Welcome!

Just after the New Year, I heard about a website that was encouraging people to buck the standard New Year’s resolution list and come up with one word instead. One word that would describe what you wanted for your life in the new year. It was so bizarre, but the word that immediately came forth was, illuminate. This was so weird to me because that's not even a word that I use. I mean who goes around saying, illuminate. I'm not even sure I can use it in a sentence and yet as the discussion continued I could not get that word out of my head. And so that's my word for the year. Illuminate. Actually it reminds me of one of my favorite verses from the book of Matthew. I know we're not supposed to take scripture out of context, but I think God will be o.k. with it, so I'm going to go for it. Matt 5:16 says, "Let you light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." I think my Mother started reciting this verse to my siblings and I while we were still in the womb. This verse was a real downer for me at various stages of my life because who can knowingly make wrong choices when your Mother springs that verse on you as you leave the house. "Be the sweetest one....let your light shine...."

In truth (and not just to inflict guilt) my parents raised us to let our lights shine. They raised us to pursue excellence. They raised us to BE excellent. And yet, as I venture cautiously into the whole parenthood thing, it seems that even with all the talk of freedoms and choices, even with a culture of ambition and limitless possibilities, we don't always encourage excellence. Sometimes it seems as if we encourage “same-ness.” Last week I was trying to explain my feelings about this to a friend and she called it the tall poppy syndrome. I googled it....it's a real thing! Basically, we feel better about ourselves if no one rises to a level above our own. This is so sad to me. I want my children to be humble and gracious but I also want them to know it's o.k. to shine.

My least favorite saying in the entire universe is "You are all winners." No you’re not. If Coulter's team doesn't score the most points then he is on the losing side and I want him to know how to handle that. On the other hand, if he wins 1st place in a debating competition, (which I’m fairly confident is a good possibility given our “debates” at home) then I want him to receive that recognition and be proud of his hard work.

“These little lights of mine” are obviously Coulter and Emma Claire. They are also the many, many children, students, friends and family that light up my life each day. Welcome to the blog…may we go on an illuminating journey together!