Author: Lvanderveensmith
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Vulnerability Sucks – But…
One of the more difficult choices humans face every single day is whether being vulnerable is something they can do in front of family, friends, co-workers, strangers, or even themselves. It is hard for most people at some time, but if you suffer from depression or anxiety or both, then you can be frozen with […]
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Learning to Draw the Line
Robert Frost once said that good fences make good neighbors. Right now I am thinking of those fences in terms of boundaries, and I have to say I agree. One of the things that parents should teach children is to have boundaries. Adults are good at giving children boundaries – bedtime, how far from the […]
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Independence For All – nah
July 4th is upon us. Independence Day. I don’t think I’m celebrating this year. I grew in the American public schools where I dutifully stood daily and recited. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty […]
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Robotic Teachers/Robotic Students – Is this what we want?
___________________________________________________________________________ BEFORE YOU READ THIS, PLEASE NOTE THAT I HAVE SPOKEN TO SEVERAL PEOPLE FAMILIAR WITH THE SITUATION. I HAVE NOT CONTACTED ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT BECAUSE I FRANKLY DIDN’T THINK THEY WOULD ANSER MY QUESTION. ALSO NOTE: I have friends on Facebook who teach in the Cumberland Valley School District. I have not spoken to […]
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Love Can Build a Bridge
On April 30, 2022 country music star Naomi Judd died. Her daughters announced that they had lost their mother to mental illness. “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” the statement said. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we […]
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Choose to Love
Like many church-going children, I memorized Bible verses. Sometimes I did it because it just kind of happened. I had heard the verse repeated so often — like John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” —that it took root in my memory. Sometimes I did it because a Sunday school teacher encouraged it — […]
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I Saw Jesus on Wednesday Mornings in Mechanicsburg
Having been raised in the church, there are quite a few stories from the Bible extremely familiar to me – stories like the creation, Noah’s Ark, Jonah, David and Goliath, the birth of Jesus, the good Samaritan and the Prodigal son…and, of course, the Easter story. I have read these stories more times than I […]
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3:00 AM Thoughts Bombarding Me
Last night I was awake until well after 3:00 AM. It’s the second night in the last week that I’ve had like this. Some nights I can tell it’s going to be like that and I take melatonin to help out. Other nights, like these two, I don’t see it coming. Then by the time […]
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Odd Ball – Normal is Just a Setting on the Dryer
Odd is a word we often use and we use it in various ways. odd one out, odd ball, odd numbers odd squad odd lot odd duck odd jobs odd socks odd fellow and the very famous Odd Couple Dictionaries offer several definitions that adequately explain those usages above and the word all by […]
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You Are Worth It – Do It For Those Who Love You
I have a cautionary tale for you. It comes with an alert at the end so stick with it. It starts with a terrible week and a half and ends with this writing. I went to Florida for a few days last week to visit Dad. Bernadette, his partner, wasn’t feeling well. She told me […]