Listen to the audio version I faked it for them for so long that I started to believe what I was saying. That’s the power of words. I once read that you should be careful what you say to your children because your words become the voice in their heads. I’ve also heard that children do as we do, not as we say. Based on this, I’ve taken great pains to speak highly of myself - my intellect, my body, my appearance - in front of my children, especially my daughter. Interestingly, I faked it for...
12 days ago • 3 min read
Listen to the Audio It’s safe to be seen. Being seen is not the same as being judged. I had surgery this winter. The kind that leaves you swollen, and with fluid pooling in places you didn’t know could hold it. Between the surgery, some pre-existing health conditions, and winter doing what winter does, my body didn’t bounce back the way I thought it would. The way I knew it could. I’ve transformed my body before. After having two sets of twins in two years, I was so large and out of shape...
19 days ago • 4 min read
Her confidence held up a mirror to every place I hadn't grown and hadn't healed. And it was easier to leave than to look.Listen to the audio here. 🗣️ Listen to audio version here Years ago I called my bestfriend Sadie during a thunderstorm and asked her to drive out of state with me. I was in crisis - something with my boyfriend, the kind of thing that feels like it can't wait. To my surprise, she said no - she'd had oral surgery that day and was in terrible pain. I was pissed. So I stopped...
26 days ago • 3 min read
When you think less of yourself than God does, you’ll keep paying for permission you already have. On the go? Listen to the audio here. When I Googled “how to start a school,” Acton Academy was the first link. I explored the website and saw my own values reflected back — what school was actually for, what learning could look like. I applied immediately to open an Acton affiliate school. In my interview, I convinced the network founder that despite his belief, there was a market for...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
You weren't wired to wait for your life to happen to you. You were formed to build it, with Him, through Him, reflecting Him. On the go? Listen to the audio here. For years I treated God as part genie, part enforcer. I’d ask and wait for Him to send solutions. Careful not to be too greedy or too worldly. Then He showed me I was the solution He’d already sent. When I started The Lab School, I didn’t have a complete vision. I had a problem (children who needed something that didn’t exist yet)...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
God won’t bless you beyond your self-imposed standards. If you believe there’s never enough, you can be sure there never will be. On the go? Listen to the audio here. Not long ago, I sat in a courtroom, trying to keep my face neutral as the judge made a spectacle of scanning our bank statements. Every few minutes she’d broadcast a specific purchase or payment as “evidence.” The implication was clear: we shouldn’t have these things. We should be driving “a hooptie” (her words, not mine). We...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
I asked God to show me His truth in spite of the numbers. And then I made a plan. On the go? Listen to the audio here. When my 15-year on-again, off-again relationship with my ex-husband and children’s biological father finally ended for good, I decided I needed to know what I was up against. I’d heard the statistics about children raised by single mothers. In fact, I’d used them to justify previous attempts to repair that relationship, you know, “for the kids.” Ironically, their biological...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Stop waiting for the circumstances to visibly shift before you start behaving like the person you're becoming. On the go? Listen to the audio here. When I was starting my microschool, I scheduled a virtual open house for interested families prior to opening. I spent hours working on the slide deck, preparing responses to questions I anticipated, and sharing and resharing my novice attempt at marketing assets. By the evening of the open house, I felt fully prepared and excited to share the...
2 months ago • 2 min read
What truth are you ignoring because you don't like the messenger? On the go? Listen to the audio here. Recently, a former colleague was in need of support. And I had the capacity and resources to help. But I didn’t. Not because I didn't want to help, but because history has proven this colleague was not willing to receive support from me. So I started strategizing...who else could deliver this resource? Who could I route guidance through so the resources would be accepted and, more...
2 months ago • 2 min read