As a former youth director, I am no stranger to teen slang. But the last time I was immersed in it was the early 2000’s. Since then, my age is showing. I am after all a Gen Xer, at least on the tail end of it. My micro-generation is Xiennial, and I do sometimes identify more with the Millenials than the Xers. I think that has something to do with being a late bloomer and waiting to have a child until I was nearly 35. Regardless of my generation, my daughter’s generation (Alpha) makes me feel a bit dated when it comes to slang. My high school lexicon would have…

Blessed Earth Day dear friends! This is a day I don’t normally celebrate, at least not since being a child and doing a special craft in its honor. Then I knew it had something to do with planet earth and appreciating it. As an adult, I did a little research as to the history and humble beginnings of this oft forgotten holiday. For this post, I went straight to earthday.org to get some basic information. Every year on April 22, Earth Day is a celebration that recognizes the environmental movement that began in 1970. The idea began with a junior senator in response to a major oil spill that had…

Recently, I have been interviewing with a number of different companies and one question I have been asked frequently goes something like this, “What are your career goals?” or “What would say is your number one career aspiration?” This gave me pause, and I’m going to use this blog to share some of my reflections and discoveries. If asked that question back in 1999, I would have quickly replied, “I am going to seminary and graduate school so I can become a social worker with an emphasis in Christian counseling for children and families. I want to help clients use their faith and Christian community to weather life’s storms and…

Blessed Easter my friends! Alleluia! Christ is Risen. He has risen Indeed! Alleluia! On Christmas two years ago, I was deeply impressed by a reading at our Candlelight and Carols service. It was such a beautiful weaving of the Christ’s birth and crucifixion rolled into one. I am sharing it here because it is such a profound starting point for the Easter story. The link is the full worship service. The narration begins at 24:30. Happy Easter! May the unfailing and all conquering love of Jesus Christ be made know to you. Today and in all days to come. For as we celebrate this Easter, may we live everyday as…

My prayer life has looked different throughout my life. As a child, our family always prayed before eating and again before going to bed. They were simple prayers that my dad learned when he was young. The Lord’s Prayer was also something I recited every Sunday, alongside my worshipping community. And in high school, my confirmation classes required I memorize Martin Luther’s “What Does This [Lord’s Prayer] Mean” and recite it in front of the church board. Most of my childhood prayers were memorized words, written by someone else and part of tradition established generations before me. To this day, I remember them and have taught my daughter to use…

When I started this blog, it was pre-Covid, and my goals and needs were very different from what they are now. I considered reshaping the whole look of Her First Role Model but changed mind. Instead I plunged right into creating new posts. And that feels so good! Do you ever just want to plunge in and figure out the right swimming strokes after getting wet? I certainly don’t recommend this approach to all of life’s goals, but in this case I think it’s just right. I have been contemplating the next steps for Her First Role Model for over a year, but most seriously since 2025 arrived. I considered…

It’s been years since I last posted to my site, but not a day has passed that I still try to live into being HerFirstRoleModel. The last time I shared the challenges of such a calling, my daughter was a preschooler. Fast forward to her current status: tween! Yep, she’s arrived to that developmental age of “night and day”. Some days, she is content to be making slime or some other of her creative concoctions and other days, she is crushing over NHL hockey players and scrolling Pinterest for her ideal mate. Parenting can be a roller coaster, as it takes its direction from the unpredictable path of the tween…