What Changes When You Enter a Room?
I’m loving this new professional development question that helps build self-awareness, confidence, and even conviction in students: What changes when you enter a room? Some people know that they suck the energy out of a room by negativity, complaining, or attention seeking. Others know they offer little because they refuse to engage or let themselves […]
Not Knowing How You Feel
Today I talked with several women about growing older and how–at least in our stages of life–our days feel like an emotional upheaval. During certain times of life ranging from adolescence to any kind of transition, I’ve often taken great comfort in knowing exactly how I feel and why. I take comfort in being predictably […]
Ebb and Flow
This morning I read an update from a friend about her life’s ebb and flow. As a girl who grew up–and ordered her young life–alongside the tidal patterns of Little Hunting Creek at the mouth of the Potomac River, the expression resonated with me. But what is an ebb and flow? It’s “a recurrent or […]
Last Days of Summer
It’s the last Tuesday before school starts next Monday. Tomorrow will be the last Wednesday. And so on. Then, a frenzy of activity and tight schedules will take over the long days of summer. I find myself lounging about after a morning of work. It’s hot outside. It’s the kind of afternoon to savor the […]
Learning Prayer
With teenagers, I find I’m moving deeper into prayer. As I feel more out of control, I rest in God’s sovereign control of all things. I gathered some of my old books on prayer to study and reframe my thoughts on a life of prayer. I read this from Jennifer Dean in her study, Living […]
The Last Abyss of Our Nature
I read something astonishing in an old devotional from Oswald Chambers. He writes this: “The saint who is intimate with Jesus will never leave impressions of himself, but only the impression that Jesus is having unhindered way, because the last abyss of his nature has been satisfied by Jesus. The only impression left by such […]
A Big Hope
I read this morning from Psalm 86:5: “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.” I pray that no matter how hopeless you feel, how weighed down by sin, or how far from the tangible goodness of God, that you would call out and experience the abounding […]
Friday’s New Episode on The Verb: Proclaiming
Enjoy the next episode of The Verb. Click here to enjoy what it means to proclaim. Inviting even more people to The Verb Podcast!
The Syllabus for Yourself
I’m much more attuned to the academic year than the calendar year. Instead of New Years’ resolutions, I set all my intentions in September. I list out personal development goals and imagine where I want to be in 15 weeks (the average length of a fall semester college course). Are you that way, too? As […]
Capturing a Feeling
I’m reading the 1957 Paul Tournier classic The Meaning of Persons. The book makes me long for an authentic experience of being a real person connecting with other real people as he outlines the problem of finding the true person. It’s an invitation to live honestly with ourselves, God, and others and to embrace the […]