Heavenly Calculators

I remember nearly 40 years ago when my brother-in-law, Dave Thatcher, purchased an early calculator for use in a college class.  We were amazed at the price (hundreds of dollars) and at the capabilities of that primitive piece of technology.  How things have changed!  I bought a tiny calculator to bring with me for $.99.  It does everything Dave’s did and all that I need as I calculate our financial transactions.  Calculators are indispensable items.  They save me from all the “carrying” and “borrowing”, and they are great for an aged mind which has long forgotten simple mathematical facts and times tables.  I can add a long list of numbers and, with the push of a button, get an accurate sum every single time.  Calculators never fudge numbers or play havoc with figures. 

My mom had a heavenly way of doing mathematics.  No calculators for her.  It was always a struggle to make ends meet when John and I had four little kids and a teacher’s income.  Mom would always do her best to make our life a little easier.  One time she called and told me that Grand Central was having a sale on disposable diapers.  If I would make a trip to Logan, we could charge some diapers to my dad’s account because he got a discount on top of the sale price.  I did as she suggested, but when I went to write her a check for what I had charged, she handed me a check for that amount.  I got the diapers and the money they had cost.  I tried to tell her that it made no sense, but she assured me her figuring was correct.  She used a heavenly calculator and it always worked to our benefit. 

We know that the Bishop’s handbook says that the only people not required to pay tithing are full time missionaries.  John and I wondered when we received our call, whether that meant us.  We could reason that we were already consecrating all of our increase to this mission.  Should we pay 10% of the already 100% consecrated funds?  We figured up all the expenses projected for this mission, compared them to the amount we would receive in John’s retirement check, and found that they were exactly the same.  When we learned that we had to purchase church insurance, we knew we would be spending more than we took in.  If we paid tithing on top of that, well,….it just didn’t work on our calculator.  However, we just couldn’t feel comfortable not paying that 10%, and besides, we knew that our Heavenly Father uses a heavenly calculator much like mom’s.  We have paid our tithing, paid for the church’s insurance, helped our kids with unexpected emergencies at home, and somehow we have had sufficient funds.  I have a firm testimony of tithing.  I know that Heavenly Father can do amazing things with numbers.  He can multiply where we would subtract.  I’m not sure how heavenly calculators work, but I know they do and I’m grateful!

A few times this week we have felt like we were in Rand’s neck of the woods, Texas.  Here are a few super-sized kiwi grown items.

I don’t like radishes, but these were beautiful

These were even better than they look.

This is John’s favorite tree.  It’s on Glandovy Street.

One other thing…I remember Lynn Lund telling me that when she needs a melody for a new song, she goes to the classical works of Schumann or Schubert.  From them she might borrow a three or four note sequence that would lead to a beautiful melody.  So much of creative genius is “piggy-backing” off someone else’s idea.  Is there a more creative genius than God himself?  As I studied this charming little fuschia plant, I couldn’t help but wonder how many artists have “piggy-backed” off this design. Fashion designers, fabric designers, sculptors, weavers, silk-screeners, architects, interior designers—who couldn’t be inspired by this?

We travel again this week.  Time to do inservice for the seminary teachers before classes start on January 30.