Since I've stepped down from classroom teaching as my full-time job, I've been excited to see how I still have so many opportunities to teach. Frequently, these opportunities have been one-on-one. And I really like it! I've been teaching Sunday School teachers how to be better teachers by stepping in to observe their classes and [...]
Author: harpandsong2
I am an elementary school teacher who enjoys history, needle-craft, literature, and spending time with friends and family. I am working through the process of buying and renovating a house while also learning how to make it a home as a single.
What about Home Makes It a Wonderful Life? George Bailey and Home Ownership
There are some movies that are just too good for this world. This winter, I rewatched It's a Wonderful Life with my sister (and her dog). We narrowly missed watching a colorized version. Yikes! (If you're wondering why I'm writing about a Christmas movie so far out of season, read to the end). It had [...]
A Liturgy for Those Anticipating Conflict
This week held a difficult meeting. I found myself reaching for this liturgy I wrote a few years ago. I'm thankful to say the meeting was resolved in my favor, but more thankful to have the ability to turn to prayer even when it was still uncertain. O Lord, Prince of Peace, in the hours [...]
I Knit This Sweater!
Remember this post when I shared about how hard it was for me to start a knitting project? Well, it has come to fruition! This project took me four or five months. Some weeks, I worked on it daily, but also took some longer breaks. I ended up using a pattern from a magazine, Campus [...]
What Makes Good News Good? and Creative Ways to Tell It
I assume many of my audience have watched The Chosen TV series over the last few years (even if you don't consider yourself a Christian). My family and I have been encouraged by the way it portrays Jesus and his disciples. It is well rooted in Scripture, yet the production fleshes out the characters by [...]
Love Thy Neighbor
Won't you be my neighbor? Mr. Rogers I found this abandoned draft from March 11, 2020. You'll see why I abandoned it at the time. Enjoy this unedited time capsule! In a world where you can be connected to people half way across the globe, relatively few know the people in their physical neighborhood. I [...]
Human Virtue and Female Virtue in “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”
I read A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft to wrap up my reading year for 2023. This is a historical work published in 1792. I had been curious about it for a while, but finally got around to reading it because it would count for two categories in the reading challenge [...]
A Vintage Button Jar
The button jar. I am sure nearly all of you have something come to mind with that phrase. It could be an actual jar, but more than likely, it is an old Christmas cookie tin or recycled plastic butter container packed to the brim with every single button that ever crossed the threshold of your [...]
Vintage Winter Coats
If you were starting to wonder if I'd given up the blog, January and February have been rather stressful for me so I've had less creative energy for thinking and writing. However, I have been continuing some art and sewing projects which take less mental energy for me and am getting pictures of them. The [...]
What I Read in 2023
I read a lot every year, but I don't usually follow a reading plan or have reading goals (though I did start keeping a spreadsheet of books I read). However, for 2023, I tried a reading challenge, suggested by the Literary Life Podcast. It was a bingo card of different kinds of literary works/reading activities. [...]
Welcome To The Carriage House 