriculture, seeing him gain the respect of his peers and teachers, and feeling him radiate in the spotlight was a definite warm-pipe experience for me.

Being a teacher gives me a pipe organ worth of warm pipe opportunities.    Ethan struggles with school in general and with writing in particular, consequently he falls behind in class.   Because school is not a pleasant experience for him he does not finish school work at home which means that he falls further behind.   This week I made him stay after school with me to catch up; he was not excited about the “mandatory party” to which I invited him.

We worked together for an hour.  I encouraged, Ethan resisted…I encouraged more, Ethan relented reluctantly…I continued encouraging and Ethan took off (not literally).   He ended up scoring 100% on a rock identification quiz, completing multiple missing assignments and writing his own science fair proposal, which took his grade from a low percentage F to a C+.  Best of all was the twinkle in his eye as he complained when I asked him to help me stack chairs at the end of our “party”.   He left knowing that a non-related adult cares personally about him.  I know that it was God’s love he felt through me; I hope someday he knows that too.

Tabor, another student, gave me the sequel to Shannon Hale’s Princess Academy.  I read it and loved it and told her so.   She enthusiastically gave me the titles of three more books with similar themes; “They’re better” she said, “with more magic.”   My pipe was warmed by her initial gift.   Her pipe was warmed by my thanks.   My pipe was warmed by her additional recommendations.    And her pipe will be warmed when I read and report back on those books.   In science we call this a positive feedback loop.

As we were cleaning up after the ward Christmas party, Jimmy gave me some positive feedback.   “Can I give you a hug?” he asked.   YES!!.    [Hugs from Jimmy are something; he is a strong man.]   “Thank you,” he told me, “Thank you for all that you have done for me.”   ???  I haven’t done anything specific for Jimmy.   I do love him (LOTS) and apparently he has felt that love, love that originated from God, which I love.   His hug and words gave me warm feelings inside and out.

Perhaps we feel the conduit qualities of God’s love most intensely with our own children.   The joy they give can only be described as divine.

“Mom,” Grace said, “What if we ……..”   She suggested something we could do at our annual Christmas Eve party.     She must have sensed the harried tone in my response because she paused and said, “Would you like me to be in charge of the game?”   Oh yes, please.   “Mom,” she continued, after another pause, “You seem to have to do everything.  Would you like me to be in charge of the entire party?  If you’d like I will just take care of the whole evening.”  Yes, oh yes, OH YES!    I felt God’s love through her and it warmed my entire being.

In this epistle’s beginning I described myself as a conduit for God’s love however, as I re-read what I have written, I realize that most of the stories I scribed are of me receiving God’s love through the pipes of others.   Isn’t that how love works?   We give and we receive and we all are warmed in the process.    God is truly brilliant.

Love,
Teresa



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Somewhere, in the middle of this adoring crowd, is my boy and the lamb....
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Mr. Miles articulates and radiates
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Wonder Woman
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Super Girl
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Paul Bunyon
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Love is a warm water feeling!
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Over and Begun.....NOT!

12/7/2014

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Thanksgiving is over..............and Christmas has begun………….

For Thanksgiving, the five members of our family still living in Utah drove to Las Vegas in the five-passenger Acura.  It was a test of sorts.     If we made it to Las Vegas and back without killing each other, we would feel confident that we could survive without a van; if we killed each other then our numbers would be reduced and we would not need a van.    Thankfully we survived the trip without bloodshed, our numbers were not reduced and our worries about having to buy another van were eliminated.   

Worries were eliminated and relationships were augmented.   Not only did we discover we still liked each other when confined in a small space together (the car), we learned (actually it was not a great surprise) that we love being in crowded conditions with extended family.    My brother, Blaine, and his family of seven, along with our family of five, joined Marjorie’s family of eight in her four bedroom home.    We were close in many ways, all of them good.   

·         Good was the dinner that Marjorie cooked (GREAT, actually!)

·         Good was the fact that I did not do any cooking (GREAT, actually!)

·         Good were the dozens of pomegranates we picked from their tree and ate unabashedly.  YUM!

·         Good (for Miles) was the fact that we (not me actually) watched multiple football games.  (Sadly one of them was not a Green Bay game.)

·         Good were the sales at Kohl’s where both girls got boots.  (I find it rather ironic that we purchase winter footwear in Las Vegas....)

·         Good was the fact that I strained my hamstring in our annual soccer game, instead of pulling it. (Being 50 is not an easy thing!)

·         Good was the fact that Blaine did not do any take-downs during our basketball game.  (Everyone wants to be on Blaine’s team; playing against him can be painful.)

·         Good were the bargains we found at garage sales on Saturday.  (Garage sales season lasts all year long in Las Vegas.)

·         Good was the fact that we ate on white glass plates and clear glass crystal goblets and none of the kids (or the adults) broke any.  (AMAZING, actually!)

·         Good was the fact that once again—it happens every year—someone in the store, referring to me, said to Marjorie, “And this is your mother, right?”  (Not so good, actually!!)

We left Las Vegas Saturday evening and arrived home at 2:37 a.m. Sunday to find everything good here as well.   (Thank you, Holly, for taking care of our critters!)

Thanksgiving passed quickly and, just as quickly, Christmas is upon us.    If you wish (….and I highly encourage you to so wish….) to send a Christmas card or package to Elder Hislop (a.k.a. Chick) now is the time.    We’ve been asked to have all Christmas mailings to the mission home by December 15th.  If you are using the US Postal Service, the address is PO Box 13390, Mill Creek, WA  98082.  If you are using FedEx or UPS, the address is 16124 35th Ave SE, Mill Creek, WA  98012.   UPS requires a phone number which is 1-425-338-5564.  Thanks!

Speaking of Elder Hislop (writing actually….), he seems to be good too.    His companion is a relative greeny as well—he has been in the mission field only 4.5 months—and they seem to be tearing it up.   Chick’s very short letters are full of phrases like “This is so exciting” and “We are working hard”.  

Getting a Christmas tree can be hard work (shopping, even for Christmas trees, can be heinous hard work!)  but it is hardly work when one gets to go into the mountains and cut one’s own.   Saturday we took our annual pilgrimage to Park City where, thanks to the Osguthorpe graciousness, we “worked” the mountain until we found the perfect-for-us tree.    Knee-high snow, a snowshoe hare sighting, a high centered dog (knee high snow for me is over-the-head snow for Zorro), a ride on the Razor, crisp air, blue sky……life was good.

Life is good,

Life is good.  I will agree with my last statement.   However I am going to disagree with my first statement.   Thanksgiving is not over and Christmas not begun……

Christmas is a season of thanksgiving.    I am so thankful, in this season, for friends, for family, and, especially for Jesus Christ, who was the first gift, God’s gift to us that made all the other things for which we are grateful possible.   

And Christmas has not begun because it has no beginning and no end.   The gift of Christmas, Christ, does not come only between Halloween (sometimes earlier….) and December 25th.   Christ is our all-season Savior.

May your Thanksgiving never end and may Christmas be in your life forever!

Love,
Teresa 



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Look Mom! No broken dishes!
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Pomegranates....Home grown, home picked, and home devoured!
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Blow fish or boy? Or both???
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...Still no broken dishes....
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...and no broken fingers either!
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Family brain dead togetherness!
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Blaine makes the dishes....
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....and Cathy washes the;m.
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Turkey stable...
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Turkey going.....
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Cute turkey, cuter girl!
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Artist at work
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Turkey on stable
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...GONE!!
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Lance is thinking "Eek I am married to a 50 year old!"
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Turkey in stable
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....going......
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Somtimes we were a LITTLE BEHIND.....
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...but mostly we were aHEAD.
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Grace and Sallie's 40 ft tree on the Razor
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"Go faster!!"
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Razor riding buddies
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The Christmas tree crew
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    Teresa Hislop
    thislop@msn.com

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