Have you ever had emotions, stress, routine, or worry so take over your life that it dulls your senses and you somehow become oblivious to the world around you? This happens to me all the time. A few weeks ago, I was in the grocery store trying to rush through the aisles as quickly as … [Read more…]
This week I was sitting at home one evening watching the Nationals play the Braves in game 6 of the World Series, and I was playing around with a Facebook quiz. The quiz said they could determine my generation based on my pet peeves and then proceeded to ask me a series of questions. One … [Read more…]
Have you ever met someone who thinks very highly of themselves? I certainly have. When I was in seminary, I took at class on the book of Matthew. Part of this class required that we work in groups on certain passages and then present our findings in 3 weeks time. I no longer remember what … [Read more…]
If you want to encounter God, the essence of what is Holy, you don’t have to go searching in the depths of spiritual places. You only have to look at other people. We are constantly told in the scriptures that God is in the people that we meet, the people that we help, and the … [Read more…]
Have you ever noticed that when you help someone it just completely changes your day? Right before I left the preschool my teacher’s assistant at the time was someone who didn’t drive and the city bus stop was a mile away. I decided that I would give her a ride to her house at the … [Read more…]
Living in community and caring for one another is another of the Christian Spiritual practices that often gets overlooked and underestimated. Community was important right from the beginning of Christianity. We know this because where Christ said, “Wherever one or two of you are gathered there I will be as well”. A Christian community is … [Read more…]
I went to a family party many years ago with my husband’s extended family. Bill and I were only just beginning to date. We were celebrating his grandmother’s birthday that day at a restaurant. But because we had the furthest to travel to get there, we were naturally a little late. So when we entered, … [Read more…]
So in my experience rules can be good at setting appropriate and needed boundaries and at other times rules can be little more than a way to hinder progress and good works. Rules can save lives and rules can prevent the help of another person. I read a book called The Power of Habit by … [Read more…]
I am reading a fascinating book titled Savage Continent by Keith Lowe that focuses on the aftermath of World War II in Europe. It spends a long time outlining what life looked like for citizens and the masses of displaced peoples who had been imprisoned in work camps, concentration camps, and prison camps throughout Nazi … [Read more…]
The new preschool education standards focus on evaluating and teaching lessons in social emotional skills. This is something that was never present in preschool or public school educational goals in the past. Part of the social emotional educational goals is to teach empathy and conflict management skills. However, it has occurred to me that as … [Read more…]
