TJ Hirst

The Question: Have I Seen the Hand of God Reaching Out to Touch Us Today?

As I give and receive Christmas cards this year, I’m reminded of my first Christmas card from my husband 18 years ago. We were not married or even engaged yet when I went home from college to visit my family for Christmas, but I knew he was the one I wanted to keep. My feelings frightened me, but the  homemade card and love notes he sent during the two long weeks away reassured me.

I pleaded with my parents to change my ticket so I could go back early. Of course they couldn’t understand;  they kept asking, “Why can’t you wait?”

Ironically, we were engaged two days after I returned to college.

Just the same, when my baby sister announced this summer that she was engaged and her wedding date would be Friday, December 19, I couldn’t understand the timing, either. I said something like, “Couples in love seem to be in their own world.”

I tried to express the practical matters of my world to help her see my perspective, just like my parents expressed theirs to me long ago at the kitchen table: “It’s the worst time of year to travel.  The cost. The weather. The school schedules. Our commitments. . .”

In the middle of all these “commitments” I sat on the floor with a pile of old handwritten cards and love notes, still in the old envelopes with 25 cent stamps, from our two weeks apart at Christmas. And, I remembered how it felt. Yes, couples in love are in their own world.

With my cards in the mail, packages wrapped, the baking finished, the entertaining over, and my heart prepared, I’m ready to say, “It’s no better time to be with a new couple in love. And, that’s just where I want to visit this time of year.”

Congratulations, little sister, on your wedding tomorrow!

Filed in The Question

He gave His life to atone for the sins of all mankind. His was a great vicarious gift on behalf of all who would ever live upon the earth. . . He rose from the grave to “become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20).
The Living Christ, The Testimony of the Apostles

I considered a cross for my Living Christ Christmas tree to exemplify the Lord’s ultimate sacrifice, but I liked the more subtle meaning in this red gift box. His atoning blood is a gift to me. And alongside this gift is my symbolic remembrance of his resurrection. I tied together the closest thing I could find to barley sheaves as the “firstfruits.”

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My entry is also part of my photographic holiday series of My Living Christ Christmas Tree.

View other photography participants at Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes For Mom.

Filed in Christmas, Scripture Share

Try-It With-Me Tuesday, an interactive weekly time and place to foster connections that challenge and encourage the process to become a well-rounded person.

Six weeks ago I challenged my early morning New Testament class to develop an attribute for Christmas. We studied the birth of Jesus Christ in Luke 2 and read about how he increased in “wisdom and stature.”

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.  Luke 2:40

“Often when we stop growing physically,” I told these high school students, “we think we stop growing, but we can always grow—emotionally, intellectually, spiritually.”

That set up my challenge to them:

First, as we study Luke, look for the attributes of Christ from his ministry and teachings.

Second, choose one attribute that you want to develop.

Third, define and describe your attribute.

Fourth, study and write about your attribute to learn more.

Fifth, set goals and make a plan to apply your attribute.

Finally, pray for help and evaluate your progress periodically.

I promised to choose an attribute with them and to give them a Christmas breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls at the end of the six weeks. Last Friday I made good on those promises. We had a beautiful breakfast, not only in a temporal sense, but in a spiritual one. After we watched a five-minute video of Luke 2, each student gave a one- or two- minute presentation on his or her attribute.

These teenagers  had the courage and conviction to speak in front of their peers about the goals they set for themselves. The best part was that these were not performance goals for athletics or academics but plans to progress in obedience, patience, faith, charity and love.

Moments like that inspire me to be better. I’m continuing to work on my own attribute. Do you want to know what it is? I’ll share that next Tuesday. In the meantime . . . Do You Want To Try the Attribute Challenge With Me?

Choose an attribute you wish to have and begin working on the steps to develop it.

If you take the challenge, I’d love to hear from you in the comments next week, on Tuesday, December 23.  Or write your own post about what you want to develop.

If you do write a post, I’d love to publish your link. Just link to this post or my site and send your permalink to me by email tj (at) tjhirst (dot) com or in the comments here before next Tuesday.

Filed in Try-It-With-Me Tuesday

Integrity: n. 1. Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code. 2. The state of being unimpaired; soundness. 3. The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.

After a week of watching a poor leadership example unfold in the news, it is a privilege to know leaders with integrity.  My interviews with Vicki Carlson for A Four-Star Family led to an interview with her husband, retiring United States Air Force General Bruce Carlson.

The LDS Church News published my article, Military Man Keeps the Faith, on Dec 13.

As you may guess, only one-tenth of the information I gleaned from that interview eventually made it to print. In the interview, Gen. Carlson gave an analogy about integrity that was not published, but worth considering. He said,

Integrity’s like a ball bearing. If you look at it, it looks perfect, but if it has one flaw in it and it gets under heat and pressure, what happens?  It comes apart. And when it comes apart under heat and pressure it doesn’t just fall apart and walk away. It usually damages other things, because under heat and pressure there are a lot of other parts. When integrity fails, it doesn’t just damage that person, it usually damages a lot of people around.

Filed in Everyday Biography

Some words I’ve been considering . . .

Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”

We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us. Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.

Thomas S. Monson Finding Joy in the Journey

. . . have led to some opportunities I’m taking.

What about you?

Filed in Ponderings