life. faithful.

To my kids: It's that time again--back to school. Seeing as how I've spent pretty much my whole life in school, I know the feelings well: a strange mix of excitement and nerves and fear and all of it ties your brain and your stomach up in knots. I'm teaching again this fall after 3 years away from the classroom, and I know that even though I've faced a new semester 58 times before (believe me, I counted), I'll still have butterflies in my stomach when I walk into a new classroom for the 59th semester. I know you get tired of me giving you advice, but I also know that you realize it won't ever stop... so I'm going to take that as an open invitation ;) First, embrace discomfort this year. The world teaches us to chase after comfort, but that's not what's best for you. You don't do much growing when you're comfortable--mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Mental comfort keeps you from learning new things. It keeps you in a place wh