As I’ve gone through good and bad times in my life there are a handful of phrases from elementary school religion class that have never left my head. One is, “The Lord is always with you, and he will help you make the change.” One is the verse, “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever.” And another we created in 4th grade religion class.

We read a story that prompted our class to create the mantra: Be Strong, And Brave, And Know the Truth, And Follow it! We spoke it in the style of a rap, and would march around in a circle reciting this phrase. The teacher would say: “Whisper it! Ok, now yell it! This time, sing it! Now whisper again!” He would also add his own embellishments to our “rap”. Be Strong, (mmm-hmmm) And Brave, (Oh yeah) And know the Truth and Follow it (Louder!).

I clearly remember having a sleep over with a friend from the same class later that year. Before going to her house over-night, we went to the movies and saw the movie “Tom and Huck”. For some reason the character “Indian Joe” from the movie really freaked us out! That night, we had to take her dog out to use the bathroom. It was dark and we spooked ourselves thinking that “Indian Joe” was going to pop out of the trees and scoop us up. We started chanting at the top of our lungs: “Be Strong! And Brave! And Know the Truth and Follow it!” Our fear that night turned to calm and giggles and we often recall the event with fondness. Continue reading Be Strong and Brave →

There are many things to love in this lovely world and two of my favorites are history and storytelling. The two have many things in common and rely heavily on each other. Telling a story can teach lessons learned in history and what is history but the story of our past. I love how they interact and I believe they are both important to the world and its improvement but recently I have been ruminating on the differences between stories and history and how they should influence each other.
Continue reading Based On A True Story →

A couple weeks before Christmas, we were getting ready to host a long-anticipated cocktail party at our house. My husband and I were a great team trying to get Christmas lights up, clean the house, and prep food for the occasion. Unfortunately, our toddler’s molars decided to make a ferocious push for the surface and we had to juggle a miserable little girl on top of all of the chores. We felt helpless. We kept giving her homeopathy and snuggles whenever we could, but sometimes she was completely inconsolable. Our usually cheerful munchkin was as fragile as could be and even though I was anticipating a festive event that evening, I could feel myself fraying at the edges. She skipped her nap entirely—something she hadn’t done for months, so she was completely exhausted on top of the pain and there was nothing we could do about it except desperately try to make it to bedtime.

A little before dinner, she really fell apart. We had already tried all sorts of distractions and remedies throughout the day and were running out of ideas. I decided that she had been cooped up in the house for a while, so I was going to bundle her up and take her for a walk outside to look at Christmas lights. The battle that ensued was utterly unprecedented. It took both my husband and I to wrestle her into warm clothes as she kicked and screamed. My patience and heart were breaking. Continue reading Teething →

You know that feeling when you are working on a project, and it’s full of joy and excitement…it sails along, the ideas come freely, and when finished, you are so excited about the result that you feel like doing a little joyful jig?

Or the feeling when you are happy with your performance, and your place in the world around you…excited to share ideas or your presence with people? The feeling of having actually contributed to an event or gathering… of having connected with people in a real way?

I think many of us know those feelings. They are lovely feelings, I find they help me be creative, and keep me interacting with others in social/work settings.

Unfortunately, too often I instead know anxiety, worry, and a paralyzing or suffocating sense of inadequacy or despair about myself or my work. It lurks around many creative and social corners. I know others feel this too –sometimes every so often, sometimes frequently. Continue reading Confidence, Herod, and Stealing from the Lord →