October Newsletter Are You Valuable? Teenagers Ask This Question… I coach high school students. This means I sit across from them and listen carefully as they talk about their goals, struggles, and hopes for the future. My role is to ask great questions, pay attention to their reactions, and help them move forward. Here’s what...Continue Reading
We went to the woods… Last month, I chaperoned a freshmen retreat at our high school. For three days, 100 of us lived differently—in cabins, walking miles across the camp, eating meals together at long tables, challenging ourselves with archery, rock climbing, and epic games. The most significant challenge? No phones. Suddenly living with each...Continue Reading
Two realities defined this summer: Texas suffered a terrible heat wave and you ran hundreds of miles. Running and running and running. When the temperature stayed in triple digits? You ran. When you needed to unwind? You ran. When your legs throbbed, you still ran. You ran at 5 in morning, 5 at night, and...Continue Reading
Dear Elisabeth (on your first day of 10th grade)… Today, two of your teachers announced that theirs is the hardest class in high school. For the rest of us, this warning would worry us. But you love a challenge. Love it. Case in point, lifeguarding defined your summer. You heard the city pool needed guards, and the...Continue Reading
A month ago, our daughter Catie left for her summer at Camp Lone Star. She’s serving as a counselor. We’re happy for her to have this unique, wonderful experience. And we’re sad for us because we miss her so much. Last week, I got to serve as the V(ery) I(nspirational) P(erson) at CLS. Besides the...Continue Reading
Truths I learned from our freshmen twins & their first Homecoming… Some things change. After Catie’s four Homecomings, I kind of felt like a Homecoming veteran. I am not that. Because HoCo is really different as a mom of one independent girl than it is for two freshmen—especially when one of those freshmen is a...Continue Reading
Dear God, First, Lord, thanks for letting us get this far. Thanks for keeping her safe—through the years of croup, and riding her bike to the park alone, and driving alone on rainy Houston highways. Truly. I was terrified. I should have known You were in control. And thanks for college, God. Thanks for helping...Continue Reading
Dear Nate… (on your first day of Seventh Grade) This year is already different. You are different. You’re growing up, exploring everything, and very much transforming into your own person. I’m honored and exhilarated to watch you become your own, unique person. In a family of runners, you’re trying football instead. All your siblings hated...Continue Reading
Dear Sam (on your first day of high school), Here we are—fifteen years old, freshman in high school, and learning to drive. It feels exactly right for you to be tackling these milestones, and also a bit startling. To see you in the halls of high school, with boys who are 6’2 and girls who...Continue Reading
Dear Mom of a New Senior- This will be one of the biggest years of your life. I just finished it and can now see what I didn’t know. Mostly, this year will feel like planning a big wedding, with celebrations for ten months straight. Then, right after the big event, you prepare for the...Continue Reading
