In high school and college, I participated in prayer walks. We marched silently, praying as we had been instructed: for strongholds to fall, that the area would be “claimed for Christ,” whatever that means. We were instructed not to talk to anybody, as if that might break the spell. I questioned that rule even before […]
Categories: General
Ready or not, our students are back to school tomorrow. It seems especially cruel to start on a Monday. For one thing, it would be nice to have one more day to get ready. And for another, those kids are going to be exhausted by Friday. And me, too. I offer you a hymn (in […]
Categories: General
On Thursday, I had one of those looooooooong days that teachers have at the beginning of the school year (open house is exhausting, y’all) and I knew I wouldn’t be home before Atticus went to bed. I was bummed about it. But Atticus heard my heart’s cries and he decided to wake me up an […]
Categories: How to save a life
As a child, I had a vague feeling that some of the women in my life were kind of pushy about Wonder Woman. They really liked Wonder Woman. I liked her, too, but I preferred The Greatest American Hero because I related to how normal he is. And I didn’t want to like Wonder Woman […]
Categories: Intentional Parenting
Tomorrow we go back to school, so I have been reading like a maniac for the past few days. Let’s do this! Finding God in a Bag of Groceries by Laura Lapins Willis (via NetGalley) This is a book about the ways that God meets us through serving others, specifically about the things that Willis […]
Categories: Books
It has been a lovely rainy summer for us. We didn’t get to the pool quite as much as we would have liked, but we made the best of it. Atticus switched to a big bed and stopped using his pacifier and got potty trained, and he seems like such a kid all of a […]
Categories: Books
Jesus was inside the boat, sleeping with his head on a pillow. The followers went and woke him. They said, “Teacher, don’t you care about us? We are going to drown!” Jesus stood up and gave a command to the wind and the water. He said, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind stopped, and the […]
Categories: General
A friend asked me for ten books that I think everyone should read. I came up with seventy. Instead of failing at this task, I prefer to think I am an overachiever. I have broken them down into categories to make it easier, but there are genres I didn’t fully address such as fantasy and […]
Categories: Books
Oh, hey, I had a piece at Art House America’s blog yesterday about canning tomatoes with my grandma and you should go read it. — Did you see this post on Buzzfeed about being stuck between Generations X and Y? Most of those accurately describe me. Gen X are basically the cooler older brothers and […]
Categories: How to save a life
I cannot muster up even a tiny bit of interest in birds. A few minutes ago, Atticus asked me to come to the sunroom because a bird was tweeting. What I wanted to tell him–but didn’t–is that birds are boring. Sometimes people talk about bird watching and birdsong and I cannot even imagine why they […]
Categories: Books
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: North Carolina now allows guns in bars and at funerals! I have friends all over the map when it comes to gun control, which is interesting to me because I live in a bubble in so many other ways. Gun control is a debate I generally avoid because […]
Categories: General
The Never List by Koethi Zan (from NetGalley) I was afraid this book would be gory, since it’s about a girl who was kidnapped with her best friend and tortured and kept in a basement. But the subject matter is handled carefully and without being gruesome. The book focuses on Sarah’s quest to find out […]
Categories: Books