The trails I walk have personalities. Unicoi Lake is my good friend and companion. Dukes Creek Falls is where I go in times of pressure…when I need to run away from life. It happens from time to time. Stress builds and I just need air. Perspective. Movement. Release. This trail was the first one I … Continue reading Pressure Walk

I got what I affectionately call “the chicken shot” today. The name is not derived from the fact that I am a chicken when it comes to shots. (Though that is an accurate play on words for me.) The nickname comes from the fact that it is chicken cartilage the consistency of jelly, and they … Continue reading The Chicken Shot

Contrary to the fact that Ms. V believes I am teaching her, I have found that, in fact, she is the teacher and I the student. I have found it is like any ministry you do for others. You go thinking you are going to change their world, and instead they change yours. The first … Continue reading Adventures with Ms.V.

Had a hard day today. Trying to work a computer program that is new. On the phone for hours trying to get up to speed enough to teach teachers how to use it. Superintendent came by after school to share the budget crunch we are in as a system. Wanted to put it out there … Continue reading Until

In a small community like ours, any tragedy hits hard. When the victim is a child, my first question is why? Why, when our community…when our children… are praying for a miracle, why would the miracle not come? It is a heart wrenching question that grips my heart like a vice. It hurts. This pain … Continue reading Greg Hammond

I should be reading or writing a paper for a class I am taking. Instead, I am caught up in the storm outside my window, so much so that I move to the porch to take it all in. In my pj’s, sitting with my eyes closed, I listen. The thunder is in surround sound … Continue reading Just Listen

I was sitting in bed reading a book for my class. (Yes, I am back in school again.) Anyway, I was reading and Peter came in looking for bandages for his toes, because he had two ingrown toenails removed yesterday. He pulled down the first aid bin from the closet and plopped it right on … Continue reading Flashback Moment

Ever had a moment when you just knew you were in the right place at the right time? I had one of those yesterday that has captured my heart. It was a teaching moment, turned divine appointment. In the story one of my small groups was reading, we came across the word ‘miraculously.’ The students … Continue reading A vocabulary lesson

We left William at 9:00 p.m. in front of his dorm. Once we were in the car, I wept as we drove away. I wondered if a mother bird feels this way when she pushes her baby out of the nest, hoping it will fly and not crash. She can only watch to see what … Continue reading The Cycle of Life- 9/11

If you remember last time I wrote about Bella, our Siberian Husky, she was on her way to run the Idarod in Alaska dragging me behind her in my pajamas. Since then she has been behaving herself fairly well aside from the fact she has turned Houdini. A master escape artist, she has broken out … Continue reading Snow Dog Part 2 (without snow)