Most mornings I make a cup of tea and walk around the farm with the dogs. Often, I pause to sit on the gnarled branches of this ancient live oak tree. Our farm is dotted with wise old oaks, but this one is my forever favorite. It’s where I come to sit and pray. Tucked under its canopy I can...
For years, a sticky note on my computer monitor greeted me at work every morning with the words, “DON’T QUIT. Once you get into the mode of quitting then you feel like its ok.” But the reality is that I had found a dream job that could easily support my...
You told me once that you still prayed for every girl you ever loved, but you ached when you said it. A splintered soul, water logged with hurt and lost at sea, grasping for pieces of people who were no longer yours. Lost from you, maybe, because you did not...
This much I know is true: 1. People are inherently good. 2. People who seem bad aren’t really, they’re just broken. 3. We can’t heal with hate, only love. 4. We are called to heal each other. 5. Love is always the answer. Related: 1. It’s really hard to love...
You just see a hot damn mess, but love, your hot damn mess is holy. Those secrets you are keeping, that mess you have your arms so tightly wrapped around, the old worn cardboard box – duct taped together with the bottom falling out- you’re desperately trying to hold onto,...
Dear Working Moms, Yesterday, I felt like I really had life figured out. As I kissed my happy playing baby and headed out the door to meet a friend for coffee so we could discuss an exciting project we have been working on, grocery list in hand to shop on...
When my brother and I were kids we would hurl dried up horse manure, hard dusty brown wads about the size of golf balls baked in the sun, at each other. The battles were our own rural South Florida version of a snowball fight. There is no room for squeamishness...
Happy New Year, friends! In the spirit of resolutions, let’s talk about expectations and goal setting. One of my favorite things that I get to do professionally is facilitate groups as they set goals for the future. (The groups I’m working with are usually academic programs involved in public outreach.) We start...
You know in interviews when the interviewer asks what your greatest weakness is and you’re supposed to say something that is actually a positive like, “I’m a perfectionist who exceeds all my goals because I work 80 hours a week?” My answer to that question is actually a flaw with...
Dear Good Men, Grandfathers, fathers, brothers, cousins, best friends- I have been blessed with so many good men in my life. You have raised me and loved me and protected me and cared for me. Now I need you to hear me. You and I don’t live in the same...