I am checking e-mails when I come across one from a colleague of mine. He and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum in the areas we teach and also have very different social circles within our work environment. However, as we had collaborated ideas at the committee level over the past year, this …
The journey to peace comes by way of blessings. Counting blessings. Those little and big reminders given to us so that we can remember this: life is good. That life is more than good- it is stellar. Even in the moments we oft would erase. For those moments build character and endurance. They make us …
I have been having quite a few of those days. Ah, you know those days I’m talking about! Those days when all you can do is look at your toes and scuffle along. Those days when you feel like the process of looking upward is just too difficult. Or so it seems. That the sun …
What a Labour Day weekend I have had. That is all I can truly say. It was one for the record books. We decided to take our new-to-us camper and do one more, end-of-the-summer camping spree with the gang. Worst.idea.ever. And now that summer is over, I cannot even look forward to a vacation from …
I sometimes think about alternatives. What is it that makes one conversation interesting and another one not so much? Why is it that one minute I am happy and another minute, sad? Why are lions not tame and puppies wild? Why is dessert last and veggies first? Why am I so consumed with alternatives and …
Just now, I laughed. Loud and hard, like a free-spirited little kid. And it felt good to laugh! I don’t know whether or not it was the first time today that I let out a bellow. I honestly can’t remember. I was too preoccupied all day long worrying about changes Autumn brings with it, along …
Sitting on a rickety wooden rail beside a sea of balls, one gets to see life as it is really lived out. It is a vantage point like no other, really. One must sit as quiet as a bird on a limb so as not to miss a thing. For conversations like these are quick …
My baby lies feverish on the couch, her little eyes flickering open momentarily when I walk past her. She woke with a headache this morning, and those pains led to lethargy and burning hot skin by early evening. In light of the week we’ve had, with a young girl in our circle of friendship with …
I have corralled my screaming child in the church bathroom. We are finishing up a weekend of family camp, and not only is camp done, but so am I. And then some. I now prepare for inevitable misery that is the stage we call “packing up and heading for home.” Everyone loves to see a …
Herein is the essence of wonder. I have just spent the last hour and a half reading a philosophy book entitled Recapturing Wonder, on the topic of renewing a disillusioned spirit and finding wonder and enchantment in the reality of day-to-day life. It is a good read. Refreshing. After my retreat from reality, as I …
I peek in the room, and she is propped up on pillows, reading by lamplight left on from the evening before. I come in, bend low to her head and kiss her. It is 7:00 a.m. We have a busy day ahead. I have two presentations before lunch, and my mind is on this. I …
I am ashamed to say it. I became “that” mother today. That mother that yells at her children, that puts the house ahead of her child, that cares more about shoes than her crying preschooler- and that finally strips her child down to her birthday suit on the front door step and carries her screaming …