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Motherhood: The Measuring Stick – Part 2
Yesterday after reading my post, my sweet and thoughtful friend Eileen questioned me on my use of Jesus as a measuring stick – her concern being not only I was setting impossible standards but was attempting to attain the same position as God, something that got the Archangel Lucifer booted from Heaven. I don’t believe that godliness (a term often used in Christian circles) means deeming oneself to be like God or on the same level as God. I believe…
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Motherhood: The Measuring Stick – Part 1
By nature, I am a student. I love the entire process – the initial curiosity, the exploration, finding answers, applying the answers, and the evaluation. When I finished my PhD back in 2007, I found myself at a loss. I switched to the role of teacher and suddenly the only measurement of my work was if I was kept employed and student feedback. Typically the students that give you feedback are the disgruntled ones. As a mom I feel it’s…
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Elastic Strain, Plastic Strain and Hysteresis
When you add weight to a rubber band, it stretches. When you remove that weight, it returns to its original shape but not along the same path. As you remove the weight incrementally, the band contracts slightly less than it was stretched until the last weight is removed – this property is called hysteresis. If you were to observe a diagram of the stress and strain during the loading and unloading, you’d see a loop – as long as the…
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I can't be your friend because you're too pretty
What is it about body image that emotionally confines us to living with our own preconceived ideas of people’s character and their judgment of us? Generally, I am deluded enough to classify myself as a nonjudgmental woman, one who bases her friendships on character, common interests, shared humor, etc. However, recently I’ve found myself living out old high school insecurities about my physical appearance, allowing it to dictate how I approach other women and how I think they are approaching…
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Thoughts on Friendship
Yesterday morning, my friend Claire and her son Tav came by for a visit. While Claire and I were enjoying good conversation, Scooby and Tav were a little ornery and unsure what to do with themselves, so they alternated between snacks, trucks, fridge magnets and mama begging. About 45 minutes into their visit, Scooby takes Claire by the hand, and leads her through the kitchen and dining room and then stops with her at the front door and looks up…
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Lies About Longing and Wholeness
It terrifies me that as Christian women we often propagate the idea that we are not whole until we are both married and have children. We train single women’s hearts and minds in preparation to some day be good wives and mothers, and we teach mothers how to be better mothers. Often, all other classifications of women (married no kids, widowed, divorced, abandoned, once had children and have suffered their loss, celibate anyone?) slip through the cracks. While I believe…
