-
Hugging: An Act of Love or Hate?
I didn’t mean to; it was a reflex. I just hadn’t seen her in a while, and before I knew it, I hugged her-in a grocery store! I felt so bad. What if I am sick and don’t know it? What if she somehow gets COVID from that one thoughtless act? A few months ago, I saw two ladies greet each other in Walmart. They instinctively went in for a hug and stopped short, looking around to see if anyone was watching. They didn’t hug. We are not supposed to. Hugging has gone from a kind greeting, a comforting act to a hateful one. Just like that. Now, I’ll admit,…
-
5 Ways Your #Special Needs Child has Bolstered My Faith
When we find out we’re going to be a parent, planning immediately ensues. Is it a boy or girl? Will she like sports, or music, or both? Who will she look like? And we begin to dream about what we will buy her, the activities she will do, what her first day of kindergarten will look like. Yes, we might have a concern here or there based on challenges others have had, but, more often than not, we will brush them aside and choose a Pollyanna-type optimism instead. All parents find out in one defining moment or another, however, that our Utopian vision of parenting was just that, a vision,…
-
Why We Public School: A Christian Perspective
I couldn’t be a Christian parent in 2020 without being a part of the eternal discussion of how to school our children. Many of our believing friends home school or private school, and with COVID, many more are opting out of public education for many valid reasons. As a public school teacher and believer, I thought I had heard all of the sides of the debate in their entirety until recently when a well-known Christian organization published a post in favor of Protestant schools over all others, especially public school. The contents of the post were moralistic in nature, focusing on purely behavioral and marital statistics rather than the gospel,…
-
5 #Biblical Promises for #2020
I don’t know about you, but I am tired. Weary of many things, many circumstances I expected to be better by now, back to “normal”. It is times like these, times of seemingly endless waiting, that the promises of God we daily take for granted are our only hope. Here are five I am meditating on today. I hope they encourage you as much as they did me. We have salvation in Christ alone. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 2. God gives us strength when we are weak. Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives…
-
Practicing Perseverance
As a public school teacher, I have had the privilege of meeting some remarkable individuals. It never ceases to amaze me, the determination some of my students show as they face disabilities, neglect, abuse, mental illness, death, etc. . . . At such a young age, they just keep moving forward, fighting for their futures when most of us would have thrown in the towel. In March of this year, I fully believed the yard signs posted saying, “This Too Shall Pass”. I honestly posted comments to my struggling students saying, “This won’t last forever”. But it seems “this” is going to last a while. And we are tired. There…
-
There is Only One True Savior, Even in #Election Years
It happens every four years. And no matter what we told ourselves after the last election, we all fall for the lie again and add at least one “Savior” to our list-at least until the election. They say history repeats itself, and elections are a vivid example of this. We all saw it four years ago, conservatives and liberals alike, the absurd way we let the election run our lives, strain (or ruin) our relationships, overrun us spiritually. We worshipped an idol-some politician who God definitely wanted, maybe even had “ordained”. And many of us vowed, to ourselves or others, that we wouldn’t do it again. “Next time I won’t…
-
For Such a Time as This
It took me a while to notice. I mean, the first week back at work was such a whirlwind with new protocols, last minute schedule changes and the typical business of a new school year, and I’ll admit, I was fairly inward-focused, drowning in all I needed to get done. In the midst of this, one of my former students came to drop off a book, and stayed. He honestly didn’t like my class much last year, but he wanted to talk to me, tell me about his new schedule. He was happy to be back. And it kept happening, students stopping by just to say “Hi” and catch up…
-
Do Not Forecast Grief
The first week my boys and I were home as a result of the COVID-19 quarantine, we watched the movie The End of the Sword. A life-long Elisabeth Elliot fan, I am not sure how I never read this book or saw this movie, but along with a deep emotional reaction to such a stark picture of forgiveness and redemption, I was reminded of how the story of Elisabeth Elliot captivated my friends and I as young college girls. We may have even “snuck” into a locked football stadium at the University of Oklahoma to journal and pray, just to be like her. In the reading I did after graduating…
-
A #2020 Confession
Lord, Forgive me. During this time of shutdowns, COVID, and unrest I have despaired Feeling overwhelmed and isolated from others I have failed to trust in your sovereign will and promises I have feared You continually say, “Do not be afraid” But I have feared disease, death, discomfort and change I have hated In my pain and discomfort Those who disagree with me and those in power over me Instead of trusting that “ . . . nor anything . . . in all creation can separate me from your love” I have spouted off In person and online Impatiently voicing my frustration for all to hear Instead of being…
-
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…