Sky So Blue
It’s a gorgeous day in Pennsylvania. It’s finally time to bring out my solar-powered fountain! I read in my E. Stanley Jones devotional this morning about a college girl who finally made Jesus the center of her life and felt as though she had “swallowed sunshine.” It’s a day that feels like this, and the […]
Transition to Summer
I taught my last two classes of the semester today. Next week I’ll grade final papers and then begin my wonderful transition to summer work. In the summer, I work on novels, cultivate the garden, revise my advanced writing course, and start my 90-day Bible reading plan. I start weeding and preparing the beds for […]
What You’re Most Proud Of
For our last day of class, I ask students to bring in a paragraph to read aloud the writing they feel most proud of from our whole semester together. It’s fun to hear their choices and why. I’m learning the power of ending things well. When something ends (a semester, a project, an event, a […]
What I’m Learning in the College Classroom
This semester, I’ve learned how to change my classroom and office hours to accommodate students with various registered disabilities. I’m also learning never to assume students have equal access to laptops, phones, printers, or even food. How have my classroom and office hours changed? I’m learning, for example, about always providing text and captions for […]
Keep Checking In
Sometimes life comes at you so quickly that you don’t have time to think. You find yourself in a position to answer “yes” or “no” all throughout the day. How many times have you had to make a choice already today? New opportunities. Requests for input. Decisions about work. Invitations. Social media posts. Emails. Conversations. […]
Time for Strengthening
I move my potted seedlings (which are now rather large and leafy) out to the patio to harden them. I won’t plant them in the ground for a few more weeks. To “harden” a plant means you’re preparing it to transition from a safe, mild indoor environment (my window sill) to the outdoors (my garden). […]
Always What Costs Nothing
I remember the first time we took our girls to New York City. We still laugh about how, of all the fun experiences that cost so much money, what they most loved were the pigeons that landed all around them on the city sidewalk. Birds! The experience cost nothing. Recently when traveling, my daughter and […]
So You’ll Not Fall in Love With a Fallen World
I hear a Christian speaker—Dr. Tim Muelhoff—talk about why difficult things happen to us. He declares that God loves us too much to “allow us to fall in love with a fallen world.” I consider the ways God draws us ever so gently—but sometimes strongly—away from earth towards heaven.
The Light Overcomes
As I’m reading the gospel of John again, I realize the power of Jesus as “the light.” John tells us: “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Jesus tells us: “I am the light of the world. […]
Expect It
My neighbor, who just returned from Paris, laughed with us about how every frequent traveler knows to expect “the travel test.” He said his family has learned that every trip will involve at least one difficult situation to test their character. It’s not a surprise. They expect it. And ever since that conversation, I expect […]