Noticing–and Thanking–Again
I go back to the beginning of Live with Flair and record all the things I loved in the span of a few moments. I loved, for example, the thankful face of a student who said a lesson was exactly what he needed right now in his life the way the snow fell in fluffy flakes […]
Mostly Listen
As I pray about my day this morning, I remember James 1:19: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” I think about my meetings today. I think about all the interaction ahead. I think about all the words I usually write on a given day. I’ll probably write 3,000 words. Research tells me that I’ll probably speak 20,000 […]
“You Have to Hold My Hand Anyway.”
In the parking lot of Walmart, I walk past a young mother with her independent toddler. She takes the hand of her little girl and says, “You have to hold my hand in the parking lot. Even if you don’t see any cars coming, you always have to hold my hand. Hold my hand anyway, even if […]
Pickled Things
I arrive to my Weight Watchers meeting, and a new friend hands me a jar of pickled asparagus. It’s because I happened to mention last week my love of pickled things and my bizarre dream of having a Pickle Closet filled with pickles: pickled okra, pickled beets, pickled everything. I realize that now, I have […]
Come and Take
These past few days, I enjoyed writing devotional materials for a children’s ministry event at a church in Texas that blended so beautifully with things I had written in Guarded by Christ last year. For one of the devotionals, I wrote about being at rest with Jesus in the fortress of His care. If you […]
A Real Conversation
More and more students come to my office hours because I’ve baited them with promises of chocolates and tasty beverages. And so we sit and have conversations. A student tells me about her favorite poet–one she insists I will love. It’s David Whyte, so I quickly type in the name, gather his books from the […]
Morning Pep Talk: The Possibilities!
The Morning Pep Talk contains a word to remember all day: possibility. We’re walking to school, and I tell my daughter to imagine the possibility of today. She’s listing out all the worries and troubles, and I say this: But imagine all that might happen! Imagine the possibility of today! You might possibly meet your […]
Moments to Smile
At 8:45 AM this morning, I drove by a family building an enormous snowman in their front yard. A butter yellow dog lounged beside them, half buried in a snow drift. Three (or were there four?) children danced around in the snow as the father hefted a round snow belly up to continue building the […]
The Sick Tray
I cancel all meetings. I arrange a nest of warm blankets and pillows on the couch. I bring out the Sick Tray–the red handled serving tray painted with strawberries. My youngest is sick with fever, cough, chills, headache–it’s kept her from school and therefore kept me from work. The Sick Tray arrives to her side […]
Better to Take Refuge in the Lord
I love the hope of Psalm 118:5-8: “In my anguish, I cried to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? . . . It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” […]