Come, See the Miracle

My first year teaching 5th grade is wrapping up, and boy, I am hanging on by my fingernails (as are all the students)!  The weather is so nice, and the kids just want to move and play outside.  Who can blame them? It means that it is a perfect time for an outside field trip! Yesterday was the day.  We bused the entire 5th grade up to beautiful Snow Basin to enjoy a day of hiking, games, and lunch on the lawn.  It was PERFECT weather for our trip.  Sunny but not too hot, shady for most of the hike without being too cold, and really fun to interact with my students in a less formal setting. Our majestic view of the mountains, and a beaver-made pond in the foreground.  It was really cool to see the trees that the beavers had cut down! After the hike, we settled down for lunch, and the kids started pulling out games to play on the grass. Everything was picture perfect, until we heard one of the kids screaming, and running towards the adults, specificall...

We're a few weeks into the Come, Follow Me curriculum that the Church as moved to.  We have studied a couple of lessons as a family, and I have taught one of the lessons in Gospel Doctrine.  So far so good, and I have had some really wonderful insights.  But I've really been struck in the last week about the ability the Lord has to guide us and teach us in such individual ways, if we will listen. I wish I could articulately describe the learning process for me over the last few days, but try to explain it would leave me rambling.  I guess the best way to succinctly say it is that I started in one place and ended in someplace totally unexpected. After accepting and completing President Nelson's challenge to read the Book of Mormon by the end of 2018, I thought I would let the Book of Mormon be less of a focus for me this year, and spend the bulk of my study time in the New Testament.  But after a few days without regularly feasting on the Book of Mormon, I qu...

I finished reading the Book of Mormon yesterday.  I began last October, in response to President Russell M. Nelson's invitation to the sisters in the General Women's Meeting.  Why did I do it?  And what did I gain from it? It strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon.  This book is a true record of people who lived on this earth, who knew Jesus Christ and his gospel.  They recorded their experiences, good and bad, for our benefit.  We don't have to experience the same consequences, born of their iniquity, if we will learn from their mistakes. It is another testament of Jesus Christ.  One of President Nelson's specific challenges was to pay special attention to every mention of the Savior and His work.  I started by marking every phrase that included mention of the Lord: the Lord warns, the Lord commands, the Lord hears and answers his people's prayers.  The Lord calls prophets to teach and instruct his people.  The Lord ...

*Disclaimer* As I study the scriptures, little thoughts and questions fill my mind.  Think of this post as a bit of a book report on the associated verses, telling what I got from them.  Especially as I try to imagine what Laman and Lemuel were thinking.  Really, who could know what these guys thought?  This is in no way a pronouncement of Church doctrine.  I'm just a girl trying to increase my understanding. ;) I read a little of 2 Nephi chapter 10 in the Book of Mormon this morning as my scripture study.  Verses 20 and 21 really caught my eye: 20  And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon a...

This summer started with some incredible optimism, as I looked ahead to a world full of possibilities.  As May and school came to a close, I planned to spend great time with my family, teach a couple of Genius Bootcamps, and then spend the month of August getting ready for a full-time teaching job that I just knew was on it's way.  But, not everything turns out as we plan. Read here for details. As the summer wore on, I felt like I was in a slump.  My kids were having a grand time in their summer play, and I did take the opportunity to volunteer my help for the production.  I'm so glad I did.  It was a great show, they had an amazing time, and I made some new friends myself.  Go figure. ;) Once the play was over, however, I had time to think about how my summer was not going according to plan.  I had felt impressed to cancel the Genius Bootcamps I thought I would teach.  The youth conference I was coordinating was more of a challenge than I h...

Last October, as I taught Genius Bootcamp , I received some direction about what to do next , for which I was so grateful.  It led me to talk to the principal at my kids' school, which led to a job that has been a great blessing for our family.  It also provided me the opportunity to renew my teaching license, which in turn has opened up additional employment opportunities.  Andy and I have both felt that for us to reach our financial and family goals--that of following our church leaders' counsel and getting out of debt--that I need to get a full-time job.  Specifically, a full-time teaching job.  It is, after all, what my degree is in, and even just a few years of full time teaching will make a huge difference in our financial situation. So I applied for some teaching jobs.  With the teacher shortage I keep hearing that Utah is facing, I didn't think twice about whether or not I'd actually get a job.  That is, until I interviewed for one that I tho...

The missing music My 14 year-old daughter posed the most perplexing question this morning: "Mom, where did you put my band music?" Normally, keeping track of band music is not something I see as my responsibility.  But on Saturday, after her band performance, she was bused to an amusement park, and I was in charge of getting her flute and her music home.  Which I did.  I was sure.  Mostly.  The problem was, I had no actual recollection of where I had put either her flute OR her music.  Naturally, I assumed they would be together.  The flute was in its expected location.  So where was the music? I searched the area where the music is kept.  Nothing.  I checked her bedroom.  Nothing.  I looked in the van.  Nothing.  What about the three possible "drop off" locations (you know, the ones where EVERYTHING gets stacked, but where none of it actually belongs)?  Nope, nope, nope.  The music was no where to b...