One thing I love about taking time to wonder as I work to embrace the word this year is how the most profound revelations come in the simplest of moments. Take, for example, when I was backing up my new car the other day. I have had the car about a week, and the entire […]
Blogging Birthday Reflections
In June 2009, I started a blog. I had no idea what on earth that would come to mean to me, but it was a trendy new thing that a few people I knew were dabbling in, and I wanted a place where I could post pictures and memories of my newborn so that family […]
Lessons Learned About Loss & Miracles
I’ve contemplated two words a great deal in recent months: loss and miracle. Both locally and nationally, I’ve witnessed immense loss and have worked hard to come to peace with it. Our world is in a state of great unrest at the same time that the humans that I know personally have been feeling the […]
Tips for Creating Hope in Spring
Spring has always been one my favorite seasons because of its beauty and temperatures, but above everything else, its breathtaking symbol of hope. In spite of my love for spring, I can’t think of a single year that I’ve taught where I haven’t felt overwhelmed and unable to do much else besides work more hours […]
Simple Hope
This Easter, I’m most struck by how powerful and simple hope is. The hope that Jesus provides is what keeps me going when I’m tapped out of energy. It’s what keeps me smiling when I’m surrounded by sadness. I’m grateful for the way that this holiday celebrates the very thing every single human is striving […]
Why I Teach
Third quarter is always the most challenging time of the school year, and it’s difficult to persist with the demands that inevitably come. Fortunately for me, I recently had someone ask me why, with all of the difficulties of this career, I choose to teach. While I knew the answer, it was a perfect opportunity […]
Five
Five You are new and grandiose Bringing with you change Big kid stuff Like kindergarten And learning to read Five You are more of what was sweet about four Tea parties and princess dresses “Pretend that…” opening a new world To your eyes and heart throughout each day While always having a song in your […]
My 2018 Word
This is my seventh year of adopting one little word at the start of a new year. Every single one of these words have become dear to me and have focused me in ways no list of goals has ever been able to do. Embracing one word sounds simple, but the reality is that it […]
Favorite Books of 2017
I did a lot more reading this past year, and it was heavenly. I’m not a fast reader. I tend to soak in the words, and as a result, it takes me forever to get through a book. This year, I determined to not let that hold me back anymore, so I powered past the […]
Lean Beyond
If there’s one important thing I learned from this year of leaning, it’s that God is always there to offer hope. I simply have to intentionally lean in a different direction than the challenges I’m currently facing to embrace what He’s saying. November was a month of leaning beyond personal limits. We all tend to […]