The Days Behind and Just Ahead

In the past months, the child has grown. Ivan and I have not grown, at least not physically. I hope we have learned a thing or two about life and living it well. Here are a few favorite photos of all of us, and a video that I love, taken near the end of January.

I finished my second-to-last class toward completing my communications degree and won’t take the final class until May. In the meantime, I am working again at a 7th-10th grade creative writing curriculum for Christian Light Publications. Most recently, our team has been privileged to work with Kyle and Claudia Lehman on the poetry unit. You may know Claudia as the author of Under a Silent Sky and several other books. Both have published poetry at The Curator.

Mid-January, I did a podcast discussion on Turtle Heart with Asher Witmer, which you can watch on YouTube or listen to via podcast if you’re interested. Asher has links to both on his blog. Both fortunately and unfortunately for me, I did not realize a video as well as audio version of our discussion would be published. Fortunately, because I was not stressed out at all, thinking I had been there, done that, with Dru. Unfortunately, because I no doubt had some odd moments on camera. I remember one moment in particular when Ivan walked in and put a sweet note on the table beside me, and I read the note and got this huge smile on my face that had nothing to do with what Asher was saying. Plus, I looked down a lot and scribbled wise things on a sheet of notepaper (Just kidding, actually it was stick people, stars, and smiley faces.) Maybe, just maybe, Asher’s smoothed out the kinks like Dru did. I haven’t watched it to know.

Starting Saturday, Turtle Heart embarks on a blog tour with Celebrate Lit. I am excited about that and will post a list of the blog reviewers come Saturday. There’s also a giveaway you are welcome to join…check back for the announcement Saturday.

I read a blog post recently, “What I Love about You, Small Boy.” The blogger is Trish, who lives and works in the immigrant community in Andalusia, Spain, far from her own Illinois family. This post is not her most recent, but it’s one that I loved. If you are interested in cultures, relationships, and reading moments in a life that feel close enough touch, you will enjoy her blog.

That’s all for this short update. Sometime soon, maybe next week or the week after, I want to write about performance: maybe performance as it relates to marriage or maybe just performance. Performance and me are buddies, you see. We have a kind of unhealthy, codependent relationship that I would like to break.

Do any of you have thoughts or insights on performance? If so, I’d like to hear from you. Comment below.