life. faithful.

I was at our kids' athletic banquet the other night when a fellow mom of a senior asked me if I cried when my first graduated last year. I'm guessing she had noticed that I wasn't getting teary at our son's last athletic banquet, and that I had nothing but smiles the night before at his graduation. The short answer I gave her was that I'm really not a very emotional person (though it's more accurate to say that I don't let people see my emotions...). If I'm being honest, though? The idea of my kids graduating doesn't make me sad. Sure, there are lots of things I miss about my kids being younger. And when my daughter moved out for college, it was strange not to have her there at home every day. I'm sure the same will be true of my son when he heads to college in the fall. But if I'm honest? I'm not sad about my kids graduating high school. I'm excited about them growing up, moving on to the next phase of life as they make their way int...

As schools are starting back, you're on my heart a lot right now. Whether you are walking into a public school or private school, you're headed back to the front lines of a battle you haven't been prepared for. You're prepared to teach--I don't mean that's the battle. You know your material, you have your curriculum, and you've been trained in all the methods of classroom management. For that matter, teachers are required to get more hours of professional development each year than many of the health professionals I know. You know your subject matter. You've spent hours figuring out 3 different ways to understand something so that you can walk into a classroom and teach it...usually 5 different ways. You are more than prepared for the education side of your job. But that's not why you're on my heart. That's not your main battle. The battlefield you walk onto every morning is the one on which the battle for the souls of our children are being ...

    It's hard to believe, but my oldest daughter just finished high school. I'm incredibly proud of her accomplishments, but I'm more proud of the young woman she is becoming. I've written a short book for her, but if you have a senior in your life, you might consider this as a gift: