"Life" Books
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My Story Isn’t Your Story, Your Story Isn’t Mine
“Before the IDEA, children like my son were stigmatized, stereotyped, and institutionalized.” Senator Maggie Hassan Oh what deep grief, abundance of lessons, and remarkable joys come with pain and struggle. What is life if we cannot allow our story to become part of the greater story of helping each other place one foot in front of the other? Senator Hassan has passion, conviction, and pain- if you have been in the special education ebbs and flows of the past 40-50 years, like my family has, you find yourself talking to the tv, shouting “Amen! Preach it!” I am not bringing this to your attention today for any political reasons. To…
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I’ve Been Here Before
My parents and I are currently going back and watching the West Wing TV show (1999-2006), many, many relevant lessons and applications for our world today, but more than that, I would like to share a quote from the series… “This guy is walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, ‘Hey you, can you help me out?’ The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts us, ‘Father, I’m down in this hole can you…
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You Gotta Keep Walkin’
The above quote came from a book I just finished reading. I don’t often suggest “big kid books” for a number of reasons, but this one I highly recommend. If you have been on this writing road with me for a while, then you know I have a love for true stories, history, and pretty much getting to know culture, heritage, and just about everything that goes along with it. One of my deep, deep longings for knowledge has been for more understanding of the black church. The gospel music has always captivated my heart and soul. The raw and honest spirituals have helped me through some really hard places.…
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Heart to See
“It is not enough to photograph the obviously picturesque.” Dorothea Lange Pictures. I can never take too many. Although I am overwhelmed by the magnitude of how many we have at the moment in our downsize/move, I am incredibly grateful to have many. The picture today I visit many days. The love between cousins, the comfort of loving arms, security… peace… so much in one picture. One of my ventures after high school was acquiring a career certificate in photography. Remember this was 2006. The program I decided to go with required that you use only 35mm camera, nothing digital, nothing automatic. I had been playing around with photography for…
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80 Hours
I didn’t forget about ya! Last week got wild and I just couldn’t get a post written and posted, I am sorry. A little snapshot of last week… I was in the midst of one of my not so kind summer migraine multi-day battles, overwhelmed and completely at my “it’s never going away” moments. There were repairs being done at our house, so my normal “comforts” were in a room I couldn’t get too. My Mom was literally the only comfort I had. I ended up sitting in the corner of her bathroom on the cold floor (cold calms my nerves) and just crying. Frustrated with my lack of progress…
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What makes a house a Home?
Last week I left you with this: “It’s a peculiar thing that began to manifest itself inside my soul when Lucy ran ahead. Home. It can’t be defined by things. My home is with my people – it will always be somewhat here and a whole bunch ran ahead. And there is a peace there- Jesus gives me peace.” I admit I slip up and find myself holding onto things too tightly. But as the years have been added to my life, the physical things I tend to hold onto have changed with the seasons of life. Change. I used to fear this word. Trembled at the sound of it…
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Home2 Sweet Home
FYI: I am going to review some companies that were absolutely amazing in this post, of which I am getting no incentives from. That’s how fabulous they were! In February-ish, my parents and I started talking about how it would be nice to move closer to my brother and his family, and also our many doctors. Our first move was for this same reason, but since the highway has gotten whack- always under construction, and traffic is always backing up. We had talked about this about a year ago, when we found out there was going to be a neighborhood built, like the one we were currently in, within five-ish…
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Moving… Not My Finest
As I sit and type this, I am surrounded by packed and unpacked boxes. Many items to be put up. Last night I went to bed at midnight, and if you know me, this was WAY past my bedtime! My body is screaming, “Are we done yet?” “Can’t we just give it all away?!?” Yes, and I would definitely do so, if it was acceptable to wear pjs everywhere I went and lived in a children’s book library 😊 But that’s not the case. So in the spirit of trying to find the thread of humor in everything, here are a few things that I have found humorous so far:…
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Choosing Rest
It’s that time of year when things tend to become frantic and busy. Important life events pile on top of one another. So today, I have a short message, an encouragement for everyone… take moments to breathe deep, step away, choose a comfy space, rest. Whatever rest looks like for you: writing, drawing, napping, tv show, music, podcast, reading…. the list is endless, but give yourself permission to get lost in your rest. And when you re-enter the life events, soak them in, document them with the gifts given to you! Pictures, written memories, collecting programs, gather memories the way you love to do- not the way the world tells…
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Willing to Be Wrong
Being Wrong or Being Right. Right or Left. For or Against. One side or the other. “You must pick” is the posture of most Americans at the moment. But if we truly searched our mind, heart, and soul, would they actually agree with what the world is telling us we must do? I’ll admit there are some things I can be optimistic about, but most things I am skeptical about at first, before I can get my hands on some good facts, or at least some credible information. Arguing and bickering are one of my biggest pet peeves. Along with yelling or raising your voice. I believe in a good…
