Ya’ll, I wrote about life after legwarmers and let me tell you, my “research” to refresh my memory back to the day (because hello, decades ago), was nothing short of eye soreness. Videos of what I used to know about health, exercise, and fashion made me cringe and laugh at the same time. From our remote and cell-phone-less cabin in the Kiamichi Mountains of south-eastern Oklahoma with the provided grill...
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“Each time a door closes, the rest of the world opens up.” Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak My feet flew over Tommi’s sticker-y grass. I sailed like a bird flapping its arms, except mine flailed to keep from landing on my head. I had kicked my feet in one final push, as high as the metal swing set would allow, when I launched myself out. I was nine years old. All I knew–I was going to win the...
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“We may catch our calling as it hurtles toward us, but mostly we are caught in its web long before we recognize its existence.” Dan B. Allender, PhD, To Be Told–God Invites You to Coauthor Your Future. I’m not especially cynical. But there was a particular time when it took hold. I suspected motives. I doubted sincerity. I crossed my arms and squinted eyes at the overly-cheery people. I had to...
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I had come to the class to teach public speaking. But I had not come to teach about being perfect at it. In fact, as I shifted my weight side to side and stumbled over my um’s, I pretty much broke every public speaking rule in the book. They had signed up to learn about Speech. I had signed up to teach about courage. It was two years ago from the podium, I stood in front of homeschooled high-schoolers to...
Read MoreI stand at the center of life. That happens to be my kitchen island as I type. This is where my two boys run in and out the back door, in plain view. Where sun bounces heat off a swath of white patio, refracting its bright light onto our living room walls. From the dining room window, a male Cardinal jumps near a female on the kids’ trampoline as she moves out of reach. Ducks waddle across the Bermuda. They are in search...
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I wish I could say Spring quietly slipped out like a visitor that’s too awkward for a goodbye. Instead it banged pots, tripped over furniture, and broke some china. I tried to enjoy every moment. Tried to savor the soggy ground that sagged under it’s own weight. Tried to appreciate my watered (drowning) Wave Petunia’s and Roma Tomato plants. Tried to not resent the overcast darkness of drizzle and...
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