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Late Bloomer
Leaves blister brown in the late summer heat, exhausted from the struggle to live. Smothered by eternally blue skies, they wrinkle like destroyed leather. The cucumber vine, once lush, shrivels into one long, crisp stem that snaps beneath my careful tread. But the passion fruit – the secret kept through June, July, August, September –…
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From the Dust
The shimmering green of grapevines lace the terraced hillside before us, framed by walnut trees and native California flowers. Behind us, Jack London’s cottage beckons with its story. We rest a minute, drinking in the light scent of lavender that perfumes the breeze. It is no wonder the famed writer chose to make his life…
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Managing Middle-School Mayhem
In my 20 years teaching middle school, I have experienced curriculum changes, redrawing of boundary lines, the introduction of the Common Core Standards, culture shifts, and now a pandemic that has altered the reality of public education. Some days, I grinned incessantly through the triumphs of my students. Other days – and most recently –…
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Bold Humility
As I spoke with a few friends during our weekly Bible study, I was struck with the challenge of being bold for Christ and acting in humility. In our present times, it appears that humility means making little of oneself while praising others. We see this everywhere: award winners who thank everyone but themselves for…
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For a Friend
A friend talks past bedtime, skittering from giggle to gasp because you’ve been fending off loneliness one day too long. A friend pours love into giant wicker baskets filled with ginger ale, Legos, lavender bath salts because being sick in a pandemic is hard. A friend swings through Seven-Eleven with your kids in the backseat…
