LIFE-CHANGING TRANSFORMATION

 

“There are times in our lives when the right words spoken at the right moment can transform us.  They challenge us at a crossroads, carry us through times of sorrow, or dare us to action.”

Don’t know who said this, but the message was tailor-made at one very important juncture in my life. I had this experience when I was beginning my junior year at Brigham Young University in 1966.

I had always wanted to be a high school English teacher.  But the Teacher Education 301B class I took that semester, which was supposed to be the magical OPEN SESAME to that dream, crushed my long-held goal.  I didn’t like the class.  And THAT is a mild statement!  I HATED the class! 

It was full of “student measurements”, Maeger Objectives, which was totally off-base with what I thought an English teacher was supposed to do—teach literature and grammar—the loves of my academic life.  By mid-term I was doing poorly.  That was bad enough, but my family, my roommates (it seemed like everyone) were pushing for me to “certify to be a teacher anyway” so I would have something to “fall back on” if I didn’t get a job somewhere else.  That sounded awful.

But even worse was a series of situations which arose just prior to the visit my professor had scheduled because of my mid-term grade.  By the time I got to Professor Holder’s office, I was already in a bad spot.  So, when he said, “I perceive you are not happy in this class,” I started to bawl.  A flood of tears. Loud sniffles.  Runny nose. Smeared mascara.  Yet Professor Holder simply opened his desk drawer, put a box of tissues in front of me and said, “When you are finished, we’ll talk.”  He even sent his TA to class to tell the students there would be no class that day.

After I was able to pull myself together, I explained the squeeze I was feeling from my own change of mind and the push from well-meaning others who were encouraging me to just forge ahead.  I expected him to give me the same pep talk.  Instead, he told me if I couldn’t be the kind of teacher I wanted my children to have, "then DON’T be a teacher."

At last!  Permission to go a different direction which I confided to him was an interest in libraries.  He encouraged me with the right words when I was at a crossroads—dared me to action—and my life was transformed. 

The rest is history.  I still kept my English major, but I completed a Library Science minor instead of Secondary Education, graduated in May 1968, moved to Denver the end of August that year with no job prospect but I still came out on top.

Within two days of arriving in Denver, I had found an apartment and snagged a job as a Library Assistant at one of three Bibliographical Centers for Research in the country.  In addition to those major obstacles, by the time two weeks was over I had met my first husband Ross, became the organist for my congregation, and was well on my way to the great life in store for me which included a half dozen outstanding kids, experiences all over the world, and much satisfaction because of the change in my direction that fall day in 1966. 

All because of the Lord’s hand guiding me along the way—even though I didn’t give Him enough credit until much later.  I was sooo oblivious to His laser-like assistance through every step.  But now I can’t even imagine how my life might have turned out if I’d had to do all the orchestrating on my own. 

That was a very memorable and significant time the Lord’s hand was in my life.  I am eternally grateful for all those blessings!

LIFE-CHANGING TRANSFORMATION INDEED....

FALL

 

I was asked to give a short reflection on "WHY I LOVE FALL…" at the special September Activity held by the Women's Auxiliary in my Congregation.  The get-together featured everything FALL from food, to crafts, to favorite memories.  

I accepted the invitation, but for the life of me just couldn't paint a glorious picture about Fall.  So, this is what I shared...

 

I NEVER liked Fall!  

Because Fall in my life when I grew up on the high windy plateaus of South Central Wyoming was a meteorological season based on the annual temperature cycle. So, Autumn or Fall, for example, would run September through November, which makes perfect sense to me.

About the only thing I did like about Fall was the start of school the day after Labor Day, because I LOVED school.  But it wasn’t long after school began that the temperature dropped dramatically, the cottonwood and elm trees turned an ugly brown, and the wind picked up with a vengeance blowing the leaves into a mostly dirt-filled screen that pelted our faces and tried to rip our jackets off as we walked to and from school.  Snow wasn’t far behind and was often a heavy accumulation.

By the 31^st of October it was pretty much winter.  Halloween Trick or Treating was no fun because it was cold, windy, and we often tramped door to door in snow.  Plus, our winter coats and snowsuits completely eliminated any hint of the terrific Halloween costumes we were wearing.  Probably why Halloween is my LEAST favorite holiday!

When I left home for my Freshman year at BYU, my dad and I packed my stuff into his truck camper on the evening of the 14^th of September.  I was supposed to report at my dorm on the 15^th, so we planned to leave early, early the next morning for the 8-hour trip.  Only, we woke up to a terrible snowstorm.  Nevertheless—I’m sure because of my whining and lamenting that I just HAD to be in Provo that very day—my dad and I left home in snow so blinding it was difficult to even see the road ahead.  I’m still surprised that Interstate 80 wasn’t closed!  

It took us 8 hours just to get to my sister’s house in Green River, Wyoming, which was only 125 miles away and normally only a two- hour drive.  There we spent the night, grateful to be safely off the road.  We woke up the next morning to brilliant sunshine and a landscape completely covered in white, but the roads were clear.  We made it to Provo without any other delays and arrived at a "snow-less" campus busy welcoming students.  My 24-hour interruption in plans wasn’t even an issue.  I checked into my dorm without fanfare, bid my dad goodbye, and went about the business of college life.

So, you see that early winter blizzard the Willy and Martin Mormon Pioneer Handcart companies encountered on the 19^th of October, 1856, coming across the Wyoming plains was simply nothing short of “normal”.  It was devastating to the pioneers because, even though the companies left later in the year than they should have, no one expected the weather to be deep snow and freezing temperatures.  They weren’t prepared for that.  They had hoped—and prayed—they could outrun the possibility of bad weather.  Don’t mess with Mother Nature!

As for my four years as a BYU student in Provo, Utah, Fall wasn’t too bad for the most part.  It was often downright nice with some colored leaves on the trees and yellow scrub Oak on the mountain.  I even remember a November day at the football game being downright hot in my lovely sweater dress! (Everyone dressed up to go see the Cougars play.  In fact, most events at BYU at that time were dress-up occasions.)

When I went to Denver to work after I graduated from BYU, Fall was mostly colorful with pleasant temperatures, though some years there was that freakish early snowstorm which had a tendency to freeze all the foliage and leave a lot of tree damage.  But those storms didn’t last long, and there were many days plentiful with sunshine and deep blue skies.  My older daughter got married on one of those days--ironically it was October 19, 1997.

THEN I moved to Virginia.  It was September when we arrived, and all the world was still green.  When the leaves turned, it was a kaleidoscope of color—Maple, Ash, Redbud, Hickory, and Black Walnut trees burst with red, orange, and purple in addition to the yellows which made everything spectacular.

My 5^th child was born on October 21^st in Newport News.  As uncomfortable as I was on that long trip to Riverside Hospital, (let’s face it, I was in PAIN) still I couldn’t get over what an awesome panoramic view we had while driving down the Colonial Parkway which was flanked by those beautiful trees in their gorgeous Fall raiment.  It was breathtaking!

After THAT we moved to southern Sweden.  In spite of the fact that the colors in Scandinavia are not as intense as I’ve seen in other parts of the world, the Beech, Oak, Ash, Birch, Spruce, and Pine combined to make really lovely Fall landscapes.  I always thought of the vista there as being “lacy”.  And an added bonus for Fall in Skone were the Christmas markets that began in early November.  What fun that was!

Next, we moved to upstate New York where Goldspire, and Royal Purple Smoke Trees as well as the common deciduous trees like Ash, Maple, Beech, Birch and Oak were plentiful.  Here we could actually rake up HUGE piles of colorful leaves to jump in and feed into giant bonfires.  Oh Fall…how beautiful it was then.  I loved that we were able to do all the fun things I used to just read about in books—the wagon rides, the barnyard visits, and the spiced cider as we mingled with friends and neighbors.

Moving to West Berlin, Germany, brought back the heavy, heavy colors we had seen in Virginia and New York.  And I will never forget the yellow gold of the Linden Trees which lined Unter Den Linden, the road which leads from West to East Belin through the Brandenburg Gate—though when we lived there the Wall was still up and you couldn’t go all the way down to the end of the road.  But the glimpse into the horizon with the golden Linden trees forming a canopy was still spectacular.

No wonder October Fest is such a great occasion in Germany.  All that color made for a fine backdrop to a fun celebration!

So, no, I never liked Fall—until I moved to other places and saw the beauty of Fall as it was intended to be, not cut short with premature frost and debilitating early snow.

Now I love Fall!  I can appreciate the deep blue skies and bright sunshine with pleasant temperatures when that’s on the weather menu.  When the weather menu calls for cold temps and snow, I know it usually won’t last.  The sun will come out again and make for a beautiful prelude to my favorite holiday—THANKSGIVING—which signals the end of Fall!

But I still don’t like Halloween….