The date that will now be forever fixed in my mind is March 30, 2020, when my oldest child attempted to take her life. As I followed the ambulance in my car, Leanna Crawford’s song “Truth I’m Standing On” came on the radio. It expressed what I was feeling: Scared, oh, I thought I knew […]
I remember my first year on campus. I was frantically running around trying to network, expand my research agenda, cultivate engaging classroom experiences, show up for all the service meetings, and settle into a new city. Over the course of that year, I was productive but exhausted. My days and weeks ran together, with little […]
For 25 years, I have taught English to Italian students at the University of Florence. For 18 months, since March of 2020, we have taught remotely rather than in person. I did not embrace this change gladly. Last fall, I attended a virtual A Common Call conference hosted by Faculty Commons. Dr. Heather Holleman talked […]
The commercial for a life insurance company uses the line, “Life comes at you fast!” I finally understand what that means. Growing up in a Christian home, I learned how to pray, read my Bible, and attend church services (excuse the pun) religiously. Unfortunately, I took God for granted. I prayed, but didn’t really talk […]
I struggle. I have been on faculty at the University of Florida since 2013. I have called myself a Christian since 1996, but I only really stationed Jesus as the Lord of my life about four years ago. Because of his Lordship, my goals, desires, and perspectives have evolved. Not that I didn’t see change […]
I’m on a mission. It’s never-ending and I’ll not be able to complete it; but rather than feeling frustrated, I feel invigorated. It’s a mission to share God’s love through the creative arts. Of course, teaching music doesn’t have to include God. After all, music is orderly and based on the physics of our natural […]
Six years ago, a student in my FRENCH 1A started talking to me after class and unexpectedly invited me to attend a Bible study organized by Christian students on campus. I was delighted to learn that there were Christian students on campus as I did not know this. The student also gave me a flyer […]
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19) is the first recorded sentence of Jesus to Simon Peter. It starts with the call, “Follow me,” and ends with the vocation, “fisher of men.” Jesus is the instrument of the vocational transformation. The last recorded words of Jesus before his ascension repeat […]
Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – NIV “Living life crucified” is an oxymoron, like “jumbo shrimp” or […]
I am currently reading The Final Days of Jesus, a book by Professor Andreas Kostenberger and Dr. Justin Taylor that tracks Jesus’ last week on earth. As I read, I am struck by Peter’s denial of Jesus. I have read the gospel accounts many times, but it had never struck me so hard until I […]
