Written by the Story

  Dear Good Shepherd and friends, Here's what I'd like to see someday on fb, instagram, twitter, snapchat, or whatever popular social media platform people are using: Just got done yelling at my wife/husband. We don't normally connect very well, to be honest. He/she doesn't always make all my dreams come true. And I rushed the kids out the door again this morning. Couldn't wait for them to be out of the house. Today is 80% frustration, 20% enjoyment. #notblessed I'd like it to be a real post. With the messy house in the background. No staged stuff. Not a manufactured bad day post. Nor do I want it to be the type of post that makes being imperfect a badge of honor. It's not that I want people's lives to be difficult. What I'm getting at is that we seldom see real posts that are not afraid to be raw and honest, and not filtered or posed, posts that actually don't try to make one's life seem all happy all the time.  Let's be brutally honest:...

  D ear Good Shepherd and friends, I've been thinking about the transitions we're all dealing with as fall approaches. Each new fall brings with it a turn in the road. Every child enters a new grade in school. Parents transition back into school-year rhythms. Schedules. Homework. Extra-curricular stuff. Driving people places. There are also uncertainties and challenges. This fall, there are uncertainties and challenges and transitions that go well beyond the normal ones we're used to each fall.  With any new school year, there are things about it that bring anxiety, fear, nerves. Some students dread the classroom. Some can't wait. With entering into new grades, some will no doubt be anxious. It's part of life. And, while we might think they're used to it, that going back to school in the fall is no big deal, that they've done it before, it still might be unnerving for them.  For some adults, the change from summer into fall might bring a busier schedule. Per...