“Are you okay?” he said. “You seem down.” Daaaaaah! How does he do that? I was going to keep my blues to myself, so I acted all cheerful, but he knew. I don’t know how, but he knew after three seconds. “Seems like you’re carrying a weight,” he said. “Yes.” “I like you,” he told me. “I think you’re awesome.”… Read More
This for The People Who Do Stupid Things
If you’ve read Blameless, you’ll know I’m a recovering tardy person. So yesterday I got in the shower on time and made sure I was in the car and on the way to school by 10:45. This gave me enough time to get into the lobby and be ready for my two third-year students whom I teach at 11:04. I… Read More
A Discussion on Confidence and How to Live without It
Rarely do I get headaches, but I think I’d been stressed over the last few weeks, which led to shoulder scrunching and a grand finale of muscle knots. While the house was quiet on Saturday, I talked to God about this stress –trying to get to the root of it. Landing on the word fear, I acknowledged that I run… Read More
Probably The Best News Ever in The Whole World
Last week, Spanish class was awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome, not so hot. My students made me want to weep with their success on more than one occasion. They really made some great advancements. Then came Friday and what I thought was going to be a super easy matching vocab test, but they didn’t impress me so much. “Oh man, we… Read More
One Incredible Word to Help You Get Past Failure
I grew up in central Wyoming, but my aunt and uncle lived in downtown Denver. A few times a year we would make the six-hour drive to visit them, and it felt like a real-life story of country mouse goes to visit city mouse. Three things were always the same on our trips: Dad yelling at us to sit back… Read More
A Pretty Easy Way to Help Your People Succeed
You know me, right? So if I tell you that my high school students had a two-day retreat last week and that they needed me to be a team captain, you’ll respond appropriately. I can see that grimace on your face. A look of sympathy maybe? (For my team. For me. For both.) Come with me, back to my 4th… Read More
Afraid You’re Going to Mess up around People?
First day of school today, guys, and how could I not write about it? My new room is perfection, if I say so myself. Verb folders are prepared and waiting for unsuspecting freshmen. There’s a fake apple that looks for real sitting on my desk. Not sure what to wear, but I imagine the bed will be covered with a… Read More
Good News for People Who Mess Up
Matt found a new show for us to watch on Netflix called Food Network Star, and don’t you think he is the most chivalrous husband, to go searching for a program he knew his wife would like? In this show, cooks compete against each other, to see who will be the next Food Network star. (Are you glad I helped… Read More
When the Perfectionist Tries To Know God
For a few years now, I’ve been teaching a class at church called PLACE, which helps people discover how God has shaped them to be of service in the body of Christ. Last night we started a new, four-week class, and I taught the first session on personality. While everyone took a personality inventory I flipped through the workbook, which… Read More
In Between Today and Not Quite Perfect
Do you know what I’m afraid of the most? I said, as I slipped on socks before bed. (Keepin’ the romance alive.) What? he said. Knowing when school starts I’m going to mess up something with someone, I said. Yes you are, he said. And you’ll be in a school full of other teachers who are going to mess up… Read More