I'm not a mom and I don't know if I ever will be, but I cannot remember a time before I stepped (or toddled) into my role of big sister. My younger siblings are two, three, six, ten, eleven and twelve years younger than I, and came into our family from all over the world. We have skin tones at our dinner table ranging from ivory to olive to roasted coffee bean. We have straight brown hair, wispy blond hair, and curly black hair. Another role I ... Read More about Diversity in Children’s Books: A Personal Passion
Education
The School of Servanthood
I was fifteen when I finished my last high school textbook. I set it down with a huge sigh of relief. School was one of the greatest drains on my time. There were so many things I wanted to do—write books, travel, plant gardens, teach children…who has time for schoolwork? My parents, however, weren’t quite ready for me to be a free-agent. So, instead of getting me “working papers” to allow me to get a full-time job, they extended my schooling. ... Read More about The School of Servanthood
What Next?
When I graduated from high school, decided to study Communications in college, and people asked me what I wanted to do with that degree, I answered, "I want to work for a magazine or a newspaper." Then in my junior year, I took an internship that had me writing for the university magazine and newspaper. Suddenly I needed a new answer. That's when fear first came to call. Four years is a long, shaping time, but eventually time runs out. ... Read More about What Next?
From the Rearview Mirror: 10 Things I’d Tell The College Me
See that girl there? She's seventeen; strong hands grip the wheel of her daddy's Cadillac, and she's barely out of the driveway. That's her own never-known-another house in her window. But in the windshield, well, that's a whole different view. You see, that picture was taken the summer I graduated homeschool high school, a scant few months before I took off for the city and college and adulthood like I'd never known it before. These last ... Read More about From the Rearview Mirror: 10 Things I’d Tell The College Me
the heart of education
The end of January and the start of February are, in Australia, crazy times. After Australia Day on the 26th of January, a new school year begins for everyone from kindergarten to year twelve. A month later (give or take a couple of weeks), tertiary students head to university to begin or round out their degrees. It feels like the start of everything, and I – ever rapturous over freshly sharpened pencils – am happy. This year, I’m facing my ... Read More about the heart of education
A Time of Refreshing
When Christmas break rolls around, I rejoice because not only did I survive a semester (and final exams!), but I have a whole month to go before classes begin again. However, I realize I only have a month before classes begin again! Which means I want to buy next semester's textbooks early, and make sure my pencil supply is in good shape... It is so easy to get caught up in the prepping, though, that I lose sight of the wonderful opportunity ... Read More about A Time of Refreshing
In Defense of Rest
This summer I felt the Lord leading me to do something I've never done before. Translation: He challenged, and I balked. Story of my life. The task? Something simple, something Scriptural, something like...setting apart a Sabbath. It was summertime, but every time I thought of the upcoming semester, I heard that challenge repeated to take a day, once a week, just to rest from school. My immediate reaction was raised eyebrows. I rationalized ... Read More about In Defense of Rest
What I Learned from the MBTI Alphabet Soup: I’m a J
What Didn't Surprise Me It wasn't my type that surprised me. When I took the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a highly-esteemed personality assessment test) during a class last year, I was told I was an "INFJ." Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging. I immediately nodded, agreeing. I am an introvert: I recharge from an afternoon alone with a good book, although I enjoy one-on-one settings, too. I am intuitive (to a degree): I like ... Read More about What I Learned from the MBTI Alphabet Soup: I’m a J
A Visual Learner
I listened intently to the sermon on First John, wishing for the third consecutive Sunday that our pastor put a more detailed outline on the PowerPoint. My mind kept getting lost in the “transcription” process as I mentally tried to picture the words of the sermon as I heard them. By the end of the service, I promised myself that next Sunday I would take notes so perhaps I could actually remember the main points of the message. I never really ... Read More about A Visual Learner
Learning Styles: One Homeschooling Momma’s Inadvertent Journey
by Simply Darlene God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth and all the animals of the sea and the birds of the air and the critters of dry land, is also the One who made man. And in making us, He created us in His image (Genesis 1:27); but, He also swiped both our outsides and our insides with His varied brush stokes of individualism. Because all of this God-given uniqueness is sometimes hard to understand, we usually turn to ... Read More about Learning Styles: One Homeschooling Momma’s Inadvertent Journey
3 Daily Disciplines for a College Girl
So you're a college girl now? Congratulations! Maybe it's something you've always wanted or maybe it's a gift and a surprise. I hope and pray that this season of study is blessed in ways beyond what you can imagine now. The life of a college girl is different, in my experience, from the life of both a home girl and a working girl. The opportunities and pressures are different. And in the midst of your new life there are three disciplines that ... Read More about 3 Daily Disciplines for a College Girl
The Difference Between Twelve and Twenty-One
The Daydream The school buses in the back parking lot were what clued me in. I stared at their empty shells as I strode away from my truck and toward the center of campus. As I passed the pond, I realized what they were for. A group of school children gathered. They must have been bussed in for some special event (was that music I heard coming from the university chapel?), and now they were taking a tour. Navy shirts and khaki shorts. ... Read More about The Difference Between Twelve and Twenty-One
