My husband and I aren’t big watchers of (current) TV shows. If we’re going to watch anything on TV, our default is “Friends” reruns on Netflix. We’ve seen the entire series way too many times because honestly, there’s just not much on the few channels we get that we’re interested in watching. (Also, as a side note, we’re now incapable of having an entire conversation without a reference to the
What To Do When You Feel Like Someone is Watching You
A week or so ago, I went to my daughter’s school to read to her class. As the eighteen second-graders lined up to go outside to eat the (Pinterest-inspired and extremely juicy) fruit kabobs I had brought for a snack, several of them surrounded me. It wasn’t the Pyrex dish in my hands that had their attention, though. They had questions for me. “Mrs. Bolyard, are you really writing a
The Beauty and The Mess
They captivate me. Glimmering golden alongside the road, making the most ordinary of routes feel like a wondrous journey. Wildflowers budding and blooming anew, proclaiming spring’s arrival even if the wind still blows cold. They draw me in every year. Their blooms call to something in my spirit; I don’t have to stop, but I don’t want to keep driving. I can’t go on without getting closer. More than once
The Messiest of Beginnings
This past New Year’s Eve I found myself, once again, incredulously staring a new year in the face. My news feed was inundated with year-end reviews and predictions for the new year. Friends had selected (and found time to write about!) their “words of the year,” and I saw many a “state of the blog” post scroll by in my blogroll. Everyone, it seemed, was ready for the new year. Everyone,
A Road For Me
When I was a freshman in college, part of our orientation packet included a course catalog. Between the blue and white covers of that book was the road map to get any student through any course of study: political science, veterinary medicine, early childhood education, journalism. All the classes needed to complete any major were outlined there, and my fellow students and I pored for hours over those pages. Many
When You Lose Your Voice
When I was little, I had a friend who…well, let’s just say she had an intense desire for things that belonged to other people, and she was quick to make those things her own if given the chance. On several occasions she had been accused of stealing things that weren’t hers, and rightly so. It was an ongoing thing with her, and those of us who knew her knew we
In Pursuit
We’re in a series at my (awesome) church right now called “The Big Picture,” and we’re exploring the idea of God’s will for our lives. We’ve been saying how so often we act like God’s will is something far out there for us to search for…unearth…discover, but the reality is that God – who WANTS to be discovered – has made His will within reach as well. Honestly, in our
Ways Along the Way
When I was in kindergarten, we lived just a few blocks from the school. Every morning, after filling my little belly with rolled eggs (the rest of the world calls them omelets) and taming my thick hair into a top-knot ponytail, my mom would load my sister and me into…the bugger. Yes. The bugger. It was an odd contraption, even then. Made of a huge chunk of black plastic and
Emergence
A couple of weeks ago my daughter’s teacher sent home a plastic ziplock baggy with two beans in it. The beans represented hours of anticipation on behalf of her preschool class, as they watched and waited for the two beans to show signs of life. Finally, roots sprung forth, splitting the seeds from their core, proving to everyone what they had known all along: something better was coming. And now
In A Fog
It was one of those mornings when it seems the clouds have come for a forever visit. They were low-lying, drifting not up above as usual but meandering about, mingling with us ground-dwellers. They minded their own business, certainly, and had no concern for the additional anxiety they caused me as I drove. If you’ve ever driven in fog like that, you know the stress I’m talking about. It’s the