Devotions of a High Heeled Warrior

 If you are involved in education, you recognize that the last couple of years have been hard. I think I've honestly said, "This is a weird year, but it's has to get better." for three years now. We made it through COVID virtual education. Then we spent two years catching children up from virtual education. This is the side effects I've seen from living with a COVID society in children. Keep in mind that for some of these kids, most of their lives have been dealing with the fear of viral disaster. There has been a unifying occurrence across ages from preschoolers to young adults. Anxiety and fear is a common denominator. Think about it. Adults were freaking out if someone coughed in public, touched something without hand sanitizer, or lowered their mask. There was a fear of the unknown. What would happen if you got the virus? What would happen if you got the vaccine? What would happen to our economy? Would I be able to get toilet paper? This fear filtered down to ...

As I watched my youngest child graduate high school yesterday,  I felt mixed emotions. There was the joy that we survived all the emotional ups and downs that coexist with high school attendance, but there was also a sadness that I've approached the end of an era in raising my children. Don't get me wrong. I will always be there for my children and mother them, but our relationships have evolved into a new area of standing back and watching them put what they've learned over the years into practice. So as my youngest took that walk to accept his diploma, I was proud and sentimental. Here are some things you may not have known about my youngest. He is one of the gentlest young men I know. Because of this little kids love him. I imagine the picture of Jesus sitting, surrounded by children wanting to hang out with Him. This is my son. He is extremely forgiving. During much of his school life, he would come home and tell me some of the mean things said to him. You may not kn...

  As many know, my oldest son graduated from college yesterday. All of my children are amazing, young adults, but today I'll focus on Trenton's accomplishments. You may not know that he not only graduated with a degree in History and Education, but also passed Firefighter 1 and 2 for Missouri and completed training for EMT. While simultaneously going to school full-time, he also worked as a volunteer firefighter for Western Taney fire department. He would spend the evenings studying, then wake up at two in the morning to rush to the aid of his community.  There were some nights that he rushed to an emergency three times in the early morning and some nights he didn't sleep at all, only to go to class covered in soot and exhausted. At the college, he also worked 15 hours a week.  When he was in junior high school, he encountered some struggles with an activity to which he participated. We told him that life will be hard at times, but the key was sticking it out when times...