Celebrating Reminders
When AAPI Heritage month meets Lent and we talk about why it matters to read books from other cultures and set reminders for ourselves along the way.
The Grace of Neighborliness
When the gift of neighborliness leads to a celebration of grace.
You’re My Only Hope
When Princess Leia meets hope and my nineteen year old self (and also, perhaps, the thirty-four year old mom version of myself I am now).
Cocooned and Quieted
The closer we get to the move, the more my brain threatens to check out, but this time, there is a hammock.
May America Awake
One of our major school goals this year was to dig deeper into American history with the kids and really talk about the role that minorities played. We wanted our kids to be given more than a passing reference to Squanto, Sacagawea, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Our hope was to give all of us more information to work from so that we could better love our neighbor.
Small Encouragement
When Aesop’s fables meet a pair of driven twins to show us that sometimes we need help…and it can come in small ways from unexpected places.
Stress Response
We will pause here a moment in our usually scheduled program to talk about some of the ways that we respond to stress. Why? Because—at long last—I’ve succumbed to the realization that the stress factor is in place at this point, whether I want it or not (and whether I feel like it or not)…but also because some of our stress responses are just plain funny…and probably revealing of who we are in deep and unfortunate ways.
Perfect Timing
Some days you have two full meals to choose from for dinner. Others, you have a rejected post submission. Both times, it turns out, the timing was practically perfect in every way.
Not a Waste
It felt like all the things I’d been trying to do, from the insignificant to the important, were just a sweeping waste of time.
So I sat with this verse: “Your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
Unexpected
Have you ever read a book that wrecked you in an unexpected way? You’re reading a book that should be light and easy and, before you know it, you’re sitting there with tears streaming down your face, unable to read aloud another word because something deeply hidden in your heart just had light thrown on it.
A Different Way to See (Part Two)
The idea that what we think we know about something can get in the way of actually seeing (or hearing) well even applies to how we see ourselves.
A Different Way to See (Part One)
It is very hard to look at something... What we think we know about that object gets in the way.
Why We Read Biographies
Much like travel writing, where you get to see a different part of the world without ever leaving the comfort of your own couch, biographies and memoirs enable us to experience another’s point of view, feel another’s feelings, live another’s life. This is the kind of opportunity we don’t really get even with those that we know the most intimately.