Skip to content

Category: faith

write unapologetically

5 Comments

I’ve not blogged for over 15 days.I didn’t intend not to blog.It just happened. And I’m glad. I needed the space to think and imagine and become. I needed to get a hold of my writing life. I needed some time to listen and sit and quite simply be. I remembered the magic of living. My pen kept moving in an old fashioned journal. I kept writing, putting words down on the page, not because I had to, but because I wanted to. I’ve been steeped in scripture and words are swirling.… Read more write unapologetically →

cutting back (soLs)

7 Comments

As a writer, I often “prune” my words. As Ralph Fletcher taught in one of his early books, it is often by cutting back the extra, wild, or dead parts that a flower flourishes. The same is true for our words. I like to share this idea with students too. Young writers are often consumed with adding words. It’s a big shift to consider cutting back. Yet, writing well is just as much about what you don’t say as what you do say. Revising is just as much about adding… Read more cutting back (soLs) →

52 Day Challenge

Last week was spring break and we were home. A lot. My everyday routine was drastically changed. I wondered what mine would be to do. I wondered what I should do with my extra time. Last Friday at 3:40, on my way home from school, I realized mine to do this week was to love my kids. First. Before everything else. Just as they are. This isn’t a new goal. I consider my family to be in one of the top spots on my priority list. But sometimes during breaks,… Read more 52 Day Challenge →

52 day challenge: accept

8 Comments

I knew early in the week what I would be recording today for the 52 Day Challenge. Q: What is mine to do? A: Accept. I need to accept that I will make mistakes, that I won’t get everything done, and that it is okay. For instance, this week I: Forgot to turn in my mileage. Showed up at the wrong school to lead professional development for our late arrival day. The school I needed to be at was nearly 30 minutes away. (Really, it’s remarkable I’ve not done this… Read more 52 day challenge: accept →

water aerobics (soLs)

11 Comments

I {heart} water aerobics. Truly. I took a class in college and then again after Andy & I moved to our town. Then the community pool closed for several years. I missed water aerobics. This year the pool reopened. The best part of this state of the art facility is they offer water aerobics. Of course I signed up. My schema for water aerobics instructors involve old men with beards and receding hairlines. In January my schema changed drastically. The water aerobics instructor is from our local college. He’s not old, instead… Read more water aerobics (soLs) →