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Category: Monday Morning Boost

Monday Morning Boost: Sometimes the Holidays are Hard

Monday Morning Boost: Sometimes the Holidays are Hard

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Traditionally the holidays are a time for coming home. That desire for gathering with family seems to be instinctive in most people. But for some, the cheerful and fun-filled holidays are not so cheerful and fun-filled. Sometimes they’re hard. Sometimes they’re lonely. Sometimes they’re difficult. Sometimes coming home can be hard. ROB FROM NEW ENGLAND Rob was a good friend from several years ago who came to school at Utah State from the New England area. Rob called me late one…

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Monday Morning Boost: Thanksgiving Homecomings

Monday Morning Boost: Thanksgiving Homecomings

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Thanksgiving is a time for family gatherings, delicious meals, and celebrations. Thanksgiving is also a time of homecoming. Three times over the course of my life, Thanksgiving has been a significant time of homecoming for me. COMING HOME FROM WAR  I remember first my homecoming from Iraq on November 18, 2005. The day was the Friday before Thanksgiving that year. The year I spent in Iraq was challenging, heartbreaking at the loss of life, rewarding for the bonds of friendship. I grew to…

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Monday Morning Boost: Honoring Major Brent Taylor

Monday Morning Boost: Honoring Major Brent Taylor

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I started out the morning of Saturday, November 3rd, focused on our military veterans at the Run To Remember 2018. It was while at the Run I first heard of an American soldier being killed by an insider attack in Afghanistan. What follows are my thoughts shared on Facebook over the last two weeks, from the time I heard Major Brent Taylor was that American soldier. NOV 3 – HEARTBROKEN Brent Taylor was a friend. I’m heartbroken. NOV 3 – “WAR AND…

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Monday Morning Boost: They Stood To Defend

Monday Morning Boost: They Stood To Defend

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I’m honored to be part of a family of veterans. My dad Ed “Sonny” Patterson was a veteran of the Air Force and the Utah Army National Guard. My mother’s father Forrest “Corky” Christiansen was an Army veteran who fought in World War II. My brothers Robert and Marc are both veterans of the Utah Army National Guard. I have uncles, cousins, and extended family who are veterans. My greatest honor comes from my three veteran sons: Cody is in…

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Monday Morning Boost: I Don’t Like Feeling Hatred

Monday Morning Boost: I Don’t Like Feeling Hatred

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My heart ached when I heard the news Brent Taylor had been killed in Afghanistan. Brent was a friend who was a major in the Utah Army National Guard as well as the mayor of North Ogden in Utah. My sorrow quickly turned to anger and hatred when I heard Brent was killed by one of the Afghan soldiers he was training. Brent had a compassionate love for the people he was helping. He truly believed he was making a difference….

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Monday Morning Boost: I Am No Longer A Cipher

Monday Morning Boost: I Am No Longer A Cipher

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There was a time I thought no one saw me. I felt invisible. I felt like the good in the world bypassed me and only the bad found me. I connected well in thought, though not in reality, with the character portrayed in the movie “Cipher in the Snow.” The movie tells the heartwrenching story of a teenage boy who dies unexpectedly stepping off a school bus. One of his teachers is asked to notify the boy’s parents and write his obituary. The teacher…

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How Will You Vote On Prop 1?

How Will You Vote On Prop 1?

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Proposition #1 on the Utah Ballot proposes to put our kids first by significantly increasing funding for education by increasing the gas tax by 10 cents a gallon.   Unfortunately, this is misleading and incorrect.   In this Standard-Examiner guest editorial, Jonathan Johnson helps us see that the “Utah Constitution specifically limits how the state may spend gasoline fees, taxes, and other charges.”   The Constitution specifically allows, Johnson explains, gas taxes to be used for “funding driver safety, road…

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Monday Morning Boost: “As I recite therefore I become”

Monday Morning Boost: “As I recite therefore I become”

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Please. Watch this video. Then continue reading. Jason Silva words are powerfully true. “As I recite therefore I become.” “The world is made of words and if you know the words the world is made of you can make of it whatever you wish… Become an author of reality.” We create our own story. That’s what Jason is saying. That’s what I’m saying as well. This is true for me. This is also true for you. WOW!!! Language. Words. Story….

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Monday Morning Boost: Soaring Balloons

Monday Morning Boost: Soaring Balloons

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I was first introduced to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in 1986 while in living in Florida as a church missionary. A youngish couple we were teaching had recently published a coffee table book of their photos from Fiesta. We enjoyed our time together talking, learning and sharing. At the end of the evening, they gave me an autographed copy of their book. I’m not sure where that book is today, though I’m guessing it’s in one of the many boxes of books…

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Monday Morning Boost: Lessons From Washing Dishes

Monday Morning Boost: Lessons From Washing Dishes

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I started my first hourly job washing dishes at the Grand Western Cafe in Richfield, Utah. I still remember the day when my dad came home and told me I was going to work at the cafe the following Saturday. This was in 1980 not long after 9th-grade started. The Grand Western Cafe lived up to its name, starting with the lifesize Hereford bull majestically perched on top of his cafe throne as you can see in the picture above….

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