Best Blogging Advice: Keep It Short
Most people spend about 30 seconds reading your blog. Maybe less. I’ve heard from folks that if they click on a blog and see paragraph after paragraph of text, they don’t want to read it. It’s too much effort. It’s too much commitment. Besides, many people read blogs when they have a moment between other […]
Keep Them Talking
My friends with teenage children tell me that one way to survive the teenage years is to “keep them talking.” That’s the most important thing. For them, hearing just a few words out of their teenagers seems like precious gold. Parents of teenagers cherish every conversation, every text, and every moment when the teen just […]
Go Easy On Yourself
Today–despite all of our resolve and all of our goal setting to walk our mile to school every day–we drive in. We have a -15 wind chill. It’s so bitterly cold that the three steps it takes to get to the car take my breath away. Even the crossing guard tells us it’s a day […]
A Squall Event
My weather alert email arrives to warn me of a squall event in my county. We’re to prepare for sharp gusts of wind. It’s sudden. It’s fast. It’s fierce. Squall, I’m told, comes from an Old Norse word meaning to squeal or shriek. We stay inside. We watch the snow swirl up and about. I’m […]
Save It For the Worst Hours
I realize that I completely go downhill after 2:00 PM. I’m always at my best between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. From noon till 2:00 PM, I’m just OK, but after 2:00 PM, it’s so much harder to be creative. So I save the mindless activities for the late afternoon and evening when I have […]
A Real Apology
This morning, I observe my husband mediate between our two very angry daughters. One finally agrees to apologize to the other. “I’m sorry, but. . . “ “No,” he interrupts.”Real apologies don’t have ‘buts’.” Each time she tries to apologize, she adds in the justification for her actions. She follows with the but. She’s quick […]
“Let it be. Just let yourself fall.”
I’m reading a portion of a book that describes how a woman finally discovered a genuine way to connect with herself and God. She tried to keep it all together for so many years, but one day, she heard this: “Let it be. Just let yourself fall.” Let it be. Just let yourself fall. I […]
Maybe the Metaphor Isn’t Right: How You Think About Teaching and Living
Today, I consider the metaphors that come to mind when I think about myself as a teacher, wife, mother, and friend. In my professional development class, we’re reading Parker Palmer’s “Good Talk About Good Teaching.” He recommends a simple exercise to help us uncover strengths and weaknesses about our practice as teachers. I find so […]
Robust and Hardy: Capable of Enduring Difficult Conditions
Lately, I’ve been praying for God to strengthen me. I’m too fussy. I’m too addicted to my comforts. What would happen if I were thrust into truly difficult conditions? Over the years, I’ve learned to adapt, to find beauty, to think positively, and to rejoice through various trials, but I still have a long way […]
Stirring Up Controversy
At least four times today, something happens that I could have made a big deal about; I could have told someone else–stirring up controversy–and delighted in conflict. In home environments, work environments, and neighborhood environments, it’s so easy to stir up controversy. Many times in the book of Proverbs, we’re warned against stirring things up. […]