Teachers

“It wasn’t what I was expecting, Mom.”   Those reflective words from my five-year-old come from countless experiences of navigating transitions and life together. The intersection of...

“Mommy, how do you get a baby in your tummy?” If you’re a parent, there’s a good chance you’ve been asked many sweet, innocent questions like this one that are hard to answer.  The...

Is your Christmas shopping done yet? Yes? Congratulations, you win Christmas this year! No? Good luck. Haven’t you heard about all the shipping delays, inventory shortages, and lack of...

I first met Ben when he was a freshman in my English class. He did something one day that I believe will stick with me for the rest of my teaching career. Every once in a while, I’ll...

Has anyone else realized the horror of “Decades Day” as a part of Spirit Week all around the country? Those of us who have teenagers under our care may be familiar. During Spirit Week...

In my last blog, I wrote about how grace drives excellence. Particularly, I pointed out the importance for the Lutheran educator to strive toward excellence in his craft of teaching. I...

There are forty-one days until Thanksgiving, forty-four days until the start of Advent, seventy-one days until Christmas morning, and seventy-eight days until the beginning of the new...

David understood the reality of his own mortality. As king, he represented a people who lived under constant threat from foreign enemies, foes who would gladly have seen the Lord’s...

“I hope we are going to learn about Jesus!” These were the words my three-year-old, and newly minted preschooler, spoke to me as we chatted about what she might do at school the next...

Grace impels excellence. St. Paul enjoins the Christians in Colossae, “to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God our Father through him” (Col. 3:17)....

Back-to-school season feels full of possibilities this year. The possibility that school will feel a little more “normal” this year seems within reach, as some schools shift away from...

In this “Back to School!” time of year, what are your routines? You may be back in school already or preparing for its arrival in the coming weeks. It is this time of year that—whether...

Do you usually write or speak when you communicate with another person? With rapid advances in technology and widespread use of social media, you probably switch back and forth between...

As a mom to two children under the age of five, I am constantly in the throes of laying groundwork for what I expect and teaching boundaries in a world that doesn’t seem to expect...

The Lutheran school system is a strange place, theologically speaking. It stands in the gap between a world of rules and a world of forgiveness. Following the scriptural insights of...

My son, who loves to spend time drawing, has a hard time with his drawings not turning out exactly how he envisioned them in his mind. For a long time, he would only spend time drawing...

While reading a child’s version of the biography of Johann Sebastian Bach to my students recently, I was struck with how much Bach learned from the “masters.” When practicing and...