I mentioned earlier in the year that sometimes I go through old journal entries and find prayers and words that I'm not not sure how I had the strength to say then and certainly don't as I read them--but I know they are true and the Lord tells us to remember past redemptions. Here is…
On Love for Country, Love for Neighbor
We need an appropriate ordering to our souls as well as our loves.
Gossip, Backbiting, and Whispering
Am I being an empathetic listener, or am I enabling gossip? Am I only seeking counsel? Or am I trying to eavesdrop or putting others in the position to gossip? Am I listening to someone with the gift of discernment? Or is it self-righteous slander? Character assassination? Or creating division? Is it just venting? Just…
An Apology to Men
Over the past year, I’ve been reminded of some heart-breaking ways that our culture, even pockets in Christian culture, deem fit to treat men. I was reminded of my own contributions years ago when I went through my own man-hating stage. Yes, it may have come from some wounds, but it was far from the…
Badges of Honor, Hiding Our Shame
I am a perfectionist. I'm an overachiever. I can be a workaholic. Like you, I've heard many people make these statements, and I've made them myself. (I'm trying to quit.) But over the past few years I've noticed something about how we make these statements. Tone and body language can communicate quite a bit, as…
A Bit on Journals, Words, and A February Prayer for May
I remember my first journal, and I still have it. It was thin and covered with multicolored balloons.
God with Us: Thoughts on the Incarnation
“Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is possibly the holiest object presented to your senses.”[1] While I’ve been blessed during this quarantine time to live in community with my family, the absence of other forms of community has turned my thoughts towards the Incarnation. I noticed this the first week of online church.…
Learning in Wartime: A Podcast
Hey friends, I wanted to connect you with a new and fantastic podcast named after a lecture given by C.S. Lewis to his students at Oxford during WWII called "Learning in Wartime." In this podcast, Providence Academy Secondary Principal Dane Bundy, Dean of Students Bryce Ballard, and I explore truth, goodness, and beauty through both…
5 Reasons I Love Reading Shakespeare with Middle School Students*
When my 7th and 8th grade students first hear that we’re going to read Shakespeare, many slouch in their chairs, groan, gag, and roll their eyes. But each time we open A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet, they find out how accessible and enjoyable the Bard can be, and I’m reminded of five reasons I love reading Shakespeare with my middle school students.
10 Old Books I Would Like to Read or Read in Full (Or Perhaps More Accurately, ‘Books I’m Ashamed I’ve Yet To Read’)
I once read somewhere that Plato said we would not be ready to learn until we were about fifty because that is about the age in which we realize we do not know anything. As much as those in education--public school, private school, home school, community college, and universities--may discuss having a teachable spirit, I have found that those are sometimes the very places in which it is the riskiest to admit that you do not know.
Votary of the Blue Flower 