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Bioluminescence

12/24/2017

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Bio = life
Luminese = emit light

Bioluminescence is the emission of light by living organisms.   In the ocean, bioluminescence is the rule rather than the exception; current research indicates 76%  of the macroscopic ocean organisms exhibit some type of bioluminescence (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep45750).   One of the most stunning things I have ever seen was the bioluminescent trail left by dolphins in the warm night time waters surrounding the Galapagos Islands.  It was too dark to see the dolphins themselves but we knew where they were because they left a trail of light in their wake.  

The light trail was caused by dinoflagellates (marine plankton) that emit a glow when they are jostled.  The chemistry of dinoflagellate bioluminescence is only partially understood.  Ultimately it seems to be caused by an influx of protons within the cell that drops the pH. (https://scripps.ucsd.edu/labs/mlatz/bioluminescence/dinoflagellates-and-red-tides/dinoflagellate-bioluminescence/).  

Our eyes traced the dolphin’s path as they frolicked around the boat, jumping in and out of the ship’s wake, which also left a bioluminescent trail.  We knew the dolphins had jumped when their glowing trail momentarily disappeared and we knew where they re-entered the water when we saw the waters light up again.   As they interacted with their environment, the dolphins created a glowing trail of light that was truly amazing.

Some people are like that…..  As they interact with those in their environment they leave a glowing trail of light and love that is truly amazing.    Ralph and Sheila Aardema are such people.

I first met Mr. Aardema in an interview in his office at Ben Lomond High School in Ogden, UT.  I was fresh out of college and looking to hone my interview skills in Utah, where I had NO intention of working, so that when I interviewed in Oregon, where I planned to spend my life, I would be practiced, polished and sharp.  At the end of the interview, Mr. Aardema invited me to teach at Ben Lomond.  “Our kids need you,” he said.  The Spirit of the Lord in that office that day was so strong, I could not turn him down.   Overpowered by the light and love emanating from that man, I signed the contract.   Gone were my plans to return to my beloved homeland; I stayed in Ogden and the course of my life changed forever.

While I was teaching at Ben Lomond, Mr. Aardema’s beloved wife, Sheila, developed cancer.    Treatment necessitated a trip to Washington State where she lay isolated in a bubble, fighting for her life as medical professionals, hoping to save her life, brought her to the edge of death.   She was isolated but not alone; her faithful, loyal, loving, light-filled companion was at her side.

Mr. Aardema was in Washington with his wife but he was also with us, at a pep assembly in a high school gym in Utah.   In the days before fiber optics, cell phones, the Internet, he orchestrated a landline connection from to hospital room to the gymnasium.    I sat in the stands with the students listening to his cheerful voice, once again awed at his ability to emit light and love.   Hundreds, HUNDREDS, of rowdy high school kids, many from rough, inner-city homes, packed on bleachers in an old, smelly, drafty high school gymnasium….not the traditional setting for spiritual experiences.    Yet the Spirit of the Lord was there.   We all felt it.  We felt in the love he felt for us.  We felt it in the love we felt for him.

“Give me an ‘S’” he said at the end of his message.
“S,” we roared.
​

“Give me a ‘C’!”

“C!”
“Give me a ‘O’!”
“O!”
“Give me a ‘T’!”
“T!”
“Give me a ‘S’!”
“S!”
“GO SCOTS!!!” we yelled with him.   

Though he was over a thousand miles away, his force empowered, inspired, and unified us.  I felt light and love in that gym that day as I had rarely felt it before and have rarely felt it since.   Powerful.  Overflowing.  Radiant..

Ralph and Sheila Aardema lit the lives Ben Lomond High School’s Scots.   Serving as president of a stake in Ogden and later as president of a mission in eastern Europe, President and Sister Aardema loved and lit the lives of those with whom they associated across the town, across the country, and, literally, across the world.  And they are still leaving trails of light wherever they go.

Tanah received her endowment in the Ogden Temple Thursday.   When the temple guide told her “Sister Aardema will be in to give you instructions” my heart leapt.  Could it be?   How many Sister Aardemas can there be in Ogden?  Surely, this will be my Sister Aardema.

And it was.   Warm and friendly, Sister Sheila Aardema lit up the room as she told Tanah about the temple covenants she was about to make.   She then chatted with us amicably as she escorted us to the ordinance room where, smiling, she left us.   A few moments later President Aardema appeared, with Lance in tow.   He had found Lance waiting in the chapel and brought him up to the session a little early so he could join Tanah and I.

After seating Lance President Aardema warmly shook Tanah’s hand.  Then mine.  “Hello beautiful,” he said to me, clasping my hand with both of his, his eyes meeting mine.  And I felt beautiful.  In much the same way that good lighting softens and flatters features, I felt a better, more beautiful person in his presence.   

Bioluminescence...the emission of light by life.   Glowing trails left in dark waters by noble creatures.  Light….literal and symbolic.   Dolphins’ movements catalyze a chemical reaction that emits light.   Aardemas’ actions catalyze a spiritual reaction that enlightens.  The source of both lights is the same: the Light and Life of this world, even Jesus.   As Creator, He caused the chemistry.   As the Christ, He is the Light.   

Anything that disturbs the water in dinoflagellate-laden waters can provoke a radiant response.   Glowing trails are not limited to dolphins.    Glowing trails are not limited to Aardemas either.   Like dolphins (and Aardemas) we can leave light wherever we go, if we, like they, access the Source.   

Christ is the Source of light, all light.   May we remember, reflect, and radiate His light, in this Christmas season and throughout the year.  #LightTheWorld.


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Just Serve

12/17/2017

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What could be more fun than sitting in a high school cafeteria, surrounded by hundreds of young children and milling teens, calling out Christmas BINGO cards….  “Ice skates…….Santa’s face….Baby Jesus in a manger.. “???

Honestly...not much!  Not much could be more fun.   We spend Saturday morning volunteering at Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership’s “Community Christmas” event and we had a great experience.   Sign us up again for next year!

The “Community Christmas” served 2000 area children and their families, all of whom fall below the federal poverty line ($24,000 annually for a family of 4).   While parents “shopped” (all items had been donated and were free to participants) at a “store”  for new and gently used clothing, and toys, children were escorted from booth to booth at a carnival by volunteer teens.    When the parents were done “shopping” they could join their kids at the Christmas carnival and/or take them to visit Santa.   Good times!

Good times indeed.  Chick volunteered as a runner, taking the parents’ purchased items from the store upstairs to a check out area downstairs, allowing parents to enjoy the festivities with their children unburdened by bags of gifts.    Lance and I ran a Christmas BINGO game and Miles and Jacob Reanos, a fellow Scout, facilitated “Don’t Eat Frosty”.  Tanah circulated, giving bags to kids whose arms were overflowing with carnival goodies and using to her Treehouse Museum skills to counter chaos.    

We had a rough start….leaving home at 7:30 a.m. on a snowy Saturday morning was not easy for some of us….Lance had a pounding headache, Miles wanted to give someone a pounding, and Tanah felt like her stomach was pounding her…..but the finish was fabulous.   The pounding headache and petulant stomach didn’t disappear but the “I would rather be somewhere else” feeling did.    Replacing it were the “life is good, I am good, and God is good” feelings of gratitude that nearly always accompany voluntary service.    Yep, yep, yep!   Feeling lousy?   Just serve!!

Wondering how, whom, and where to just serve?    Go to https://www.justserve.org/ and type in your zip code.   The website will automatically connect you to service opportunities in your area.   There are 118 opportunities for service within 5 miles of Roy, UT, everything ranging from reading tutors to playing games with families on Monday nights to sewing doll clothes to writing letters to service men and women.   Good times!

Just serve!!!


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Preparation as a BINGO caller requires a quick sort through the Pinochle deck... ????
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Breakfast for people with headaches and upset stomachs
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Playing BINGO does not require Pinochle cards....but it does take concentration!
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Petulant stomach
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Don't eat Frosty!!
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Coaching and encouraging....serious stuff!
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A Week in the Life of a Teacher

12/10/2017

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“I don’t need your kisses,” Dason told me as, grinning, he displayed a handful of Hershey's chocolate kisses.  “I brought my own.”

I give my students kisses (chocolate!!!) when they earn 100% on notebooks, quizzes or tests.   Answers to particularly thought provoking questions and asking particularly thought provoking questions also earn kisses.   Apparently Dason had not earned as many kisses as he would have liked so he brought his own.   Darling!

“My mom said you need to talk to me,” Kyle said.  
“Yep.  Have a seat.”  
He sat down.
“Say you have a huge canyon, not quite the size of the Grand Canyon, but big, and you need to build a bridge across the canyon.  How long would it take to build such a bridge?” I asked him.
“A long time.”
“Yep.   And how long would it take to destroy said bridge?”
“Seconds.”
“Yep,” I said.  “Trust and respect are like bridges.”  Then I told him his habitual hard-to-handle behavior had sunk to such a heinous level the last time he was in my class that he had successfully burned his bridge.    “And there is not enough time between now and our next field trip for you to re-build that bridge.   You will not be going cross country skiing with us in January.”
“Is there anything I can do to earn it  back?” he pled.
“No,” I said firmly.  “Nothing.   There are subsequent field trips, several that I think you will really enjoy, that are far enough out that you will time to rebuild the bridge but the skiing field trip is out.”    Not fun.

“Hey Mrs. Hislop,” Kyle called me the next morning when he saw me in the hall.  “Come here, I have something to show you.”     When I reached his side he said, “You like animals, right?”  Yes…..   “Look at this,” he said, pulling out his phone and scanning through his photo gallery, stopping on a picture of a darling calico rabbit.   “My parents gave her to me for my birthday.  Isn’t she cute?”    Darling!  And fascinating.    Shouldn’t he hate me?

“Hey Mrs. Hislop!   My mom said I could stay after school today and make up the work I missed!!” Eli said triumphantly.   Celebrating the chance to stay after school and do school work?   Awesome!

This week I’ve written two kids up for bullying, taken seven cell phones from kids who were using them inappropriately in class, given  “0” scores to a pair of girls who were cheating on a quiz, ripped up the bookmark belonging to a kid who insisted in reading a novel instead of doing science in class, called the homes of two students, met in the counseling office with another student and his mother, and catalyzed the removal of a star player from a sports team, just as play-off are starting, for an flagrant honors code violation.   NOT FUN!

“Have you ever hit a student?” someone in my fourth period class asked.      Yes……

When they begged me to share the story, I told them of the time when a student approached me from behind and intentionally startled me.   I screamed spontaneously, swiveled defensively, and swung instinctively.    My hand connected with his cheek and left a mark.   Five marks, one for each of my fingers.

One would think the story would warn the class not to scare me but one would be wrong.   At the beginning of class the next day, a girl hid behind the demonstration table and jumped out at me when I went to the front of the room to take roll.    I yelped and we all laughed.

The next day, as I stood in the doorway shaking hands and welcoming students to class, three different students told me that someone was again hiding behind the demonstration table, waiting to scare me.   Okay.  All is fair in love and war, right?

On the way to the front of the classroom, I paused at the sink and filled a beaker with water.   Approaching the demonstration table, instead of going behind it, I paused in front of it and casually poured the beaker of water over the edge of the table.    Carl came up splattered and sputtering.    He yelped and  we all laughed.

But the story does not end there…  The next day, as I was shaking hands and welcoming students to class, Carl approached me and whispered to me,  “There is someone hiding behind the table to scare you….and I already filled the beaker with water for you.”   And he had.     Darling, darling, and double darling!

I love my students...most of them….and I love my job….mostly.    The darling kids outnumber the demons and the heartwarming incidents are more significant than the hassle.   Looks like I may be in 8th grade for a long time to come.


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Scuttle Service

12/3/2017

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For some the Christmas season starts as soon as the Halloween decorates are stored away.  Others, more restrained, wait for Thanksgiving to pass before officially launching into Christmas.   Hopefully all of us have at least some measure of the Christmas spirit in our hearts all year long.   Whether the Christmas begins post-Halloween, post-Thanksgiving, or hangs out in the heart all year along, there is an indisputable increase in Christmas-related activity as the blessed day draws near.   

Christmas-related activities…...listing, shopping, baking, decorating, anticipating the joy of getting and the joy of receiving, and, hopefully, serving.     This year my launch into Christmas and its related activities was delayed.   Tanah’s mission call, my wobbly knee, family health issues, and a boatload of other concerns diverted my attention.    Aware of my late start and thinking of ways to simplify, I almost, almost decided to cut out the service aspect.   “We serve all year long,” I self-justified.  “In our congregation, for our neighbors, in our community, our family spends a fair amount of time serving others.   In this holiday time, perhaps it would be best to focus on family and set aside the self-imposed requirement to include service to others.  Simplify, right?”

Enter the LDS’s Church’s “25 Ways in 25 Days” initiative.  https://www.mormon.org/   The initiative urges participants to “light the world” with small acts of service every day for 25 days leading up to Christmas.  Each day has its own sweet and succinct video and short list of suggested service activities.   December 1’s post asked “What can you sacrifice today to make someone’s life better?” and included a suggestion to put down the electronics and spend some quality time with family or a friend.   

On December 1 I received a phone call from Grace asking me to come to an awards assembly that she had previously told me she did not plan on attending.   She changed her mind so I changed my schedule.   Turns out that her name had inadvertently been left off the program.  She had legitimately earned an award but, due to human error, would not be receiving it that day.   Understandable.  Things like that happen.    No need to stay at the school.   I could return home and get back to work on my electronic computer.   

“Put down electronics and spend quality time with family.”   I decided to stay.   And because I stayed I had a great chat with my Grace.   Opportunities to chat with my busy teen come few and far between.   I don’t know that she was blessed by my decision to stay but I know that I was.

On December 2 the question asked was “Want to make a difference on a local level?” and the suggestion was to donate a case of water to a local shelter.    A case of water is only $2.50 but figuring out how to donate it to a local shelter seemed overwhelming.   There are many local shelters with varying hours and various protocols.  How to decide to whom, when and where?    The difficulty of making the decision pushed me into inactivity and almost pushed the suggestion off my plate….until I heard Pam Deitsch, Church Woman United’s Treasurer and deliverer-of-donated materials, mention to another lady that the Children’s Justice Center needs bottled water.  
My dilemma about decision making dissipated.  To whom:  Children’s Justice Center.  When:  Dec 2.  Where:  Take it to Pam’s house and she will deliver it with the other donations.   

I went to Kent’s Market to buy food for Sunday’s dinner, picked up a case of water, dropped it off at Pam’s house, and went home feeling empowered and humbled by God’s goodness; humbled by His grace in letting me hear Pam’s comment that opened the door to service for me and empowered by the knowledge that He will open doors for me in my efforts to serve.

Today, December 3, the question is asked “Is there a family member you could do better at keeping in touch with?”.   Yesterday my sweet cousin Elizabeth responded to a general Facebook invitation I posted, inviting one and all to join us for our Church Women United Christmas Advent Celebration.    She came, she helped, she participated, she helped, and she helped some more.   This is not the first time she has responded to a random Facebook invitation to support me in a  cause I find worthy.   I’d forgotten her previous support or I would have personally invited her.  Seeing her yesterday also reminded me of a conversation she and I shared at the family gathering, a conversation I enjoyed very much and which left me with a determination to be better at keeping in touch with Elizabeth….a determination I’d forgotten.  

Is there a family member you could do better at keeping in touch with?  YES!!!  Elizabeth Hugh, will you please have lunch with me?  Soon??   Please.

Three days and three ways…..three days into the “25 Ways in 25 Days” Christmas service initiative and three ways I have been blessed in my attempts to bless others.   Humbled and inspired, empowered and excited, I eagerly anticipate the 22 remaining days until Christmas, each and every one of them.

And to think that I almost simplified service out of the season.  YIKES!    

Love,
Teresa

BTW:  It is not too late.   You too can light the world,  Start your 25 Ways in 25 Ways today.  
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    Teresa Hislop
    thislop@msn.com

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