Easter Story

Years ago there was a little one-room schoolhouse in the mountains of Virginia where the boys were so rough that no teacher had been able to handle them.

“A young, inexperienced teacher applied, and the old director scanned him and asked: ‘Young fellow, do you know that you are asking for an awful beating? Every teacher that we have had here for years has had to take one.’

“‘I will risk it,’ he replied.

“The first day of school came, and the teacher appeared for duty. One big fellow named Tom whispered: ‘I won’t need any help with this one. I can lick him myself.’

“The teacher said, ‘Good morning, boys, we have come to conduct school.’ They yelled and made fun at the top of their voices. ‘Now, I want a good school, but I confess that I do not know how unless you help me. Suppose we have a few rules. You tell me, and I will write them on the blackboard.’

“One fellow yelled, ‘No stealing!’ Another yelled, ‘On time.’ Finally, ten rules appeared on the blackboard.

“‘Now,’ said the teacher, ‘a law is not good unless there is a penalty attached. What shall we do with one who breaks the rules?’

“‘Beat him across the back ten times without his coat on,’ came the response from the class.

“‘That is pretty severe, boys. Are you sure that you are ready to stand by it?’ Another yelled, ‘I second the motion,’ and the teacher said, ‘All right, we will live by them! Class, come to order!’

“In a day or so, ‘Big Tom’ found that his lunch had been stolen. The thief was located—a little hungry fellow, about ten years old. ‘We have found the thief and he must be punished according to your rule—ten stripes across the back. Jim, come up here!’ the teacher said.

“The little fellow, trembling, came up slowly with a big coat fastened up to his neck and pleaded, ‘Teacher, you can lick me as hard as you like, but please, don’t take my coat off!’

“‘Take your coat off,’ the teacher said. ‘You helped make the rules!’

“‘Oh, teacher, don’t make me!’ He began to unbutton, and what did the teacher see? The boy had no shirt on, and revealed a bony little crippled body.

“‘How can I whip this child?’ he thought. ‘But I must, I must do something if I am to keep this school.’ Everything was quiet as death.

“‘How come you aren’t wearing a shirt, Jim?’

“He replied, ‘My father died and my mother is very poor. I have only one shirt and she is washing it today, and I wore my brother’s big coat to keep me warm.’

“The teacher, with rod in hand, hesitated. Just then ‘Big Tom’ jumped to his feet and said, ‘Teacher, if you don’t object, I will take Jim’s licking for him.’

“‘Very well, there is a certain law that one can become a substitute for another. Are you all agreed?’

“Off came Tom’s coat, and after five strokes the rod broke! The teacher bowed his head in his hands and thought, ‘How can I finish this awful task?’ Then he heard the class sobbing, and what did he see? Little Jim had reached up and caught Tom with both arms around his neck. ‘Tom, I’m sorry that I stole your lunch, but I was awful hungry. Tom, I will love you till I die for taking my licking for me! Yes, I will love you forever!’”

To lift a phrase from this simple story, Jesus, my Redeemer, has taken “my licking for me” and yours for you.

Declared the prophet Isaiah:

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: …

“… He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:4–5).

I was pretty irritated with myself that I forgot to take my camera with me when Scotty and I took a drive through the Valley of Fire State park near Moapa, Nevada. Naturally, we see something really worth photographing. So this pic is from my phone camera, which I HATE to use. Oh, well. Still had a nice afternoon with Scotty. But it is just such a symbol of me and how I have NOT been on my "A-game" lately. I have really been feeling out of it. Hope I can wake up and focus when I go back to work after Spring Break.

Hawaiian Memories and Reflections on Shoes

I was wearing some uncomfortable shoes today, and for some reason, it made me think of this story I wrote in an email a couple of years ago when we took the family to Hawaii.

Okay, so I have this pair of leather sandals that I have had for, no kidding, 5 years. They are wearing out, but by and large are extrememly comfortable to wear. Over this summer I have purchased 5 different pair of sandals, searching for another pair to equal them. I've thrown them away twice, trying to force myself to move on, but had to retrieve them from the bin. They are like my "lucky shoes" and I just can't get rid of them. But, when we decided to go to the beach today, I decided to wear them over another pair, thinking I wouldn't mind if the sand ruined them, because they are so old.

We get to the beach and the waves are great, scooping up, slamming, and sliding up the sand. I lay my towel down right on the edge where the wet and dry sand meet, take my sandals off, and immediately here comes a great wave that, oh, oh, oh, is gonna get me! I jump up and move my towel and turn around to grab my shoes and ONE of them is gone. I'm laughing, thinking how silly I am to have "ruined" the pair so quickly. Scotty thinks it's just buried in the sand so we half-heartedly dig around for it. No luck.

We play on the beach for a couple of hours, moving further down the way. A turtle keeps swimming near us and it actually touches the boys. We find out later there is a $15,000 fine for touching sea turtles. (Good thing it touched them and not the other way around!) It starts to rain so we pack up. I think of my shoe again, as I'm gathering everyone elses. We look down the beach and unbelievably, what do we find as we walk along the sand? My Shoe!

I told you it was a lucky one.

What are you waiting for?

Jared has gone back to Tuacahn High School. He really missed his friends there. It was fun having him at Dixie High, and it was certainly convenient, but this is where he wants to be and where he will be able to create those high school memories. He had to make quite a few promises in order to convince us to let him go back, one of which is that he will go on a date with a girl, and he will also go to a school dance, like Junior Prom. I hope those will be good memories for him, too. He's such a cutie.

We will have to cut back a little on the college classes, but that's okay. It's a journey, not a race, and it never was my idea for him to get his Associates during high school. I can already picture him graduating. He'll walk across the stage in that beautiful ampitheatre and we will be so proud. And he will be proud of his high school, and that's what counts.

Christmas Tree 2010

I volunteered at the Jubilee of Trees this year, as a tree-sitter. While I was there I enjoyed looking at the creative ways people decorated different trees. They always had a theme. Some of them were a little weird, I thought, and didn't really have too much to do with Christmas. For example the Penguin themed tree. Okay, so penguins live where there is snow and ice, but I still think it is a stretch.

For myself, I enjoy my tree. I have a Nativity theme. I have about 50 ornaments that all depict the scene of Jesus' birth. It is very cool. I love it. And, I guess the cat does, too.

This year I copied the Jubilee trees and made my own fancy tree topper. They are the big fad this year and they're called "picks".

A couple of my friends decorated a tree for the Jubilee, and they also used a Nativity theme. They won the Chairman's Choice award. Remember my friend, Tiffany? Yeah, she's still amazing. And the other friend is the very talented (she plays in the symphony) Melissa Bennion.

Jared

Jared turned 16 about a week ago. He passed his driving test on Friday. And he was ordained a Priest in church today by Scotty.

It's weird.

I remember when the girls turned 16 it felt a lot more, mmmm.... fun. It was a light, happy occasion. They could now date. They were entering an exciting time.

But, as the boys get older, it feels serious. They take on more responsibilities and I find myself holding my breath a little, and getting a little tearful, and a little fearful. Will I teach them what they need to know to be men? The world of men seems a heavy place. They'll have to provide for a family, and, before that, fill a mission. So much to do. So much to learn. So many decisions.

I was thinking this week about when he was born. It snowed about 8 inches that night. Just as we were leaving for the doctor's office a handicapped man in our ward was driving by on his bicycle (in the snow!) and saw us and came in to visit. We felt funny sending him away, so we sat and visited with Kenny for half an hour on the couch, pretending not to be in labor.

It was a long labor for me, about 6 hours. And in the end, he broke my tailbone.

Two weeks later we were back in the hospital with a staph infection in his belly button. That was so miserable. The neo-natal intensive care unit was not really where I wanted to be the day after Thanksgiving. They had to give him IV antibiotics, but his veins were so tiny they wouldn't hold up, so they had to keep finding new places to stick him, even resorting the vein on the top of his head at one point. We spent 4 days in the hospital, but we had to do those IV's for a whole month.

It was a horrible ordeal at the time, but I didn't realize how serious until 2 years later when I got an invitation to a party, a reunion for the survivors of the neo-natal intensive care unit. I felt a little shift in my world when I read the word "SURVIVOR". What did they mean? Did he almost die? I guess he did, but the doctor never let on, which I have to say, I am eternally grateful for.

And I am grateful for this young man. Grateful he survived. Grateful he passed his driving test. Grateful he became a priest today. Grateful he attended his first missionary prep class with the Stake President. Grateful for the promise that the future holds for him, even with all its responsibilities.

So proud of my son.

My Favorite Political Editorial Ever

Republicans Kind of Suck … Which Is Why They Will Win Huge in November

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/republicans-kind-of-suck-which-is-why-they-will-win-huge-in-november/?singlepage=true

This election season has been hard on pundits. The Democrats are going to get massacred in November, and it’s really obvious to pretty much everyone exactly why — which makes writing political commentary like trying to come up with a long-winded explanation for why two plus two equals four.

Here’s my attempt.

Doesn’t it suck when you have a dog that barks all night? Everyone hates that. It’s annoying. It can even drive you pretty crazy if it goes on long enough. People hate that.

Know what also sucks? A zombie apocalypse. That’s when society collapses due to some spreading zombie virus, and most of your friends and family are dead, and you have to scrounge for food to survive while the walking dead threaten you around every corner. People also hate that.

So, we’re all agreed that a barking dog and a zombie apocalypse both suck. Everyone following so far?

Now let’s look at what led us to the political situation we’re in. During the second term of the Bush presidency people just got fed up with Republicans. They were idiots, they were no good at the whole fiscal conservatism thing (which is sort of the whole point of them), we had these wars that seemed to be going nowhere, and the economy was beginning to fail. They sucked, and people were sick and tired of them.

Thus people turned to the Democrats. And Obama.

Let’s just say they also sucked.

AMERICANS: “So, the economy is pretty bad and there’s high employment. You think you can do something about that?”

DEMOCRATS AND OBAMA: “We can spend a trillion dollars we don’t have on pork and stuff.”

AMERICANS: “No … that’s not what we want. We’d really like you not to do that.”

DEMOCRATS: “You’re stupid. We’re doing it anyway.”

AMERICANS: “That’s not going to help us get jobs!”

DEMOCRATS: “Sure it will; millions of them … though they may be invisible. You’ll have to trust us they exist. And guess what else we’ll do: We’ll create a giant new government program to take over health care.”

AMERICANS: “That has nothing to do with jobs!”

DEMOCRATS: “We don’t care about that anymore. We really want a giant new health care program. We’re sure you’ll love it.”

AMERICANS: “Don’t pass that bill. You hear me? Absolutely do not pass that bill.”

DEMOCRATS: “Believe me; you’ll love it. It has … well, I don’t know what exactly is in the bill, but we’re sure it’s great.”

AMERICANS: “Listen to me: DO. NOT. PASS. THAT. BILL.”

DEMOCRATS: “You’re not the boss of me! We’re doing it anyway!”

AMERICANS: “Look what you did! Now the economy is way worse, we’re even deeper in debt, and we have a bunch of new laws we don’t want!”

DEMOCRATS: “You’re racist.”

AMERICANS: “Wha … How is that racist?”

DEMOCRATS: “Now you’re getting violent! Stop being violent and racist, you ignorant hillbillies! And remember to vote Democrat in November.”

So the Democrats sucked. But not just plain old, usual politician sucked, but epic levels of suck where it’s hard to find an analogue in human history that conveys the same level of suckitude. It was sheer incompetence plus arrogance — and those things do not complement each other well. We’re talking sucking that distorts time and space like a black hole.

It’s Godzilla-smashing-through-a-city level of suck — but a really patronizing Godzilla who says you’re just too stupid and hateful to see all the buildings he’s saved or created as he smashes everything apart. Or, to use Obama’s favorite analogy, you have a car stuck in ditch, so you call the mechanic, but the only tool he brings with him is a sledgehammer. And then he smashes your car to pieces and charges you $100,000 for his service. Finally, he calls you racist for complaining. Obama and the Democrats have been so awful, it’s hard for the human brain to even comprehend.

But the Democrats will counter that the Republicans also suck. And while this is true, it’s not really going to help them. As I pointed out before, both a dog incessantly barking and a zombie apocalypse are things that everyone would agree suck. Yet no one during a zombie apocalypse, while hiding out in a boarded up mall, would turn to the other survivors and say, “We don’t want to kill all the zombies; then we’d have to go back to being woken up at night by that annoying dog next door.” But this is the best argument the Democrats can come up with. “Remember how awful the Republicans and Bush were? You hated them. You don’t want to go back to that.” Yes, why would people want to go back to when 6% unemployment was considered high?

People do remember how much the Republicans suck, and they know where it tops out … and that is nowhere near as bad as the Democrats are today. Like with the barking dog, it’s annoying, but you know it’s not going to cause the collapse of civilization as we know it. Not so with the zombie apocalypse; who knows how bad that could get if left to continue? Same with the Democrats and Obama; people have never dealt with anything this horrible their entire lives, and they aren’t that curious to see how much worse it can be.

So the Republicans kinda suck, and that’s why they’re going to win huge this November. Because in the land of epic, mega, ultra, apocalyptic levels of sucking, those who kinda suck are king. Or at least are going to win in a landslide.

Because once the zombie apocalypse is over, the annoying neighbor dog is going to be music to your ears.

For a little while, at least.

I want to remember this....

The following is an excerpt from a devotional by Elder Cecil O. Samuelson of the Seventy, in 2002 titled, "What Does it Mean to Be Perfect?"

Doing Your Best	Perfectionism
You desire to give things your best efforts and are satisfied when you do.	You have a list of “shoulds” and “have to’s” and are dissatisfied even if you complete them.
You know it’s okay if you make a mistake. You move on and see your mistake as an opportunity for growth or learning.	Mistakes bring feelings of self-hatred. You don’t want to do anything because you are afraid of failure.
You want to do your personal best, and you try not to compare your achievements to those of others. You don’t need to be the best at all things.	You feel tremendous pressure to earn others’ approval. You must be the best or “perfect” in your tasks.
You can find joy in doing the things you love, and you can get things accomplished.	Your need to do things perfectly leads to procrastination until you have time to do it “perfectly,” and you feel driven by fear or duty instead of love.
Trying to do your best and perfecting yourself “line upon line” with the Savior’s help is Christ-centered because you need the Atonement.	Perfectionism is self-centered. You measure yourself against your own standards and against others’ standards, not God’s.

FOOTBALL AT THE U OF U

A couple of friends have season tickets and they couldn't make it, so they gave us tickets to a University of Utah football game. We decided a little trip together would be a great way to celebrate our anniversary (a little early.)

Here's us waiting at the Trax stop, to ride up to the U.
Here's a picture of everyone on the train dressed in red. Like the crazy hair?
Here's a picture of the mountains behind the stadium. What a beautiful place.
Here's a picture of the marching band forming a U. At the end of the song all 45,000 people yelled "Go Utes!" It was quite the experience.
Here's a picture of us at the game. If you zoom in, you can see the score. 38 to 10. It was so fun with crazy fans all around us motioning for the first down and screaming for the players. They really get involved. We had the best seats and were in the shade the whole time (no sunburns). We realized we hadn't been in that stadium since 1987 so it was a real treat to be back and think of all our fun (and not so fun) memories of our time at the U.

Sunflowers EVERYWHERE

On our way home from Kanarraville we stopped to take pictures of the miles and miles of sunflowers that have bloomed this year. I wanted the boys to get out and stand in the field for a cute picture. They said, "We refused to be filmed frolicking with flowers."