Common-sense grace for the try-hard girl
When you grow up in Houston, you joke that there are two seasons: hot and hotter. It wasn’t until we moved to Arkansas that I understood that seasons weren’t just for wall calendars. Trees really do change color, apples are most crisp in the fall, snow falls in the winter, and the spring is always […]
As an Achiever, I like to fix things. If you bring me a problem, I move into default mode of problem solving. But sometimes, my friends don’t need me to wave a magic wand and make things better. As an Achiever, I make three mistakes in talking with my hurting friends when instead I should […]
This is a prayer for all of us who are Achievers, but who want to Go Rogue. This is a prayer for those of us who want to cease working for worth and recognition, who want to get off the treadmill of comparison and competition, and who want to listen to Jesus, accept His love […]
I was born an Achiever, someone who needs outside approval that can only come from an inside source, my Jesus. Sadly, I believed that my worth is found in what I do, not in whose I am. You probably remember this translated itself into my crazy goal of losing baby weight with my second born. […]
For quite some time, my life was shaped much more by fear than it was by resting in Jesus. With our second child, I took a very hardline approach to losing the baby weight. I ate 1,000 calories a day, and worked out seven days a week. I did all this while caring for a […]
My dad is an Olympic-lover, which means that if the Olympics were on, we were watching. (Where are all my ’80s friends that remember life without a DVR?) After watching the 1984 Summer Olympics, I went to our front yard and pretended that the curb was a balance beam. In my mind, I was Mary […]
Beginnings and endings bring me to tears. Beginnings because I’m letting go, walking into the unknown, being brave. Endings because I’m overwhelmed by gratitude. And both are sacred. God starts the Bible with “In the beginning.” Jesus ended His ministry with “It is finished.” God is certainly in the messy middle we call daily life […]
During my second season of working for the Houston Astros, I witnessed the worst and strangest game I’ve ever seen. Astros starting pitcher Scott Elarton threw fifty-five pitches and gave up nine runs in two innings. Nineteen San Diego Padres went to the plate and loaded the bases three times. It was a bloodbath, and […]
In the circles I travel, and by “travel” I mean read on blogs and listen to on podcasts, much is said about purpose: finding it, living it, determining it. We know that we have a purpose and we desperately want to find out what it is. Although Achievers don’t want to waste too much time […]
Just in case you’re wondering on what authority I have to write about the “Achiever Lifestyle,” we’ll start at the beginning. I imagine that your resume is much like mine. My guess is that you were in Gifted and Talented too. Just throwing it out there that you also made straight A’s. You probably also competed at a […]
