Thursday Thinking - This, That, and the Other

Every now and then I see glimpses of myself – love of homemaking and frugality – in the kids’ lives.   Like yesterday:

Abe texted and said, “What are you doing today?”

I plunked back: “cookies, candy, and caroling. how about you?”

“Making cookies, chocolate-dipped pretzels, wrapping gifts, tithing settlement, watching a movie, and just getting ready for Christmas.”

I called Cali and asked her what she was doing. She was making sugar cookies with royal icing. (I gave her my best sugar cookie tip just in case: “If yours don’t turn out as good as you had hoped, go to Safeway and buy theirs. They are $5 for 50 of them. Frost them with homemade frosting and then shake a few sprinkles on them and people will ask you for your recipe. No joke.”)

Ty texted and said he was at the airport making $90 an hour just for sitting. (He jumped on the chance to get a $450 flight voucher for taking a later flight.)

Ande wasn’t near the phone. She was growing a baby.

It's fun to have more than genes in common.

*****

Calvin told me tonight what he got me for Christmas: a gun.

Perfect! I planned on getting him a camera.

*****

One of the great benefits of my job is to celebrate life achievements with my students. It’s been an unexpected bonus and I appreciate it. Several stop by the building (or call) to tell me about their mission calls or new jobs, and there are always wedding invitations and baby announcements in the kitchen drawer. Last Saturday I attended the wedding of two students and was greeted by several others – one excitedly said he’d just joined the army and another had a scholarship for next fall.

One afternoon this week I’d been gone all day and had just come home, taken off my dress, nylons, and shoes and thought, “Shoot, it’s close enough to bedtime I think I’ll just put on my nightgown.” It was 4 o’clock after all. I changed and then remembered I hadn’t fed the chickens so I put holey sweat pants on underneath my blue floral nightgown and put on a pair of thick black socks and my fuzzy red coat. I got the chicken bucket out from under the sink and slipped on my brown Mary Jane Doc Martins in the garage and headed for the coop. In pulled a student (he wasn’t one of my official ones). It was so great to see him. He walked with me to the chicken coop and offered to slop through the mud to help gather the eggs, then he came back to the house and waited while I changed into respectable clothes. We sat and visited about books and life and then later he sent me one of his short stories. It was great to catch up with him and read his words.

The next morning a former student came in to join the last few minutes of class. Every year she brought me a little nativity and just a few days earlier I had thought, “Oh darn, I won’t get a nativity this year A. is gone.” But she didn’t forget. She had a little nativity in her hand and stayed after class and visited. She told me how her first few semesters of college had gone and what her hopes and goals were for the future. She looked terrific and it was so fun to catch up with her.

Today another former student brought me a big plate of several different kinds of cookies. She gave me a big hug and quickly told me what her plans are for the next few months. It was fun to hear her enthusiasm and see current students excited to see her again.

This afternoon I’ve been grading essays and daily scripture journals of several students in my night class.  A time or two I've felt like I should take off my shoes.  I have been on sacred ground as I read the things they know and feel concerning their challenges and opportunities, answers to prayers, doubts and concerns, questions and desires to know truth for themselves, and of their successes and lessons learned.

Some jobs you have to wait until you retire to get shares, but not this one.

*****

Today I was thinking about the beautiful symbolism in the lighting of the menorah – one light lighting others one by one.  There is no darkness if there is even one little light. I can be one little light and one by one help others.  I can do that.  And while I'm mixing two religions here, it made me think about Jesus Christ being the Light of the world - the source of all light.