A little old inch can make the BIGGEST impact or difference. In the event of a tie at the finish line, that runner just one inch ahead can be announced the winner. To that child who has waited in line for nearly an hour to ride the fastest, most daring ride at the amusement park and falls one inch shy of the height requirement, an inch cost him an hour of his time that day, great disappointment, and possibly a year until his family returns to try again.
Continue readingInto the Unknown
As a teacher, these past five months have been filled with so many feelings. Disappointment, confusion, frustration, and worry are just a few I can name. And it seems that, depending on which headline you read, the interruptions, cancellations, and social isolation are far from over. I know God has a plan. I tell myself that every single day. But some days I get so frustrated with the fact that I have absolutely no clue what that plan is! This next week some schools will begin to invite students back for a new school year. As I stood in my empty classroom yesterday, questions swarmed around in my mind. How many students will I actually have in this room? Will there be enough space to keep distance? How will I manage the mask situation? Will I be able to meet in small groups? How should I manage classroom materials? What are parents expecting to see in this room? Many more questions continued to fill my thoughts, but I had no answers.. I stood there, frozen, unsure of what to do next. I had absolutely no clue . Have any of you ever felt this way? You may not be an educator, but I know there are many of us who have been faced with the stress of not knowing what is going to happen next – especially in the past few months.
Continue reading#GirlDads and #OurDad
With the tragic passing of basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his beautiful daughter, the hashtag #GirlDad was introduced throughout social media interactions. In addition to being known for his skills on the basketball court, Kobe was known for being a girl dad to his four daughters.
Continue readingRebel Without A Cause
More years ago than I care to remember, I walked into a cute little duplex on South Montgomery Street in Starkville, Mississippi, and perched myself on top of the world. It was my freshman year in college, and I was on my own for the first time in my life. I had to answer to no one, could come and go as I pleased, and the arrangement of the furniture was totally up to me, except for the porch area apparently, which was donned by my neighbor’s couch. Eighteen years of wishing, hoping, longing for independence, and here I stood. I was finally in charge of me!
Continue readingWilderness Wandering
I have a sweet friend who said, “I’m dry, and I know it. I keep asking the Lord to bring me out of this wilderness. I tell him, ‘Lord, I’m ready. I’m tired of wandering. I’m just ready to be done.’” I thought about what she said for a long time.
Continue readingOn Fire, yet Not Burning Up
Have you ever experienced a season where you feel completely overwhelmed? Just too much to juggle and not enough rest. Thoughts that race continually. Feeling like you are treading water and not getting anywhere, no matter how hard you work or how much you try. Stress and worry at every turn. No end in sight to the daily battle of just trying to keep going.
Continue readingThe Sweet Aroma and Taste of Resilience
My little crew and I have visited New Orleans, Louisiana, quite a few times through the years. There have been a couple of family trips, business adventures, and airport departures/returns. Many of those trips left us with stories to tell and memories we had rather forget. There was that time when our family was departing a trolley from the rear exit for some fun at the Children’s Museum, and the trolley door closed on my arm which was reached out holding 4-year-old Emmett’s hand. He was the last of the Coopers to exit. The door closed after the rest of his family had left, leaving him stuck inside the trolley all alone without his people. Panic rushed throughout my entire body as I gripped his little hand tightly, looked through the door at the fear in his eyes, and yelled, “I’m not letting go.” Continue reading
At A Time Like This
Just a mere three weeks ago, we were all living an incredibly different day than we are today. Just three weeks ago, our kids were starting their spring break, and we may have been kicking off our vacations from a fabulous destination or from our own beds as we slept late. Some of us were not on break, so we were rising to go to work to face another week of the hustle and bustle. We were probably all perfectly confident in our toilet paper supply, and we saw no reason to stop by every store to be sure our stash of rice and dog food were up to par. Here we are today, though, living a much different life in a much different world with no clue what tomorrow or the next day will bring. If we’re not extraordinarily careful, we might let that completely overtake us.
Continue readingThe Pride Trap
In January my church, Northcrest Baptist Church, advertised a new financial class that was going to be offered called “God Owns It All.” My instinctive thought in response to this announcement was, “I don’t need that.” Even though my husband Heath and I were married just this past June, I wasn’t concerned about how we manage our money. I felt confident in our current financial state. Many people who know me personally know that I grew up watching my parents learn about budgeting through Dave Ramsey’s classes, and I even wrote an article about my thoughts on money management as a single woman in 2017 called “Money Smarts” (https://www.sharelife.me/money-smarts/). While Heath and I were dating, I shared what I had learned over the years and showed him how I budgeted. We also read Dave Ramsey’s book titled The Total Money Makeover during our weeks of marriage counseling. When I heard about this new class, I truly felt we already knew everything we needed to know. We budgeted, we saved, and we tithed, so it would be a waste of time.
Continue readingDefining Moments
It was just turning into the holiday season of 2017 when my husband lost his job. I felt anxiety, despair, and panic roll in at full force. I immediately thought of all the things coming up at the time. Christmas was only weeks away, along with all the extra expenses. He was about to start medical school, and we had no idea how we were going to make ends meet living off student loans. We were trying to save for a down payment and buy a house, so we could move near the school which was over an hour away. All of these worries filled my head, and the anxiety of how we would pay our bills, let alone have the money for anything extra, threatened to suffocate me. Continue reading