Summer 2023!

Summer. It’s summer. YEAH! It’s summer!

For many years, when I was a mom of littles, summer meant all of the children home, which meant that I needed to up my game as a caregiver. I made summer plans, which included keeping my children occupied, my house somewhat clean, and my sanity intact. 

For the last several years, as a mom of bigs, summer has meant lazy days, as the kids slept forever and ever, then, once up, kept themselves busy with friends, projects, and summer jobs. 

This year summer means something altogether different. If I am honest, I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to summer as much as I have in the past several months, as I finished up a year of teaching full-time at Holy Spirit Catholic School in Goddard, Kansas.

Now, truth be told, I’m thrilled to have an entire day that is open and I am able to have some time to actually sit down and write. I cannot wait to do some blogging and podcasting - I have thoughts swirling around in my head that need to find a home. 

But back to this school year, my focus for the past nine months has revolved around keeping 31 middle school students involved in the process of reading and writing. 

What have I loved about teaching? Well, I don’t know if you’ve ever had this experience, but when I read a good book, it overtakes me. I become entrenched in the story, and I emerge on the other side a different person. This year I had the unbelievable joy of inviting students into literature. I am of the mind that everyone can learn to love reading - they just need to find the right book. 

I did have one female student who told me that she was not a reader, and she proved it by taking weeks to read one book, which was a feat in itself, since she was given 30 minutes to read in class every day. Well, around January she came into my room, shaking with excitement. She held up The Selection, a book by Kiera Cass and declared that it was the best book she had ever read. She more or less told me that her life would never be the same.

I know. That’s what a good book will do. It makes us FEEL on many levels, allowing us to become more of who we really are!

She went on to read the rest of that series. It took her days. Isn’t that amazing? She was irreversibly transformed when she found the right book.  

I’ve loved helping the students discover that they do have things to say, and that they can write. Being immersed in the writing process with them has given me great pleasure.   

However, around the beginning of December I told my principal, Mr. Brandon Relph, that there was no way I would teach again, ever. I was dying of fatigue, and my family was dying of hunger. I had not made a meal for them in months. Russ had not received much “attention” because I was usually counting down the minutes until I could reasonably go to sleep. (Was 8:30 p.m. too early?)

I declared, “This is no way to live.” I wanted to go back to my normal life, filled with blogging, giving retreats, planning meals, exercising. I wanted my time back. I wanted to have coffee with friends. 

There was one little problem, which my husband brought to my attention: I had fallen in love with teaching. I enjoyed the students. I cried when I read their papers, and not with tears of sorrow, but tears of joy, knowing the absolute power and wonder that many of them were experiencing as writers. 
 
That darn husband. 

I knew one thing: something had to change in the second semester. I knew I needed to change my routines, so I went to the library, checked out a ton of books on Making Better Life Choices and I read. I applied. Because I love being in community, I invited others to join me, knowing that we could help each other. I called the group "Life. Be in it!" 

For the past five months the women in that group have been extremely intentional with our way of living, analyzing what does not work in our daily routines and creating a more workable plan of action. 
 
It has been a precious five months, and I am not willing to go back to where I was. I want to keep the momentum going.

My next plan of action is to facilitate a live June-July-August group, which I’ve been thinking of as a quest. I desire that God become God of my life; I want to more fully surrender myself into His strength.  I want the life He has died to give me, a superabundant life. The end goal is to live in true freedom, which is not to be a certain body weight, but rather, to let Him guide me in my life.

The two areas that I am going to work on:

 ~surrendering to Him in prayer
~having the discipline to listen to my body's signals (I eat past full)

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AND THAT, my dear friends, is going to be how I spend my summer: working on being deliberate and intentional in the area of real nourishment. 
 
So, if you are inclined to improve your life in the area of FAITH and FOOD, consider joining me on this summer journey. Find out more: Life! Be in it! Summer 2023. 

Love, Lori

P.S. I did decide to teach next year, so this summer routine thing is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. I want to thrive, not just limp along. My family deserves the best version of me. If that is you, please join me! 


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