Welcome to our third annual Girls’ Night Out!
For the past two Octobers, we’ve gathered here to ask each other questions, hear each other’s stories, and celebrate this great community of women. It’s been fun!
Once again, I’ve gathered some friends for a GNO assignment: to share their favorite things. Continue reading
If you’re like me, you try hard to remain positive, look on the bright side, and count your blessings.
But some days, you just can’t …
I’ll never forget one day during my student-teaching in a second grade classroom. Early in the year, one student, a stringy-haired boy with scabby knees, was having a bad day. He eventually crawled under a table and refused to come out. I was eager to prove myself to the lead teacher, so I rushed across the room to coax him.
None of my persuading was working:
“Come on out, you’re missing all the fun! Your friends are looking for you at the Craft Corner. You are so good at reading…!” In fact, the more I talked, the further under the table he scooted.
Finally, the veteran teacher walked over, asked me to keep an eye on the rest of the class, and did something that changed me forever… (more…)
Have you ever come across a musician that makes you think differently, feel deeply, and want more of both? For me, Sherdonna Denholm is one of those.
Her bio is impressive: Originally a classically trained clarinetist, Sherdonna has a wide variety of musical influences. As a self produced Singer Songwriter she creates a soulful and honest sound by integrating thought provoking lyrics with beautiful melodies and textures. Her music has been featured on the #1 Women of Substance Podcast and Women of Conscience Radio program.
However, Sherdonna’s work reveals a soul that isn’t trying to impress anyone. Continue reading
It’s called Five Minute Friday. Each week, we write freely on a one-word prompt. Then we link up at the amazing Kate Motaung’s site. It’s a flash mob of writers- having fun and sharing their take on one word. This week’s prompt is: PATH
It stresses me out to imagine my life as a path. Continue reading
It was barely 9:00am. My son’s sticker chart was ruined, his time-out chair was hot, and our marble jar was empty.
And I was all three. Continue reading
An enthusiastic cheerleader’s voice boomed through the loudspeaker over our heads and echoed down the shiny, tile hallway. Our little group paused until it was over.
“Sorry about that. Big game tonight.” The assistant principal said with a smile. He then motioned us toward a doorway marked “125”. Inside, students were huddled together over papers and chrome books, talking and writing. They looked up at us briefly.
“This is one of our history classes. The students here are working on a group project,” he explained.
We watched for a while, then continued our tour. We were new parents and students, getting informed and oriented before the next school year. The following thirty minutes were spent moving from one spot to the next, as students pushed past each other in the hallway, reached across each other in the cafeteria, and talked over each other at classroom tables. It was a loud, busy place.
Personally, I loved high school, and happy memories washed over me that day. The energy of games, clubs, and social activities fueled me through my academics, and I thrived in it all.
But now, as a parent, I was seeing things through my daughter’s eyes. With her in mind, even this short tour made me tired.
She is extremely introverted person, and I realized I had to do some very intentional parenting for us both to survive until graduation day. Continue reading
A few weeks ago, my oldest son was playing guitar in our basement. The music was loud and he didn’t see me coming, so I stood and listened for a while. It was a piece I’ve never heard him play, but I instantly recognized his soulful heart behind it. Continue reading
One of my favorite parts of my morning walk is when I pass by our local library just before it opens. If my timing’s right, two staffers come outside just as I pass and I get to watch their reverent ritual of hoisting our flag for another day. It’s cool to watch, and I’m enough of a geek for it to put a little spring in my step.
Last week, I was a little behind schedule, but I rounded the library corner just in time to see Continue reading
It’s flattering when someone asks you for advice.
It’s terrifying when you remember that you have none.
Not long ago, a friend invited me to coffee so I could share any wisdom I might have about teen anxiety and depression. It was a reasonable request, for she knows I have lived that roller coaster. I’ve also read books and tried strategies. “Surely, I can offer some help,” I thought.
So, as my friend’s question floated across the tops of our steamy mugs, “What do you think we should do about our son?”, we both expected more than what came out of my mouth… Continue reading
It’s called Five Minute Friday. Each week, we write freely on a one-word prompt. Then we link up at the amazing Kate Motaung’s site. It’s a flash mob of writers- having fun and sharing their take on one word. This week’s prompt is: PRESENT
The best present I ever got was a used pencil with a broken tip.
It was my first year teaching and the last day of the semester. My second graders and I had learned a lot together since August and we were all ready for a break.
“You have five minutes to pack up your backpacks,” I warned, and walked to the bus list on my desk.
I turned back at a tug on my sweater. Continue reading
“Say you are my sister …so my life may be spared for your sake.”
I’ve been stomping my feet in Egypt this week, reading about how Abram handed his wife over to Pharaoh. He was afraid the Egyptians would kill him to have his beautiful Sarai, so he panicked and reached for a half-truth to save his life.
How ironic that Pharaoh was the one to convict Abram. “Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? ” Abram was supposed to be the one set apart; chosen to be the father of many nations, yet God used a heathen to show him how lost he really was.
It was a low point for Abram, but he becomes my hero of the faith at the very next turn … Continue reading
A new determination faithfully arrives every year, sometime between Christmas and January 1. Just when the clutter starts to get to me and the chaotic schedule grinds on my nerves.
I’ve got a system and prefer to do it alone: pitching, rearranging, and packing away. The physical work feels good after too many family movies and long meals. The solitude feels even better.
But this year, my work became symbolic of a bigger mess… Continue reading
Every Christmas, my family loves to retell the story of a gift that I gave my aunt a few years back. “Tell it again,” the kids say, and we start from the beginning and end up laughing so hard we cry. Continue reading
“This is boring,” I thought as I scrolled through Twitter one afternoon. “Same crap, different day.”
But mindless scrolling provides an addictive numbing, so I continued. After a few minutes, the “Who To Follow” list in the right-hand corner caught my eye and offered something new… Continue reading
It’s called Five Minute Friday. Each week, we write freely on a one-word prompt. Then we link up at the amazing Kate Motaung’s site. It’s a flash mob of writers- having fun and sharing their take on one word. This week’s prompt is: CHOOSE YOUR OWN!
“Choose your own word”, she tweeted. “Just pick any word and write about it for five minutes.” Continue reading
I love our house at Christmas time. The lights on our tree give our living room a peaceful glow. My miniature village hides the dust on the piano, and the garland draws the eye away from the stained carpet and scratched wood floor.
But I know in January, the Christmas clutter will have worn on me and I’ll be quick to haul boxes of nativities, candles, and fake village-snow back to the basement. Continue reading
In 1985 I was junior at University of Arizona majoring in General Studies – the major for students who have no idea what they want to do. I went to U of A to swim on their synchronized swimming team. We won the 1984 Collegiate National Championship, and then the team was cut due to lack of funding. Harsh reality of college sports, but a good thing for me. Continue reading
My story is not deep or poignant or profound—but, like all our stories, evidence of God’s loving providence. It’s a fun story, one with a happy ending. It’s about how my husband Bob and I finally got together for life—our “courtship” and engagement. Continue reading
Have you ever had a moment in your life where you wondered how you ended up somewhere? You emerge from a cloud and wonder what just happened? Well, that was the case for me in the wee hours of the morning on Friday, October 28, 2011. Continue reading
Just last month, I was leaving my house on a Sunday afternoon. Home from church, I was headed to the grocery store. After working all day throughout the week, I want to sit down each evening with my family over a meal. I’ve got to plan ahead to make it happen. It’s my Sunday routine. Well, this Sunday afternoon would be anything but routine. Continue reading
So much pain and no good reason why
You’ve cried until the tears run dry
And nothing here can make you understand
The one thing that you held so dear
Is slipping from your hands
And you say Continue reading
“Grandmother isn’t here anymore. This is only her body. She has gone to be with Jesus”.
This is my very first memory. Continue reading
Every year, when we are on the very edge of colder weather, I unpack my bins of winter clothes; and there at the bottom is a loosely woven sweater, light gray, adorned with sequins. Continue reading
I love preludes. Chopin and Rachmaninoff each wrote a whole set of them for piano, and they are truly beautiful pieces. More than that, I love the idea of a prelude. Continue reading
I’ve known Jesus most of my life. Growing up in the St. Louis Christian bubble Continue reading
You never know where life will take you. As much as you plan and dream for your future, God has His own plans. Continue reading
I went to a high school where students were either rich or smart – preferably both. I wasn’t a stand-out in either category but my father had gone there and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. We also shared a love of running. Continue reading
(This is the story I used in my college application essay. There was a good reason at the time, though I can’t remember it now, but apparently it’s really stuck with me. This time around, I imagine it’s for a slightly larger audience than an admissions panel.)
Continue reading
Me, My Clarinet, and God
I began my musical training early, starting piano at five years. In fourth grade, we were to choose instruments for school orchestra, and they said I should play the violin, so I did. Continue reading
“So, class, there is a test on Thursday over Chapter Eight, so we need to…” Ms. Miller announced at the beginning of second hour, Algebra 2.
Maybe I should get a pixie cut… Continue reading
When I first started thinking about the word “miracle,” I thought about God’s supernatural work where impossible occurrences come together for His great plan. As they are out of the ordinary, miracles certainly wouldn’t happen to ordinary people like me. Continue reading
The hardest thing I have ever had to do was cut my sister’s hair. Continue reading
The summer after my freshman year of college, my family drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco, detouring to some of California’s beautiful parks along the way back home. By the time we got to Yosemite, Continue reading
“WHAT WAS GOD THINKING?”
Finding Humor in His Decisions
I met my husband in 1980 when I was working at the service desk at Target and he came in to cash his check. We were married a year later and settled into life as a teacher and construction engineer. Wanting to be settled, we waited to start our family for a couple of years. Continue reading
As I pulled Keegan out of his car seat at the sitter’s, I heard one wheeze. He was fourteen months old and we’d already gone through so much in his first year, he couldn’t possibly also have breathing problems now. I brushed it off, telling myself it was just a squirrel. I kissed him goodbye and headed to work. Continue reading
“Of Pain, Brokenness, and Love”
I will let these snippets of journal entries tell part of my story. It’s choppy. It’s not a story with great ebb and flow. It’s life. This is me and this is raw. Continue reading
Two weeks before my tenth birthday, my parents had finally decided they were divorcing. I say “finally” because it had been in the works for months, separated since March, and it was almost September. Continue reading
On Friday morning, December 19, 2015 I had surgery for a substantial rotator cuff tear, a bicep tear and a bone spur. I wish I could say that the injuries were from throwing a curve ball the wrong way. According to the doctor, it was plain old “wear and tear.” How noble. Continue reading
My earliest memories have to do with performing. I loved the dress ups that my mom had in our playroom and would often concoct skits and commercials to perform for whomever would sit and watch. Continue reading
THE SHIELD
Reunión de creyentes. Prayer meeting. It was an hour that would later become a favorite part of each day—a time before dinner to reflect on God’s goodness and beg for His glory to be manifested again. Our team of missionaries and Peruvian seminary students sprinkled the sanctuary in groups of two or three. Continue reading
Stooping For Manna 