One is four and the other is two. They are brothers. Yesterday, when I had my grandsons over to my house, the eldest asked the youngest sweetly if he could please play with a few of the toy horses. The youngest said a cheerful yes and shared. Then the eldest did a quiet, hostile takeover,…
Work, husband, kids, grandkids, parents, friends, cousins, church family, neighbors? There are just so many people and I’m trying to be perfect in all of these relationships, except I am NOT. Many of these interactions are sticky, some like a big glob of sap stuck to the bottom of your shoe and some like that…
The 18-month-old has learned to scream, at the top of his lungs, “I want that!” because his 3-year-old brother has modeled that for him. They’re the typical grandkids at that age, and we send a constant barrage of instruction their way. Be kind. Ask him nicely. Can you share, please? Let’s not scream at your…
Yesterday I drove down to get the mail. As I drove back home, I passed a little black girl who lives in our neighborhood. She waved an exuberant hello as I drove past, and I returned the wave. She made me smile. That’s when children came to mind. Children! I’ve been thinking like an adult…
I have a lot of nerve with this blog post title, as if I’m an expert or something. So, let me be clear that I had one successful moment handling my anger a few nights ago that I’m going to tell you about. As a teacher, I know that sometimes when trying to learn something,…
A few months ago, I made the 12-hour drive from northern Montana, to visit my mom in central Wyoming. On the way, I needed to make a pit stop but was in the middle of a Native-American reservation. I felt nervous to stop but finally made a desperate decision to pull into a gas station….
I walked the loop of our neighborhood last week, before going to church for the evening. Stress had been running high in my life, to the point that I was breaking out in hives, and I needed to take a mile to remember to breathe. But I passed by a house on the north end…
I paid $15.00 for a three-shelf unit for our garage. It was light enough that I could carry the box home in one hand. When I opened it and slid out the parts, there were several bags of varying kinds of pipes and screws labeled A through J. Seriously? I had to lay it all…
How did this white Montana girl end up on the equator in Uganda? Only by God’s design. But there I was, with my midwinter pale skin (which I refer to as “morgue white” when shopping for makeup), flying into the airport in Entebbe, Uganda: my first time to be in the minority. First let me…
It was the end of another full day of school, and I was doing my normal self-evaluation on the drive home. It’s like taking attendance, except my question is “Are you okay?” instead of “Are you here?” I see each student and replay and critique each conversation. Did I hurt any feelings? Say or do…
It’s 5:09 a.m., and the sun is coming up over the Rockies. I’ve been awake for an hour talking to God about a student whose progress is concerning to me, as we end the school year. Behind this name trails the name of a friend’s kid and another friend’s kid who are making bad choices…
One week to our 25th wedding anniversary, so you should know about a longstanding joke between Matt and me. I’ll make some insightful comment about a person, and Matt will disagree. I’ll argue with him, because…I argue. The disagreement escalates, until finally I bark at him, “Honey, which one of us knows people?” Then we…
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