Lots of emotions going in my neck of the woods. Everything from a wonderful stress over the surprise that I got a new, huge classroom at school (what to do with all those bulletin boards calling for my creativity) –to a small bout of depression over not being able to button my favorite skirt (I wonder what happened to shrink… Read More
When Stress Takes You to The Edge of Losing It
Sometimes all of these things happen in 24 hours: You wig out about money and then go into a deep depression because you think you can’t afford for you and your husband to take your son to college. You say you will stay home. You completely despair and think all of life is nothing but pain and sorrow. You don’t… Read More
You’re Anxious Because You’re Not Doing This
The talk around the hospital was about angles. Physical therapy said my mother-in-law was doing great. They were hoping for 120 degrees of motion in her knee yesterday, and she got to 100. After PT, I had to massage the Charlie horse out of her calf, because her leg had gone through quite a stretch. The Holy Spirit is of… Read More
Trusting God with Money Stuff
My first car didn’t have power steering. It was a ’67 Chevy, with bench seats and an 8-track player, from which I played Barry Manilow at full volume. I was a young girl, and he wrote songs, of love and special things, that made me cry. You didn’t try to eat a soft-serve cone while driving that car, because it… Read More
Actions To Help Us Stay Sane, Calm Even
Yesterday I thought my brain or my heart might explode. One or the other or possibly both simultaneously. It’s when you have your baby about to graduate. At the same time you sit in a courtroom to watch your friends officially adopt their 4-year-old foster son. At the same time your job changes a bit (found out I’ll be teaching… Read More
The Secret of Stepping off The Anxiety-Go-Round
Interesting point in the sermon Saturday night, from that preacher man of mine. (My uncle mocked my reference to the “preacher man”, and I told him he was saying it wrong. It’s preacher man, the way a teenage girl says a guy’s name because she hopes he asks her to the prom or even notices her from across the room…. Read More
Who Can Show Us Any Good?
If a blog post could somehow be a steaming latte in your favorite flavor (coconut milk for my friend who can’t have dairy), I would surprise you at work with 16 ounces today, along with a high-calorie glazed doughnut and a long hug. Because it seems like most everybody in my little circle is having a hard, hard time. There… Read More
Who Is God When Your Heart Is Heavy?
It was 1:30 a.m., and I was awake worrying about…things. You know how it is, because you have your own stuff on your mind this week that keeps making your shoulders sag and your sighs loud. I got out of bed, to move around and try to get my thoughts going in a different direction, but I couldn’t shift my… Read More
Worried That You’ll Never Arrive?
These blog posts come to you from an imposing, six-foot long, solid oak desk that my parents bought me years ago as a housewarming gift. (Mom wanted to get me a dining room table, but when I went table shopping I saw this desk and oh the love.) In the desk, there are three drawers on the right and two… Read More
The Secret to Not Being Afraid
I suppose I get it from my dad, this practical side of me. Quite a few years ago he installed a hand wringer on the front of the house, so when he washed and dried the cars he could wring out the chamois. We all thought it was such a great piece of décor, as you can imagine. One summer… Read More