Reggie Joiner This is one of my favorite Christmas pictures. It was taken by Elissa Eubanks, who works for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. It just seems to make the season a little more real. Sure, we all love to imagine the larger-than-life, all-knowing, mystical Santa who can travel everywhere on the planet in a single…
Mike Tiemann Call me sentimental, but I’m a big believer in making memories. I’m also a big believer in capturing those memories for later. It’s not that I don’t enjoy living in the moment. But I’m a classic introvert in the sense that I’m an observer. I process information (and even emotion) over time. Often the…
Tricia Lott Williford Christmas can feel complicated. We can feel lots of emotions at once: harried with many things to do, spread thin inside a calendar filled with parties and people you may or may not actually want to see, longing for—or freedom from—Christmases past, with a ribbon of delight and a sprinkling of awe…
Mike Tiemann Be honest. How do you feel when you hear the word “service”? Does it fire you up? Or does it make you feel a little guilty? Maybe it’s a little of both. I imagine most of us have a nagging feeling inside that we should be doing more to serve others. Typically, during…
Adriana Howard If I knew then what I know now . . . You know the saying “If I knew then what I know now”? Depending on the day, I feel differently about it. I mean, some days, I think that if I had the opportunity to do or say or act differently in a…
Liz Hansen For most of us, the concept of honor is inextricably linked with flags and Fourth of July, military salutes and Veteran’s Day. After all, the men and women who put their lives on the line for the sake of our freedom are definitely deserving of recognition for the brave work they do. But…
Ashley Bohinc The School Dance I remember the first time I became super aware of the way I looked. It was my first middle school dance, and, as an eighth grader, this was a pretty big deal. I had waited my entire middle school career to be allowed to attend a school dance (my parents…
Sarah Bragg Even if you aren’t an anxious person, I am willing to bet that you carry quite a few worries as a parent. We can create some wild stories in our minds based on our worries. And some of the wildest stories in our mind begin not with the phrase, “Once upon a time”…
November 6, 2019 Autism, Challenges, Special Needs Parenting This past April I wrote the first part of this blog, based on a workshop that I and my writing colleague, Sarah Broady, presented at Key Ministry’s Inclusion Fusion Conference that month and also presented at the Wonderfully Made Conference in October. The workshop is based on a conversation…
Being fourteen months younger than my sister with Down syndrome wasn’t always easy. We were a grade apart in school, in a town where everyone knew everyone else. I was occasionally referred to as “Syble’s sister” instead of by my own name. When people made jokes about the kids on the short bus or used…