Wednesday, August 15, 2012

I Want to Dance with a Boy!! (redux)

When you come to someone's blog - you never know what you might find. I have a few favorites and since my recent article has caused several new viewers to show up and I thought it would be fun to share a couple of my favorites: Hope you enjoy "I Want to Dance With a Boy" ~ it's cute, fun and has a quite a lesson taught by a 3-year-old girl.

"I Want to Dance with a Boy!"

Our precious and precocious granddaughter, Taylor (Kaci’s daughter), is a constant source of many funny and delightful experiences and comments. At the tender age of 3 (she turned 7 in April) she attended her first “Ball”… it was the “Colonial Ball” held at the school I was teaching at every February. She even wore her “princess dress.” 
  


On the way to the dance, Taylor made it very clear to us that it was her wish to “dance with a boy.” We told her she could dance with grandpa but no, she wanted to “dance with a boy.” Her mind was made up.

Taylor’s eyes lit up with excitement as we entered the school’s multipurpose room that had been transformed for the night. She was impatient about getting her dance so I found a very fine young man, about 14 years old (we were a K-12 campus) and asked him if he would dance with my granddaughter. He was so sweet. He smiled, squatted down to her level, spoke to her for a moment, took her hand and escorted her to the dance floor. Holding both of her hands, they swayed back and forth in some fashion of a two step and then he turned her around a couple of times. Before the song was over, she walked away and came over to where Jim and I were sitting, “Grandma, I need a smaller boy.” 


I found one of my students, a very handsome 7-year-old named William. I introduced him toTaylor, informing him that this was my granddaughter and she wanted to dance. He said, “OK,” and they were off to the dance floor. Taylor smiled from ear to ear as she danced with her “prince.”


Taylor made many friends that night and had a marvelous time. When the Hokey Pokey began, she watched from the sidelines with us. It looked like too much fun to just stand there so she simply joined the others, squeezed into an available spot and began to copy the actions of the other dancers.



Taylor may be young, but she is fearless, determined, and bright and she intends to get what she’s after. She knew exactly what she wanted before she ever entered the dance. When what I offered her was not what she wanted, she clearly made it known what she needed, “a smaller boy.” She’s no wall-flower and I pray her attitude never changes.

There is much we can all learn from Taylor: Know what you want and have a clear mission statement about it: “I want to dance with a boy.” Don’t quit until you get what you want, even if it means making adjustments (“a smaller boy”). Don’t stand on the sidelines of life, walk right over to where the action is … and dance!


Taylor today - age 7


Sunday, August 12, 2012

I've Gone Viral ~

So, for the last two and a half years, I've been writing for the Deseret News, Mormon Times, and ksl.com ~ and my articles attract varying amounts of traffic, usually from a few hundred hits to a few thousand hits per article. I know this due to a dandy little counter I have access to at my online "workdesk" for these publications. But I wasn't prepared for what has happened during the last few days!!!!

I was privileged to meet and interview Tom and Maggie Scott. I also read the book he wrote and the I wrote an article about them and submitted it to ksl.com (actually, THEY asked me to write it for them - but that's another story). So, I loved meeting them and hearing Tom speak at a fireside for the Young Single Adult members of our church in my area. I really enjoyed writing (and rewriting) my article. I also included some photos I gathered and then hit went live Thursday morning. I would have expected a few thousand hits as the article would be considered a "hot topic" ~ "Evangelical pastor of 27 years recounts journey to joining LDS church" ~ and the number of people who click on the article link is astonishing to me ~ I plan to come back and update it from time to time, so here is the latest:

56,917 hits ~ SERIOUSLY?


NEARLY 57,000 people have gone to the article and presumably read it!!


I'm so amazed and thrilled!! And then . . . LDS Living Magazine picked it up and added the link to their email newsletter that highlights interesting and timely articles!!!

So, in case YOU missed it ~ here's the link:


Just thought you might like to know. Have a great week!! Cheers!