"A good beginning makes a good ending." These are the words encased in glass on the hallway wall of the university building I enter every day. Each year we welcome a new class of enthusiastic, wide-eyed pharmacy students eager to get to work and fulfill the requirements for their doctoral degree. They come from various states and countries with this one thing in common. And it doesn't take long before the novelty gives way to the reality of a rigorous and often grueling journey ahead. I always love the excitement that goes with meeting and greeting these new students. I've also always loved the process of preparing my own kids for a new school year. There's so many hopes of good things to come and expectations of great accomplishments. I think it's a prime moment in time when Continue Reading
The One Child-Like Truth that Changes Everything
Sometimes the difficult truth of self-acceptance is best learned from the heart of a child. She was about 6 years old with thick, brown ringlets draped across her pillow as she lay with folded hands to begin her nightly prayers. Her prayers were nothing grand. She spoke plain and simply to the God she knew very little of but trusted that He was as real as her best friend sleeping in the trundle next to her. This was her time to thank God for the largest and smallest joys of her day, and nothing was left to chance. Thank you, God, for my friend, for my grilled cheese sandwich, for my bubble bath, and for my new polka-dot socks. Thank you for mommy and daddy, my bubbies, memaw and pappy, and for all of my pets - turtles, beta fish, hamsters, rabbits, and dogs; the order never changed Continue Reading
Back-to-School Identity Series
Many of us will be sending our kids off to school in the next couple of weeks. We'll spend plenty of money, time and creativity to make sure everything is in place to set them up for a great school year. And after all the supplies have been purchased, organized, and labeled, we'll start slaying the fear dragons and calming the anxiety butterflies that come with the first day. We'll reassure them of how far they've come and where they're going. Each scribbled lunchbox reminder will encourage them to step out and believe in themselves, to make a friend, and trust that awkwardness will pass quickly. Through it all, we'll go above and beyond to make sure they know they are seen, understood, and known. Because that's what we do as parents. And we'll believe all the words we plant in Continue Reading
Send Your Daughter Out With a Blessing
Today, like so many mothers, I watch my daughter begin another year of school. She's not going far, but she is going out into a world filled with uncertainty an unmet promises. As mothers, we always long to fill the voids to ensure the path our daughter travels is as kind and forgiving as possible. We give her the best advice on how to stay safe. Equip her for the unexpected as best we can and make sure she has every number possible in case of an emergency. Still, we know we can't be there to always protect, always guide and always pick up the pieces of the unexpected. We can't stop her from making her own mistakes or choosing less than best. My friend, we were never meant to fill this role for our daughter. But we can lean into our Heavenly Father, who promises to provide all Continue Reading