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 …
#BGBG2
How to Find Freedom from Worry in Five Steps
This month, the Self-Care Sunday series will focus on freedom. Join me each Sunday as I show how self-care can bring you freedom. The Negative Effects of Worry Worry wrapped its sticky fingers around me, threatening to pull me under a wave of despair. Big worries—my husband’s health, the mountain of debt built by cancer—that …
The Incredible Responsibility of Privilege
Camping on the School Lawn? “Mr. Ojeda gave me permission to camp on the school lawn over home leave,” one of my students declared earlier today. “Ha!” I responded. “I don’t think so.” The sentiment behind the fib catches my breath tonight as I ride down the road, our RV trailing behind us, to enjoy …
Wresting Rest from an Overbooked Life
rest • verb, noun: to refrain from labor or exertion; to be free from anxiety or disturbance; peace of mind or spirit Every journey requires rest—whether we seek mental, academic/artistic, or physical wholeness—we all need to pause and rest. Our journey towards spiritual wholeness also involves a component of rest. In fact, I maintain that …
Spiritual Wholeness in a Discordant World
spir-i-tu-al • adjective: of, relating to, consisting of, or affecting the spirit. Music Lessons When our daughters took music lessons, I remember the teacher sitting next to them on the bench playing the harmony to the simple tunes in their music books. Each time the girls hit a wrong note, it would sound discordant simply …
Find Your Pod, Tell Your Story
Sto-ry • noun: an account of incidents or events We can nurture ourselves through story—both by sharing our story and listening to other people’s stories. Find Your Pod, Tell Your Story The captain of the whale-watching tour ship called out over the loudspeakers, “Look to nine o’clock and you’ll see a bottlenose dolphin!” The passengers …
Overlooking the Plain is Overlooking the Plan
A Plain Bird I spotted a bird sitting on the curb across from my house as I headed out the door for a run. Never one to miss a photo op with a bird, I ran back inside for my camera. I thought that perhaps the resident juvenile Cooper’s Hawk had dropped by for a …
Why I Failed to Raise my Kids
To Guide or to Raise, that is the Question I used to think that my husband and I would ‘raise’ our children. As if they had tender shoots and fragile roots and would produce a crop one day. We took a parenting class. I read books and prayed a lot. I learned to mean what …
From Marathon to Puny in Three Months
My Puny Body I sucked in deep gulps of air, and kicked my foot out of my toe clips. Whew! That hill grew since the last time I rode up it, I thought. My gelatinous legs could barely support me as I dragged off my backpack and dug around for a protein bar. “Let’s go!” …
If Only God Would Speak
I realized that I haven’t explained the whole Five-Minute Friday thing at this blog for a long time. Every Thursday night, interested writers may log on to Twitter and search for the hashtag #fmfparty at around 6 PST. You may lurk, say hello, or just introduce yourself and the gang will strike up a conversation. …
