The Miracle of Grace (as applied to Math 313)

"...it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

-2 Nephi 25:23-

You know, this has always been one of my favorite Book of Mormon phrases.


I love it because it reconciles the debate between faith and works as the method for salvation. It is neither faith nor works that saves; rather, it is a combination of the two. There is no way I can ever save myself through my own faith or my own works because I simply am not perfect, as we each are commanded to be (Matthew 5:48). But if I do everything in my power (works), I can then have the confidence (faith) that Christ will cover the remaining ground (grace).


I always thought this applied to the end of my life, when I've done all I could do for as many years as I could do it, and then I sit to anxiously await the verdict. But last week I had an epiphany. This scripture applies all along the way. 


Here's what brought on this thought: I worked really hard in my Math 313 class last semester--taking tons of notes, finishing every assignment, studying for every test--and I averaged about a B before taking the final. Although I could handle that, I had hoped for higher so I could guarantee another semester on scholarship. I figured I'd just do my best on the final and say plenty of heartfelt prayers and everything would work out in whatever way it was supposed to work out. (This has worked in every similar situation, by the way, if anyone's looking for a fool-proof method.) 


The final was at 7 AM on Monday. Do you have any idea how killer a 7 AM final on a Monday morning can be? I was five minutes late, but fortunately the professor didn't care. Upon looking through the test, I figured I pretty much knew 8 questions out of 10, but that left 2 on which I honestly had no clue. Each question was worth 10 points, so I calculated that if I hadn't messed up the ones I knew, I could get a solid 80, which would translate to a B for the semester, and I'd just take it and run. I did write a few things down on the two clueless questions, but it was nothing really worth any points. 


I checked my grade a couple days later because the professor usually graded tests super quickly, and I was dying of curiosity.


Final score: 98.


Um...wait what?
Does this happen in real life? People get 98's on college math tests in real life?
A 98?? 


Seriously, I almost died of happiness/shock right on the spot.


I was naturally very excited about my test score, but after that wore off just a tad, I knew that it hadn't been my own doing. I looked back on the semester and realized that I had done all I could do in the class, and I had also done my best in other, more important areas of my life (church, family, temple, etc.), and Christ had made up the difference on my crucial math score. Not because I particularly deserved it ("Hey, look at everything I did. Your turn, please!"), but simply because I had done what I could and left the rest to Him in faith. I suppose something I wrote on those 2 unknowns must have been right, unbeknownst to me, and I suppose the professor scaled the scores a bit, and I suppose a bunch of little things came into place to make it happen, but it wasn't anything I had done to make it happen.


That's grace, guys. In real life. I'm pretty sure of it.


The concept of God's grace is not just for when you die and the tally of good things versus bad things comes up on the scoreboard and Jesus steps in and says, "Wait! Erase a bunch of those sins! I got 'em covered!" It's for today, and tomorrow, and every day that we ever need divine assistance. Which, for me at least, is every day, ever, for the rest of my life, and beyond.


So. Many thanks to my Heavenly Father who knows that math scores and scholarships matter to this girl. Many thanks to a loving Heavenly Father who likes to bless His children much more than He likes to see them disappointed (because He doesn't actually like that at all). Many thanks to Jesus Christ whose atoning sacrifice makes grace possible. I hope to continue to partake of His grace both in this life and at the final day.


Moral of the story: Only grace can do the trick, folks. You should all try it out.

Oh look! Creative juices are flowing:

Also, I have a coincidence to share, and it is called: one time I took ASL and made a friend named Brittney and then we got talking and she learned I was in Public Speaking and said her husband's in that class, and lo and behold I have it with him! I thought it was odd...


Another thing I realized: I'm in two classes--one where I will fail if I talk and one where I will fail if I don't talk. How I didn't put this together before attending both is completely beyond me. PS: my classes rock.


And now I have been multitasking like nobody's business (quick soapbox: multitasking is a MYTH, people), and now all those unglued and uncaptioned things in the pictures above are stuck in my SMASH journal and I am going to bed. Also, I need to sleep because clearly, I am on a bad run-on-sentence kick that needs to end. Farewell.

think. create. record.

I think I could benefit from a day of creativity. 

Last night I sat down to write in my journal because I haven't for almost a month. 

(I haven't missed more than a week since the beginning of high school, so it was much needed.)

Unlike my usual journaling, I didn't try to catch up on events. It was an abnormally short entry. 

An excerpt:

"The little tag from the store on this journal says, 'think. create. record.' I'm usually a recorder, sometimes a thinker, and rarely a creator in my journals, but I'd like to try to include a wider variety. We'll see how it ends up."

For a long time (high school), my journal entries sounded like minutes from a board meeting. Mega snoozefest.

When I realized that, I started including some thoughts regarding the described events.

Then I realized even that was fairly boring, so I let the thoughts outweigh the events every now and then. 

Honestly, I'm still not always satisfied with the results. Why are my journals so boring??

Here's the deal:

Recording events is informative but tedious. 

Thinking is enlightening. Creating is therapeutic. 

I need those last two more than I need to remember my daily happenings. 

And those last two have more to offer to future audiences than a record of who-what-when-where-why.

Therefore, starting this summer, my goal is this: 

Less worry about the day-to-day. More thinking throughout each day. More creating by choice. 
More openings for inspiration.

And a comprehensive record of everything when it's all said and done.

And to help me out:

Instagram--that magical place where a daily picture becomes art

SMASH--that other magical place where ticket stubs become art

Notebook--a small one, to record one-liners that I'm bound to forget unless I write them down

A summer sewing project--more on this when it happens

And my regular journal, of course

Yeah, lots of creative days coming up. If you'd like to join me, holler.

whoa random..

Phrases I use as of late: 
"Get outta town."
"Hold the front door!" (An accidental combination of "hold the phone" and "shut the front door")
"Heavens to Betsy"
"Just keepin' it classy."
"That's a worst/best case scenario." (Depends on the scenario of course)


Now my posterity can bring those back to life in 50 years. Woot.


In other news, I cleaned bathroom mildew today, so...that was fun. Our basement bathroom does NOT have good ventilation, and I like a hot shower; sue me. But this means that I spent an hour and half with my hands all bleachy today. The good news is that it's all gone and I'm no longer scared of breathing in there. 
Just keepin' it classy.


Also, today I've been cleaning my room. I'm not a messy person, but I'm a piles person. I make little piles, especially when school is in session, because I tell myself I'll just take care of those things when I have time. And then when I have time, I sit and do puzzles instead (naturally). Therefore, today is "clear the piles" day. It's going splendidly, thank you very much. 


Also, today I got Instagram on my phone. I don't think I'll use it much, but at least I can say I've got Instagram. 


I GOT LETTERS TODAY. 
Best case scenario.


The following are very current (real time, even) events.
Craving: box brownies
Reading: I Capture the Castle
Listening to: Guns N' Roses, Maroon 5, SafetySuit. I'm weird.
Puzzle: a Harley-Davidson collage
Feeling: a little boring, frankly


Picture:

A year in summary

Now it came to pass that in the spring of the twenty and twelfth year of our Lord, she did finish her freshman year at BYU; and there was much rejoicing, yea, even so much that her cries of joy could be heard throughout the land.


For behold, she had learned exceedingly much in a year; and she had grown, not to be great in stature, but rather to be great in spirit, and filled with knowledge. 


And the knowledge which filled her was a knowledge of American Heritage, and of physical and biological science, and of many mathematics, yea, even mathematics of linear algebra and proofs, which did test and improve her character exceedingly.  


And she was also filled with a knowledge of the Book of Mormon, and of the Gospel in general, for she did take 6 religion credits; and these things were of great worth unto her, for they did prepare the way for the most important things in life. 


And it came to pass that her testimony did grow; and she did express gratitude for this testimony which she had received.


Now all this was done, but this was not all, for she did make new friends in Heritage Halls; and thus she did spend many Fridays in the dorms despite living in the tent of her father; and she did only break curfew by a few minutes, but she did always break curfew. 


(Driving from Provo to home will always take more than 10 minutes, no matter how hard you try.)


And she did also write many epistles, yea even every week did she write an epistle; and she did send these epistles to Mexico, that she might receive epistles from Mexico; and she did fall more in love with a particular instrument in the hands of God, for he did serve with all his heart, might, mind, and strength.


And she did learn to do her own hair.
And she did once shoot a gun. 
And she did date. 
And she did vacation.
And she did SMASH.
And she did do all manner of things which did exceed her comfort zone; but behold, these things were good, for they did give unto her success.


And now my brethren, thus we see the greatness of a freshman year at BYU; yea, thus we see the result of these experiences, and the result is good; yea, thus we see that by and through these experiences, she did become a better disciple of Christ, which thing is most desirable above all things. 

"Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen." 

-Alma 26:37-

Last one of these

Some final events from the recent past, just to wrap up the catch up:

1) I celebrated Easter with my fam and that one missionary's fam. Older brother (whose name is Brigham and will hereby be referred to as such) spoke in church and did a wonderful job. So we met and it was a lovely Sunday and I don't even think I was awkward[!!] (as I am prone to be). Quick secret: I thought the two brothers would be polar opposites. They're much more similar than I was expecting. How did I not see that coming? Anyway, pictures:

(Sadly, none from Sunday. Those are from the Saturday before.)

2) I had an allergic reaction to something that I'm fairly certain I'm not allergic to. At least, I'm fairly certain that normal BBQ chicken wraps don't have any cashews or pistachios?? Maybe that's too strong of an assumption. It was rough, though, and I now know what anaphylactic shock might feel like. I spent a Friday night not quite sleeping on the couch and then I was all better on Saturday. Whatever. My life is so hard.

3) I turned in an application to be a Y Group leader at next year's start-of-year freshmen activities. I don't know why, but I am so drawn to these things even though I don't really suspect I'll be good at being peppy in the hot sun for a week straight. But I do know campus pretty well, and I do love BYU enough to get downright excited about the Honor Code and stuff, so it should be good. Also, Madi's doing it with me, which means it will be a blast.

4) FINALS. So far, pretty easy. I've taken three and I have two left and honestly if I could relive this easy semester every year for the rest of college, I would never say a word of complaint about school, ever. 

5) I finally decided for real that I will take spring classes and not summer. As of next Tuesday I will have one (1) ASL course and one (1) public speaking course. ASL because it's interesting and Shaundra has inspired me. Public speaking because I'm going to be a teacher, for crying out loud, but really because a teacher I admired mucho in high school told me that if I really planned on being a great teacher (not one of those mediocre ones), I should take beginning level acting courses in college, and I believed him. Seven (7) credits of pure electives, woot. 

Side note: one time that one missionary was writing with numbers in a letter to me and he did that parentheses thing and it tickled my funny bone so sometimes I do it in my head and now I did it in public. 

Ok I have definitely rambled long enough now, and I think everyone's up to speed, at least on the things that I wanted to bother recording, and since you're maybe bored with this post, here's another picture: 

We learned about Ernst Haeckel last semester in biology. He said, "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny," which, translated, means that as you grow in the womb you pass through phases of everything humans evolved from as you go. So yes, you're human, but if you'd been born super early, you might have been hog. Something like that. (He was wrong, by the way. That is not any part of accepted evolutionary theory.) But what I took away from the lecture was this picture because how can you not love that tortoise?? Sure, the rest is a little grotesque, but that tortoise makes this page a bookmark in my browser. You're welcome.

Om Nom

Some recent foody pictures:

Thank you cookies for teachers who help our Math Ed dept. I'm a sprinkle master, but the frosting was a struggle.

Happy Easter everyone!

Dinner last night in Park City. I know it's supposed to be just one, but I see three meals there. Mackerel.

Gelato at Terra Mia. Chocolate's good, strawberry's good, chocolate-strawberry is the best.

Tonight's dinner at Cheesecake Factory. Lemon-herb chicken. I promise we don't eat out as much as this post makes it seem.

Peanut butter cheesecake goodness.

I don't normally take pictures of food, but sister Jenna did a funny food post a little bit ago, and ever since then I've started taking pictures of food. So yes, I definitely copied her, but that is what little sisters do, right? Thanks Jenna for the inspiration/plagiarism material!

INDEX

My latest hobby:

You should all join the party. Anyone can participate, and it's super easy. Plus, it's a valuable way to spend small chunks of extra time. Plus, it's the most convenient form of service I've ever seen; everything is on your time, at your pace, etc. Plus, the 1940 census was just released and this is exciting stuff! Plus, I could add more reasons, but I think you get the idea. 

Indexing. It's what the cool kids do.

Near, far, wherever you are

Welcome back to the blog catch-up. 
Today's event of interest: Titanic. 

These are my two amazing friends and role models from my current singles' ward, Whitney and Lindsey. A couple weeks ago we were practicing a musical number for church when, naturally, Titanic came up. (Ok, we had quit practicing long before this ever came up...) I complained about the fact that no matter how much I try, I can't not love Titanic! It's poop. And then Lindsey asked if we knew it was coming out in 3D. And then one thing led to another and we bought tickets. Oops. 


But really it was a good thing. But I just don't always approve of Titanic even though I can't not love it. But we did see it in IMAX 3D, so that was neat.


Titanic kind of makes me cringe because I know there's a lot of sadness in the real story, but I get all sucked up in Leo and Kate. And then I forget that there were real people on that real ship and that real disaster happened and took real lives. But then I see that quick scene where there's the old couple (if you've seen Titanic, you know the old couple) and I lose it. E'ry time. And then I feel like a decent human again. I don't know why I just explained all that, but it maybe gives you an idea of the conflict behind my love for this movie. 


Anyway, I secretly love claiming Titanic as my first IMAX experience, and I loved going with these two beautiful girls, and I loved Leo, gosh darn it. Good times all around.

Current events:
a) I got a 100 on my physical science test today. Don't ask how I did it because I blogged instead of studying last night and I slept in instead of studying this morning and therefore this test score is what I like to call a "miracle."
b) I have almost finished reading the Hunger Games series, which has been fine not great. I'm scared for the ending because apparently everyone hates it.
c) Tomorrow is the last day of classes for this semester. Where has the time gone??


Ok, that's it for tonight folks. See y'all tomorrow.

Back in black

Ok ok ok, I've officially become a terrible blogger. My life isn't even suddenly super busy, I have no excuses, I just haven't blogged about stuff lately. I also haven't written in my journal, so this is extra weird. Sorry, posterity, that you didn't get to read my thoughts for a week and a half. 


BUT I've got some lovely things to share. We'll have to combine current events with a little blast from the past to catch up here. Stick with me; I'll spread it out. 


First subject of interest: Women's Chorus. 


We had our final concert a couple Fridays ago, and it was incredible! A lot of preparation went into this concert so that it could be a meaningful experience for both performer and audience member alike. I've heard nothing but praise from members of our audience that night, so it appears we succeeded on that account. As for the performers, I know for sure that we succeeded on that account as well. 


On the Sunday before the concert, we went up the canyon to a cell-phone-service-free cabin where we could take a break from the everyday stuff and bond over a Passover celebration. The reason for this Passover was to increase our understanding regarding our centerpiece song for the concert. This piece was called "Reflections from Yad Vashem" and was a tribute to the children of the Holocaust, combining text from the Abrahamic covenant, emotion-provoking poetry from the composer, and a Hebrew lullaby with names from the children's exhibit at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. We have one girl in our choir this year who grew up in Jerusalem and speaks Hebrew, so she was essentially the host for our Passover. She offered some great insights as we experienced the traditions to connect our strong LDS culture with the culture of those we would be singing about. 

After we finished dinner, we each received a picture/biography of a child from the Holocaust and a candle. The biographies had been researched by girls in the choir and paired with pictures for about 150 children. We learned that a biography would be included in each program for the audience members to connect with and that they would also see their child's picture in a slideshow as part of the concert. Do you see how much coordination this took?? Amazing women run this choir, let me tell you! Anyway, everyone lit a candle for their child and we sang hymns and basically everyone cried. Easily the most inspiring yet heartbreaking part of the evening. 

Lilianne Ziegler. What a doll.

All in all, our Passover celebration was a success in that it helped everyone to come together as a team in the week leading up to the concert, but more importantly it succeeded in inspiring each girl to connect with the music of the concert. Everyone knows the audience won't feel anything if the performers don't feel anything, right? I was very grateful for the opportunity to learn more about Jewish culture and to really allow myself to feel the weight of the Holocaust contrasted with the message of hope in our song. If I ever get access to a recording of the song, you shall hear it because it is amazing. 


Fortunately, everything we felt on that Sunday translated beautifully to our music in the concert that Friday. I've participated in many choir concerts in my time, but none so emotionally charged as this one. There was much more of a connection between the singers and the audience; what a difference it made! I was glad that some of my favorite people in the world could come and hear. 

Jen's parents

My lovely, lovely friends

Los padres

I know I've already gushed a lot, but let me just wrap up by saying Women's Chorus has changed my life this year. Pretty sure I could definitely continue this for my years at BYU because such uplifting experiences aren't always easy to come by. This will not be the last you see of that sparkly black shirt, folks. 


Ok there's the past. Now real quick, jump to the present: 
a) I have a wicked sunburn from yesterday. These things happen in spring because you can sit outside for three hours and never even feel hot and sweaty, so you never bother to think, "Oh, I'm creating skin cancer while I sit here." Dang it.
b) I have received snail mail from Mexico for three (3) weeks in a row now. This is unheard of. And I'm loving it. 
c) I am in love with this song. Why, Sara? Why do I have to love everything you record?


d) Thanks for reading to the end, trooper. 

I heart Google.

You may be aware (or unaware, I don't really know) that I have a little place in my heart that loves Google. 
I don't mean I enjoy Googling things, although that's pretty great, too. 
I mean I really like the company Google.
Those people are just plain fun.
Check out their workplace:

[via]

Also, they have fun tricks and tips hidden throughout their products. (Try Googling "anagram" or "recursion.")
And their philosophy sounds pretty solid, too. 
I have a secret life goal to work there someday, but I'd probably need to learn a few more computer skills first. Maybs my math background will help me out in some obscure way...


Anyway. The day of the year that I love Google very most is April Fool's Day. 
I noticed a few years ago that they can make a very convincing argument for a very ridiculous notion. 
Any company that sanctions the use of that much time for a mere prank is where I need to be!
I think they did a wonderful job this year. Check it out:
You can use two cursors at once.
You can try a really advanced search.
You can see Australia through the eyes of a kangaroo.
You can track site visits from other planets.
You can switch Qwerty for morse code.
And my personal favorite, you can own the YouTube DVD collection.

Oh my heavens, Google is wonderful. Happy April, fools.


Note: many thanks to this site for combining all of this year's pranks in one place.