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With Age Comes Acceptance
A couple weeks ago I had a conversation with one of the other teachers at school. She’s almost done earning her masters degree in classical education. She told me the story of how, last summer during a big presentation, she found herself tongue-tied in front of a group of people for the first time since she-can’t-remember-when. This actually resulted in her talking too much instead of too little, and she failed her presentation since she didn’t fit the necessary information into the alotted amount of time. This also means she failed the class, which is why she’s not quite done earning her masters degree yet. I admire this teacher and…
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Taking Captive to Christ the Everyday Moments of Motherhood
I just finished reading the book Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns by T. David Gordon. I enjoyed this book for so many reasons. It spawned some great discussions between me and my Rhetoric students, reinforced my love for hymns, and helped me see some areas in which I could improve my own songwriting. Despite all these excellent reasons, what I gained the most from Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns is practical advice about living life in a contemporary world and, of all things, motherhood. I have two young children. I love them very much, and I delight in being their mother. I enjoy making them meals (tonight we ate corn…
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Writing Down Words I Know I’ll Erase
The classical Christian school at which I teach meets in the lower level of a church. Each classroom is equipped with a white board and markers, a few important office supplies, and shelves filled with books. We use technology in our classrooms as little as possible, so I spend my classes writing information on the white board. My favorite time to do this is when the students have recently cleaned the white boards. I love to fill that white, empty, shiny space with words–definitions, classifications, descriptions, and diagrams with labels. I do, however, know that as soon as class is over, I’ll have to erase my words so the next…
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The Year Behind and the Year Ahead
As the New Year rolled in over the weekend, cold temperatures also descended on us here in the Midwest. The parking lots are full of salt stains and ice, snow is jumbled up in hard, frozen piles, and when I walk outside, I can feel the inside of my nose begin to freeze. I even imagine the pine trees shivering, their cold needles swaying in the winter winds. I know many people who dislike our cold Midwestern winters, but I think they’re beautiful. The snow reflects the light from the sun and sends it scattering in a brilliant diamond dance, just like the water does in the summer. We build…
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One of My Strangest Anxiety Symptoms
Four years ago, after my daughter was born, I developed postpartum depression and anxiety–PPD/A for short. I had never felt anything like PPD/A before. My heart either raced like a crazy hamster on a wheel or I felt so tired that I could barely perform everyday tasks. I vascillated between the two for a long time, anxiety winning more often than not, until the medicine I had been taking began to help. I stayed on medication, in addition to exercising, changing my diet, and spending extra time with family, for about nine months. I was able to go off of the medication for almost a year and a half, at…