Ms. Taylor Says

 I recently heard a podcast  about being set up. I loved it. I loved hearing a single woman explaining to her married friend that she likes being set up. And it was helpful for me to hear a married person explaining why he had been hesitant to set up his friends. It was the kind of honest conversation I think more of us should probably have. In another post, I'll have to write about my hope for the church to become less a set of silos and more of an integrated body. But for today, let's just talk about dating.  This podcast was a good reminder of how many times I've thought that I need to be more proactive when it comes to my dating life. It also reminded me of the multiple times I've thought that I needed to be more outspoken about my willingness to be set up, and how all of those times I've either gotten busy and not done it, or didn't know how to bring up the subject. I loved listening to such an honest conversation about setting people up, and it made me wan

 After months of not seeing my family, I finally found a way to safely (or as safely as you can do anything these days) get home to see them.  One day while I was in town, my aunt came to visit and we went to put flowers on my grandparents' graves. As we were walking through the cemetery and looking at the headstones of other family members, I realized how little I knew about many of my family members, and I also started thinking about all of the historical events they had survived.  I've been thinking for a while that it makes sense to pause and record my thoughts on this pandemic in case, a few generations from now, my family members want to know what this strange time was like.  In case you want to take a bit of time and record your own snapshot of this time, here are the questions I will answer: 1. When did you first hear about COVID-19? What were your initial thoughts?  2. Was there a moment in time, a day or an event that really caused you to understand the magnitude of w

I've been a teacher for 12 years, and I'm sad to say that yesterday's school shooting saddened me, but it didn't shock me. It seems like at least once a year a shooting at a school forces me to think about the career path I've taken and the risk attached. And every time I hear of a school shooting, a few things go through my head: 1. Will this finally be the school shooting that causes people to shout, "Enough!" and force their elected officials to do their job and protect their constituents? 2. Is this going to happen at my school? With the frequency of events like this and my government's refusal to do anything to stop it, it really, truly feels like only a matter of time until this happens to me or someone I know. But even as these thoughts go through my head, I still have to go to school the next day. Sadly, this is how I do it: I think about Psalm 139 where I am reminded that God is acquainted with all my ways and that the days that were for

I'm normal looking. I'm of average attractiveness. I think it says something about modern society that I feel the need to qualify that statement, that identifying yourself as average is seen as either saying something negative about yourself or is seen as a violation of the girl code that says you are to think you are hideous and wait for someone to disagree. Evidence below: Math was never my strongest subject, but being in the middle seems to be not that bad. And if I'm honest, it took me a while to even believe that I was average. As I'm sure many women have said before me, seeing only the most beautiful people on television, in movies, and in magazines, it took me a really long time to look around and realize that most people on most days don't look like that. And that's when I realized I was normal. These opening paragraphs might seem to be the start of an empowerment piece about how, once I felt like I fit in, I no longer felt self conscious about my

I think I'm probably not an unusual American when I say that I am horrified and terrified by what's going on in my country. And I think I'm even more horrified by how I've adapted to it. When Trump so heartlessly responded to the devastation in Puerto Rico, I wasn't even surprised. And while I was angry and fearful for the people in Puerto Rico, I didn't even know what to do. It seemed...dare I say it...normal. There is one thing I feel comfortable saying at this point. Trump's work in this country is evil. My quick Google search says that evil is defined as "profoundly immoral or malevolent" and I have no problem saying that his current actions and policies fit that definition. I also am now comfortable saying that there is no way to support him while claiming to expect Christian values from government leaders. But I say that with a heavy heart, not meant to condemn. I say that knowing that I often am inactive in response to his actions. I see p

So, my students will not come to school on Wednesday because so many teachers have scheduled to be off. This may seem like a victory of some kind, but all I can think is that those who will feel this the most have nothing to do with the reason for the protest. Here are some things I thought about as I read the email informing me that I wouldn't see students on Wednesday: 1. If a student currently is on the Free and Reduced Lunch plan, that student will not receive school breakfast or lunch that day. 2. If a parent of a student is not employed in a situation that provides sick days or vacation days, the parent will have to lose a day of pay in order to stay home with his/her child or pay someone to watch his/her child or leave the child alone. There may be a family member that can watch the child, but maybe not. 3. High school juniors are now about a week and a half away from a test they must pass in order to graduate from high school. Those students will now go a week without