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A Letter from Your Teen’s Teacher
Independent, productive, brilliant. Yes, these are some of the words to describe the teenage years, but these are not the usual terms. Hormonal, moody, difficult, and quarrelsome? Those are the words I hear more often. My teen years were all of these-wonderful and difficult- and after over 20 years of teaching teenagers, I would like to tell parents a few things from my point of view. Am I an expert? No. My son is only 12, so we are just beginning our journey, but as a high school English teacher, I would like to give some encouragement to parents. After years of reading journal entries and essays written by your…
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Like a Child
I never tire of the mountains. I want to be in them every day-rain, snow, sun-it doesn’t matter. While we don’t own a mountain get-a-way, we only live one hour away, so we try to go as often as possible. And the lack of organized activities this year has allowed for a bit more of that, I’m happy to say. Our dear friends do own a cabin, however, and let us stay from time to time. So, my boys and I snuck up there for a night to be in nature, escape wifi, and hike. It was the first time we’d been there without either their grandparents or my husband,…
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Today, I Will Be #Thankful
Yesterday, we hiked as a family. My husband and I hiked a lot when we first met and married, and now, after years of training, our boys are old enough to hike almost anything. One of my sons has a hurting heel, so we decided we needed to hike something that didn’t involve too much climbing. We decided on a trail we haven’t hiked in years. It was not only beautiful and peaceful but provided that familiar aroma of unadulterated fresh air mixed with the fragrance of pine. When everyone was hungry for lunch, we decided to walk a little further only to realize that the photo my husband and…
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Love my neighbor? I Can Barely Put One Foot in Front of the Other
I sent a text the other day to one of my friends. With the shut down of school (and society for a while) I have lost touch with so many of my friends, especially those associated with my work or my kids’ school. I asked her how she was intending to see how she was dealing with all of the #COVID-related issues, but the response I got was nothing of the sort. Two of her family members living in Africa had just passed away for unmentioned reasons. In addition, she had lost a total of 8 family members there so far this year, 4 in a car accident. As I…
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When Step by Step is All We Have
I love school, in any form. The smell of pencils, crayons, new books, all of it gives me a strange feeling of excitement. In fact, I have never missed a fall in school, not one. My boys have bought into my excitement, and are ready to go back now-especially after spending 6 months at home. But, I have to admit, this fall has a different sentiment, an added feeling of unpredictability I’ve never experienced before. Sure, there are plans, but they are all tentative. I am hopeful we will go back, but there are so many unknowns. How will it work? Masks, schedules, lunches, sports-the questions are endless, and unanswerable…
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When Helping Actually Hurts
When I was 22 years old, I taught high school English. Among my students that year was a 16 year old mother of a 1 year old girl. It was well known that her home-life was rough as well, especially in regards to her own abusive mother. While I don’t remember her name, I do remember chatting with her one day while she was trying to catch up on some missing work and realizing-in a limited way-how little I understood of what her life was like, how little I felt like I had to offer her. Generational poverty, teen parenthood, a sordid home-life, none of these had ever been a…
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#Living Water in Desert Times
When I was 18 years-old, I signed up to work with a group in Yellowstone National Park. We were to work in various areas of the park in various jobs, either housekeeping or food service, and offer Bible studies. It just so happened that I was assigned to work at Yellowstone Lake. Having grown up in Montana, I was accustomed to the beauty of the mountains, but living at the lake that summer was such a serene and awe-inspiring experience. In addition to the hiking almost daily, I spent time every day sitting by this vast body of water, surrounded by mountains, journaling and praying. Now, more than 25 years…
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A Time to #Mourn
#George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and other victims of police brutality and hate crimes David Dorn, Pat Underwood, and other fallen officers victims of violent protests And their fellow officers now victims of undeserved hate Terrence Floyd and peaceful protesters their peaceful message tainted by violent rioters Business owners of all colors brutally victimized by anger and hate Antifa, White Supremists, KKK still hating despite how “progressive” society has become Those who say Black Lives Matter and those who say it isn’t enough Those who say all lives matter but the unborn Those who say they love God but don’t love their neighbor or their brother Those who feel…
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A Time to Mourn
#George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and other victims of police brutality and hate crimes David Dorn, Pat Underwood, and other fallen officers victims of violent protests And their fellow officers now victims of undeserved hate Terrence Floyd and peaceful protesters their peaceful message tainted by violent rioters Business owners of all colors brutally victimized by anger and hate Antifa, White Supremists, KKK still hating despite how “progressive” society has become Those who say Black Lives Matter and those who say it isn’t enough Those who say all lives matter but the unborn Those who say they love God but don’t love their neighbor or their brother Those who feel…
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My Life in Music
Our home Pandora site is full, literally. If you click on the app on our TV, there are so many stations, they can’t be viewed at once. When my husband first opened up his work account on our home computer, there were 3 or 4 stations. In a matter of weeks, we had over 30. This is mostly due to the fact that my boys keep typing in their favorite artists, in turn, creating a new station every time. Right now their favorite stations are “Penny Lane Radio” and “Too Many Zoos Radio”. Because I am the only girl in the house, and, well, my kids dominate the screens most…