Stronger Through Him

  On the island of Borneo their is an orangutan jungle school.  Orphaned orangutans are kept there and taught some of the skills they would have learned from their parents in order to survive in the wild. They have an instinctual recognition of snakes, but have to be taught their fear response, as snakes are one of the leading dangers for them.  To achieve this, the "babysitters", as their human caretakers are called, hide rubber snakes then scream and carryon when they find it.  They then take a stick and beat the snake repeatedly.   The video footage is quite comical. [Snake Training]( https://www.google.com/search?q=orangutan+snake+stick&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=isvxn&sxsrf=APq-WBu-KqJKG-xoq47RL1OboN6F5ohvug:1643684886650&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiK86muw931AhVvRTABHTyLCPYQ_AUoA3oECAIQAw&biw=390&bih=664&dpr=3#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:12bde9c2,vid:AXytTHZg1b4,st:0) But the lesson is a good one and reminded m

  Several weeks ago our family was reading from the Old Testament and Ella said she had never heard of Cain and Abel. Now I know I have taught that story, and I have taught it multiple times.  What I don't know is if those times were to my older kids and I sort of just checked it off as done.  It's quite possible.   We don't have a perfect record in holding family prayer, family home evening, or scripture study.  We try and sometimes we do better than others, but let's just say our train has been derailed many times!  In Deuteronomy, the Lord spoke to the Israelites from Mount Sinai about how they needed to teach His words.  "And thou shalt ​​​teach​ them diligently unto thy children, and shalt ​​​talk​ of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Diligently.  Meaning repeatedly.  And built into daily life.  Built in to our meal times.  Built into our carpooling and tra

  Morning elementary carline duty gives us a glimpse into family patterns and lives.  It's a beautiful thing. One thing I have noted is what makes the biggest difference in starting a child's school day. It doesn't matter if they are wearing Gap or Goodwill.  It doesn't matter if their car is freshly vacuumed or overflowing with discarded chicken nuggets and all the fliers sent home over the last month. It doesn't matter if they are the first in line or rolling in as the bell rings. It doesn't matter if it's mom or dad or a grandparent or babysitter. What matters most is the way they say goodbye.   The "I love you".   And the I love you can sound different in many ways. "Love you, Bud." "Te amo." "I love you." "You've got this." "I'll be waiting when you get home." "See you tonight.  Love you!" Sometimes it's a quick hug.  Sometimes it's littl

  Today when I arrived at work, I was met by a coworker with a gift bag of chocolate and almonds- one of my favorite combinations. With tears in her eyes she thanked me for my actions earlier this week when I stepped in to protect a student from an inebriated parent.  I was able to treat the parent with respect in a very difficult and dangerous  situation while protecting two young children.   She explained that her own mom was an alcoholic but every time she tried to seek help, she was told there was nothing anyone could do.   She also was touched that I was able to handle the whole situation while honoring the parent-child relationship.   I gave her a hug and told her I was sorry that no one was there for her.  I listened and I told her how brave she is. And then she asked me how I knew what to say and do. Well, we've been studying Moses and Abraham in seminary this week.  We've been talking about the worth of every soul and about working together in unity.   S

  Our bodies are amazing.  Tears are a part of the human experience. Tears of anguish by those who have lost loved ones.  Tears for those facing daunting challenges. Tears of laughter, the kind that makes you hold your side until it hurts. Tears of betrayal and hurt when people let us down. Tears of frustration when things feel overwhelming or we let ourselves down. Tears of joy at accomplishment or reunions.  Tears of physical pain and agony. Tears of eye irritation such as onions. Amazingly enough, the different kinds of tears we cry all look different under a microscope.  Each with its own purpose to help us right our body chemistry and regulate emotion.  Psalm 126:5 promises, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Sometimes we may not love the season of tears we are in.  But His promises are sure.  The joy will come.   And in the meantime know that Jesus wept too.   And that Heavenly Father wept over the wicked choices of his children as

 "Mrs. Potter, I thought you were my friend!" my little five year old buddy said to me after spending time in my office for the third time today.   "I am your teacher, but I'm also your friend." "Friends don't text their friends' moms and tell them about their bad behavior." I chuckled to myself at his wit, but then explained, "Actually friends want you to be the very best you can be and they will do what they need to for that to happen.  Even if it means telling your mom." He wasn't super happy with my answer but he asked if I would take him back to his class and stay with him while he got his work started.   I took his hand and we headed off. It can be easy to listen to the world's definition of a good friend.  Yet Elder Robert D Hales taught, "Cultivate good friends who do not try to make you choose between their ways and the Lord’s ways. Be the kind of friend who makes it easier for others to obey the commandments whe

  Yesterday a little girl at school went to the lunchroom after she realized she had left her necklace on her lunch tray and accidentally thrown it away.   By then many classes had already come and gone and it was presumed that the necklace was somewhere in the bags of trash taken out.  The girl was disappointed but returned to class.  One of our custodians observed the situation and with the help of our lunch lady checked the cameras until they saw which trash can the girl had used and narrowed it down.  Then she went digging through the trash and found the necklace, washed it and had it ready for the student.   Our counselor, aware that a family was without food went to Walmart to purchase some groceries using our donated cash cards.  When she explained to a parent and student why she was there and not at school, the parent asked if it happened often.  After hearing the conversation, the young student pulled out $10 of her own Christmas money to give her to help any other fami

  In Moses 6:5-6 we read "And a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration; 6 And by them their children were taught to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled." I like to write and it helps me sort out my thoughts.  But writing with the help of the Spirit truly helps me.   I think like many other principles, journaling can take many forms.  Pictures, videos, simple reflection, notes, scrapbooking, and more. The reflection is the powerful part for us.  Recording it makes it powerful for our posterity.   President Henry B Eyring suggested, "As you start to write, you could ask yourself, “How did God bless me today?” If you do that long enough and with faith, you will find yourself remembering blessings. And sometimes, you will have gifts brought to your mind which you failed to notice during the day, but which you w

  Sometimes mortality is exhausting.   I got handed a curve ball this weekend.  I've been very open about my health struggles. I even knew the doctors said eventually it would get worse and it wasn't so much a matter of stopping the train as slowing it down. I've tried diet changes, medicines, acupuncture, supplements, massage therapy, chiropractic care, blessings, pushing through, cutting back at work, and basically it's still here and progressively getting worse.  I've tried every possible combination to the tune of thousands and thousands of dollars over fifteen years.  Over and over again I hear things should be working but they aren't. Nothing makes it better and nothing makes it worse except complaining and time.   Last week it started impacting my memory as well.  I got lost going to the doctor. I couldn't answer emails and I had difficulty remembering students names.  My pain level was through the roof and I had persistent nausea around th

  Beautiful words that reassure me about what comes next.

 When Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden of Eden, they were commanded "By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread".  Work for what you get.  It's among the first things they were told.   Dishes.  Laundry.  Meal prep.  Diapers. Car care. Yard work.  Cleaning. Errands.  Make your bed.  Tidying.  Work.   Chores are a part of life. They are routine tasks that by their very nature will have to be done again and again.  I'm not sure when I developed this tendency.  It's not a great one.  But I don't always make my kids follow through with their duties and chores.  I suppose it's a bit of laziness on my part.   It's easier to do it myself and avoid the conflict.   Other times I recognize they are busy or that I haven't completed my own . Also I don't love myself in lecture mode.  Which isn't even that effective.   But I do recognize the importance of hard work as a principle of Heaven.  I know it's my responsibility to teach them and that

  Today in seminary, my students had Reading Goal Day.   At first I thought it seemed overkill to spend a whole day setting that goal.   But I decided to trust the inspiration that went into our pacing guide and we spent the day reading quotes and scriptures and discussing when and how we read and what worked for us personally.   I emphasized that the consistency and the patterns were more important than the length.  In the same way that we don't eat once a week for effective nourishment, we need daily spiritual renewal as well.  I gave them some time to reflect and write in their journals on the topic.  They made their goal measurable and they shared it with me so I can support them.  My favorite quote we read was from James E Faust.  "Study the scriptures. All of us need the strength that comes from daily reading of the scriptures. Parents must have a knowledge of the standard works to teach them to their children. A child who has been taught from the scriptures h

  As Alex prepares to return to Harvard there are a number of educational modules she has to complete in response to the student surveys completed at semester end. Today she completed one on alcohol use, one on sexual assault and one on sleep. Apparently lots of students complained about their lack of sleep.  And that's the one she was working on while helping me with dinner tonight.  While I prepped the chicken and she set the table,  we listened to the latest statistics on sleep and more importantly the detriments of the lack of sleep. Most of it I had already learned but there were some good reminders and some new research I appreciated.  I like when we can learn together.  Sleep deprivation triples your response time when driving and makes driving behaviors almost identical to driving while legally drunk.  (Alex immediately suggested those years of driving to early morning seminary couldn't have been safe.  This kid is not a morning person!).  Consistency in having a consis

  Tonight I will share the valuable insight of my cousin Becky Holderness Tilton to consider. For those of you who are studying Genesis 3:16 this week, this insight might provide some clarity when it comes to fostering a balanced view of the relationship between men and women. In this scripture, God gives instruction to Eve and Adam as they are leaving Eden for mortality. Here are his words to Eve: "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." In Hebrew, this word ‘rule’ is pronounced ‘mashal’ (משל). It is used many times in scripture to designate the relationship of a ruler to his subjects. However, within my Hebrew lexicon I was surprised to discover a second meaning for this word, another verb with the exact same spelling. The definition of this ‘mashal’ means "to represent, be like, or imitate." A noun of the same spelling indicates poetic p

  Yesterday we attended the funeral of a father and husband who died of covid a few weeks ago.   The family had moved to Indiana a few years ago but didn't have a large social circle.   One of the things his widow had mentioned in her grief as she went through the difficult ordeal of planning his funeral was how she really hoped she could "do right by him".  As a part of that she was hopeful that even though their family lived across the country that they would have enough people to properly say goodbye.  She hoped for 40. For multiple reasons including job schedules, social conflicts and personal struggles, the family hadn't been to church much and many of our ward members didn't know who they were.   But 18 ward members, including some who hadn't met them, took time out of their schedule to pause their lives and say goodbye.  They were willing to step into their own discomfort to hopefully lighten that of another.  As we counted the total in attenda

 Yesterday was an interesting day.  My girls had entered a gingerbread contest and advanced to the final round thanks to many loyal family and friends voting for them.  They were disappointed and dismayed to come up short and in second place miss out on the $2500 prize. I felt for them, as they had some technical difficulties with the host site.  Kyrie had a good portion of her school trying to vote with  only a small percentage getting through.  But when the time ran out, the other contestant had more votes.  Game over.  And my heart ached for them.  Just a few hours later their brother was chosen from the student section at a BYU basketball game to take a half court shot.  He stepped up and like he had hundreds of times in his teen years, launched the ball which came down in a perfect swish.  Nothing but net and an $8000 prize!  After weeks of so much loss, disease, death, marital struggles, and so many other issues in close friends it felt so very good to feel joy watching him screa