Evidently, I am “in love with the mountains,” according to a friend’s recent description of me to her son after a trip to British Columbia. I mean… I’d prefer to be known for being in love with Jesus—or at the very least my husband (still waiting for him to make himself known!)—but I can’t exactly …
Category: Flourishing
What’s Going Right
As I browsed the new books section of the local library, one title immediately caught my attention: What’s Going Right? As someone continually searching for appreciative frameworks, I was intrigued. The author’s name, Paul Conti, seemed familiar, so I picked it up and began reading. Before I even made it out of the introduction, I …
For Good
On a drive through south-central Kentucky, it’s not uncommon to lose a radio signal while passing through a holler tucked between rocky cliffs. Yes, I still sometimes listen to that now-archaic format of music sent across the airwaves. And for younger generations, losing a radio signal often means losing a cellphone signal too. For that …
Eye is on the Robin
Had I attended the birding workshop at Clay Hill Memorial Forest or consulted Dr. Andy Madison, I might have understood what unfolded before me. Instead, I was given a quiet, everyday moment that carried a profound message—no pulpit, no sermon—just persistence revealed in real time. This spring, the message arrived in the form of a …
Cognitive Closure
When a season ends painfully or unexpectedly, the mind naturally searches for Cognitive Closure—a firm explanation that will quiet uncertainty and restore a sense of stability. Psychologically, this is understandable. When a story feels unresolved, we long for clarity, coherence, and a verdict about what happened and what it means. For faculty, whose vocation is …
Intellectual Hospitality
Flourishing doesn’t begin with answers, it begins with welcome. Flourishing at Life means we must discuss growth that is whole, durable, and faithful—growth that integrates body, mind, spirit, and vocation. Again and again, a quiet but powerful theme emerges: flourishing happens where people feel seen, heard, and invited into meaningful conversation. That posture has a …
Climate Change
As an educator who teaches environmental health, I could easily present statistics and expert opinions about the physical well‑being of our planet. But that’s not the Climate Change I want to talk about today. Instead, I want to invite you to consider a shift far more urgent than melting ice caps or receding glaciers: the …
Troublesome Women
In my earlier post Here Comes Trouble, I talked about the good kind of trouble—the kind that might even have you humming along to that 1990s country classic, “T‑R‑O‑U‑B‑L‑E.” But when we look at Jesus and His disciples, “trouble” takes on a deeper meaning. It isn’t distress or anxiety; it’s a holy disruption—an interruption that …
A Thousand Cuts
How did I feel when my institution’s all‑male leadership left me sitting alone on the row behind them at the conference athletic meetings? I remember wondering whether they would want their own wives to experience that same awkward moment—standing alone, excluded from the row, rather than welcomed as respected colleagues among their peers. I shrugged …
Flourishing Feet
Flourishing Feet… Really, feet?! I know—feet might seem like an odd place to begin a conversation about flourishing. Even those of you who have patiently endured my many God Winks involving the word flourishing may think I’ve finally stretched the metaphor too far. But stay with me. There’s a story here. Recently, in my graduate …
Flourishing @ Life 