THORNS & ROSES (2025-26)

My husband Dave teaches the nine-year-olds every Sunday in church. He teaches with Jonas Johnsen, who is a most huggable bear of a man, so full of love his flesh and bones have to stretch extra far to hold it. Jonas has been teaching this age group for roughly five years. That's a lot of young lives to be wrapped in those enfolding arms. Dave has been serving as a teacher and advisor for the young teenage Deacons at church for the past five years. This new calling with this younger group is awakening some dormant interpersonal skills. He's learning from the experience of Jonas, as he should.

Jonas with our talented friend John,
who taught for many years before he was released recently
and Dave was called. Both amazing men!
Kids need to see how deeply men love their Lord.

At the beginning of every lesson, after the kids have scribbled on the chalkboard and rearranged their chairs while they wait for their teachers to arrive, teachers and students gather in a circle in their small carpeted classroom to the east of the chapel. Before they dive into the stories and morals of Holy Scripture, they share what they call Roses and Thorns. 

Jonas takes the lead. He'll ask, "What were your thorns this week?" The kids will respond with things that have been hard, sad, or disappointing, or mistakes they've made. Their answers will run the gamut from "I fell off my bike" to "My dog died." There's time for "I'm sorry's" and "How did that make you feel's", and those words of solidarity that make us all feel less alone in our pain: "Man, that stinks!" 

Then they circle back and ask if there were also roses in their week.  "We got out of school early" and "We won our soccer game's" mixed in with the "I didn't have to do my chores cuz mom was gone," or "Grandma and Grandpa came to visit."  It's always sweet to hear what kids consider their roses.

They wrap it up with reminders of gratitude for the balance of daily life. 

Here's to the good men in our lives, the old retired judges who stand beside young enthusiastic Dads and teach our most valuable earthly assets. 

Brother Connors holding the Title of Liberty.
In our church we take turns doing jobs.
This photo is from the last time Dave taught
in Primary, maybe 10 years ago.
The Primary President behind him is my sister Libby.
I was chorister at the time - my favorite church calling!