Tag: connections

Tips for Growing in the Storm

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There’s no easy way to say it – times are tough right now. It seems that uncertainty and fear are not just knocking at the door, but downright pounding on it. So, what can we do now…TODAY…to help maintain our peace? I asked HPA mom Shannon Lane to help us with a list of some practical things we can start doing right now to protect our peace and maintain our mental health. Here’s what my favorite Christian counselor had to say on the issue:

We are certainly living in circumstances which are unimaginable to most of us.  Here in Tennessee, we are recovering from tornado trauma and figuring out how to walk through the Corona Virus.  While it is true that each of us responds differently to crisis, all of us can find peace and a level of comfort by being intentional with how we spend our time.  Since we have been given an abundance of time during this season, my prayer is that we use it wisely so that we emerge having grown closer to Our Heavenly Father.

1.  Seek God.  He promises never to leave you.  He knew we would struggle with fear so in His word there are 365 directives addressing fear.  If you are especially anxious during this time, do a word study in the Bible on fear.  Write down the verses and place them around your home. Feeding ourselves with God’s truth is key to the level of peace we can experience.

Also…Pray.  You are His beloved child whom he adores.  Think of how you love your own children.  He loves you more and desires relationship with you.  It is good to verbalize your thoughts and feelings to Him… “God, I am afraid and I do not understand…”

2.  Go outside. Walking in the fresh air releases endorphins and gives opportunity for refocusing our vision.  Listen for the birds!  They continue to sing no matter the circumstances.   : )

3.  Turn off the television.  Please give yourself daily periods of time without media of any type.  Television, especially, has been shown to increase levels of anxiety which feeds on fear.

4.  Make music/Sing/Dance.  Get silly with music.  It is therapeutic to let loose and music can help you to do that.

5.  Create. Paint. Take pictures. Try new recipes.  Which creative experiences have you always wanted to try?  You can learn most anything on YouTube.

6.  Write out a gratitude list.  How have you been blessed through this experience?  I am cooking more, reading, writing, and resting more, spending quality time with the people I love.  Most importantly, I am spending more time with Our Father.

7.  Intentionally bless someone.  Whomever God has placed before you is an assignment.  How can you bless them today?  The added bonus is the joy that comes to the giver and the recipient. My elderly neighbors (who I ashamedly have never met) are an assignment to me.  I am reaching out with groceries and invitations to help with whatever they need.

8.  Reconnect with people. We are created to be in relationship with others.  This is a wonderful time to reach out to people you have lost contact with or would like to get to know.

9.  Sleep/Rest/Relax.  Resist the urge to hurry.  Give yourself permission to nap, to sleep late, to lay in the grass and look at the sky.  How often do you truly rest your body and mind?  Try resting as a solitary experience instead of something you do while you are doing something else.

10.  Get professional help if you need it.  When your sleeping, eating, or feelings have become unmanageable, it can be helpful to speak with a therapist who can help you determine the next right step.

-Shannon Lane is a grateful HPA mom.  She has a Christian counseling practice in Hendersonville and enjoys reading, home renovating, and real conversation with people.- 

What great advice to help us refocus our energy on what really matters! I want to challenge you to choose one thing off of this list to start doing today. I chose number 4 (make music). I’d love to hear what you are doing to take care of yourself and others. Please feel free to share some encouragement in the comments below. God bless! 🙂

An English Teacher’s Guide to This Week in Nashville

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It’s been a big week here in Music City, and not in a good way. During the night Monday, tornadoes ripped through Middle Tennessee, leaving a path of devastation about 50 miles long. As my English class and I discussed analyzing literature this week, I stumbled upon an interesting connection to these storms.

One of the ways we discuss literature is in terms of connections we make to the text. As we draw parallels between what we are reading and the bigger picture, we cover three main types of connections: text to self, text to text, and text to world.

Text to self connections are the connections readers make between themselves and the characters and/or situations in a work of literature. Text to text connections ask us to relate what we are currently reading to other works we have read. And text to world connections challenge us to see how what we are reading reminds us of people and events in our world.

But as I reviewed this concept with my students this week, I realized that this isn’t just a tool we use to analyze literature, it is our default setting for processing life, especially the unexpected.

As we see the pictures and videos of the storm damage, we naturally begin to start drawing connections to ourselves: I have friends in East Nashville. I went to Tennessee Tech and know people who are there now. I own a business and don’t know if the building is okay. And the list goes on and on as we begin calling and texting friends and family to make sure everyone is okay.

Then, as the first wave of panic begins to die down, we start making connections between this situation and other situations: the 2008 tornado on Super Tuesday, the flood of 2010, and so on. I think it is our brain’s way of reminding us that we’ve survived hard times before, and we begin to call on those past experiences as a way of tapping into our muscle memory for our ability to rise.

Then, the most beautiful connection of all is made when we see this situation as a way to connect (or reconnect) with our community.

It is said that when an anthill is destroyed, the ants immediately begin to rebuild.

Immediately.

And that is just what we do here in Nashville. We roll up our sleeves and we start to rebuild, and as we rebuild what was damaged physically, may we also rebuild each of those connections even stronger!

-Photo by Brandon Jean, Unsplash-

Cultivating Culture

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The concept of culture is a hot topic in businesses, schools, and churches, and rightfully so. We’ve managed to take this beautiful word that covers cultivated behavior, accumulated experiences, and a collection of patterns both explicit and implicit and use it to describe, as my students might say… the “vibe” of a group of people.

This idea of identifying our values and intentionally living them out is so woven into our culture, it even affects our art. How many of us have a cute farmhouse painting declaring that “In this house, we…” or “In this family, we…”? What follows those statements is usually a list of verbs declaring what “we” do… forgive each other, love one another, give second chances, etc.

While I’ve always been drawn to these, my students and I have never really taken time to create a list like that for HPA, but what happened yesterday was more beautiful than any list we could have written as a beginning-of-the-year icebreaker exercise. But first, I need to give you a little linguistics lesson so you can fully understand how amazed I was at what took place yesterday.

While studying linguistics in college, I learned about the difference between prescriptivism and descriptivism. Precriptivism prescribes a set of rules for grammar and mechanics that should be followed to the letter. Descriptivism looks at how we communicate naturally, then uses the tools of grammar and mechanics to describe that communication. I find myself using this analogy for so much of what we face in life, and yesterday was no exception.

Yesterday, in one of the most authentic conversations I’ve ever been a part of in a school setting, something AMAZING happened. My students started describing our school culture. One by one they listed the values that we hold dear and the way those values benefit our school culture. They spoke about a lack of bullying, the need for quick and genuine forgiveness, the importance of humility, and the profound impact of being in relationship with people who come alongside you and encourage you.

It was BEAUTIFUL!

They said that coming to school just feels like coming to another home, and that it truly feels like we are a family, complete with a bonus mom/cool aunt, grandmother, and a giant list of brothers and sisters that would fill up about five of those classic home school vans. 😉

When asked why they thought it was like this, their answers left me speechless! One mentioned the fact that it just felt like the Holy Spirit was present in class every day, making it almost impossible to bully, gossip, and lie. But what surprised me most is that they said that it was just the culture we’ve created here at HPA.

And though my heart was bursting with pride at all I was hearing, all I could think is that

THIS is what it looks like to put God at the center.

THIS is what it looks like when teenagers choose to love others the way that Christ loves us, and

THIS is what it looks like to be in relationship with people who cheer each other along, walk with you through the hard times, and have your back day in and day out.

Because…

In this family, that’s just what we do!

 

“Standing on the Shoulders of Giants”

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As I sit at my desk the Saturday before the first week of our THIRD year of HPA, I am overwhelmed with love and gratitude for all the people that have helped make this little school a reality. If I started a list, it would be miles long because I wouldn’t be the teacher I am today without the amazing examples set by my teachers from elementary school all the way through college. I also wouldn’t be the Christian I am today without the wonderful pastors, youth leaders, and mentors I have had, but today, I am especially thankful for the strong women I have had in my life to speak words of life and truth into my spirit.

You see, while I’m writing this, my mom and her friends are driving two hours back home after making the pilgrimage up to Gallatin to see our new school building. Those cars that are on the road right now are filled with three generations of powerhouses – my mom and her friends, their daughters who I’m blessed to call my friends, and the newest addition to this hometown tribe – baby Palmer, who has the most beautiful blue eyes you have ever seen!

The Cowan Crew
Leah Salyer (HPA founder), Linda Thayer (“Mama Thayer”), Rose Pearson (family friend who named HPA), Mary Pearson Smith (lifelong friend), Patsy Rigsby (family friend), Jill Rigsby Higgs (lifelong friend and mom to that cutie in the baby carrier, Palmer)

These women know what it means to be a tribe – they celebrate the highs and hang with you through the lows, and raise their hands high on the roller coaster ride of everything in between! They have recipes for all occasions and can throw together a wedding or a baby shower (flowers, food, and all) with their hands tied behind their backs, and I love them fiercely.

So, today when they came to see our new school we moved into in February, it made it feel “real.” Having these ladies from my hometown see this giant dream of mine alive in this building was such an amazing experience, and it just reminds me of the phrase that we are standing on the shoulders of the giants that have come before us.

I had already decided that our theme for this school year would be mentorship, and today was just a beautiful confirmation. To stand in front of the school with Rose Pearson, who named Higher Path Academy; her daughter Mary, who has been one of my longest and very best friends; “Saint Patsy” as my mom calls her, and her sweet daughter Jill and grandson Palmer (I’m already missing those cute little toes!), I truly felt the importance of surrounding yourself with amazing mentors and a tribe that will dream with you, stand with you, cry with you, and fly with you.

Ladies, you have helped me learn to soar! Thank you!

Rose, Mary, and Mama Thayer in front of HPA
Rose Pearson, Mary Pearson Smith, and Linda Thayer