I felt it shelter to speak to you.
Emily Dickinson
Thank you for being here, for taking the time to connect. As Pooh would say, “It’s Friendlier with Two.”
My goal in writing is to set the table and invite you to sit with me a while. I welcome your company and your helpful, honest interaction, so we may do life better together. In conversation, we start with one topic and go from there. One thing reminds us of another, and off we go some more. In the connection, we discover more fully that “joys shared are twice joy, sorrows shared are half sorrows”. I earnestly desire that for this blog.
On the “Welcome” page I mentioned why I desire to encourage you. This page will tell you more of who I am and what I want to encourage you about.
Family
For one, I write as a mom/yaya/daughter/sister/aunt to encourage you as you do all your angles of Family, that many-splendored thing. Whatever age or stage you may find yourself in, Family can be tricky, right — it looks like one thing before you get into it, and like another thing entirely once you have waded in. I have stories to tell of lessons learned from my own experience – some good, some bad, some (regrettably) ugly. But I hope in the telling they may make you feel less alone, maybe make you laugh, or cry, or think. I hope in any case they encourage you to press on in the hard, holy, worthwhile building of your Family.
Good Grief
I also want to encourage you if you find yourself in Grief. Grief has been woven through my years as well. There have been the deaths of beloved people, like my husband and mom and nephew, and there have been the deaths of long-held hopes and dreams. Some deaths are private, others public. One public death was that of my husband, Jack. I used to wonder what it felt like to lose someone you loved, and what would help as time went on. December 1, 2009, I got the chance to find out when he died unexpectedly. Jack’s death knocked the wind out of me. The hospital’s free CaringBridge service was the initial means for sending out updates, and became the platform for staying in touch after the funeral. Some of those essays I have posted on this site. As I write this, I am nearly at the ten year mark. If you are bereaved today, I hope you will find friendly encouragement here as you feel your way in your sorrow.
Wanna Play?
Don’t think I mentioned it yet, but I hold dual membership in Tessa’s Fort (2012) and Maddie’s Secret Club (2019). In both cases, these children’s welcome indicated their trust and acceptance as we hunkered down to make memories. Huddled under blanket-covered tables or squeezed inside transformed appliance boxes, we slowed time down, talking about any old thing, heads resting on pillows with favorite stuffed animals nearby and books shoring up the corners. So at times on this site, I will be writing about teaching children and particularly the value of Play in learning. If you are a teacher or a parent, I hope what I share will encourage you to nurture Play with your child. As a kindergarten teacher, I was often asked, “Will the children learn anything, or will they just play?” To which I would reply, “Both! They will learn as they play.” Eventually I earned a Masters to validate what I’d always observed and lend credence to talking with parents. But the more I think about it, the more I realize all I eventually learned in college was best learned in a fort.
Health and Fitness
Which leads me to yet another reason I want to write — to chew the fat on how we can improve our Health and Fitness, or “be our personal best,” as my PE teacher friend puts it. Crawling into the aforementioned forts is easier for me today than it was 17 years ago, with nearly 100 pounds less to deal with. That’s a story in and of itself, the telling of which I hope will impart hope to start — or continue — or restart — habits for life. Because if there is one thing Health and Fitness looks like, it’s starting over again, again. Over and over and over. Link arms with me and let’s help each other do this thang.
Home, Sweet Home
Just as we can establish habits that support our Health, we can establish ones that support our Homes. And when we do, the improvements are internalized by even the youngest family members, as the above thank you note illustrates. Let’s talk order and beauty, and how to get there from here.
Tori Stories
One more: I want to tell Tori Stories. For all I learned in kindergarten, this niece of mine takes me to another level by her real-life show and tell. May her life encourage yours.
Faith and Life
Every morning, without fail, I put my glasses on. If I didn’t, nothing would be clear. If I didn’t, I would get hurt. But when they are in place, I have clarity, I have direction, I have coffee. And I take that coffee to the living room to read my Bible and talk to the Maker of my heart and the Redeemer of my life. All the essays I will write are coming from this identity as a child of God and a follower of Jesus. So Faith and Life go hand in hand. Sometimes the connections may be more obvious, but really, they are always there, interconnecting the various aspects of my life and experience, informing my decisions, redirecting me, correcting me, making me think, aiming for my heart, challenging me to make this brief life count.