Have you ever disciplined a child only to hear him or her say, “That didn’t hurt!”? Perhaps you remember when you were that child. Did you ever see the look on a child’s face when you said, “This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you”? That child was unpersuaded. The writer of…
It was early autumn. The leaves on the trees were golden as the afternoon sun slid behind the skyscrapers on my urban college campus. I stood at my professor’s car feeling alive. After a stimulating class discussion, I discovered another layer of thought with my fellow students. As I helped my professor with her bags,…
“That you can see these things when she plays is a gift. Never try to become its master, but serve it. Allow [the gift] to be what the Maker meant it to be.” (Nia Igiby, The Wingfeather Saga) The C written atop my first college English paper dumbfounded me. After recovering from the shell shock…
I’ve worked at a large public accounting firm since college and recently celebrated twenty-two years there. I have held multiple positions over the years, and I changed positions again in June. My new role is significantly different from my previous one, so it came with a lot of humility and learning. Starting something new often…
Raise your hand if you’ve been disappointed when something you wanted, worked for, and prayed over hasn’t happened how you hoped. Anyone? I’ve been disappointed many, many times. The relationships that didn’t work out. The miscarried babies I never got to hold and see grow up. The broken and damaged parts of my life. Everyone…
When my son was learning to talk, he started coming to me, holding out his sippy cup and saying, “Minute? Minute?” I knew he often asked for a refill because he wanted attention, not because he was really thirsty. This was a little irritating when I was busy. Instead of immediately stopping what I was…