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Sacred Sundays

Sacred Sundays – Come Into My House

Wendy

I have to say, I feel a bond of sisterhood with Lydia.  I have for some time now.  She is one of the certain women mentioned in the scriptures.   She can be found in three verses of Acts 16.

14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

40 And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

She intrigues me.  How does one become a seller of purple?  I like to imagine that she gathered and sold lavender.  But, purple..is lavender rich enough, rare enough?  Maybe she smashed grapes to stain fabric a deep dark purple.  Was she the head of her household?   Was she the spiritual leader?  It seems to me she might have been.

She inspires me.  I too want to be a certain women who worships God.  I hope to be found as one who attends to the things which were spoken of Paul.  I want to say to the the Lord’s servants “come into my house, and abide there.”  I pray my heart and those of my household are opened.  That we can be led by and comforted by the Spirit.

I think she and I would have been good friends.  She would have joined me in this challenge to read all the scriptural references about Jesus.  Together, we would have noted Jesus’ council in 3 Nephi 12: 1 “…Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants;…”   We would have made plans to listen to general conference and to engage our families in the experience.  To invite the apostles to come into my house. We would have celebrated and listened attentively as Elder Russel M. Nelson retold his experience with the scripture challenge and his council…

When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with that same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours.  When the Savior knows you truly want to reach up to Him – when He can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw his power into your life – you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do.

Yup I like Lydia.  She is my soul sister.  So what is a seller of purple.     I started a Google search, but then thought otherwise.  I want to let my mind and heart imagine for awhile longer.

Teaching Tuesdays

Teaching Tuesdays – An Elixir…

Wendy

…for this teacher heart.

Spring Break, in my opinion, is the best of all breaks.   In the past I might have said it was the unexpected snow day.  But nine of them in one month?  Well, that is just wrong and has entirely ruined their reputation.

There is something about Spring Break that is magical and restorative.   It is an elixir.

This may sound strange, but I like to stay home over my breaks.  Travel is nice and all, but when I do this over break, I never feel like I have had a break when it is time to return.

So here is my recipe for the perfect Spring Break Elixir.

  1.  Select a good book.  This year I selected And Still She Laughs by Kate Merrick.
  2.  Find some new podcasts…and listen to your regulars.  I recommend:
    • The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
    • TED Radio Hour
    • The Wired Educator Podcast
    • Life in 22 Minutes
    • Instructional Coaching Corner
    • The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey
    • Confessions of a Farm Wife
    • Tch Talks
    • Mormon Channel Daily
    • Disney Story Central Podcast
    • Half Size Me
    • Talks with Teachers
    • The Cult of Pedagogy
  3.  Make a chore chart and listen to those podcasts while you are working away.  IMG_0961 Don’t forget to schedule in some me time.
  4.  Take a walk in the evening.
  5.  Take some photos. 
    Owners Manuel
    Weiser, Idaho
    The Barn
  6.   Spend LOTS of time with your family. 
  7.   REPEAT

I hope your Spring Break is an elixir for your teacher heart.

via Daily Prompt: Elixir

Math Mondays

Math Mondays – Fractals

Wendy

One of my favorite undergrad classes at North Central College was Chaos Theory.   I loved (still do) the idea that we can describe chaos.   One of the assignments of the class was to design our own fractal and then determine its fractional dimension.

Inspired by the Koch Snowflake, I set out to create something similar with a hexagon.   This was in the early 90’s so I had a computer, but none of the apps we have today.   So I st out to construct my “snowflake” by hand.  I used my protractor, a ruler and a very large sheet of paper and set out to create the next big (i.e., most important) fractal in the world!  FAIL.  Turns out it had a dimension of one.   Now if you are wondering why I didn’t know this before I spent a weekend drawing and redrawing the dang then…well…you just don’t know me!   I take my time and do things the hard way or the long way or the illogical way!   But I eventually get there!

Not sure why I shared this story other than this problem from my license review test had me reliving my glory days.  (Hey there are athletic glory days…why not math geek glory days?)

Here’s the problem:Koch

Here’s my work:

So many things have changed since my college days.   However, I am still fascinated by fractals and I still prefer to do my work in pen!   What can I say?  I live on the edge…of chaos!

Sigh Yup.   I just wrote that.

Oh and in case you are wondering…I selected D.

Sacred Sundays

Sacred Sundays – Becoming Certain

Wendy

I am continuing to read every scripture reference to Jesus.  This morning, I read about the Resurrection in Matthew 28: 1-8 (Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-10).

But I am taking a DETOUR…of sorts…to talk about becoming certain.  About growing a testimony.

Today, my two sons were asked to read a scripture (Dustin) and to give a talk (Clayton) in Primary.   I could not be more proud of their willingness to prepare and how well they performed.

This was Dustin’s first time to read a scripture without help.  He read Moroni 10:5

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

Following Dustin’s scripture, I helped Clayton give his first talk.  (He was a little quiet, but he did so well.)  Here is what he said:

Do you have a testimony?  Having a testimony means you know something is true.

IMG_0955
As he listed the steps we grew this flower.

Gaining a testimony is a lot like growing a plant.

We go to church.

We choose the right.

We say our prayers and listen to the Holy Ghost.

And we share our testimony with others.

(Mom?…what are you doing?)

I am thankful I have a testimony of my Heavenly Father and Jesus.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

I love those two boys!  I am so thankful my Heavenly Father has trusted me with the privilege of being their mom.  They have special spirits.  Do they like going to church?…NO!…Did one of them cry and argue with me through the entire closing prayer?  YES!  But man they sure do have some strong little testimonies of the big things…the important things.  They help my testimony grow in so many ways

While we were preparing for his talk.  I asked Clayton about some of the things he believes.  For most of the things listed he nodded yes and for some he asked what it was (Note to self:  There are still some principles I need to teach my boys)  But when I asked him about praying to his Heavenly Father…a smile spread across his sweet little face that melted my heart.  And as he nodded, we both knew that he knew…That he was certain…That he has a testimony that his Heavenly Father hears and answers his prayers.

And sweet Dustin…who is still wanting to hang on to make-believe (and I hope he does for as long as he can) …when I asked him what his scripture was about, he said,  “Well if you ask if dragons are real, the Holy Ghost will tell you no…Because that is the truth”    🙂  

I have heard parents say they appreciate primary talks because it helps their children develop speaking abilities.  In my opinion it is about so much more than that.  It is about becoming certain…about asking what we know, what we believe, and what we still have questions about.  These little primary talks are so powerful!

END DETOUR:  I did not get to watch yesterday, but I sure am thankful I was able to watch the General Women’s Session of LDS General Conference after church today.  I am especially touched by Sister Linda Burton’s talk. She speaks of certain women.   The very women I am reading about about right now.  The certain woman I hope I am on the road to becoming.