Growing in Prayer
This year, I’ve grown most in the area of prayer. I’m desperate! In prayer, I tell God everything; I leave my problems in His hands. My problems become His problems, and I know the moment I ask for help, divine aid has already been applied. In prayer, I place other people in God’s hands as […]
Overturning
Today I overturned the vegetable garden. I pulled up the weeds, overgrown tomato plants, and dying squash vines. I left a few tomato plants and my basil, but mostly, I completed a final harvest and put the garden to sleep. I love overturning the old, dried soil to stir up the black, rich earth. I […]
So You Make a New Thing
You know the old expression that if life gives you lemons, you make lemonade? Well, yesterday, life gave me a bagful of chili peppers from a neighbor’s overflowing farm. They sat on my counter in a bag. This? What do I do with this? Today, I found myself remembering how much I love stuffed peppers. […]
Taking the Risk to Share Your Life
Today, I heard someone talk about taking the risk to “unmute” and share his life. While this was on a Zoom call (and the language of unmuting made sense), I loved the idea of “unmuting” in your regular life. Unmute! Share your life more. Take the risk to open up and talk about your joys, […]
The Togetherness
Today our town endured several alerts for flash flooding (the remnants of Hurricane Ida) in our neighborhood, near the high school, and at Penn State. Our phones all buzzed with notifications throughout class. The problem? Several inches of rain in a short amount of time. We sat together, soaked through and shivering. And the rain […]
A Time for Every Task
When I feel overwhelmed with multiple projects, I remember the wisdom of setting a time for every task. This way, I can direct my full attention to a project without distraction. In your own life, you might set a specific time for writing, home projects, correspondence, etc. If you feel scattered, one simple modification might […]
Something Beautiful
This weekend, a dear friend shared this painting with me. It’s called “First Day In Heaven” by Egyptian artist Kerolos Safwat. I can’t stop looking at it, and it brings tears to my eyes. I don’t know anything more about this painting or this artist, but I hope this image blesses you like it has […]
More Power
This morning I thought about how much I desire God to display His power more and more in and through my life. What do we have to do to release this power? I thought about this all morning, and then I realized this beautiful thing: In the Bible, the most powerful one is the humble […]
Rebuild You
Someone recently quoted a special verse from Isaiah 54 that helped him in a time of difficulty. I loved thinking about it this morning. The imagery in these verses refers to Zion, but my friend liked to think about his own heart when reading it. I think it’s both! O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not […]
3 P’s of Good Teaching
Today I talked with a colleague about the 3 P’s of Great Teaching. Positive Mood: Research shows how creating a positive mood in a classroom enhances learning and creativity. In my classroom, I increase the positive mood by playing music, asking about good news people are celebrating, or having students answer an attendance question about […]