Contemplations of a Mommy "Monk"

This morning I have two things pressing on my mind and they both led me to the same scripture commanding action and changes to improve culture .  I've been doing some self-analysis for the past month.  We did a perceptions survey at work and the results were pretty hard to hear which has led to digging deep to figure out what needs to change.  If I want to build a positive culture in my school, I have to take ownership of where we've fallen short as leaders.  I recently read an article in Harvard Review about building trust among staff.  The author identified 3 areas that can make leaders less likely to be trusted by their employees: Can I trust your reasoning and judgment?  Are you as a leader authentic and real with us?  Do you care about me and my success, are you empathetic?  As I assessed myself as a leader to consider where my shortcomings might be, I was surprised to see that I do not present myself as an empathetic leader.  I genu...

This morning I am feasting on the Word of God, savoring every nuance, drinking deeply of the truth God speaks.  I'm letting Him fill me up to overflowing with hope, peace and love as I soak in Psalm 23.  Even though I've heard these words many times, they are fresh and new today. I shall not want. We live in a fast-paced consumer-driven society.  There is always something more, something better and our hunger seems to never be satisfied.  I think we have a tendency to be compulsively busy, getting antsy if there isn't something to occupy our minds or our hands.  This sitting at home business is boring and maybe it's just me, but I find myself itching to go somewhere, do something, or else I'm working at all hours of the day.  If I'm not working, I'm looking for a book to read or a show to watch - empty time and space in our days can seem vacuous.  Do we know what it means to not want?  Do we know how to settle down and just sit?  When w...

Last week I challenged our students to do some math while they are doing school at home and to motivate them I promised to dye my hair blue if the majority of students participated.  I was thinking a little about how hard it is to be motivated to do your work from home when there isn't someone in front of you requiring you to sit down and get it done.  How hard it is, in general, to be self-motivated and self-disciplined without a clear goal, personal purpose, and possibly even a reward at the end of all that hard work. At the same time, our new puppy has been doing a lot of treat training in the past couple of weeks; a treat for sitting still, a treat for coming, a treat for going potty, for shaking my hand, for walking by my side, for obeying in general.  The 5-year-old lab, however, has to be sometimes be trained with negative reinforcement.  She won't listen or stay in the yard so she has to have the electric fence as a reminder of her boundaries. We can al...