I Can’t Control the Rain Each evening I take a walk by the gully, around the back of the school property. Sometimes, lightning flashes on the horizon, and rain clouds threaten. After a hard rain, the mud shrivels as it dries, leaving a curled-edge puzzle scattered across the gully flats. The desert sun beats down and dries the clay-like mud that shatters if you toss or step on it. This year seems different. The monsoons came late and the desert…
This month, the Self-Care Sunday series will focus on Fall. It’s the perfect time of year to prepare yourself mentally for the holidays. Especially if your family gatherings end up stressing you out and building resentment. In order to move towards mental wholeness, we need to learn to handle problems when they arise. Another Holiday Dilemma “What?” I exclaimed. “I can’t believe they invited us for Christmas this year.” Pedro shrugged and replied, “They are family.” “I know.” Just the…
Kids don’t have the monopoly of going back to school this fall. Adults can join in, too! Busy moms and dads will understand the chaos of the first week of school when kids form positive habits that help them settle in to the routines of the new school year. We can take a page out of their notebooks and use the back-to-school excitement to school ourselves. This week for Self-Care Sunday, we’ll look at how to form positive spiritual self-care…
Can Loyalty be a Bad Thing? First, let’s look at the definition of the word loyalty (noun): the quality or state of being loyal. Loyal, the root of loyalty, means the quality of being unswerving in allegiance to a country, person, or cause. On the surface, loyalty looks like a good thing, right? Maybe. I know for a fact that loyalty to my husband caused me to gain 55 pounds and lose my health for three years. When he experienced…
This week’s Self-Care Sunday post continues the back-to-school theme. I confess, August isn’t my favorite month. And not just because it’s hot. Plump and Missing Tail Feathers An odd-sounding hummingbird zoomed in to the feeder and spread its tail feathers wide—what few he had left. His plump body looked like he’d visited the feeders repeatedly over the past few weeks. Maybe more often than he should. I snapped photos of him and his sorry tail, and thought about how I…
Back-to-School Confession “Whatever happens today, tomorrow, this week, next week, or twenty years from now,” I said, “remember that you are loved.” I stood in front of 70 students and 20 staff members trying to facilitate the beginning-of-the-year school rules exercise. The room felt snug and a bit muggy. Ripe little bodies wiggled and released their scents on the faint breeze from an open window. Returning students nodded slightly at my words. New students looked a bit stunned. “I love…
This week’s installment of Self-Care Sunday delves into the academic realm. Your kids aren’t the only ones who can go back to school this month! Learn how to lead so people will follow. If you click on a link to a book, please know that I’m an Amazon affiliate (but it won’t change the price of the book). Lead Like a Woman Don’t get me wrong. Some men are great leaders, and some women are horrible leaders. But this summer…
For Self-care Sunday this month we’ll be talking about all things back-to-school. One of the most important back-to-school topics we need to understand is what to do with a bully. Especially when we discover how close to home the bully might live. The link to the book is an affiliate link. Listening to Myself As I walked on the dirt road behind our house I chastised myself. “Why didn’t you start preparing for this presentation sooner? You can act so…
Remember Your Journey August means hummingbird migration. It also means it’s time to celebrate. Not the hummingbirds so much as what happened four years ago. In fact, on this fourth anniversary of our horrible, no good, very bad August, I reflect in wonder at the amazing grace of God. Four years ago, our youngest daughter, Sarah, texted us that she was having horrible thoughts. Thoughts about going for a walk on a lonely country road at night and stepping in…
This week’s Self-care Sunday continues the theme of freedom. A Clean Bill of Health “Everything looks great!” the service manager told me, “you’re all set for another five-thousand miles.” For some reason, knowing that my car had no problems made me feel like I’d gotten a no-cavity report from the dentist. The freedom of having a trouble-free car made me happy. I pulled out on the road and headed to the other end of town to pick up a few…
