Giving Machines -- An Impressive Innovation in Charitable Giving

 

Hello Kind Friends,

It has been quite a while since I have posted on any of my public blogs, but realized that I probably haven't ever, or at least not recently shared one of my favorite new holiday traditions -- visiting our local Giving Machines with our family and selecting several items that we can purchase and donate to worthwhile charities, a great way of loving our neighbors.  At times in the past our family Christmas Budgets have been very tight, but now with the family all grown and me working full time, I'm really enjoying being able to share what I can, especially during the Christmas season as we honor our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We can change a life by donating shoes, a meal or even goats! The Giving Machines are now in their eighth year, and are found in many different cities and locations all over the world.  All donations go directly to both local and global charities around the world, with all administrative costs being covered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.   

Have you seen a Giving Machine in your area?  Check to see if there is one near you.  There are now even digital versions of the machines available.  Check out the video below!

Do People Still Read Blogs? and Gratitude, Northern California, and Family

 

Do people still read blogs?   If you do, and feel up to it, leave me a comment.  I've not kept up as much with either reading or posting on my blogs lately, and it makes me a bit sad.   Times and social media have changed over the years, and I know I spend more time browsing on YouTube and Facebook and Instagram than I do reading blogs anymore.  (I still don't do tick tock or Twitter, but then I'm definitely part of the older generation these days).  I miss reading some of my old blogger favorites, but to try to stop by some of their blogs on occasion.  

O think my biggest regret is that I haven't been taking the time as often lately to recognize and record the many tender mercies and blessings in my life.  I've been in a bit of a funk the past little while and know that I have a tendency to focus on the negative, even when there is so much good in the world and in my life.   I know I need to make a bigger effort to recognize the good things in life, and especially to express my gratitude to the many people who make my life great:  my family, friends, co-workers, and especially my Heavenly Father.

Last week DH and DD1 and DD2 returned from a road trip to Northern California where we met up with DS1, DS2, DD3 and their families and our four beautiful grandchildren!  We were able to spend a week traveling and spending time with our favorite people in the world (we did miss DD4 as she wasn't able to make the trip this time).  We were able to see many beautiful places that we've never been before, enjoy the cooler coastal weather, majestic sequoias and redwoods, and the awesome pacific coast.  There was much wonderful food, games, fun, and memories made.   This visit has been on my bucket list for a very long time, and due to the planning, work, and sacrifices of my children and my DH, they made it happen.  And, we all were able to travel safely there and back home again!  

I am very blessed.

Values, Vision, and Voice Lessons

 

The values at the community college where I work are the foundation of our future endeavors and help us realize our mission of being an open-access, comprehensive community college committed to the transfer education and workforce needs of our students.  These values are collaboration, community, inclusivity, learning, innovation, integrity, and trust.  These values support our vision of being a model for inclusive and transformative education and strengthening the communities we serve through our students.

I'm pretty sure that the university where I received my college education also has and had similar values and vision, but when I was a student I wasn't really mindfully aware of them.  I was very much aware of the honor code that all students, and I assume faculty and staff had agreed to follow upon admission and enrollment at the university.  As a student I assumed that the college was doing its best to provide a comprehensive education in an environment that considered the best interests of the students, and that they all had values similar to my own.  The longer I attended and the more that I invested into my education, the more that I valued the benefits that a good education would bring.

One of the choices that I had in my education was the opportunity to take a group voice class.  I'm sure that I could have found a private voice teacher, but that wasn't really one of my priorities.  My mother has always told me that she enjoyed listening to me sing, but I never have felt very confident in my singing abilities.  I love music, and I love to sing, so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to have some professional coaching.  We did learn some fun music, and I tried to practice what was taught, but I'm afraid I haven't retained what I was taught very well.  I was also married and pregnant that last year of college when I took the voice class, so felt I didn't have quite the lung capacity or the posture that I needed to do my best.  Excuses you say?  Probably.  I still love to sing and will do so at church and in the church choir and with my family, but I doubt you'll find me performing solo in front of an audience any time soon.

What about you?  What are your values and vision?  Have you taken voice lessons?  Any advice for a still very armature singer?

University Vs Community College

The oft asked question for high school juniors and seniors . . . Where do you plan to attend college?

Of course there are many who do see college or any higher education in their immediate future, and part of my job is to help high school students, and even adults see that they can include higher education in their future.  That doesn't necessarily mean that a traditional college degree is the right choice for everyone, but in today's world, some form of post high school training is a great asset and important for a successful and secure future.  Technical training is available in many areas of study, and our economy does have many good jobs that don't require a traditional Associates, Bachelor's or Master's degree.

When I was in high school, my goal and hope was to attend the same University that my older siblings had all attended, and even though I submitted my application to several other schools in the state, never seriously considered attending either of those schools.  Quite a few of my fellow classmates did apply and attend the school where I currently work.  At the time this state school was a Technical College that offered associates degrees and other short term training classes.  Now the school has transitioned to a Community College where nearly 150 different programs are offered, with transfer opportunities to other universities in the state. 

One of the selling points of the community college is the affordability, not just with lower tuition and fees, but also lower living expenses for many students who can continue to live at home rather than paying rent or other housing costs associated with choosing a school further away from home.  A student can spend much less on their total educational costs, and even avoid student loans altogether if they qualify for federal financial aid.  

I totally loved my University experience, and we have encouraged all of our children to attend the University, move away from home for a few years, and learn to experience life on their own before needing to be totally independent from their parents.   Yet, for many students, the community college experience is the better choice.

What are your thoughts on University vs Community College?

Temper

 Anyone who knows me well should know that sometimes I do have a bit of a temper, and when it flares up, I sometimes don't do a very good job of controlling it.  I have been known to do a fair amount of door slamming, dishes slamming, (never actually throwing?) and not just raising of the voice, but actually yelling at those I love and care about.    Are these loving actions?  Charitable actions?  Christ-like actions.  No.  and I am not proud of this part of me, and have struggled with my temper and my actions related to my temper for most of my life.  My dear husband and dear children know.  I'm sure my parents and siblings are aware.  Some of my co-workers have witnessed this frailty.  Even some of my closest friends and ward members, especially the young women I worked with back in 2008-2010 are painfully aware of my faults.  

At the end of June in 2008 I was asked to serve in my local church congregation as the Young Women's President, who is in charge of planning weekly activities and Sunday lessons for the young women in the congregation aged 12 to 18.  I felt very inadequate to hold this position, and had I had many doubts as to my ability to perform all of the responsibilities.  However, I've always felt it is important to accept callings in my church, and knew and admired the other women who would be working with me, so I accepted the call.

Plans for the yearly Young Women's Camp were already well underway, and I was assured there was not much that I needed to do as the Camp Directors for our local group had everything well planned and prepared for.  Our group was one of eight different congregations that would be attending the camp, and everything had already been planned.  I didn't even need to drive my own car to camp, and we had our final camp clinics, the food shopping was done, and everything was set.  About all that I needed to do was to pack my own things and help my own two youngest daughters to pack and prepare for the trip.  

I greatly admire both of the Camp Directors and had worked with both of them in other types of school and church activities, so I looked forward to working with both of them.  The other leaders from our church congregation that were going to camp were also good friends that I greatly admired.

We made it up to camp, and found that our requested camp site had been commandeered or assigned to another ward, which started things off with a bit of a negative attitude for all the girls.  It was one of the sites without a cabin, and on a slope, so it wasn't a very good situation for rainy weather.  We got our tents set up.  I think we had the girls divided up into tents by age group, with we leaders in a separate tent.  This was a pretty rambunctious group of girls, the older group especially.   Some of them had brought face cards, which had been expressly forbidden in the packing rules, there was a bit of defiance with some of the girls to some of the main leaders of the camp, a few pranks played groups of girls outside of our local congregation  (shaving cream desserts?  )  and some teasing of the younger girls, etc.  Nothing terrible, happened. One or more of the girls weren't particularly happy to be at camp that week but for the most part I think most of the girls were trying to be good sports.

The most worrisome thing that happened was that once we were at camp, one of the leaders confided in me that she and her husband were getting a divorce.  She was basically an emotional wreck and had been running on pure adrenalin for who knows how long.  Once we got to camp and had everything set up, she pretty much shut down, and slept for one or two days straight.  This which was worrisome for all of the girls, especially for her own daughter who was also a part of the group.  Though none of the girls really knew what was happening, I'm sure the tension was in the air, and the girls were worried about their Camp Director being sick.  

I was trying to be a leader, which really doesn't come naturally to me, especially around teenaged girls.   I never felt like I was a "normal" teenager, and didn't feel that I related too well with the girls. I never felt terribly comfortable as a Young Woman leader, even though this was probably my fourth time working with the Young Women's program, and my first time working with my own daughters in the program.  In short, I really depended a lot on my counselors and the camp directors for their experience and rapport with the girls.  

It was near the end of camp, when we were all pretty well tired out and stressed from all that had happened.  One of the other leaders had asked the girls to do something, probably to finish their chores and gather for our evening campfire devotional or something, and the girls weren't listening and minding.   And I lost it.  I yelled at the girls, something I don't think any of them had ever expected to come from me.  I told them something along the lines that if this was the way they treated their mothers, then I was sorry for them and their mothers.  I think and hope that I apologized for my outburst, but I'm not 100% sure how well I handled it.   In spite of my apology and many heart felt prayers for guidance, and many more struggles over then next year and a half of serving as Young Women's president, I still regret my outburst of temper, and still feel so much remorse for failing to be the leader I had hoped to be.   Though all of the girls are now grown adults, and successfully carrying on wither their lives, many as loving young mothers, I still regret that I wasn't a better example and leader for these wonderful young ladies, and for the other leaders who were so faithfully carrying out their own callings and loving and carrying for these precious daughters of God.

I still don't always do a very good job of controlling my temper.  My family can attest to that.  My dear husband and my dear children have all witnessed or been the object of my anger at times.  I also lost my temper at my boss one day several years ago in a training meeting that included co-workers, my boss's boss, and several members of our CRM software company vendors.   I like to think that I'm doing better with this vice, sin, imperfection or what have you, and I really do mean to keep trying to react to situations and actions or remarks from others without anger and temper.    This is one of my ongoing quests.

Test Scores, Technology

Test Scores. AP, GED, CLEP,  ACT, SAT, Accuplacer, Qualtrics, CASAS, LOPE, GRE, MCAT, MAT, LSAT, etc and etc.  If you have attended public school and even thought about attending college, most likely taken one or more of  these tests used to help determine eligibility for entrance, scholarships, and placement into beginning college courses.   Back in April 1977 when I was a high school junior we all took the ACT test one time.  Quite a bit depended on those scores.  I was able to test high enough that along with my high school GPA, I was admitted to and awarded a one year scholarship to the University of my choice.  These test scores are a pretty big deal, and in some families a lot of time, money and effort is spent helping children to earn high test scores on the college entrance exams.  

At the community college, we don't use the test scores as a criteria to determine whether or not a student is admitted to the college.  Any potential student who had earned a high school diploma or equivalent qualifies for admission to the college.  Test scores are however, important for determining the eligibility for certain scholarships, and especially for placement into beginning level Math, English, History, and Science classes.   There has long been debate about the accuracy of testing determining a student's potential ability to succeed in college, but currently most colleges and universities still required placement testing of some sort or another.  During the pandemic many schools have done away with using test scores from entrance exams to determine admissions, but most still require some testing to determine placement into different courses.  It is what it is.  Do you want to go to school and earn a degree?  You'll most likely be required to take and submit your test scores.

Technology.  Every changing, we need to always be learning to keep up with technology.  Back in the day, I made my way through college using the land line phone on the kitchen wall shared between myself and my roommates.  I had a small manual blue typewriter that was a gift from my parents  (I still have it, but haven't found a replacement ribbon for it for years).  My first computer class involved learning code and using a keypunch machine to create the cards necessary to run your programs.  You then took the cards in and paid to have them run on the mainframe computer, and would receive a paper printout of the results of how your program worked, or failed.   Before I graduated, the new apple PC's were available in new computer labs where you could type and print out the required papers for your various classes.  In the dorms we had a shared television set for the entire floor, and in my apartments, sometimes I had a roommate who owned a TV, often I did not.  Towards the end of my college career, VCR's were becoming a thing, and we could rent them and a movie or two, split the costs between a group of friends, and have a wonderful movie night with the movies of our choice!  Such progress!

Today most every student (not all of course) has a myriad of devices.  Laptops of all varieties, smart phones, tablets, access to computer labs, smart TV's.  You could possibly get by using a smart phone, but it wouldn't be very convenient for writing and submitting papers, but probably possible.  

I remember writing a paper back in elementary school about what I would like to invent when I grew up.  My invention was a machine that could create books from scratch, from nothing.  As an adult I wrote a paper about how that invention had pretty much become reality with the advent of e-publishing and digital books, widely available everywhere now.  And of course today, the big technology breakthrough is AI, where chatbots can write and create intelligent writing, fiction, truth (mostly) and even working computer software without us even lifting much more than a finger or two to give a brief description of our desired result.   Can we even imagine what comes next?  I'm sure someone is thinking about it already . . . . 

Spring and Miracles

In my traditional New Year's post this past January, I outlined that one of my main goals and objectives for this year 2023 is to look for and expect miracles.  Basically I decided that this is my theme for 2023, based on a talk given by our current latter day prophet, President Russell M Nelson, back in April of 2022.  Today in our Sacrament Meeting, one of our speakers referred to this talk, so I've decided to take a few minutes and recognize some of the many miracles that I have seen so far this year in 2023.  Some of these may not seem very great of important to many people, but to me they all point to the hand and role that God, our loving Heavenly Father has in our lives.  

This year so far has continued to be somewhat challenging overall and world-wide, but I and my family have also been very blessed.

1.  We have jobs and comfortable homes

2.  We have all experienced overall good health, with no major illness or accidents.  This is no small blessing for us.

3.  Our area, which has been experiencing several years of quite severe drought has received record amounts of snowfall.  

4.  So far, we have had a fairly cool spring, with more moisture and a relatively slow snowmelt with no major flooding in the area.

5.  Both dear sons and their wives, who have had fertility issues in the past, are now expecting new baby boys this coming summer.  We are so excited for everyone to add these precious lives to our families.

6.  Other extended family members have experienced miraculous help and healing with medical issues with their children/grandchildren.

7.  Dear daughter 4 was able to find a new full time job with benefits which will help her with many of her immediate future goals.

8.  Dear daughter 2 has been inactively looking for a new home to purchase since moving back home over a year ago.  She recently made her first very offer to buy a condo that meets her needs and the majority of her wants.  Her first offer was accepted the same day in a still fairly tight housing market.  

9.  After months of snow and cold weather, the spring flowers are finally blooming.  Grandma's gardens now have hyacinths, daffodils, pansies and tulips in bloom!  I love spring and the miracle of new life each and every year!!

10.  A family friend has been blessed with a successful triple bypass heart surgery, and is on the road to recovery.

11.  Another friend was recently in an auto accident where his vehicle slid sideways into a semi trailer.  He had the presence of mind to duck into the passenger seat, and spared major injury.

I'm sure there are many many other examples of miracles happening around us every single day.  Light and truth are here on the earth.  The knowledge and power of God are expanding and the veil over the earth is beginning to burst!  I'm so grateful to live in this challenging yet wonderful time!!  Miracles are happening, and will continue to happen in the coming weeks, months and years. 

In his talk, President Nelson shared five ways we can create spiritual momentum in our lives:  1.  Make and Keep Covenants, 2. Repent  3.  Learn About God  4.  Seek Miracles, and 5.  End conflict.  Please feel free to check out this wonderful advice from a living prophet:

What miracles have you seen in your life this year?