I fasted once this week. I don’t say that for a pat on the back. In fact, I’m not a good faster for several reasons. First, I wasn’t fasting primarily for spiritual reasons. Last week was Thanksgiving and, well, I ate. Also, I’m about to quit breastfeeding, and, well, that burns calories. I still have about 10 more pounds of…
She told me of a sexual action she took that she knew was probably not the smartest decision. “But YOLO,” she said. I was reminded of ROLOs, that yummy caramel center wrapped with milk chocolate. I didn’t get how ROLOs helped her to come to this unwise decision. Suddenly needing chocolate and caramel, I asked, “YOLO?” “Yeah. . . You…
On the first day of classes, I taught on memory—why it’s important and what it does to us and for us. Lately, I feel like I can’t remember anything—lack of sleep with a three-month-old and a toddler will do that to you. But I was reminded of the transformative power of my ten-year journal. It changes me, even when my…
It was New Year’s Eve, 1995. I had just graduated from college that May and moved to Asunción Paraguay in July for my first adult job as a kindergarten teacher. It was summer in the southern hemisphere, and we were on summer break at a time when I was used to cold temperatures and piles of snow in my native New…
When Wanda Velez, Wanda Walborn, and I met in the fall of 2010 to plan a rite of passage for spring, 2011, I never dreamed that Woman would grow to be a year-long process, produce a two journal articles and The Book of Womanhood, and form a strong community of around 30 mentors, 144 alumnae. We started small! Women that I know and…
I’ve often wondered why “thou shalt not covet” is on that list of ten commandments. It seems so much less important than actions like killing, lying, and the like. Why is coveting, wanting what someone else has, being jealous, even on that list? I mean, if we were to make a list of ten things we really, really didn’t want people…
Why would I want to be a Martha? Isn’t Martha’s example is usually one that women are encouraged not to follow, rather than to follow? So, why would I place single Martha as an example with women like Deborah, Huldah, and Mary in the #BookofWomanhood? And perhaps the thought that Martha was single has never stood out in the story. Deborah,…
Just last week, I was waxing eloquent on the theological meaning of our human bodies, the impact of physicality on spirituality and vice versa, the importance of listening to our bodies and giving them what they need. . . And then it came up. By “it,” I mean a question about masturbation. She raised her hand and asked, “If we’re…
When I’m depressed, angry, and ready to quit, I get this little red book out. Sometimes I have to get it out every day for months; other times, months pass without needing it. It’s my gratefulness journal. It was inspired by Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts (here’s her website). I read the book and bought this moleskin journal. My gratefulness…
Hope is a verb. It’s not something we have. It’s something we do. And sometimes it’s one of the hardest verbs—it ranks right up there with endure, persevere, suffer. In the midst of long singleness, we hope for a partner. . . Faced with infertility, we hope for a baby. . . In sickness, we hope for healing. . . When unemployed, we…