…So take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so…
Category: Life
“I’m Not in the Book!”
Supplies: Pen or pencil Journal TEXTBOOK! “Wait, what?” Students filter in slowly from the hall, rummage around in backpacks for pencils and journals, then do double-takes. “What’s this textbook business about?” “Can I go get mine? It’s at home.” “Um… we have textbooks?” I nod and start to pull the class set out of the…
Sie Versteht Alles
Kristi, sie versteht alles… I’m seated at a table at the Ochsen, a guesthouse at the end of town, where I’ve just finished my first rehearsal with the Kanderner Frauenchor, or women’s choir. I’ve been invited with the rest of the choir to the 70th birthday party of one of the other singers, so I…
A Monday Tuesday
“It’s like this giant Monday.” I’m walking to school with my roommate, Anna, on this clear Tuesday morning, the first day of second semester. “I mean, I’m always a little lost on Mondays, like I’ve forgotten how to teach. And this… this is way worse.” This is a different “first day back” than any I’ve…
Things that Made Life Better This Year: 2010 Edition
The sun is sparkling through the windows of my childhood home in Seattle. It has been a week of rest and reconnection, so much so that I woke up today, surprised to find that it’s the last day of the year. And of the decade, for that matter. I’m neither old enough nor wise enough…
Little Town
(Because for some of us poetry is clearer, and because I was inspired by the student portfolios I spent the weekend grading.) It’s a little town. Three hours is an epic journey so no one leaves because quests aren’t for everyone. Sister and niece moved three villages over So he’ll never see them now. Why…
Ingredients
It has been snowing all day by the time I make it home this Wednesday afternoon. I had romantic notions of going running in the snow, all the way up the hill to “see the view,” but gave them up on the walk home from school when I noticed that: I couldn’t walk more than…
A Map, A Headlamp, A Castle, The Fog
I consider bringing the headlamp. It’s in the same basket as the map, which I fished out carefully before leaving on this hiking venture. My large topographical map is indispensable; I bought it a few days after moving to Kandern, and it has been a fixture on every excursion since. I love this map. Emily has an…
Remembering
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. from “In Flanders Fields,” John McRae, MD This…
The Way Home 