Know God. Live Big.
We do a lot of coloring in my first-year Spanish class. It’s partly because markers make me happy and partly because my first-year students are learning basic vocabulary that lends itself to association with pictures. On Monday, I gave my students a primary color wheel, with a few empty circles down on the bottom where they could combine two colors… Read More
We finished going through the song a second time, and I asked if she had a voice teacher. When she said no, I asked if I could make a few suggestions before we ran through her solo again. “I think you need to sing these two words loud and forcefully because of what they’re saying,” I said. “Well, I don’t… Read More
“Do you think one coat of paint is going to cover this primer?” he asked a few days ago. In his right hand was a paintbrush. In his left hand was a bucket of white. “I don’t know. Red over white?” I said. Well, it wasn’t officially red. It was Sherwin Williams’ “carriage door” for our house trim. I thought… Read More
If you don’t like heights, you may want to take a pill for vertigo before reading this blog post. I have this really cool, long-time friend who has climbed peaks all over Glacier National Park (which is in our back yard, so to speak.) He is part mountain goat. I invited him to write for us today, because I think… Read More
It’s called Sweet Peaks, and you will never go there but you have to stand in line. You’ll need that time, though, to choose from their 16 flavors of homemade goodness. Smell the homemade waffle cones while you wait. Imagine the Hutterite ladies, in long skirts and capped heads, delivering the cream straight from Montana farms. People rave about how… Read More
I’ve felt the weight –or maybe terror –of God’s greatness on a few occasions. When I saw the grey-green sky and felt the too-still quiet of pending tornado weather. When a nurse handed me my son for the first time. When I stood at the top of Going-to-The-Sun Road in Glacier National Park. God is big. How could he possibly… Read More
I don’t often talk to you about how strange this process of writing is, but I feel like you should know about Thursday night. I had a thought on my mind for a few days and finally got it down on paper. (I still say paper, even though it is a Word document. Paper sounds more enchanting, doesn’t it?) Then… Read More
My own retelling of Ephesians 1:4… In the beginning, When the earth was empty And there was only darkness, You were on his mind. Before he touched the keyboard and made the story come alive. Before you ever did anything wrong. And before anyone ever did wrong to you. There was the thought of you. He chose you. He made a… Read More
Saturday night a team of children hijacked the role of welcoming and changed everything. A few boys greeted me right off with a cheerful hello and a bulletin. Then I passed through two cartwheeling, cheering, clapping girls -one gorgeous African and one beautiful blonde. Welcome to church. Every single person got this hello, and I vote we put these kids on… Read More
I went to the closet door and reached for a book, only to find myself flat on my back, wind knocked out of me, on the hard-packed dirt of the crawlspace. Mom was in a panic, and dad was furious at himself for leaving the crawlspace hatch open. You don’t think about the floor until it’s gone. This is what… Read More