A Crazy Connection

Turns out the Braus and the Adcocks first crossed paths a while back. March 1, 2011, to be exact.

Be patient. This is a bit of a long story. I have been asked to present at a faculty lunch on October 30. My topic is "Reaching and Teaching to the One, No Matter the Class Size." I have good ideas. One thing I'm passionate about is listening to the spirit. Whether it's deciding upon a spiritual thought for the week or grading papers or visiting with students, I try to listen to impressions that I get.

Once when grading papers, a student wrote about her mom's love of m&m's. She never liked m&m's but she likes them now because they remind her of her mom, who has since passed away. While grading her paper, I felt impressed to buy her a bag of caramel m&m's, my new favorite flavor. I wrote them on my grocery list and I bought them. I actually saw this student the day after I bought the candy. It didn't even take until our next lab to be able to give her the candy. She was appreciative.

This semester, I have a student who learned to run this year. She had a traumatic brain injury when she was in an ATV accident in high school. She ended up missing half of her senior year. She's quite the girl. She mentioned that a side effect of her injury is that she gets hot often. I knew I had extra fans from our Japanese exchange students, so I decided to bring one for her. I gave it to her in lab and she was so surprised that I remembered. She was very grateful. I try to pay attention to little things.

Since I saw a devotional many years ago, I have started lecture with a thought and prayer. The devotional was given by a male professor, who I thought was an accounting professor, who was also a convert. I have only seen a few devotionals over the years, but I really remember this one because it changed the way I teach. He reminded us that BYU is unique and that we are missing a great opportunity if we don't share spiritual thoughts. It had such an impact on me that I have looked for the devotional before. I haven't found it because I don't have many details. Male professor, talking about spiritual thoughts in class, convert. Hmmmm. So, spiritual thoughts in class will also be a part of my presentation.

I thought I'd reach out to Jim Brau, Kamiko's father-in-law, for some ideas on how to reach the individual student. I know he teaches big classes in the business school that are very different from my classes. He answered my email with his believe that enthusiasm and vulnerability are important. He said that he's had students tell him that his class changed them and he has never met the student. It's about overall presence. I asked more. Did vulnerable mean sharing personal stories? Spiritual thoughts? Does he pray about his work? He responded that he does share spiritual thoughts and that he shares stories in his thoughts. He then sent me a link to a youtube video, telling me that it explained how he did his spiritual thoughts. I opened the link and started to watch. It was a devotional at which he spoke. I started to get emotional because I started to think that it was my devotional. As I watched further and he talked about being a convert and gave a challenge to faculty to implement spiritual thoughts, I KNEW IT WAS MY DEVOTIONAL. THE DEVOTIONAL I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR. THE DEVOTIONAL THAT CHANGED HOW I TEACH. I couldn't believe it. Jim Brau, finance professor, is the one who gave that devotional. It was on March 1, 2011. Kamiko would have been 17 years old, a senior in high school. Bekki was a junior.

I immediately emailed Jim. I also called Michelle. I called Bekki and Kamiko to tell them. Michelle is convinced that we'll get on the other side and be amazed at how many coincidences there are in our lives.

I know this story will be a part of my presentation. The Lord knows us. If we are just open to inspiration, we can be His hands. Like I listened to a prompting to reach out to Jim and like he was kind enough to answer my questions and sent me that link.