There once was a girl who loved her family, her dog, books, and Jesus. Spoiler alert – it's me.
So I took a little break from posting, just in case you couldn't tell. Frankly, 2019 was quite the year - I know 2020 has been quite the shirt show (thanks Good Place) - but for me, 2019 started with a "WAIT, WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" moment and ended with a resounding, "Well that sucked." In… Continue reading Wait, what just happened?
Whether you're raising littles or still learning yourself, self-control is key to maturity. Every child has temper tantrums. They're little balls of energy with outsize emotions they don't know what to do with. It's our job as parents to teach them that there's nothing wrong with having feelings, even overwhelming ones, but it is wrong to use them as a weapon. Children who don't learn self-control grow up to be emotionally manipulative adults.
I originally wrote this article for Sunday U back in 2018. When we first started out in ministry, my husband and I worked under a pastor in his mid-sixties who intended to “die in the pulpit.” He’d frequently say, “I’d rather rust out than burn out!” Frankly, neither of those options sounded particularly appealing then,… Continue reading Coming Back From Burnout
Every Tuesday, my daughter Sarah and son-in-law Nikko host a Bible study for young adults at my house, and we usually have dinner together before the others arrive. Last night we had two others join us, Taylor, a long-time friend who has become family, and Jatajh, a friend we're still getting to know. Roy and… Continue reading It’s a Trap!
Life is full of missed opportunities. Sometimes the timing isn’t right and all the pieces aren’t in place. Sometimes we don’t have all the information, and sometimes we let fear dictate our actions.
“Wow. That sounded better in my head.” How magical it must be to think before you speak. To pause, form a coherent thought, thenshare it instead of sharing with your audience, forming a coherent thought, then pausing as a hush falls over the room. Le sigh. Those people are as magical as unicorns to me. My name is… Continue reading About Me
Tracey Mac Lean Dowdy 