Have you ever been absolutely confused about the direction of your life or about a particular circumstance? I have been pretty confused the past few months. Is it a waste of time or a wise investment of my resources to spend time writing? Should I get a real job where someone tells me what to do and I do it and a paycheck comes every month? There are so many different directions I could go in (as far as writing projects); which one is even the best? If I am such a struggling Read More
When You Worry About Waste
“Mom, no!!! I don’t want to ‘just cut off the moldly part and eat the rest of the cheese.’ That’s disgusting!!” I’m not sure if your kids have ever said this to you, but this statement has been said to me on more than one occasion. You see, growing up, my parents taught me many good things. One of them was to never be wasteful. I know their own parents were extremely conscious of not wasting food, water or electricity, especially because they lived during the Depression. Even wasting a product Read More
Push Through the Awkward to Say, “Can I Pray For You?”
Just 5 minutes ago, my doorbell rang. I waited for a little bit (surely it was just the UPS guy again) but eventually decided to go check. It was my neighbor, Anna, from El Salvador, who moved here last year and has become a good friend. We gave each other a nice, long hug because we hadn't seen each other for almost the whole winter. With her broken English and my sorry Spanish, we tried to communicate about all the things that had happened since we last talked. She filled me in on her Read More
Serving Without Fear
Those of you who write know how discouraging it can be. It's lonely and confusing to spend time working on something you're not convinced is valuable. I've explained it to Colby like this: Imagine you spend blood, sweat, and tears making a prop for a show, but you're not sure if the prop will ever get used. In fact, you're convinced it's been hung in the back hallway by the storage closet. Colby likes to remind me that I have no business wondering how the prop will be used. I should just do my Read More
I hate blogging
I really don’t like writing. There I said it. It’s not that I don’t like writing per se…maybe it’s the pressure I feel surrounding writing that I don’t like. I start to feel dread rising up from the tips of my toes through my stomach whenever I think of the writing deadlines I have for the blogs I contribute to. What can I possibly say that hasn’t been said before? I have no new insights, nothing that would make anyone think. I don’t have a profound bone in my body. All I know is I’m a Read More
Top 10 Lessons Learned in 2015
I came across this blog title last year and made a note to copy it. It's one of my traditions at the end of a year to read my journal from that year. It's always an insightful activity...to remember what I struggled with...to reflect on what God has taught me... After going through my journal from 2015, a few themes stood out. Here are the Top 10 Lessons from 2015: 1. I am weak. I haven't blogged a ton this past year. Of course, it has something to do with having four kids and being Read More
Conflicted
Tonight I decide to sit and just watch Penelope. She’s digging through her Color Wonder tub mumbling, “Ellow…” and I decide instead of cooking or organizing or cleaning, I would just watch her. After all, she won’t be 21 months and 27 days ever again. She starts to dump the entire tub over, but I become aware enough to screech a sound that brings her to a halt. We make eye contact. She continues digging for a marker until she eventually just dumps everything out. This time I’m not quick Read More
Garmanization
Colby and I were in the kitchen the other day when he broke out with, “How crazy is it to have an ENTIRE PROCESS NAMED AFTER YOU?” I looked over my shoulder from the sink to see him reading the label on our gallon of milk. ”I mean, just imagine if WE had discovered the pasteurization process. Milk would be Garmanized; we would be a VERB.” Welcome to my corner of cyberspace. The purpose of this new website is not to make a name for myself (Brogan is my middle name, in case you're confused). Read More
Can’t Not
When Melissa became a vegan, she was quick to say that it was most likely just the "next big thing." We all laughed at her because we've seen this pattern in her, but we too can relate to this phenomenon that she put a name to. I have a tendency to get excited about something, spend a bunch of time and energy on it only to get sick of it and move on to the next thing that will bring an adrenaline rush. In the last 6 months I've been working on a project...and quitting the project....picking Read More
Chastised
I love to blog. Ever since Clint Clifton explained this term to me and designed a blog to use during the Iceland Project, I have really enjoyed the new hobby. I have found blogging to be a great outlet for creativity, a fun way to keep in touch with friends and family around the globe, and (surprisingly) a way to meet new people. When we were in Iceland, I got a phone call from an American woman who found my blog and just happened to be in the area visiting family. She came over for lunch, Read More