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Gentleness…

  • September 30, 2019
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Several years ago, one of my students kept falling asleep in class.  It was frustrating.  He was a kid who had a reputation of being “tough”; not one of the other students would cross him.  Because of the “stigma” that came with him, I took his sleep habits as being disrespectful. UNTIL… We had a parent conference.  Little did I know he was babysitting his younger sister late at night so his mom could work (single family).  He wasn’t getting...

A Pinterest Christianity Part II

  • September 23, 2019
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Last month, I did a blog titled, A Pinterest Christianity. Many of you messaged me and shared the blog on your pages and with your friends. Some of you shared very personal experiences of inadequacy, frustration, anxiety, and pain of “living our best lives” (using social media terminology). Let me shout it from the rooftops “GET BEHIND US SATAN!”  Our stress and exhaustion are fed by the father of all lies. Once you are covered by the blood of a...

Embracing God in the Storm

  • September 16, 2019
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August 24, 2013. The day that drastically changed my life. Just a normal Saturday that turned into one of the worst days of my existence.  I received the call every wife dreads – the call that says, “your husband has been in a car accident”.  Shock.  Denial.  Hysterical crying. The people around my apartment complex must have thought I was a crazy woman – I cannot begin to imagine the scene they witnessed.  A young woman walking her beagle (actually,...

Loved. Anchored. Purpose.

  • September 9, 2019
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When to steal.  How to hold a runner on base.   Run on dropped third strike.   1st baseman needs to be ready.  You are covering 2nd.   Passed balls at home plate.   Don’t worry about the baserunner.   Step off the base when you are pitching.  Whew. This past weekend was the 1st kid pitch tournament experience for our 8 (9 year old in February).  It is a lot to think about for the boys—and for the coaches. Going from coach pitch situation...

That Kid …

  • September 3, 2019
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“That Kid” brings memories, some good and some not-so-good for all of us. We all have stories of kids who stretched the boundaries, talked incessantly in school, broke the rules, challenged authority, took risks, made us laugh or cry…you fill in the memory bank. I have thirty years in education and many stories of “that kid”. When I was younger, I, unfortunately, judged those kids pretty harshly. I sometimes equated childish immaturity as a life sentence. I thought I had...

Noise…

  • August 28, 2019
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We live in a noisy world.  Our cell phones chirp, ding, ring, bark, honk, moo, quack….the list goes on.  I don’t know the last time I sat through anything where a phone did not make a sound.  Church included.  We get in the car and the radio plays, cars honk, children squeal.  Go to the movies and it’s surround sound loud enough to be heard 1/2 mile away (they have amazing soundproofing!).  We go to bed and a text comes...

Lost

  • August 19, 2019
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The tears were streaming.  You could tell she was scared. Getting “lost” on the second day of kindergarten at dismissal was not what Karis had in mind that day.   It also wasn’t what she had in mind the fourth full day of kindergarten either.   She knows the surroundings–I work there and she spends quite a bit of time up in the hallways, but somehow she was sidetracked and she was “lost”.   So what about us?   A question in Genesis 3:9...

A Pinterest Christianity

  • August 12, 2019
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DISCLAIMER: I love Pinterest. I have tens of personal boards and even one where my psychology students submit their work. I have hundreds of recipes, party ideas, home remodels, teaching ideas, and a zillion other topics. Feel free to follow me. I think its a wonderful use of technology. I am old enough to remember saving magazine pages for the same reason. PINTEREST is great! BUT… With the advent of social media and apps like Pinterest, parties, redecorating and events...

Commit to Winning…

  • August 5, 2019
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I’ve got this brother who coaches football.  He wins.  A lot.  Let me tell you why.  He teaches the value of commitment, respect, teamwork and leadership.  This is not a little sister brag post…it is a little sister who has watched a man teach young men how to be leaders on and off the field.  Coach Jones “teaches that life is not about you as an individual…it is about what you have to offer the team”. We have the same...

Mama Bear

  • July 29, 2019
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When my oldest son (he’s 36) was in fifth grade, he was having trouble with his science teacher’s instructions to put headings on his science notecards. He just couldn’t remember to put his name, section and chapter numbers in the right order on every notecard. It was starting to affect his grade so I suggested we meet with his teacher, Mrs. Culpepper and see what we needed to do. His teacher was my friend and colleague so I thought it...