Tag: faith

Dear Family, Love J

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

Dear Family,

Last night, as we slumped around the table, bellies full and wine glasses empty, I took my turn and shared two words of gratitude. Surprised, you asked if that was all. The truth is, it wasn’t, but at the time, those were the only words I could say out loud. Now, hours later in the light of day, I have the rest.

I am grateful for the dawn over the Sierras inching up, pale pink to my left, golden yellow to my right, unveiling my angels sleeping in the back seat.

I am grateful for the dark roast with cream warming next to me as I type, helping me greet every morning with a smile.

I am grateful for the new and the old, the memories that push me forward into the future and those that ground me in the past.

I am grateful for air conditioning, Bintang beer and chocolate-center Cotton Buns. You saw me through some challenging times last summer.

I am grateful for friends I’ve made and lost, friends I’ve seen and those I have only thought of. You may not know it, but I listen to you and learn more about myself from your presence.

I’m grateful for curiosity, challenge and conflict. From them, I grow into a better human.

I’m grateful for brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, uncles and aunts, grandmothers and grandfathers. Your eyes help create my vision, even when they don’t see in the same direction.

I’m grateful for simplicity, complication, and everything in between. It always seems to come at just the wrong, yet just the right time.

I’m grateful for the 6,000,000-plus like-minded people who turned left, not right, and helped me see a future.

I’m grateful for the wind whistling through the trees. Some say it’s the spirit talking. I’m thankful I believe them.

I’m grateful for language. The words I write, the sounds I hear, and the letters I read teach me in a way I learn best.

I’m grateful for faith, wavering in and out, back and forth, between the sky, the spirits, and the universe. Sometimes, you’re all I’ve got.

I’m grateful for June 29, 1985. Our worlds collided then, and life has been a doozy ever since.

Now, I’m back to where I began. Two words. Two spirits. Two reasons to face each day, to walk the talk, to take a step forward when what I really want to do is stay right where I am. Because when the pink glow is gone, replaced by a blaze of red, or orange, or a blanket of black, those two words are all that matter.

And that, dear family, is what I’m grateful for.

Love,

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

Friday Photo: A Stone of Hope

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

I didn’t sleep much Monday night. I imagine there were many American moms, fathers, teachers, women, men, children, immigrants, gays, lesbians, and people of all races who couldn’t slip into a peaceful slumber, knowing that the next day their life could change dramatically. I knew I had done all I could – I read, researched, walked the talk, and even whispered a plea to the universe, hoping that all would be well, and that goodness, honesty and right would prevail.

My prayers were answered.

Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.

Truth reigned over falsehood. Honor over accusation. Good over greed.

I didn’t sleep much Tuesday night, either. My tears of gratitude, relief, joy, dripped onto my pillow. My heart exploded, and my dreams lifted with hope again.

My prayers were answered.

For American mothers. Fathers. Teachers. Women. Men. Children. Immigrants. Gays. Lesbians. People of all races.

Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.

photo credit: Sunrise on Rannoch Moor via photopin (license)

Jennifer Wolfe

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

Beach Walk

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

Sometimes we just have to grab onto whatever it takes to make it through the day…

memories of peaceful times, hopes for the future, faith in friendships, and love of beauty.

Peace.

What do you do to brighten your day? Do you have a special place that you go back to?

Jennifer Wolfe

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

Hope Goes On

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

When the obligations stack up

and the emails aren’t returned

shoulders groaning under it all

it goes on.

When your thoughts are dry

and your eyes are soaked

fog shrouding your brain

it goes on.

When you can’t decide

and you wake before your time

wishing the covers would envelop it all

it goes on.

When your child falls

and your soul is breaking

scrambling to say the right thing

it goes on.

When everyone else seems to have it fine

and you’re digging yourself out

barely keeping yourself vertical

it goes on.

When you think you cannot open your eyes to another day

and you feel like starting over

knowing today will tip the scale

it goes on.

Love goes on.

Hope.

goes.

on.

What keeps you going? Do you have three words of your own?

Jennifer Wolfe

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

Hang On

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

It’s too early in the school year to be doing this. To be tying a knot, night after night, hoping to strengthen my line. Willing myself to lengthen my line, to make myself a better person. A better teacher. Friend. Wife. Mother.

To push myself to grow, to learn, to excel, to serve.

To not let go. To not listen to them. Knot by knot.

Twenty-four days into the vastness of it all. One hundred fifty-six more to go. Knot after knot after knot. Tears. Smiles. Laughter. Success. Setbacks. I will myself upward.

The rope strengthens as I work through it, as I twist and turn and weave new fibers in. The knots unravel, slowly, and I pull harder and harder, determined they will hold. Determined that I will not be broken. I will not fall. I will not get to the end alone. I will not. let. go.

I will not let you down. I will use all my strength, pull myself up, twist it, squeeze my eyes shut and will myself higher. I will slide, slowly, my skin burning as I go down and then – SNAP!

I hover, suspended mid-air, forced to decide the next direction. I move up, sometimes slowly, sometimes strengthened by the boost of another. Knot after knot, I grip, grasp, groan my way upwards.

I’m almost there.

I can see the end of the rope.

I will hang on.

Jennifer Wolfe

More Posts - Website

Follow Me: