Blog

A Day in the Life, Archives

Happy Birthday, Adella (a post I never published)

This is an old post I never got around to pushing the little publish button for, so you get it now… 3 months later than I intended. I’m great like that…

Most of my family has birthdays during 2 semi-annual spurts. Instead of having family reunions, then, we have family birthday parties. We used to do 2 a year attempt to hold 2 a year (we never seemed to get to the second one… and my birthday falls in that category. I was sick of getting jipped (I’m going to get history buffs and politicals mad at me for that word). So we made it an annual thing instead of semi-annual.

We share gifts with each member of the family (I don’t know how much longer that’s gonna last. I like it, but you never know. When we actually start getting a ton of grandkids/ nieces/ nephews, that will get expensive.)

Last year, we had big plans for the family birthday party… and they all got canceled. Instead we held a funeral for my sister’s stillborn angel.

So this year, as we were sharing presents, we all took a balloon outside and let it go (Yes, I’m going to have the environmentalist groups hounding me now, too). It was a birthday present to Adella.

Untitled

How did she thank us? Giant hail balls.

Untitled

Untitled

Grandma (my mom) barely made it in alive! Just kidding, she was fine, but that was still some scary hail!

Untitled

At any rate, happy first birthday, Adella. Nice aim.

Brag

Brag post

someone posted on a yard-sale group recently asking if anyone made belly sashes in the area. I jumped at the chance. My house is full of singed flowers that didn’t sell very well at the fair. I told her to come and take a look at what I had and that I’d give her a steal (I really did. Have you seen how much these retail for on Etsy? I should be making more of these!

She came over and we played with flowers for a little bit and I threw in a baby headband and a little girl headband.

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Headband for her daughter

 Headband for the future newborn.

I  called up my prego sis and had her come model for me. She was less than thrilled, but did it anyway.

I know that I could make these pictures better in Photoshop (GIMP. I like GIMP), but I’m hoping to get pics from the actual photographer, and they’re guaranteed to be better than I can take (we know how great I am with pictues).so I’ll see what I can get, and you guys will have to suffer with awful product pictures. But aren’t these headbands super-cute even without my picture abilities? I’m pretty proud of them, actually.

A Day in the Life

How We Spend Our Freetime

We spent many nights at the local movie theater/arcade. This is what happens when you’re the only kid still up on a Friday date night in a college town. She made bank! All the college kids handed her their tickets.

Untitled

And spent her earnings wisely… Interestingly, her favorite color isn’t really purple. Sometimes it is, but she changes her mind so often, I wouldn’t say she’s really GOT a favorite color. But out of the colors there, purple won. Purple, soccer, and zebra. That’s how to be a cool kid, I guess…

We spent many minutes moving the location of this silly sticky hand.

Untitled

Isn’t this a cool cloud formation? There’s been a ton of rain this summer. I am rained out! Seriously, you do not want to cross my path in February if I don’t get a little more sunshine this summer!
Untitled

I made a goal to cover the whole driveway in sidewalk chalk. This is as far as we got, so I guess we’ll have to start all over again!

Untitled

 

a sunrise and a very quick (and extremely inaccurate solar system rendition)


Mom, Dad, and Daughter. In a rainstorm

Untitled

The new house doesn’t have that great of a driveway, so I guess I should embrace this one for the few minutes (translate: ages!!!! Seriously, I want to move! I’m so not patient enough for this!) I still have one.

the rest of the summer has been less than glamorous… We’ve been doing TONS of packing. 9 years in a house is hard to pack up. And then there’s the back and forth between lenders. And the just plain doing nothing moments.

Untitled

But there was that one time that my Father-in-law trusted me to care for the buffalo while he was out of town on vacation, and I let them out… That was exciting. I’m happy to announce that I got them back in, all by myself! That has to make up for the fact that I let them out, right? The whole time I’m thinking “my father-in-law is never going to trust me ever again!” Luckily, I used the armor of the car to get them all collected into a corner of the driveway, right by the gate, and I was still strange enough that by the time I got out of the car, they’d figured that they’d rather be in the safety of the pen than to mess with a stranger. And I don’t think the bull fit through the gate, so they definitely felt safer on the same side of the fence with him. I definitely felt safer on the OTHER SIDE of that fence. Apparently, none of the men use the gate for just that reason. They all climb over. AFTER I let them out, Ranger told me not to use the gate because buffalo will keep track of how you come in and out and will work at that spot. Smart stinkers.

We’ve watched the babies grow up, too. That’s been pretty fun.

A Day in the Life

Huckleberry Heaven

My husband, daughter and myself all love camping, but can never seem to find the time to go. Every time we tried, this would happen:

Untitled

This time, we just gave up and went. It still sprinkled on us each night we stayed, but we had a blast anyway, and we didn’t let the rain get to us. We found an amazing camping spot, and plan to make a tradition of it.

Untitled

We went just to go camping, but these little berries made it that much better! We ended up picking 2 gallons. Too bad most of them were used for a certain family member’s wedding… it was still well worth it though.

Untitled

It was so nice to get away from everything pending in our lives. Up there, it’s just you, your campsite, and the side of the mountain. Oh, and the family picking on the hill next to you that locks themselves out of their car, raids your huckleberry patch (she was determined that by picking the whole branch and then collecting the berries, she’s doing the bush a favor. I’m pretty sure she’s crazy. Anyone know if she’s really right?) All I know is she blazed through our berry patch and didn’t make me all that happy to have to share the hill. She also had strong opinions on everything. Her husband was cool though.

One thing we’ll check for next time: making sure the firepit is clean! It’s kind of a no-brainer for my eagle scout husband, but we were in such a hurry to get the tent up in the minimal time between rain and dark that we forgot. Ranger heard the pop and knew what it was, but we didn’t find the evidence until morning. Soooo glad it missed us all…

Untitled

Seriously! I was pretty disgusted with the cleanliness of the campsite, anyway (why do people think it’s a good idea to mix beer, guns, and camping? sounds pretty …. not so thinky… to me…), but it made it pretty easy to leave it better than we found it!

On a much different note, did you know that there are lizards in this area? I had no idea! I thought they’d gravitate toward a much warmer climate. I’ve got my feet up on the rocks next to the fire while the kiddo is sleeping in the tent, and suddenly Ranger freezes, staring directly under my feet. That’s the thing of nightmares! WHAT IS UNDER MY FEET! But eventually, Ranger points to a crawly thing circling our firepit. He made a complete circle and went back up into the woods. When I got back to civilization, I looked him up. I think he was a Long-nosed leopard lizard. Apparently, there are a few varieties of lizards in the area, but they were all news to me! Lizards in Idaho! Blew my mind!

Long-Nosed Leopard Lizard

A Day in the Life

E+J wedding

Sorry it’s been so long since I posted. I’ve had so much to say, but I managed to lock myself out of admin because I somehow only half managed to change the password somewhere. I finally had to delete all the shortcuts and apps in my browser and sign in all over again. Such is life.

Update is: there’s still no update on moving. We’ve been in the “almost… Just one more step” stage for about a month and a half. We really are “almost there,” though. We’ve done everything but sign the papers and get the carpet and windows in. I am soooo ready to be outta this house!

But now to the fun stuff. After about a 3 year absence from the cake scene ( my sister’s wedding really did me in!) I made a cake again! This time for my new sister-in-law’s wedding. It was so fun.

I admit I was so worried. The forecast has said rain all week. And the bride was DETERMINED to have an outdoor wedding.

The clouds hung threateningly the entire ceremony/reception, and about an hr and a half into the reception, it wasn’t a threat, but a downpour. I’m pretty impressed, though. It ended up working out amazingly.

Untitled

This is before they added the wildflowers to the mug. it was pretty cute and incredibly cheap!

By then, the traditions had all been attended to, and it’s the part of the reception that just drags on, so when the rain came, most people left, and only the close friends and family stayed.

It turned into one big wet afterparty. With an amazing sunset.

Untitled (sorry I can’t take pictures! It’s pretty irritating. I keep promising myself I’ll take a class, but never find the time to do so)
Untitled

I love this picture. I’m bummed it’s blurry. This is true love. You know the country song I don’t dance? That’s the song that goes off in my head each time I look at this picture. The lyrics are so perfect! I’m so glad my Father-in-law found someone that loves him so perfectly.

Anyway, the cake turned out amazing. After having such a long hiatus, I was pretty worried I wouldn’t be able to call on enough skill. Luckily, it seems that the cake-making skill stuck a little better than the “riding a bike” skill (fyi, I can’t ride a bike. I’ve learned twice and never really enjoyed it so I run while my family rides. I get a much more intense workout, and I actually like it better…)

Untitled

and the cupcakes were divine! I came up with the recipes myself. That meant that when they were gone before the reception got rained out and that all the comments of “oh my, these are so good!” went right to my head. It’s pretty inflated, now. Probably not enough to make another cake, just yet, but I’m definitely suffering from an expanded ego.

Untitled

The white cupcakes are white chocolate with huckleberry filling and white chocolate butter cream and sprinkles on top. The purple-frosted cupcakes are lemon cupcakes with huckleberry filling, huckleberry frosting, and huckleberries. I wish I had made a gel of the huckleberry liquid and drizzled it on top of the white chocolate cupcakes, but maybe next time someone wants to pay me good money for huckleberry cupcakes… those buggers are purple gold, I tell ya!

A Day in the Life

Fourth of July

This is my favorite holiday! I love it because…

  1. I love red white and blue.
  2. It’s the last holiday before my birthday.
  3. I’m an Air Force daughter.
  4. My family’s always been patriotic.
  5. There’s something about being all joined together supporting the same thing. Everyone’s proud to be an American, even if tomorrow they forget that they are.
  6. It’s (usually) nice and warm (this time wasn’t so warm) so it’s great for outdoor parties, and picnics, and swimming, and watermelon seed contests, and hamburgers, and staying up late, and gabbing and hanging out with friends.
  7. We really do have an amazing life in America, and I am proud to be an American.
Archives, Gratitude Dare, Life Lessons

Why My Mom Likes Thorns (an archived post)

Originally posted on my old blog Feb 25, 2011.
I don’t know what Mom was going through. I was only a kid. But as an adult, I look back, and I realize there must have been SOMETHING going on in her life, when she first came across this story. Otherwise, it would not have meant what it did and still does.
For at least 15 years, but probably more, my mother has had a vase of dried, rose-less thorns sitting in a prominent place in her house. They’re quiet and unobtrusive, but distinctly different, And if you ask her what they’re doing there, she will tell you this story…

THE THANKSGIVING “SPECIAL” BOUQUET
by: Author unknown

Sandra felt as low as the heels of her Birkenstocks as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole her ease.

During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss. As if that weren’t enough, her husband’s company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come. What’s worse, Sandra’s friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer.

“She has no idea what I’m feeling,” thought Sandra with a shudder.

Thanksgiving? Thankful for what? She wondered. For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an air bag that saved her life but took that of her child?

“Good afternoon, may I help you?” The shop clerk’s approach startled her.

“I….I need an arrangement,” stammered Sandra.

“For Thanksgiving? Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving “Special?” asked the shop clerk. “I’m convinced that flowers tell stories,” she continued. “Are you looking for something that conveys ‘gratitude’ this Thanksgiving?”

“Not exactly!” Sandra blurted out. “In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.”

Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk said, “I have the perfect arrangement for you.”

Then the door’s small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, “Hi, Barbara…let me get your order.”

She politely excused herself and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses; Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped: there were no flowers.

“Want this in a box?” asked the clerk.

Sandra watched for the customer’s response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed.

“Yes, please,” Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. “You’d think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn’t be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again,” she said as she gently tapped her chest.

“Uh,” stammered Sandra, “that lady just left with, uh….she just left with no flowers!”

“Right, said the clerk, “I cut off the flowers. That’s the Special. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet.”

“Oh, come on, you can’t tell me someone is willing to pay for that!” exclaimed Sandra.

“Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling much like you feel today,” explained the clerk. “She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she was facing major surgery.”

“That same year I had lost my husband,” continued the clerk, “and for the first time in my life, had just spent the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allow any travel.”

“So what did you do?” asked Sandra.

“I learned to be thankful for thorns,” answered the clerk quietly. “I’ve always thanked God for good things in life and never to ask Him why those good things happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important. I have always enjoyed the ‘flowers’ of life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God’s comfort. You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we’re afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others.”

Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friend had tried to tell her. “I guess the truth is I don’t want comfort. I’ve lost a baby and I’m angry with God.”

Just then someone else walked in the shop.

“Hey, Phil!” shouted the clerk to the balding, rotund man.

“My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement…twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems,” laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.

“Those are for your wife?” asked Sandra incredulously. “Do you mind me asking why she wants something that looks like that?”

“No…I’m glad you asked,” Phil replied. “Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord’s grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem. He rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she learned from “thorny” times, and that was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific “problem” and give thanks for what that problem taught us.”

As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, “I highly recommend the Special.”

I don’t know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life,” Sandra said to the clerk. “It’s all too…fresh.”

“Well,” the clerk replied carefully, “my experience has shown me that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God’s providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don’t resent the thorns.”

Tears rolled down Sandra’s cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on resentment.

“I’ll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please,” she managed to choke out.

“I hoped you would,” said the clerk gently. “I’ll have them ready in a minute.”

“Thank you. What do I owe you?” Sarah asked.

“Nothing; nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year’s arrangement is always on me.” The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. “I’ll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first.”

It read:

“My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the life I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant.”

Praise Him for your roses, thank him for your thorns.

A Day in the Life

Milks…

I’ve always disliked dairy. Especially some cheeses. It’s not a lactose-intolerance thing, really, because it’s usually not the heavy-lactose things that bother me. I have a huge problem with cheddar, but can handle powdered milk. that’s totally backwards! Powdered milk is about 97% lactose, if I’ve done my google-searching correctly.I think it’s a problem with the milk-fat. 2% kills me, but skim doesn’t. Maybe something else, I don’t know. At any rate, since I cut out cereal 6+ months ago (best decision!!! Haven’t looked back), my daughter’s been noticing that she feels so much better without cereal and milk. So, we struggle to finish a half gallon before it goes bad. As we were having rice for breakfast today, I couldn’t help noting the types of milk we have in our lives! I have to buy so many varieties now!

  • we have powdered milk in our pancakes and for baking. And for cottage cheese if we ever eat it (SOO much better this way, I promise).
  • we have almond milk or coconut milk for things that just plain need milk (like rice for breakfast).
  • we have 1% for my husband who REFUSES to join the “health kick.” Little does he know he’s being slowly converted. I haven’t dared point it out, because that will halt all progressive change.

However, instead of buying sour cream and yogurts and the like, we use no-sugar plain Greek Yogurt. Yogurts never used to bother me. But then I read the labels. Seriously! If you don’t want to change your diet, don’t research what some of the ingredients are. It’s way too much of a catalyst for change. So that was enough for me to get over my desire for Yoplait. Now I can mix in my own fruit and honey at home. I used to hate plain yogurt with fruit on bottom or whatever. It was still nasty. But with honey and tons of fruit, I guess I just don’t notice the difference. Either that or I’ve discovered what real food tastes like. And I do love that one container can fulfill so many needs like sour cream and yogurt and ranch and that sort of thing.

I know there are advocates for both sides of the milk argument. Some (like my friend Reta) think it’s awful any way you swing it and are quite happy with their almond milk. Some (like news, media, and a ton of people with their own agendas and propagandas) say that milk is a required dietary need. I’d say I’m in the middle. I think most of our problem comes from pasteurization and homogenization, but I don’t have any evidence to prove it. As a whole, I think that milk is enjoyable, but not a necessity. I count it as a blessing, not a need.

How do you view dairy? Are some things okay? Is it always good? Always bad? Let me know. (I know I don’t have that many followers, but I was interested in whatever feedback I can get).

Archives

Memorial 14

Ranger and I both have so much family in the area, that Memorial Day gets kind of tricky. This year, I really wanted to spend time in Victor and Tetonia and pay my respects.

Untitled

No one else was all that thrilled, but we made it in time for the ceremony at the Victor Cemetery. I thought it was beautiful.

I have 2 uncles, one great uncle, and one second cousin in the American Legion (okay, my second cousin isn’t really in it, he just accompanies my great uncle during Taps), so it was pretty neat to see them all.

Untitled

The salute.

Then, on to why we really came to the cemetery. Visiting my niece and grandparents and aunt and great aunts/uncles, and some great-aunts and uncles.

The sod over Grandma is still new, but Adella’s grass is pretty lush. UntitledThen we stopped by the other family cemetery and visited my cousin and great-grandparents. Untitled

 

So much family! And we didn’t make it to any of Ranger’s side. Not enough time.

Educational

Education and the Natural Man

I’ve been noticing a theme lately in my study of what is education. That theme is the difference between learning and the natural man.

First,  before I started attending classes (the day I got my books, in fact), I read the article my brother had been trying to get me to read for a few months. It was a talk given while he was on his mission by John E. Liljenquist. It was amazing! It meant something to me on so many levels. I wont say it answered all of life’s questions, but perhaps it gave the framework for those questions to be answered. I wish I could link to the whole talk, but firstly, I do not have Elder Liljenquist’s permission (I think I might call and ask, or at least let him know that I’ve read his words and found that they are truth), and secondly, it isn’t available online (I’ve looked).

Elder Liljenquist discusses Elder Scott’s analysis of 3 different groups in the membership of The Church: Those with a testimony that are also converted, those that have a testimony but are not yet converted, and those who have no testimony nor conversion. The third group are pretty easily distinguished, because they are they whom we do not see at church. The breakup of the first two groups is a little trickier. I want to discuss the second group and I think it will help distinguish those members of the first.


The second group (those with a testimony but no conversion) are the members who are the biggest problem for the church. They are “unstable.” They follow commandments until it becomes difficult. They pay their tithing until money gets tight, they make poor financial decisions, they do not magnify their callings. Elder Liljenquist made some remarks on these group 2 members (he was specifically talking about the men, but It’s too close to the truth for my own life that I’m including all members). He says they were all returned missionaries, they were all married in the temple, and they all had children. They all attended sacrament services and accepted callings;  but that was the end of their commitment. They were negligent in preparing lessons, negligent in attending to their home teaching families, and rarely went above and beyond the minimal expectations. Sadly, this talk made me realize I need to work a little harder on my conversion. The nice thing is, it gave me a good gauge of my conversion and what conversion looks like. I  wouldn’t say I’m completely “not converted,” but there is definitely room for improvement.

Elder Liljenquist then discusses his experiences as a doctor, and how the conversion process is mainly about “the spirit gaining control over the body.” In other words, conversion is overcoming the natural man. The natural man’s desires are set on junk food, fast food, soda and sedentary lifestyles; basically nothing hard and everything easily satisfying. He highlights that subduing the natural man requires a lot of suffering. Christ suffered for us, and if we are His, we must suffer for Him (see Doctrine and Covenants 138 and Acts chapter 5). Accordingly, we must constantly fight the natural man (thereby suffering for our Savior), and when we do so, we become closer to the Holy Ghost. When we draw closer to the Holy Ghost, we slip from a mere testimony into true conversion. When you are truly converted, the gospel is not onerous to you, but the drive to do Christ’s work comes from within.

So what does this have to do with education? For a moment, I’d like to switch over to my second recently-read article: Elder Bednar’s talk Seek Learning by Faith.

educationElder Bednar sets up a model of education. With his talk in mind, I surmise that it takes 3 different parts to make up education: Teachers, Curriculum (though he doesn’t talk specifically about curriculum, I think it is an integral part), and Learners.

Primarily, students need good teachers to learn. The ideal of a good teacher is often misconstrued. It is not the job of a teacher to force education. It is the job of a teacher to help the student learn to learn. Until the student learns the principles of learning, his education is null and void. As Elder Bednar points out, a teacher can carry “the message unto but not necessarily into the heart.” His discussion on teaching is beneficial, but I want to get to the meat of the subject before I’ve lost you all. A good teacher makes her primary focus on education the learning of learning. She knows that true education comes from within the student and not outside of it (Interesting. That’s the same expression we used for conversion. Conversion and education come from within). Furthermore, a teacher does not make learning easy; she forces her students to think and to learn.

In my own education, I had one teacher that redirected my entire education. Previously, most of my learning taught me that if I was meek and quiet. I could slide by unnoticed and at my own pace. Teachers often took pity on me or let me off easy. I often turned in assignments late and still received full credit. But when I became a student in Mr. Cleverly’s class, he was different. Suddenly being meek was not enough to pass a class. If I missed a day, I was required to make up for the time lost. If I was late for an assignment, it was too late to turn it in and no sad tale would work for his class. I worked hard! Drawing DesksI don’t think I got an A, and I don’t recall most of the history he taught in class, but I learned more about education in his classroom than I did anywhere else.  I learned that I was important enough for someone to expect something from me (pretty sad that such a concept did not occur to me until 7th grade), and I learned that it was my responsibility to take control of my own education. It is interesting to note that all of the teachers who took it easy on me only made me feel emptier and less human inside. They thought they were doing me a favor, but they weren’t. Instead, the teacher that held his expectation of me to a high enough level that I had to strive to reach it was the teacher that taught me about work and fulfillment. I guess you could say he taught me how to suffer.  There was no easy answer. Education takes work. It is through hard work and experience that students learn best. Experience is a form of curriculum.

In order for a curriculum to be good, it must have Principles. Principles are statements that hold their truth no matter the context. In the scriptures, we are taught that all truths are of God, whether secular or spiritual in nature (See Doctrine and Covenants 93:26 and 30). If it is a truth, it is good, and we are to seek after it. A good curriculum is also appropriate for the correct age level and cognitive development of the student. It grows steadily and slowly, building on knowledge that the child has previously developed. Even this is not enough; As Elder Bednar states, a quality education “causes us to put off the natural man (see Mosiah 3:19), to change our hearts (see Mosiah 5:2), to be converted unto the Lord, and to never fall away (see Alma 23:6).” See, there’s that word conversion. When we are converted, the natural man has less power. In order for a curriculum to be adequate, it must also encourage and build upon personal growth.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, learning requires a student. Though most important, the student is often the least considered element of education. As Elder Bednar states so profoundly, “Ultimately… the content of a message … penetrates into the heart only if the receiver allows [it] to enter.” It is the responsibility of the student to achieve learning. The key reason for this responsibility is our agency. An example of the role of agency is given in the story Adam in the Garden of Eden, when God asks Adam “Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9). Clearly, the father knows all things. He knew where Adam was. He asks the question to allow Adam his agency “to act on the learning process and not merely be acted upon,” as Elder Bednar states. I love what he says next: “There was no one-way lecture to a disobedient child, as perhaps many of us might be inclined to deliver. Rather, the Father helped Adam as a learner to act as an agent and appropriately exercise his agency.” Agency is the ability to act instead of solely be acted upon. Agency plays a key role in education. When a student uses his agency to learn, he is primarily showing his willingness to learn by acting in accordance with what he has already learned. He is showing his willingness to suffer, to give up the natural man. Then he must open his heart (willingly) and seek out further knowledge. This is an act of faith; faith that such knowledge will be given to him.  A student must act and not just “passive reception.”

1470076_10203200591554922_509598652_nI was a student at BYUI when Elder Bednar was the president there. He often discussed the concept of acting and not being acted upon. I also think that is the main reason people settle for passive learning and never let that actual learning really seep in. I think the very fact that true learning requires action is the reason it is not often achieved. It takes a desire to act, and that desire does not come from the natural man. Perhaps that is why the natural man is an enemy to God. God seeks learning. The natural man seeks complacency. But overcoming the natural man brings growth and personal fulfillment. Overcoming the natural man makes me more like God.

Aren’t these reasons enough to seek a deeper meaning to education?