Since encountering the word flourish in this research over a year ago, the term has repeatedly appeared, almost daily, in my life since; and as I described in the blog post What’s Your Word, the word is becoming foundational to my writing and study. During this same time frame, I have continued to listen to …
Category: Spiritual Life
Shift the Spiral
Imagine, if you will, these two scenarios: (1) your toddler is throwing a fit in the produce section of your local grocery and the situation is spiraling downward quickly; or (2) your name was accidentally omitted from a document related to reaching a milestone at your employer which results in a few tears being shed. …
Unfinished Misfit
“Hello, my name is Julie, and I am a Misfit.” A blessed and Unfinished Misfit; but still a misfit, at least according to culture’s current standards when contemplating the expected milestones which measure a typical white, middle-class American’s lifespan. In previous seasons of life, I would have irritably snubbed such ridiculous pigeon-holing, but after plunging …
Armor On
There is no way I will make it through this blog post without a reference to one of my favorite movies, Gladiator, so just let me alleviate the anticipation now. (Referenced previously in Face Down in the Arena). If you’ve never seen this epic saga of ancient Rome, I encourage you to view it from …
Bump the Tree
“Let’s say you’re like Mother Teresa (or me, for that matter) and you don’t feel God’s presence often, if at all. What if, somehow, you knew that this would always be the case, for the rest of your life? What if you knew you’d never get the warm feelings others get, you’d never have your …
His Favorite
Every little girl who has ever read, watched, or listened to a love story or song has imagined the surreal feeling of experiencing the ideal romance and being considered a young man’s favorite. It’s been acted out with their Barbie dolls (sometimes with Star Wars figurines too), it’s the source of diary entries, and the …
Hygge
It’s pronounced hoo-gah. See, reading does make you smarter, even if it’s just a weird educator’s blog post! Being introduced to this Danish term in The Flourishing Teacher, I was intrigued enough to search for more as I felt it captured an important component of a flourishing life. Lake launches this concept as she describes …
How Do You Worship?
Have you ever been the recipient of an unexpected revelation from a surprising source? This experience seems to be occurring rather frequently for me in the last few months. Whether the resource was recommended or just stumbled upon, concepts are being exposed in a new light. It’s not uncommon these days to be reading about …
Daddy, I Need You
Imagine the scene described by Vance Pitman in his book entitled Unburdened (and I highly recommend reading the entire story instead of my pitiful abbreviation here) where he describes a moment during an independent stage with his three-year old daughter. One morning as they were leaving the house, his daughter was walking with shoelaces untied …
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise
If you didn’t read the title with a Gomer Pyle voice and if you are unaware of who he is, your life has been deprived. Please stop reading now, go to a search engine, and solve the mystery before you read any further. nytimes.com Continuing the theme from the last post entitled Surprise and Delight, …
Flourishing @ Life 