When we decided to move two years ago, I was aware that I had kept for years unnecessary but sentimental items. What I finally learned about myself is what useful items I hang on to. For example, consider blank envelopes. Useful, correct? All those odd ones that don’t seem to have a card with them, … [Read more…]
Last week Steve spoke to a group of rather unmotivated high school students for whom English is a second language. Their teacher, Lauren Crum, invited him. The next day, when asked what they learned from him, they shouted, almost in unison, “Have a Plan B!” His point had been that we should always have a … [Read more…]
When I first moved to Illinois from Tennessee and North Carolina, I realized that I did not pronounce several words the way that people there did. I’d always said that “ahrnges” grew in “Flahr-uh-duh,” but in that Yankee-land, they hardly understood me. I said that “a-kerns” grew on oak trees, but my students corrected me … [Read more…]
Back to routine. I love my routine. And I love variety to my days and to my life. It’s the combination that makes life so much fun. The first thing I do when I roll out of bed is to make up the bed. As I smooth the covers, I feel like this is an … [Read more…]
One morning recently I pulled weeds from my yard. Weeds were near the mailbox, weeds were in the mulch, weeds were choking out flowers. First I leaned forward to yank the offending plants, but soon my back hurt. So I sat on the ground and scooted, throwing my weeds and sticks in a bushel basket, … [Read more…]
Mentioning the New Year’s Resolutions my mother required us to write reminded me of a tattered piece of shirt cardboard that she had taped to her closet door. It was her resolutions from January 1, 1973–years after I’d married and left home. But evidently they were so satisfactory that she saw no need to replace them … [Read more…]
Lots of discussion seems to center on whether or not to make New Year’s resolutions that may be a dim, disquieting memory by April–or February. When I was a child, each of us had to make a list of our resolutions, but it was more of a traditional exercise than a real commitment. No one … [Read more…]
This morning I heard a marvelous presentation by Ted Baehr of www.movieguide.org . He shared good news about movies in the United States! In 2010, 60% of the movies made in the U.S. contained positive Christian content, up from 25% ten years earlier. His goal is 90%. His parents were in the movies and he … [Read more…]
I just found a notebook from twelve or fifteen years ago with the impressive title, “Lanita’s Lists.” The first entry says “100 Things I’ve Learned in My Life.” Wow! I thought when I found it–my life wisdom from years ago. So it turns out that the list I started so optimistically has only 21 items … [Read more…]
