The Power of Restraint… The first day of 9th grade, a teacher stopped me in the hall on my way to class. “Are you in my class?” Me, confused, “I don’t know? What is your class?” “Cross-Country, if you are not in my class, you need to be in my class, let’s go get your […]

There is no promise of ease in this life, but I still want it. We all do, and unfortunately, the comforts of our Western culture reinforce and coddle us into a false reality. A reality that everything in our environment and life should be “just right”, should bend to my comfort, and make me “feel” […]

My marriage started falling apart two weeks after our wedding. I was 20 years old and a Junior in college. I ended up at one of my best friends’ dorm rooms that night, sleeping on a bunk bed, when just two weeks earlier I was walking down an aisle in my wedding dress. Our dating […]

Some families are born into wealth. I have been acquainted with some, you know those who planned out their children’s births to be exactly four years apart so that they would not have any children in college at the same time, as they foot the bill and all their expenses. Then releasing the trust fund […]

Fall is such a special time when you live in a state where the leaves turn colors. We all anticipate the cool crisp air that makes you want to be outside, huddled around a campfire with friends with apple cider in one hand and a skewer in the other roasting marshmallows.    The things that make […]

I had resisted the idea of “A Safe Place” for a long time. I thought it was pretty unreasonable in light of a very dangerous, cruel world. The masses are not safe and life is not going to be safe. As I would hear people advocating for workplaces to be safe and wanting emotional safety, […]

A tornado hit my little Bartlesville and my beautiful trail where I run was hit. It was closed for weeks! I have run on the section of the Pathfinder starting at the high school trailhead, for years! I know the path like the back of my hand. I am comfortable on my little 3-mile path. Out and […]

I recently was in Colorado and toured the Argo Mill and Mine. It was fascinating hearing about the mine that was built in the 1800’s, seeing the process, taking in the old structures, and hearing the stories of the people that worked in the mine. The mine was a dangerous place to work and the […]

In the West, we often tend to think in straight linear lines. We want problems, 1 + 1= 2, and we want to know the “right” way to solve the problem and then do it. We want our laws, rules, and religion to easily explain all truth and what is right and wrong. We are […]

You know what? I can be really insecure about writing because I am horrible with phonics! I cannot spell to save my life! One of the scariest things in the world for me is to have to read out loud in front of people or to stand at a whiteboard and spell things. So that […]