I have to admit. I'm stressed. As I hear of yet another school shooting this week, I am also heartbroken. As a teacher who was just a few miles away when Columbine happened, it hits me hard every time another school shooting happens. It's hard to see how to end these tragedies. 

Reform Alone is Not Enough

Yes, we need to have some reform around gun laws. I do believe there are people that shouldn't have guns simply because they are not emotionally stable. We need better background checks. And yes, I believe that assault rifles should not be available. However, that alone will not solve our troubles. Let's face it. We are in a fight for the hearts, minds and souls of our kids in America. It's good vs. evil and good must win. Every child matters. Every life matters.

Fencing Kids In

After the Parkland shooting, changes started being made at my son's high school. The gates have gone up a bit higher. The security has tightened. We are fencing our kids in tighter and tighter. It doesn't ...

Why do we, Christians, celebrate Lent?

As we head into Lent, it's good to reflect and teach our students what these days before Easter are really about. Let's face it, sometimes kids get focused on "giving up" something and that's as far as they go in their thinking. They have no idea why they are doing it.

So what is the point of Lent? Put simply, Lent is a time we give things up that distract us from God. Filling that time back up with focus on God helps us as we lean on God to get us through our "desert". 

Lent is about... 

• preparing our hearts for Easter

• Imitating Jesus in his 40 days in the desert

• developing self-mastery and self-control

• re-aligning our lives and our plans with God's plan

• making more room for God in our everyday lives

• prayer + fasting + almsgiving

• forgiveness

• penance or making amends

• reflection

• evangelizing

• and much more

Making Room for God

Here's a simple way to teach younger students to make more ro...