Legacy
Last night was graduation. It is always a bittersweet time for me. I am happy – the students work hard for years to earn their diplomas. But I am also sad – I hate losing students I have come to love. This year’s class is especially close to my heart. I have taught some of them since 8th grade (my one and only year teaching 8th grade English). They are also an “artsy” bunch – I love the artsy kids! But, more than anything, they are a Jesus-loving group. I have a weekly Bible study with the senior girls. We started out this year with me asking what they hoped to accomplish their senior year. All of the girls said they wanted to a leave a legacy to their fellow students – a legacy of faith and action and love. As the year went on, they worked to...
Perfect Attendance Awards Should Be Banned
Period. If a kid is sick, he needs to stay home. I don’t want him coming to school, breathing all over me and my healthy family just so he can get an award. I’d like to make a new award: “The thank-you-for-staying-home-when-you-were-sick” award. Kids who come to school every day won’t be eligible. No awards for them. Only shame and embarrassment. Perfect attendance will result in detentions. A healthy return from an illness-related absence = ice cream. For the kids who actually are healthy an entire school year – they have their reward. No doctors’ visits, no antibiotics, no forced days on the couch watching Lifetime movies and overdosing on OJ. I know some of you are reading my blog and crying because I won’t...
Happily Ever After
Seventeen years ago today, I married David Alan McGee. It was a small wedding, inexpensive. We had neither the budget nor the desire to spend a fortune on our day. We just wanted to get married and to have our family and friends there to watch. We were young (21 and 27), but we knew what we were getting into. We knew marriage would be hard, that the “for worse” parts would come, but we also knew that marriage was God’s idea. We knew if we committed our marriage to Him, He would help us through the difficult times. We also knew God brought us together. We prayed about dating, we prayed while dating. I have only had a handful of moments in my life where I have heard God speaking directly to my soul. “Dave McGee is the one” is one...
What the &@#% is the Big Deal About Cursing?
Seriously. Words are words, right? Why do people make such a big deal about certain ones? Here’s what I think: 1. As Christians, we are told, “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt…” (Col. 4:6). I have never, in my lifetime, heard someone curse graciously. 2. Many curse words include the name of God. That name is holy. It should be used with the utmost respect. (Ex. 20:6-8) 3. There are millions of words in the English language. We should look for those words that best explain what we are thinking and feeling. So if you’re upset and feel like cursing, try saying this instead: Your choleric outburst has left me perterbed Cease your nugatory interactions Your boorish behavior is bedeviling I do not anticipate ever being...
An Extroverted Introvert
People who know me would say, without hesitation, that I am an extrovert. The poster child for extroverts. I love talking, love laughing, love people. I will stand in front of a crowd and do just about anything. It takes a lot to embarrass me, a lot to make me nervous. I always wore the title “extrovert” with pride. That’s how God made me. I am loud. I speak without thinking and get into trouble, sometimes. Occasionally, my attempts at humor don’t quite make it, causing a spectacular “wap-wah” moment for myself and everyone around me. God has worked in me to make me more aware of others, less self-centered; He is working on me to listen more than I speak. I am not “there” yet, as those of you who read this blog...
Good Gifts
“God delights in giving good gifts to His children.” It sounds so simple. So easy. But this is something that has taken me years to fully embrace. “God’s people will suffer.” I get that. “Life is hard. God is good.” Been there. But recently, God has been showering me….no, flooding me…with good gifts. One right after another. And I have struggled. At first, I felt guilty. So many people I know are struggling. Yet, I have a fabulous family, I am writing books and teaching great kids and enjoying so many blessings every day. But as I struggled, I have felt God speaking to my soul: “Enjoy, Krista.” The pastor at the church we attended in Texas used to say that God occasionally gives us “glimpses of the kingdom.” Little reminders that what...
