It has been a wonderfully long autumn with sweaters here and there and lot of chilly mornings with warm afternoons. The days are getting shorter too, so I think I am going to pull out all the winter clothes and pack away summer's. I look forward to this annual chore because it means it is time for soup and quiet nights at home and my favorite holidays of Christmas and Valentine's Day are on their way. The beauty of a still morning alone with my thoughts gives me new life as I try to keep my head up. I have no way to describe the satisfaction I have with crunchy leaves that are never-ending and golden afternoons that beg you to think it might still be summer.
a slice of math
I haven't participated in the SOLSC for a very long time. I never could understand why or how anyone would stop once they got started, and then I stopped. Without getting into the why, I want to explore the fact that I want to try again. I want to reconnect with my slicer community and read and be inspired by your words and work.
Today was a full day. All of my days as of late have been very full with my new course load for the school year. On top of my normal courses, I am once again being the Swiss Army Knife (as my admin has nicknamed me) in a new way: a math teacher. It's only one period, and the math is foundational, so I have perfect mastery of it, but I want to do well in all I do as a professional educator, so I have been rummaging around for great videos and activities and reaching out to my on campus mentor a couple times a week. Professional development just got even more crucial and complex, but I am excited for the opportunity to rise and develop my abilities.
If any of you have tried and true suggestions for mathy websites and activities for grades 3-6 maths, send them my way!
her name
My name was once something I didn't know,
But since then, I discovered something,
Something important,
Something essential—
Myself.
Knowing myself and loving her
Showed me that my name
Has always been
Love.
a slice of myself
I am dedicated and authentic.
I wonder if I make a difference.
I hear hope alighting on the dark night.
I see joy amidst the deep.
I want peace.
I am dedicated and authentic.
I pretend to be more than I am with hope of becoming that.
I feel that I must question what I'm told.
I touch happiness with kid gloves.
I worry I won't reach my goals.
I cry for my expectations.
I am dedicated and authentic.
I understand God's love for me—His pure charity.
I say mistakes can be steps toward perfection when we rise from them.
I dream of the day I am happy inside and out.
I try to be my best self.
I hope for good for all.
I am dedicated and authentic.
i am …
I am vivacious.
I am smart, intelligent, intellectual.
I am content only some days.
I am faithful and hopeful like Pollyanna.
I am a good writer.
I am a dedicated teacher, mother, sister, aunt, daughter.
I am driven to do right.
I am authentic.
good and kind
I am good and kind
Except for when I'm not,
Yet somehow I always forget that first part.
I am a rememberer of mistakes
Except for when friends
Remind me of who I truly am—my better self.
I am good and kind and sweet and mean.
I am a human woman with faults and a sheen
Made of memories both real and perceived.
I am two sides of one coin.
I am my hopes and dreams and ruinous flaws
With goodness and kindness at my core.
solitude is mine
Solitude is never mine, yet somehow
I found some today.
I found it in the music played that
Guided me to think of God.
I found it in the sky and gentle breeze and sunshine
As I walked myself to the church to find
The peace I prayed for.
I found it in the smiles of the people
Who came for the same reasons as me,
To get some peace and comfort
From the ravages of life.
I found solitude in quiet
And in the rain and clouds.
I found it in the stillness
Of a quiet Sunday afternoon.
this view
Remnants of a life well lived
Chopped chunks of trees
Nails, glue, and wood shavings
Turned into art
Now a memory already
Fading into the shadows
Of the blazingly bright future
But with pure love planted,
There in the wheelbarrow
Of life, transported, there are memories
Lashed to the fence post
Showing us the way
Showing us how to follow
His footsteps
In our own way
Making our way
With a universe of hope
Guiding our eyes up
To the light, to the clouds,
To the mountains
That build us up while
Tearing us down
Like this grief intertwined
With so much joy
This view pushes us to be
More and stand in wonder
At the love God planted
All around, surrounding
And saturating, this
Brilliant life
for me
Finding my words one letter at a time
with one breath, one thought
writing my way into a love
that hands me the words
with both hands
held out for just
me—within
myself.
writer life
The artist connect the little things
Made with dance and sanctuary,
Proximity to an opportunity for growth.
Delicious smile—
The joy is in the giving.
progress
Love's labor
Underscores everything—
Love, courtship, heart.
Each step forward
Immediately opens knowledge
With sacrifice, dedication
With this legacy,
This progress of both the mind and character,
This lofty goal of perfection.
The price committed to can uphold
The arrival of direction—
To winning hearts.
(Found Words Source: "The Price of Progress" Essay by Rochelle Rudd 27 September 2012)
where
...are you
going?
...could the joy
have gone?
…will this life
lead me?
…am I trying to get
with so little?
…might I find myself
if I keep going?
…
rampant
thoughts
feelings
spring
want
stress/distress
lack of rest
opportunity
loving friends
watchcare
faith
never-ending hope
desire to do right
His Gift
The Lamb rose on that Sabbath morn
Tranformed into our resurrected Lord
And glory be to God for saving us through Him
Life taken in order to give
Eternal life to all
inhale joy
At times, suffocation seems imminent.
Other times, anything seems possible.
What makes the difference?
What changes things from night to day?
Usually, it is perspective—
The ability to see the good,
The ability to get past the bad.
So today, let us inhale joy,
Face the sun, and walk in light.
Let us attain all the good we can.
awake and shine
I woke today to wrench myself alive
With thoughts and senses riding high (henceforth)
To be a mighty woman this day sent forth
To work and pray and be my best and thrive
Remind me why the world decries the good
That comes to us through Christ the Lord, the Son
Of God who did in fact arise when done
With sacrifice, with death, the One least understood
When I do find a friend who shows God's love
The day becomes my source of power strong
With light arriving fast and sure—left on
For me and you and all who try to love
The world awakes to us in heart and mind
To find the joy in every spark and shine
bring me peace
there is none here
nowhere to be found
with the teenage existence
ruling existence
except when
asleep.
Lord,
bring
me
peace.
the truth
Christ, the Word, the Son,
He is our Brother and Friend,
An eternal Light for the World
Whose charity never ends.
Beaming warmth of gospel goodness
As the Father calls us to Him,
The Bread of Life invites us to
Follow, look, and live.
This Jesus, our Redeemer,
Proved and proves His love
With that matchless and infinite sacrifice made
As he suffered while pleading to Father above.
loudness
Leaning out of the window with a handful of hope
As the world whirs past working to rip it away,
With each passing day, the journey is to cope
Instead of live while making the best of each day.
Tendrils of tension tighten their unforgiving grasp
Stealing the ability to breathe and think and comprehend.
To do more than barely function creates a blur, a trap,
Of spiky moments of stress with apparently no end.
If a breath of fresh air could just make its way
Inside, just a puff of calm and cool,
There might be a chance to stay or at least delay
The suffocation pushing away renewal.
Trepidation like a rolled up window in a car
In summer and you can't get out,
Not knowing how long or how far
You have to live unable to see, unable to feel—so you shout.
perfection
It does not exist, perfection.
Whoever sold you the lie
That you can somehow find,
Achieve, be, or create it
Gave you false hope that
Never will be found here.
Instead—
Go for gold
In your everyday
Way
Reaching for your best.
And always
Always
Always
Give yourself grace
Because God does.
Strike out again and again,
But never give up on you.
Never give up on faith and truth.
Be perfect in the act of striving
To endure.
Find perfection in the way
You make the day better
No matter how it was
Before you go
And turn it around.
listen
Listen to the secret joy that rises up within.
Let yourself believe in something good and right.
Be the type of person who has a heart
That takes people in and holds them tight.
Listen to the beating of the heart that waits.
Let patience guide the way to peace and love.
Become the type of person who leads with a light
That shows people there is a loving God above.
Listen to the quiet wisps of laughter wanting in.
Let yourself believe in mirrored pools and golden paths.
Be the type of person whose heart smiles so brightly
That it takes people by surprise like frothy bubbles in a bath.
Listen better,
Let your soul breathe,
And be someone who
Lets love in today.
beyond
Looking beyond the horizon
Always seems to be the thing
That gets you
Thinking beyond the limits
Of this life and all that
Reality keeps you from
Taking beyond the borders
Of the lane you find yourself
In as you are wanting more
Going beyond anything anyone
Could have known was possible
When looking one time toward the sun.
answers
In my deepest sorrow that looks like rain
On rain on rain,
God sees my pain.
In my darkest night that looks like pain
On pain on pain,
God sees my heart.
Within my shrillest cries that sound like a broken heart
On broken heart on broken heart,
God hears my sliver of hope.
Within my slightest slivers of hope that sound like prayers
On prayers on prayers,
God hears my pleading and answers it with His love.
drive
Get in and don't look back.
Take the chance you've got
And be someone who
Does more with their lot.
Put your foot on the gas.
Propel your heart into
Everything you can
And enjoy the process too.
Roll down the windows.
Let your best dreams
Be carried on the wind
And alight on sunbeams.
Drive slow or drive fast.
But be sure to keep going
Along the road of life singing,
Trying, crying, loving, and doing.
Just Write
With breath held, fingers crossed,
I write into the space that feels empty
But is crying out for words and meaning.
Words will come.
They need to.
Somehow.
I just need to keep on trying
To write and share
And fill the space with myself.
his turn
The loudest, biggest silence ever heard came from him
When thinking, pondering, creating, or being just him.
Reserved yet unafraid to stand up for good
Across the world with a heart golden and good.
An unsung giant, gentle leader, and untiring guide, he carried
His family name on his back; on his heart, God's name he carried
Without looking back.
Doubt and trouble and life and work,
That's what he worked out with God when building
His faith, his family, his strength, his home.
This side of heaven, he got part way there
Before it was even his turn.
A rememberer, a musician, an example
Of how to be yourself and always progress.
A baker, an art maker, a creative mind
With unceasing brilliance that shines.
An audience catcher with his redemption example
And love and care so powerful enticing us to progress
As children of God and intelligent minds,
An ever present effervescence inviting us to shine
Like him. To honor life and family and God,
He quietly leads the way, unafraid, ready.
A daring and brave life lived to the fullest,
Reaching to those gone before while carrying
Us, all whom he loved and prayed and cared for,
With him in his work-worn hands and heart
As he leaves us on this side of Heaven
To watch for our turn.
For my grandfather, my friend and helper, my guide.