Be the Spoon
I read an illustration by Margaret Silf this morning about a beautiful potluck dinner she attended once. Imagine one particularly beautiful and delicious rice salad in a lovely crystal bowl that sits untouched by guests. While guests devour every other food item, nobody goes near the most delicious rice salad. At the end of the […]
Ride the Wind
Outside my classroom, it snows pollen. I watch as furry puffs of seeds, buds, and dreaded pollen mingle and dance in the April wind. It’s warm and blustery. As I watch, I realize that this wind disseminates all the seeds. It enables what couldn’t otherwise happen. The design of it all makes me wonder. Wind […]
Measured in Cookies
When you only make sugar cookies twice a year (Christmas and Easter), you can measure your growth by them. This year, my daughters stay by my side. They roll out the dough. They cut the cookies themselves. They mix the frosting, color it, and put it in little artist paint trays. They want to paint […]
2 Statements by Children: Tired of Being Amazed and Tired of Excess
If you ask a child about what it means to be amazed lately, you’re bound to learn all about the cultural value of being amazed. Everything’s about amazing them with technology, incredible stories, and non-stop feeds full of jaw-dropping photos and videos. It has to be amazing to rise to the top, to keep their attention, […]
How You Know It’s a Good Thing
I’m teaching students how to review something. It seems simple, right? It seems obvious, natural, and everyday to evaluate something. Films, restaurants, art, clothing, technology. . . It’s harder than we thought. Determining whether or not an activity, a product, an experience, or a work of art is “good” or “bad” taps deeply inside of […]
The Hue You Gain
The Weeping Cherry sends forth bright red buds, and the House Finches descend. Did you know that the male finch, with the bright red coloring, gains this hue by eating those red buds? The pigment from what he eats comes out in his feathers. Isn’t that so wonderful? I take this photo through the screen […]
It Wasn’t Pretty
I officially had the worst intestinal virus ever. I literally cried out to God on my knees to have mercy on me! For 5 days, I felt hopeless and miserable. I couldn’t find joy no matter how hard I tried. I didn’t feel spiritual, wise, good, or loved. Bible verses didn’t help. Prayer didn’t help. […]
Morphine Taught Me This
I went to the ER to rehydrate and manage the pain of the intestinal virus! I felt so silly and weak about the whole thing, but I had a fever of 103.7 and was more thirsty than I’d ever been in my life. I was folded over in pain the entire night. Even as they […]
At Least 20 Good Things (Even When Ill)
I’m disappointed with how quickly I sink down into the pits when I’m sick with a fever and upset stomach. The whole day seems terrible. Near evening, I remember I can choose gratitude in between trips to the bathroom. I’m thankful for: A husband who takes care of me Children coming in to visit Soup […]
Of All the Dinners I Have Ever Made, This One Wins
My awesome dad recently made this delicious dish from a recipe in Southern Living (click for recipe). It’s amazing. I mean it. Try it. They will love it. It’s called Lemon Rosemary Garlic Chicken and Potatoes. It’s made in one dish! The preparation even makes the house smell good. Fresh rosemary! Fresh lemon! And the end result? […]