Did You Think To Pray?

            Jenna left the house at 5:15 on Wednesday.  I told her she could stay out for an hour and gave her my phone so that she would have it when the alarm went off. 

            She returned home at 5:30 and I told her she could continue to play for 15 more minutes.  Not even two minutes passed before I heard her wailing. Had we been prepared for disaster, both of us would have made certain she had stayed in.

            It happened so quickly, she's uncertain of just how it happened.  evidently she took some kind of fall on her bike in which her mouth was gruffly introduced to the asphalt at high speed.  She came in the house with her mouth bleeding.  Roland and I both thought that the tooth had broken.

            I gave her a wet cloth to hold over her mouth.  She was crying, coughing, disheartened with the sudden events that disrupted our plans for taking her to the church. 

            Roland was immediately on the phone in hopes to find an emergency dentist while I said a prayer.  I felt inspired to take her to the activity anyway.  But Roland seemed more interested on relying on his own instinct. 

            I called a counselor in the young women's to explain or situation and let her know that Jenna would not be attending.  I then called her "Ma" to ask if she knew of any dentists in the stake.  I left a message on the voicemail of the first one.  I did get a hold of the second dentist - who sounded a bit put off by my questions.

            By the time the blood stopped, the damage didn't appear to be as bad as we had suspected.  Her right front tooth was pushed out of alignment.  Actually, it appears that her lip got the worst of it. As I was explaining this to the dentist, he indicated that nothing could be done about the tooth itself right then, but that I could meet with him the next morning.  Meanwhile he recommended IB Profin and Tylenol.

            Roland frantically continued to call numbers for dental and the insurance company while I was making calls to ward and stake members for assistance.  At least I was talking to actual humans and not just copying down numbers given by a machine.

            Roland was finally contacted by someone on the other end of the supposed emergency number.  Roland gave a similar description as I had with the dentist in Roseburg - but the caller at Roland's end was actually able to call in a prescription for antibiotics for Jenna to take in the meantime.

            While Roland was out picking up Jenna's prescription, I received a phone call from the first dentist I had tried contact.  He was calling from the stake center in Roseburg - where Jenna would have been if we had gone with my initial thought - the one that I'm guessing God must have planted.  She had already missed the activity by the time Roland had returned - or would have by the time he got her to Roseburg.

            I sent an email to all of her teachers to let them know that Jenna would be staying home yesterday - hoping we'd be able to get her into the dentist.  She was actually upset with us for having made her miss school.  I was willing to take her in late as the soonest that we get her into the dentist was 10:20, but Roland said it wouldn't be worth having her go for less than two hours just to check her out again. 

            All of the staff was impressed with how well Jenna handled herself.  I too am pleased with her  overall behavior.  She didn't try to milk it.  She was very brave about having the dentist touching sensitive parts inside of her mouth.  The dentist put on a temporary brace and explained that the root may heal and not be disjointed after all.  But there's also a chance that her tooth could start to darken, in which she'll have to have a root canal

            Jenna no longer has the perfect teeth she did 18 months ago.  I don't know if I've ever had perfect teeth.  I had chipped my front tooth when I played on the monkey bars.  Same blood.  Same drama.  I lived with a chipped tooth for many years.  Before my mission, my dentist sawed my two front teeth away and gave me porcelain ones.  I cried when he let me look in the mirror. 

            Jenna has had quite a healthy attitude.  He philosophy:  "God is good, and he'll help me through this . . . so why should I worry?" 

            Good for her!

Egg Yolks

            From the time she was a baby, Jenna has never liked egg yolks.  I had attempted to give them to her between the ages 6 months and a year.  I would scramble the yolk, hard boil it, fry it, poach it - it didn't matter what I did with it, she didn't enjoy eating it.

            My son Biff doesn't eat egg yolks either - I think just because he's health conscience.  He used to give me his egg yolks - which for the most part we would use as an ingredient in cakes or cookies.

            When I introduced Jenna to the egg white, she was fine with it.  Eventually she learned to like scrambled eggs (even with the yolk - though white is preferable)

and even hard cooked eggs.  At first without the yolks - but now she'll actually eat the yolk.  But it's got to be the right shade of yellow. 

We do well at sharing fried eggs.  She will eat all the white, and I will dip my toast in the yolks.  (Of course I always enjoy the most fattening part)

            Her favorite sandwich to order at subway is the bacon, egg and cheese on flatbread.  She thinks it's awesome when she can order egg white only.

            I LOVE deviled eggs.  She won't even touch them. 

Not even these darling Easter egg chicks.

            Roland made some meringue earlier this week.  Yesterday I decided to make a custard.  I should have taken a picture.  I didn't realize what pigs Roland and I would be over it.  I'll have to make again as it was delicious.

 Jenna missed out. 

There was a time when we were in Arizona and my brother-in-law was fixing breakfast for everyone.  He asked me how I liked my eggs.  I told him "as an ingredient inside of a doughnut"

He thought I was kidding.

I wasn't.

Enjoy the Journey

        I don't recall how many vacations we may have taken when somebody in the car called, "Are we there yet?"

        I give my parents credit for livening up the journey for us - allowing us to enjoy the traveling part - well, as much as can be expected.  Our car problems were never a part of the plan - in fact it actually deferred us more than once.  After a while, though we still couldn't plan for whatever car problem might occur, we learned to roll with the punches.  No family vacation was complete without car problems and/or rain.

        I wasn't able to go to Yellowstone with my family the year that car broke down 18 miles outside of Pocatello, Idaho. My mom and sister left my brother, Corey, and my dad in the car while attempting to walk to the next town on foot.  Back in the day when we just had road maps to go by.  No GPSs to let one know the upcoming mileage or nearest service station.

        As with ALL vacations that we took, prayer has always played an important role. Before long, they were picked up by couple who opted to spend the next three hours with my family. This is how Corey remembers it:

 None of us knew how to get the car working again.  Dad was in no shape to walk and we felt one of us should stay with him.  It was also decided that I should be with the car in case I was able to get it started again. I do remember feeling bad that I was essentially making the two women walk into town.  Mom and [Kayla] decided to walk however far they needed to walk to get to town.  Before they ventured off, I suggested we say a prayer that we would get to Pocatello somehow.  I remember as Mom and [Kayla] walked off, I felt helpless in this car that wouldn't start with my ailing father watching my sister and mother walk away. 

"Mom and Kayla hadn't gotten too far (maybe two or three city blocks; I remember they were still in sight) when a car pulled over and asked them if they needed help.  They picked them up and backed up to our car and then maneuvered behind us and pushed us to the next town.  There [had been] only one lane of traffic at one point, so there were a whole bunch of cars behind us. 

"Once they pushed us into town they pushed us to a repair shop and then they took Mom to Pocatello to get the part and then drove her back and did the repair.  The man and his wife spent a good portion of their day with us and they really went the extra mile.  Because of them, we did eventually get to Pocatello just as we prayed for."

        There was there was one time when the tire flattened or the rim had broken, forcing us to turn around and drive back to a town we knew was there as opposed to uncertainty of how many miles ahead.  We spent more than an hour in Mojave - which put us behind.  Sure, mom may have rolled her eyes, but we were able to deal with it.  I think we played a game to pass the time.

        We also broke down near Beaver, Utah.  A tow truck took our car to Beaver.  We were really impressed with the mechanic and would have liked for him to be able to service our car all the time - but that was not realistic.

        A rollover on the road prevented us from getting to Corey's college graduation on time.  It had been a really long day.  My niece took a nap in the car, but became cranky before we arrived to Ephraim.  My sister, Kayla, and our niece, Ellen and I were dropped off at a park while the rest continued on to Snow College.  I wasn't sorry I had missed Corey's graduation.  I know Kayla, Ellen and I enjoyed the park more than we would have the graduation ceremony - particularly Ellen who probably would not have allowed either of her parents to focus on the ceremony either had we gone.

        Many vacations are often better planned than is life itself.  Often what we strive for or believe will be the end result doesn't necessarily work out to our expectations - which isn't always a bad thing - perhaps, for some, it turns out to be a better thing.  Definitely a different thing.  And there are some who feel they've wasted time preparing for something that never came to pass while others simply enjoy the journey and are grateful for the experiences that sent them to the path that they are on now.  They continue to learn and to enjoy their journey - always moving forward - even if they don't always see what's up ahead.

        It took the Willy & Martin handcart companies  111 days to reach the Salt Lake valley. That was close to the number of days  it also took Brigham Young and the first Latter Day Saint settlers to reach the Salt Lake valley as well! 

        Between 1856 and 1860, nearly 3,000 emigrant members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined ten handcart companies--about 650 handcarts total--and walked to Utah from Iowa City, Iowa, (a distance of 1,300 miles) or from Florence, Nebraska (1,030 miles). This journey or “Trek” took them about 111 days to complete.

        Many of the handcart pioneers were foreigners who had sold their homes and possessions for money to get passage on a long boat trip from European countries to be gathered with the saints in Zion. When they arrived in America, they had so little that they could not afford wagons, teams, and provisions to make the long journey to the Salt Lake valley. Then they were advised to leave behind everything they did own except for the few essential items necessary for their trek across the plains and mountains to Zion. These “pioneers” knew that they faced many dangers and hardships, even death along the way. Yet, they chose to do it! What POWER could cause so many people to undertake such a challenging and dangerous trek?

        Jenna has two weeks left of primary.  The week after Conference, she will be attending Young Women instead of going to singing/sharing time with the entire primary.  We've already started attending the Trek themed firesides and activities geared to the youth.

        On Sunday we went to the stake center in the big city of Roseburg, where she had the opportunity of meeting her new Ma and Pa.  It was the start of their 111 day challenge. One stake, six wards, 17 families, 161 youth (and counting) - half are (or will be) 12 years of age.  Jenna said there was only one in her group who has done the trek before and it wasn't Ma or Pa.

        Each youth was given a packet that outlines each week from April 13, 2016 to July 1 when the group returns from their four-day pioneer experience.  Tomorrow night she will return to the stake center for another activity.  Next week will be her last opportunity for attending Achievement Days for primary as she will be attending the young women's every week after that.

        “What a story it is. It is filled with suffering and hunger and cold and death. It is replete with accounts of freezing rivers that had to be waded through; of howling blizzards; of the long, slow t forgotten. But hopefully it will be told again and again to remind future generations of the suffering and the faith of those who came before. Their faith is our inheritance. Their faith is a reminder to us of the price they paid for the comforts we enjoy.” - Gordon B. Hinckley

        I hope that Jenna understands this opportunity she has and will be as excited as I am for her.  I hope that when she returns home from her activity tomorrow that she will have more enthusiasm than "being forced to go" and that she will look forward to the day that she will reenact (among others) the journey of our pioneer ancestors (if even only a small part) and that she may enjoy the journey she is currently taking in getting there.  I hope that all the youth do.

Judge Not That Ye Be Not Judged

  My dad was a man of few words.  He did not share much of himself with anyone - including his own children.  So when he did share experiences with us - particularly about his past - it was indeed a rare treasure.  Although I may have not appreciated it at the time, I now realize what a treasure it truly was.

       We were having a family home evening lesson - I'm thinking on judgement.  I remember him sharing an example from his past.  He said that there was a boy in his class who was not all that nice, one that had the reputation of a bully.  Someone whose personality clashed with everybody.  My dad was no exception.  He said though he had tried, he just didn't like the guy.

       One day the teacher had given the class an exam.  My dad said his arm was in a cast at the time, and he wasn't able to write the answers in the given amount of time.  When the instructor called "time" dad's paper was only half complete.

       I don't know if my dad would have said anything on his own.  The classroom "bully" pointed out to the teacher that "Gary can't write the answers.  It isn't fair."

       He then volunteered to take my dad aside and write down the answers as my dad would say verbally.  Dad said that ever since that time, he was able to look at people with new eyes and realize that probably everyone has some good in him.

       probably a few years after dad had share this story, I had a similar thing happen to me.

       Jeff seemed to have an obnoxious personality in my opinion.  He was quite popular, but overall not my favorite person.  I seemed to face low self-esteem.  I was quite friendless at school and really didn't enjoy being there. 

       My mom had called the school psychologist in hopes that he could help mend my situation.  Everybody knew that those that went to the school psychologist had issues.  Those kids were made fun of.  Way to go, mom!

       I remember a time when my teacher told me that it was time for me to go to the psychologist office.  Most of the class had gone out for recess or gone to lunch or whatever, but I do remember hearing Jeff ask when he would get to go.  I didn't hear the teacher's response.  I was mortified. 

       My situation did change, but it wasn't directly because of the school psychologist.  Ironically, I give Jeff the credit for smoothing out the bumps in my road.  I don't think I connected the dots until much later in my life, but it was after he had asked the question that he and a few of his buddies started paying attention to me and befriending me and teasing me about which of the three I would like to go steady with.  They made being at school a lot more bearable.

        I never told Jeff how much I appreciated that.  I don't think I made the connection until many years later - when I didn't have contact with him anymore - not that we ever did have intimate contact.  He may not even remember the situation.  I'm certain that it was a lot more meaningful to me - especially since it was someone I hadn't even liked that had helped me.

       I think there are lots of situations in which many are "saved" by someone that they either hadn't liked or maybe feared.  Perhaps we ought to find a new perspective in others before we need saving.  Just a thought.

What Shall I Wear Today?

        This past week has been kind of dreary, as far as the weather goes.  The week before was overall perfect weather during daylight.  But before the sun rose or after it set, the temperature would drop at least thirty degrees.  That isn't nice.

        In the morning, I would reach for my jeans, knowing that I'd be changing them into shorts as the day grew on.  I would lower the thermostat or turn it off completely - open the windows and the doors until the outside temperature and the inside temperature were the same.  There were even a couple of days that I had used the fan!

        I didn't have to change my clothes this past week.  There was a lot more rain than sunshine.  And two nights of terrorizing wind that I remember being - when I lived in Utah.  But had never seen it here - or heard it, rather.  Howling.  Violently shaking the trees.  It hasn't been walking weather or motorcycle weather - that's for sure. 

        Right now, as I write this, there is a peace.  No moving wind or rain.  Mostly grey sky with patches of blue.  49 degrees outside.  71 inside my house.  Roland and Jenna are at the movies.  I am nursing my body back to health.  This weather has effected a lot of people

Celebrating You - It's All Okay, part 2

As with yesterday, I will use this font for the agenda of the activity, things taught and learned.  I will use this font for my own thoughts and (unfortunately) wandering mind   and quotes that don't have pictures

            Each of the instructors had the option to decorate their room or boards to go with the theme.  I think the next class I had gone was decorated in balloons.  I had enjoyed this class the most. It was taught by Sister Tieger, a kindergarten teacher.  The subject:  Celebrate Failure

            "Failure is not the end of the world, it is the beginning of growth"

            Nobody starts out doing something well. A child who is just learning to walk - there is a reason why we call them TODDLERS

            We don't laugh at their accomplishment.  They may take only two steps before they fall, but we praise them anyway.

       We don't say,           "You're stupid"

                                        "That was really dumb."

                                        "You're just never going to get it."

           

       We say,                     "Nice try!"

                                          "Good job!"

                                          "Honey, that was great!"

            We don't start out doing things well.  We start out doing them badly. 

Failure is not meeting the Intended Outcome

A picture was shown of a child frustrated with an activity -  he either couldn't stack his blocks correctly, wasn't as fast as some of the other children, or whatever.  

My mind wandered back to a time when Jenna was just a baby.  She was quite persistent at trying to twist a cap off the water bottle and replace it.  She had exceptional motor skills for her age, and was very patient.  I think she must have used up all her self-patience during before she was six.

Continue progress with baby steps.  We are all Heavenly Father's Babies.  When we fall down, He is not going to laugh or call us Stupid.  He is happy to see that we are trying and is rooting for us.

So maybe you can't do 20 sit-ups.  Start with 5 or 1.  Can't clean that entire room in twenty minutes.  Start with what you can do in twenty minute, whether it is just the desk drawer or vacuuming the carpet.

Can't pick up the clarinet for the first time and belt out the tune to "Danny Boy"?  What's wrong with you?  You have to start out with the basics.  You have to learn the notes and practice them.  You have to start out badly before you can get good at it.

  

            Sister Tieger gave an analogy of tobogganing down hill in fresh snow verses a well-worn path. 

            Sometimes we need to pause at the top of the hill.  Sometimes - though the well traveled path is definitely the fastest, and will give us the biggest thrill - sometimes we need to celebrate the pause before we trudge on.  Sometimes we need to start down on fresh snow to make the path for somebody else.

            I thought about our pioneer ancestors, who really made a lot of sacrifices "forging the way for those who would follow"

last quote of the class

this was her handout, and though the cut wasn't perfect, she
 kept it anyway, because wasn't that the whole point of the class

            The next class I went to was taught by Sister Glad.  I love the way she had decorated the board. 

            She passed out  these pamphlets:

            We spent the class time filling them out. 

            First question:  Think of a problem you're experiencing these days that is on your mind a lot.  Describe that problem in a sentence

2.  What feelings come up for you when you think about the problem?  List several

She read the 3 and 4 to us as we closed our eyes.  She read in a very calming voice and told us to take a few minutes (she actually had changed it to 45 seconds as we were pressed for time) to feel the power of gratitude and allow our bodies to relax.  

As a rule of thumb, I don't do well in silence when there are a number of people surrounding me and we've all got our eyes closed.  I did well while she was talking, but my mind wandered for the 45 seconds.  45 seconds is a long time when it's that quiet.

5. What are you feeling right now?

For the majority of the class, the answers given in number two were pretty much opposite of number five.  Not every sister in the class had changed.  One seemed to have even harsher answers (apparently mine is not the only mind that wanders; she may have used that 45 seconds to go back to her problem - though I don't know)

  

The last class I attended was taught by a sister from my ward.  Janine Super, who plays piano in the primary and had also taught the gospel essential class when we moved in.

Her theme was geared to Superheroes:

this is how she decorated her room. 

She asked questions about Anikan (who became Darth Vader) and Superman.  What were their strengths?  What were their weaknesses.  I was able to participate only because my brother, Corey, is an avid fan of Star Wars and my husband collects everything Superman related.

 She first asked the class what were some of the character's strengths and what were their weaknesses.  Some weaknesses we can repent of - like a bad decision to go to the dark side (even though there were good intentions to start out with) and others are challenges that they themselves don't require repentance (for example, Superman cannot repent for Kryptonite.  We, who are vision impaired, don't repent for needing to wear glasses;  it's how we deal with our weakness that may give us strength)

Do you allow your weakness to define who you are?  Remember Brittany from my last post?

often guilt has a  productive function - if it makes us have the desire to change.

Can you pray your weakness away?

            I was reminded of a comment my brother Corey had made when he was being interviewed by Mormon Expressions.  There was a time in his life that he saw his same sexual urges as a weakness that he just could not change.  Over the course of many many years, he realized it was a desire that just has not gone away. 

          After decades of struggling and praying for his "gayness to be gone" and starting his own blog and finally realizing that his sexual preference was never going to change, he finally accepted and eventually embraced what some might call weakness, and he has made it his strength. 

          Sadly, he lost his membership as far as Church records go, but at the same time it was a necessary event that had to take place.  And although he did not choose to become a pioneer in assisting to bridge the LDS Community and the Gay Community,  he has really helped a lot of people through his blog.  Kudos to you, Corey.  May you start posting again! (LOL)

For her last four classes, Janine displayed this picture on the table she had set up

Pres. Dieter Uchtdorf, Harrison Ford, Col. Gail Halvarsen aka the candy bomber

I was also reminded of Sandra Bullock's line in "While You Were Sleeping" when Peter (the character) wakes up, and her character (Lucy) says to him that he is a hero because he gives his seat up every day on the train. 

When he comes back with a line that he doesn't see as heroic, she reminds him that he is to the person he gives it up for.  Also another post I created here

Weaknesses turned strength makes us more than we can make on our own.

Ask a child who his or her hero are.  You may be surprised at some of their answers:

George Washington Carver

Jason Silva

Harriett Tubman

Langston Hughes

Moroni

Mother Teresa

Ruth

a nurse

Elenor Roosevelt

Helen Keller

Brittany

Mommy

Wendy Ulrich

In conclusion, Janine encouraged us to take a minute to read over the lyrics to Superwoman by Alicia Keys found here.

The candy was not included, but the colors used  on Janine's
handouts reminded me of confectionery hearts