Lying down. The moment I lay down next to him in his cozy bed, he opens his mouth. Out pours all the pain underneath of what we just experienced to be a three-hour angry outburst. Words come. Tears follow. I hold him and his brave elementary age, boy-man tears while he shares and talks and asks and processes. He experiences, …
To Be a Learner
There’s a podcast episode from the Robcast where he talks about how he used to go into relationships and situations to extract something from them, and now enters in for the sheer joy of being present to them. And those kinda truths just hit me upside the head. Because I tend to do the same. I go into something to …
Parenting at Eye Level
They start off as babes, and we hold them close, staring for hours at their always-near faces. Those satin cheeks and wondrous eyelashes, those perfectly pink puckered lips. We cradle, rock, and burp them over our shoulders. An arms reach away, they are soaked up and prayed over. Before we know it, they clench blankets and scoot forward. As they …
Allergic to Listening
Tanner. TanNER! TANNNNNNNNNNER! Are your shoes on yet? I’m scraping cereal flakes clinging to the edge of the kitchen table and yollering (yelling/hollering) down the hall to our oldest. It’s only been 3,800,00 times I’ve asked him this question. This morning alone. In addition to the 48 mornings before. Welcome to the Pogue Cottage. Our oldest is currently allergic to listening. Yes, I …
The art of Listening
As a former capital E for Extrovert, I believed listening had to do with the timed hand-off between when one person spoke, and the other added to the conversation. In high school, college, and those immature professional years following, when I thought I was a grown-up but still had much growing up to do, I misunderstood what listening was. Then, I …
It Is Well
We’re flying, screech young, jubilant voices as our plane climbs into clouds. A life-gobbling teenager reaches for the sky as if he’s on a roller coaster. My heart smiles. What an abundant, God-divined weekend it was. There are a million tiny pieces that led to the decision plunge for attending SheSpeaks Conference, a Christian women’s event for writers and speakers held …
How do you feel about your life?
If you and I were sitting at a quaint coffee shop, the hole-in-the-wall bests, with worn leather chairs, shelves lined with customer’s mugs, and dare I say it aloud? a fireplace, what beverage would you be sipping?