Christmas thoughts...

We attended our ward Christmas program this past Sunday and a quote was shared that we keep pondering.

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." — C.S. Lewis

The speaker went on to talk about how Christmas should also be a reflection of more than just the story of baby Jesus in the manger. That was the glorious beginning, the birth of the literal son of God. We must remember that the little baby grew up. Luke tells us that "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." He began his formal ministry at age thirty and his mortal life ended at thirty-three. In all his years he did nothing but what his Father would have him do. He spent all of his time helping and blessing those in need. He was the only sinless person to ever grace the earth and all of us are forever in his debt.

One of our favorite scriptures about the Savior and his mission is found in the Book of Mormon. It comes from the book of Alma, chapter 7. It reads:

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and ^aafflictions and ^btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ^ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him ^adeath, that he may ^bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to ^csuccor his people according to their infirmities.

Each of us at various points in our lives have been or will be affected by this precious gift of atonement from our Savior. Perhaps we were touched by him as a child or a youth. Maybe he touched us in our role as a husband or wife, a daughter or son. Perhaps he was with us when we suffered some injustice, some illness, or through our loneliest moments.

The truth is that if we have eyes to see and hearts to understand, we will comprehend that the Savior has touched our lives multiple times throughout our journey.

The older we grow, the more we come to understand this truth. We, like C.S. Lewis wish to see everything through the lens of Christianity. Truly Christ is the reason we are here.

May we all rejoice this Christmas season. May we never forget the true meaning of the season and may that spirit shine through us throughout all the year.

Showtunes Saturday Night

Last Saturday Brett and Sarah performed in our Stake Broadway Night. Brett had a blast preparing and practicing his lines all month. Even Samuel could quote lines from My Fair Lady..."why can't a women be more like a man." We all got a kick out of it.

We had to include a snippet of our dear friend Brenda playing Eliza Doolittle. She and Brett were fantastic.

Enjoy!

Rock & Roll, Baby!

We Nielson's are music freaks. We love all kinds of music; classical, pop, jazz, latin, broadway, and even country sometimes. I get a huge kick out of sharing my musical tastes with my kids. It was I who first introduced them to classic rock. Now everyone of them can sing songs from Yes, Queen, Led Zepplin, Journey, Styx and even a little Metallica.

You should see Joseph dancing to Mr. Roboto. He's got it down! All my girls sing all the verses to "Bohemian Rhapsody" and even Samuel sings songs in the car with his Mom. Matthew is still partial to Rihanna's "Please Don't Stop the Music ". I don't have him quite converted to classic rock yet, but that's okay. He's got music in his soul.

Lately I've been a little disturbed, I must admit. Sarah, my 15 year old, has been rocking out to songs like "Welcome to the Jungle", and "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC. We were driving to her cello lesson together one fine afternoon and an AC/DC song started blasting on the radio. I looked over and saw my beautiful daughter's eyes grow wide and witnessed her immediately start to belt at the top of her lungs, "Thunder!!!! Thunder!!!!"

"Sarah please, can we pick something a little better than that song?" I asked.

"Sure," she replied not too disturbed. "Don't you like that song?"

"Not really," I admitted.

She changed the radio station and we drove on a little further.

"Why don't you like AC/DC, Dad?" she asked innocently.

"Oh, you mean why don't I like the Anti-Christ/Devil's Children group? Is that the group you're talking about?"

"Daaaad! Are you serious?"

"You mean the group that sings about going down straight to hell with no stop signs or speed limits? That group?" I asked with complete sincerity.

"Daaad, stop it!"

"Oh, I'm sorry my dear one. Certainly you could not have meant that you like to listen to Satan's little helpers, now could you? I'm certain you are not referring to the group whose concerts were enthusiastically attended all those black robed, hooded individuals passing out unholy literature designed to attract foolish youngsters like yourself into profane rituals and unadulterated devil worship."

"Oh my Gosh! Daaad!" she exclaimed with eyes a' rolling.

"I'm sure I must have been mistaken, that you, of all people, would choose to listen to individuals who sole desire is to hurl your mortal soul down to the infernal pit of encircling flames. Not you my precious firstborn. Not you, flesh of my flesh, bone of my bones! Of course, you would never in a million years choose to affiliate yourself with servants of "He, who must not be named." I don't know.... Could I mean, Satan?

"Oh brother, Dad! OK. I get it. I get it. I shouldn't be listening to a bunch of devil worshipers. I'm really not interested in hell or the devil anyway. I just like their songs. Okay?"

"Oh. I understand. I'm not too awfully concerned. I've always known that you will always choose to follow the light, my sweet daughter."

"Ya. Whatever, Dad. I get it. By the way, did you ever listen to that song by Billy Idol back in the 80s called "Flesh for Fantasy"?

Ugh! I think I just got ill.

Pay Day

I don't know about you but I get paid every two weeks on Fridays. I always look forward to that solitary day because as you know, we have a lot of needs around here. I always take a big sigh of relief as soon as I see that money has been deposited into my bank account and I busily go about paying my bills and budgeting my resources for another two weeks. Pay day is like a breath of fresh air and my stress level goes down for a little while. By the end of the two weeks I feel myself looking forward again to getting paid.

I'm thankful for my job. It provides my family with all the necessities and some wants too. I have been blessed with some success which has allowed us to purchase our home and provide our children with opportunities for growth.

I'm also lucky that I enjoy my job. I have the opportunity to work from home and travel the state of Utah talking with educators about wonderful software products that help improve the lives of children who are in the process of learning how to read and do math.

It's a good life on the whole. My income does fluctuate from year to year, but that's life. I can't complain. We have enough for our needs in a down year and we have prospered significantly in good years.

Today I want to talk a little about a different kind of pay day. This kind of pay day occurs at various times and doesn't come in the form of a bank deposit. It also doesn't come signed by a chief financial officer of a company and it certainly doesn't provide me with currency with which to purchase goods and services at local establishments. This kind of pay day comes from above and is manifested through the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost.

Let me share an experience of a spiritual pay day that happened just this last Sunday.

Sunday was the last day before school started for my six children. Like many LDS fathers, I was planning on taking time that evening to give father's blessings to each one of the kids. I always look forward to this because it has always been such a rewarding experience in the past.

This time we had a few small challenges. The first was that we lost power to our home for about 7 hours. While the power was off, we decided to take a walk up to the new Wasatch Junior High. The workers had been going 24/7 it seemed to get ready for the start of school. It was dusk and the school looked radiant and beaming ready to welcome new students. We all "ooohed" and "aaawed" at the grandeur. We were not alone. There were lots of neighborhood people out walking, running, biking and driving past the school at the same time.

After we passed the school and were headed back home, the kids started talking about receiving their father's blessings.

"I don't want a blessing." Sarah our 15 year old said. "They don't come true. I have a lot of faith and it just didn't work last year. It was the worst year of my life!"

"You don't want a blessing?" Analisa asked incredulous. "I need all the help that I can get. I can't wait to get a blessing."

"Me too!" chimed in Katherine, our 11 year old.

"A lot depends on you!" I jumped in a little irked. I struggled for a moment not to be miffed and over react to my beloved eldest daughter.

When we got home, the power had come on. "Great!" I thought. "We don't have to give blessings in the dark."

After a little while, I was able to herd all the cats, I mean children into the living room. I wanted to talk to them first, before attempting to give blessings. I don't ever want to give a blessing when we haven't properly prepared ourselves to be in tune with the spirit. I know that you have to open your soul and listen intently with your your spiritual senses in order to be able to hear a divine message.

"Free your minds." I said. "Clear your hearts. You can't hear anything or understand anything of the spirit until you're quiet inside. Don't talk. Just open up your heart and the Lord's spirit will communicate with you.

Have you ever had a conversation with a friend, but your friend never stops talking long enough to listen to anything you have to say? It can be frustrating, can't it? Well that's how the Lord feels. He is constantly trying to communicate with us, but if we don't take the time to be still and listen, how can we ever hear when he is speaking to us or what he is saying? Learn to be quiet inside.

Do you understand what the spirit feels like?"

"It feels good. You feel happy inside." Katherine replied.

"That's right."

"You want to cry sometimes." said Matthew, our eight year old.

"Yes. The spirit usually gives you feelings of peace, joy, and love. If you are not in tune with your feelings you will miss the messages that the Lord is sending."

Just then the power went off again and everyone scrambled to get flash lights and candles so that we could see again. When we all settled down I continued my lesson.

"What's the difference between a fortune teller and a priesthood holder giving a blessing?"

"A fortune teller is not telling the truth!" Analisa, our 14 year old replied. "They just want money."

"What else?"

"A priesthood holder says what Heavenly Father wants him to say." Sarah said.

"You're right. A fortune teller may tell a person the kinds of things that he or she wants to hear. They take common life experiences and make predictions that may easily come true. They also may get some of their inspiration from a bad source, from Satan. Satan will tell us anything that may deviate us from listening to Heavenly Father. He sets up a kind of false religion that tells people what they want to hear and gets them to forget about the kinds of things that the Lord wants them to hear.

A priesthood holder strives to live a life guided by the spirit. He tries to keep the commandments and be kind to his fellow man. He wants no reward for giving a blessing and he sincerely tries to prepare himself to receive inspiration on what to say to the person to whom he is giving the blessing.

Do blessings always come true immediately?"

"Of course, Dad." Joseph, our 7 year old answered with a smile.

"Well, we would like them to, but it doesn't always happen that way. The Lord is not like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Blessings are not just given out like candy on Halloween.

A priesthood holder does his best to say what the Lord would like to have said. Then it is up to the person receiving the blessing to exercise faith and diligence in helping the promises in the blessing to come to pass.

We are not on this earth just to have everything easy for us. We are here to prove ourselves and live the gospel in spite of all the trials and contradictions of life."

"That sounds hard!" Sarah exclaimed. "Why can't we just have everything in life be easy. Then we would all be happy."

"I know Sarah, but then we would all be weaklings. We would never grow our spiritual muscles. We would never learn to be like Heavenly Father and for that reason, we would never experience the joy that he enjoys and more importantly we could never really respect ourselves because we would have never accomplished anything or overcome any trials.

Here's my recommendation for you older kids. After you receive your blessing tonight, write down some notes on what your blessing said. Ask Heavenly Father to help you live so that the promises in the blessing can come true. Then reread your notes in a month. See if you made any progress. Then check back in 6 months and then at the end of the year. My guess is that when you look back, many of the things in the blessing will have come true."

The kids seemed to be listening now. They became calm for the most part and the older kids shushed the younger ones. They wanted to free their minds and hearts so that they could listen.

I decided to start with the youngest first this year. I wanted to give the older ones more time to prepare.

Samuel, our 4 year old, jumped up and sat down on the stool in front of me. He was smiling with his little curls bobbing around as he moved his head. His blessing was short and sweet and he went bounding off the chair as soon as it was finished.

Next, I motioned for Joseph to come up. As I placed my hands on his head he started giggling. After a few moments I had to stop because he couldn't stop laughing. I started to get stern with him about reverence but Sarah chimed in.

"It's ok Dad. He is just feeling the spirit and doesn't know how to react to it."

I think Sarah was right about that. He was feeling the spirit and was laughing because he felt so special and loved. I still had to have him calm down a bit before I could proceed. I'll admit that it's hard for me to stay in tune while my little boy is laughing. I decided to move on to Matthew.

Matthew had the same problem as Joseph and when I had to stop because of his laughing he blamed Joseph for giving him the giggles. I had to move the boys to the end of the lineup, but they both let me know that they still wanted their blessings.

Next was Katherine. I told her that she would be able to do well in school and that she would be a wonderful influence on the other children in her class because of her tender kindness and the light that emanates from her. After her blessing was finished she told everyone that when I placed my hands on her head she could feel something beautiful come inside her body. She felt the spirit physically as well as spiritually.

Analisa was blessed in her school work and her ability to organize all her tasks, something that has been a challenge in the past. As I write this she is sitting at the kitchen table doing her homework without even being asked. She wants to stay on top of things so that she can be free to enjoy her junior high experience without too much self imposed pressure.

I felt impressed to bless Sarah with peace. That's what she needed the most. She had been so worried about high school and all the bad kids there. After the blessing she seemed more at ease and when she came back from school today, she told Claudia and me that she felt fine at school now and that she had a good day. There was nothing to worry about.

Now, back to those giggling boys. I blessed Matthew that he would learn how to work hard and told him that he should listen to everything his instructors teach him and to do all his work. He should also keep making friends with his classmates. That night at bedtime, Matthew prayed that he would learn how to work hard. I was so glad to hear it and I think that with prayers like that, the Lord is bound to help him.

I told Joseph that he would be successful in school as long as he worked hard and asked his teacher and his parents for help. I also told him that he has a special light and that people love to be around him because he is so good and has such enthusiasm for life. Joseph was beaming afterward and gave me a big hug.

To tell you the truth, it was a wonderful experience for us all. I am so proud of my family. I think the most important thing that I can ever teach them is what we talked about on Sunday. What else could possibly be more important than teaching them the gospel and how to communicate with their Heavenly Father? There is nothing. If I died now, at least I would know that I taught them the most important things on earth that a father can teach.

The biggest pay day came on Sunday because I think they heard and understood what I was teaching them. I saw them listen and absorb the lesson and then when it came time for the actual blessing, they truly received it. If they can learn these lessons now, there is no end to what they can accomplish and what they can become and how much joy they can receive in this life and the next. I am so glad that I have had the chance to teach these great people. It is a true privilege for me. I hope that every father can experience something as beautiful as this special pay day that arrived without warning last Sabbath.

Jean's Conversion

Remember the story about my friend Kent's conversion? Here is his Mom's story. It's awesome!

WHY I BELIEVE AND HOW I GOT THERE

I grew up with goodly parents and two brothers and a
sister.  My parents were great but religion was not
a part of their lives or ours as a family except on
the occasional Christmas Eve and Easter. Every now
and then we would go through a spurt and attend
church(Episcopal)for a little while but pretty soon
mom and dad were dropping us off and then pretty soon
that even went by the wayside. I'd have to say that
my knowledge of God and the Bible pretty much consisted
of the Christmas story and the Easter story.  I didn't
know anything about the Old Testament or the New
Testament, nothing about a second coming and nothing
about death and where we went. I knew two prayers,
"Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" and "The Lord's Prayer".
I didn't worry about it, think about it and as such,
it wasn't a part of my life.

Heavenly Father knows so well when the timing is
right for a change and when the spirit is willing to
listen. After Ross and I were married and had our
three boys,Kent, Matt, and Colin, things began to
change and I had a yearning for something more and I
wanted to know what happens after this life,if
anything.  I began a search,began to read books,
Buddhism, Catholicism,Judaism and our church(Episcopal).
We even found an Episcopal church in Chicago where we
were living at the time and began to go on a more
regular basis.  I met with a w women's group,and at
one of the meetings the Priest was there and talking
about a group of 4 and 5 year olds.  He said that he
asked them to draw a picture of God and when they were
done,everyone without exception had drawn a picture of
a man. So I asked him what he would have drawn and he
said he would have drawn a picture of vibrant colors
and if possible a powerful source of energy.  It would
be an all powerful being that nobody could really draw.
So I asked again," So do we worship that powerful being?"
and he said yes. I thought there and then that was the
biggest rip-off, if after you die, you spend eternity
sitting around and worshiping a God that we couldn't
even relate to. That ended my church going there. There
were some things with each one of the churches that I
could sort of buy into but on the whole, I was left with
an emptiness in the area of the most important answers,
what happens when you die and what is expected of us,
or was nothing expected? And most importantly, who is
God?

Now we were living in Cincinnati, our boys were in grade
school and Kindergarten.  I know Heavenly Father knows
where we need to be for that which needs to happen.
Enter the Nielson family into the picture and into the
neighborhood.  Everybody found out in short order that
they were MORMONS!!   We knew nothing about Mormons.
I only knew because someone told me that Joe Smith was
a strong man who had carried cement tablets over some
mountains and they didn't plant grass, as at that time
the Nielsons had not yet put in their lawn.  It turned
out that their oldest son, Brett and our oldest son,
Kent, became best friends. They were never apart.
Their other son, and Colin our youngest became buds and
Matt was friends with both. David and Judith, the
parents turned out to be a really cool couple in the
neighborhood and came to all of our parties.  I began
to also notice that their family was different in a
really good way and I couldn't put my finger on what
it was.

During this period of time, my mom died unexpectedly
and that was extremely hard for me because it was the
first experience I had with death and I had all these
unanswered questions.   After mom's death, I remember
standing at the kitchen window watching the boys and
Ross playing football in the backyard.  It was a
beautiful day and I thought to myself, "Is this really
all there is?" Surely I must owe God something for the
good life I had.   My search intensified.  I signed up
for a transactional analysis class which was supposed
to help you know yourself, value yourself, and help
you help your children with self-esteem issues. I
pretty much felt like I did know myself but was
willing to take the class and see if I got anything
out of it.

During that period of time, Kent was going to some of
the Primary activities with Brett and came home after
one of the activities and said he wanted to be a
Mormon when he grew up.  I didn't think too much about
it at the time, but Heavenly Father works his plan...
I had a luncheon for the women in the neighborhood,
Judith came,left and came back after it was over for
some reason. I told her about the class I was taking
and she told me that you learn that from the time you
are a small child in her church.  Something went off
in my head and I began to feel feelings of great
excitement and told her about Kent's statement and
asked her if she had anything that I could read that
would tell me about the church.  I devoured everything
she gave me to read, it was if I couldn't read enough.
I knew what I was reading was true, and as I knew that
I had found what I had been searching for.  I was like
someone who had been without water for too long and
couldn't get enough. Every question that I had was
answered, I finally knew why I was here and where I
was going.  I knew I could have my family for
eternity. There was nothing that was going to keep me
from joining this church. We did listen to the
missionaries and as soon as we were finished, Matt and
Kent and I entered into the waters of baptism.  Ross
wasn't ready (another story as he is now a member) and
Colin was too young.

Now after many years in the church, serving in many
capacities, realizing the power of the atonement,as we,
who are so imperfect,deal with each other within the
framework of the church, how grateful I am for the
framework which is perfect and is the vehicle which
brings us back to Christ.  How grateful I am to have
the answers as we deal with the uncertainties and
storms of life that we all face. As we have dealt
with the tragedy of losing our youngest son, Colin,
to cancer at the age of 33, I'm not sure how I could
have weathered the intense storm of grief, if I
didn't know that this life is merely a blink and we
have eternity with our loved ones, we will be with
Colin again, in a few moments for him and longer for
us.  How glad I am tofinally know the answers.

There is no doubt in my mind that the church is so,so,
so true, that if we live by it's teachings, our
blessings are unmeasurable, the Holy ghost has
witnessed this to me.  As I look back on my life,
both before joining the Church and after, I see
Heavenly Father's guidance bringing me where I am
today.

Pioneers for Pioneer Day

I have always loved Pioneer Day. While I didn't grow up in Utah, I remember on several occasions I was here in Utah during the July 24th celebration. I remember being so excited to go to the parade downtown and I was never disappointed. It had all the feeling of the promised land for me and I dreamed about what it would be like to live here among all the smiling and friendly saints.

Growing up as a Mormon kid outside of Utah, I had a very idealized view of Utah and like a-lot of kids, I wished we could live here. It was tough in a-lot of ways growing up as a strange minority in Ohio and Georgia and I was always teased about my Mormon background. I don't regret this. I was never one to back down about who I am and I was very proud of my heritage. This didn't stop me, however, from looking with longing to live in a land where the majority held my beliefs and standards. I know that lots of kids living in areas where they are the religious minority feel the same way. The sad thing is that sometimes the reality of living in Utah doesn't live up to what we thought. We sometimes become disillusioned because some people here don't live up to our naive expectations. That's not Utah's fault. It's just that our young dreams of a perfect world aren't yet reality and we haven't grown up enough yet to understand that.

My former bishop told me a story once that illustrates how one could get disillusioned here. My former Bishop is Mexican-American and his family came to Utah many years ago. Most of his family was born in Mexico and they all converted to the church. Once as a young man he was at a party where several prominent LDS people were in attendance. One of the well respected women at the party made an interesting comment. It went something like this: "Well, you aren't anyone if you didn't descend from the Mormon pioneers." My bishop was taken back a little by the comment but smiled and replied, "I come from pioneers. When my family was driving to Utah and their car broke down in the desert, they all just jumped out of the car and started pushing!" Thank goodness my bishop had a sense of humor and didn't let the comment hold him back from progressing in his testimony. It's beyond me how educated people can make such ignorant comments, but unfortunately they do occur sometimes. Luckily, I think that comments like these are becoming less and less common.

I come from Mormon pioneers myself. Some of these pioneers were close friends of the prophet, Joseph Smith, and many came across the plains to settle in Utah. When I go back and read their stories, I'm amazed and awe struck at their sacrifices and testimonies and I am so proud to call them my ancestors. I can't wait to someday meet them. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for what they've done for me and my children. Because of what they accomplished, my children and I have so many blessings and opportunities. Truly, without them I could not be made perfect as the scriptures allude.

I am very well aware, notwithstanding, that I can't make it back to live with Heavenly Father based on their lives and sacrifices. I can in no way take credit for them. It's all up to me to live my life as a true disciple of Jesus Christ. At the final judgment, I don't believe that the Savior will look at me and consider who my ancestors are. If anything it will count against me if I don't live up to their legacy. I can just hear him say, "I gave this man a wonderful heritage of faith. He had righteous examples placed before him, but he chose to ignore them and become a law unto himself. He cannot enter in with those who took up their cross and followed me. He is not worthy of that association."

In conclusion, I celebrate all true pioneers both ancient and modern. Those who truly follow Christ deserve the title of pioneer whether they lived in the 1800's or now, whether they have light skin or dark, whether they be rich or poor, whether they be educated or not. Those who choose to follow Christ are my true brothers and sisters and I claim their stories of faith as I claim the blood of the early Mormon pioneers in my veins. All who follow Christ are from the same family and will receive the unsurpassed joy of the spirit and the grand association of a loving family of true hearted believers.

Below are some pictures of some true pioneer women and a little bit about them.



This is Lydia Knight. She and her husband Newel were personal friends of the prophet, Joseph Smith. They were the first couple he legally married as minister of a new faith. Lydia was left almost destitute with a small child by her first husband. Later she heard the gospel preached by Joseph Smith himself and became a courageous convert to the gospel. She married a wonderful man named Newel Knight who had also lost a spouse to illness. She never wavered in her faith even though she was left again while on the plains in route to Utah. Newel, her faithful companion died in Nebraska of illness related to exposure. Lydia was miraculously preserved on her journey to Zion and died firm in the faith of Jesus Christ.






This is my beautiful Grandma Mary Schindler Nielson. Mary was born in London, England at the turn of the 20th century. She was an orthodox Jew and remembers being persecuted by the local people of the time for being Jewish. Both her parents died while she was still a child. She and her two sisters struggled to make ends meet being orphans and being despised for no other reason than being Jewish. She was introduced to the gospel of Jesus Christ by her sister Rebecca. My grandmother said that when she first entered the doors of the Mormon church in London, she knew immediately that it was the true church of God. She did not hesitate to be baptized over the vehement objections of the local rabbis. She was shunned by the local Jewish community.

At the age of 16 she alone boarded a ship to America and worked as an indentured servant when she arrived. She managed to save enough money to bring her sister Leah over to America as well. Later she moved to Salt Lake, married my Grandfather, and remained faithful to the end of her years. If you asked my Grandmother how she felt about giving up Judaism she would reply, "I never gave it up. I extended it. "

A Tennis Story for Budding Young Tennis Stars

I was losing this tennis match the other day and I wasn't liking it. The heat was bearing down so hard at just under 100 degrees Fahrenheit that I couldn't think straight. I willed my body to move but I felt like a bag of wet towels just pulled out of the washing machine. "Move your feet!" I kept telling myself. "Wake up! Your energy will kick in any minute now."

I had felt sluggish from the beginning. I felt none of my usual spark. I wasn't feeling great that day to begin with and now I was down 5-2 in the first set. I squinted my eyes and peered toward the other side of the court where my opponent was preparing to serve.

Pow! His first serve came flat from his racket at high velocity down the middle of the service line on the deuce side, a perfect ace. 15 - Love.

I moved to the add side. This time he hit his first serve into the net. His second serve was softer and I moved forward to take it, trying desperately to hit my lefty cross court forehand winner. The angle was good but I went for too much and the return flew wide. 30 - Love. Dang it!

I moved to the deuce side again. This time I blocked back a hard first serve and began a rally. After several strokes I managed to pull him wide to my right. My opponent scrambled to get to it and managed to send a bullet back, but it went into the net. 30-15.

The next two points and the first set were lost by a forehand slice into the net and an overzealous lob attempt on my part. Dang! What a disaster! I was down a set and hadn't even tested my opponent yet. What was wrong with me? I couldn't move. I was dieing of thirst, and the only way to win now was to fight my way back to take two consecutive sets. The heat was stifling and I could see that even my opponent had started to slow down some.

The second set started better. I had been getting beat when I approached the net so I decided to only approach when I had a good reason, like a short weak ball from my opponent or an exceptionally good approach shot. It began to dawn on me that the longer I could keep him in a rally the better chance I had of winning the point. He was prone to over hitting so if I was patient it might work to my advantage. I took the first game.

Little by little I began to notice a few other chinks in his armor that I might take advantage of. One was that he liked to charge the net. This had worked to his advantage in the first set. I began to concentrate on hitting deeper balls to him and moving him back and forth along the base line. Soon I had him running more than me which is always a good sign in a match. I went up 3-2 in the second set.

Next, I began to notice that when my opponent approached the net, he would come straight up the center leaving a nice gap for my down the line forehand. I passed him several times on this and his advantage at the net began to erode. I reduced my own net errors by choosing my spots to approach. It was so hot and I was so tired I wasn't too anxious to go to my weaker net game anyway. I'm not bad at the net in doubles but I haven't worked it all out in the singles game yet. I went up 5-3.

Lastly, I began to slow down on my stroke, not the stroke speed, but the stroke timing. I've always been a little quick on the draw. I concentrated on letting the ball drop a little more and I made sure that I didn't travel if I could help it during the shot. If I got my front foot down and waited for the ball to drop more, I could hit a more effective ground stroke with topspin or under spin. I won the second set. 6-3.

Now, what to do in the third and final set? Remember, I was exhausted and it was almost 100 degrees out. We both were dieing. If I could manage to win this one, the match would be mine. I decided to stick with what had helped me in the second set. He hadn't been been able to stop me with those tactics so why was I going to change now? It turned out that I was right to stick with it. I ended up winning the last set 6-2 by continuing to do what was working for me.

By the end of the match, we both nearly collapsed from heat exhaustion but I came out the happier of the two of us. I won 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. So children, here's the moral of the story. Here's what I learned.

1. In tennis as in life, you never give up at any point no matter how bad you are losing or how bad you feel.

2. In tennis as in life, you figure out what it is you are doing wrong and stop doing it.

3. In tennis as in life, you figure out what is right and keep doing it.

4. In tennis as in life, when you go off course, you make on court adjustments. You don't keep doing the same thing that doesn't work over and over again and you don't wait 'till the next day. You do it now!

5. Always be nice and obey your parents. Oops! How did that get in there? It's good advice anyway, so do that too!

Finally, lest you think that I'm boasting here, you should know that I've lost as many matches as I've won so far. The one thing I can say is that I learn from every match, win or lose.