thoughts and songs from Heather
This is the online home for our in-person “Beautiful Latin” class, which is meeting in Atascadero! Week 6 MaterialsHandout for Week 6 Week 5 MaterialsHandout for Week 5Veni Creator Spiritus (Pentecost Hymn) Week 4 MaterialsHandout for Week 4 Week 3 … Continued
My new home is beautiful, but…I can hear the highway, and there are these flies…In this poem I contemplate the deeper meaning of these things. Like many of my poems recently, this was written on my phone (sitting outside) and … Continued
I was staring at the hills, thinking how glad I am that they are so still. And then I started thinking about the pain and darkness in different friends’ lives… Halfway through, the poem insisted on being in the second … Continued
I’m trying my hand at writing in a “traditional storytelling” style–it is a different kind of verse! Here is a fragment of a tale from a medieval Saint’s Life; my retelling is inspired by a translation in Helen Waddell’s Beasts … Continued
Sometimes holding still is the bravest thing to do. It is no joke to weep with those who weep, To let their pain be real and stay right there, Set down the urge to salvage or to sweep Away the … Continued
Do What You’re Doing! “Age Quod Agis” (i.e. be present, keep your focus) Here is a quote from Thomas à Kempis…three words of Latin to lift your hearts! I created this tiny Latin word study to post on our homeschool … Continued
Familia Romana is an amazing book, plunging the reader into actually being able to read Latin, but it does have one problem: each chapter is so rich with words and concepts that it can be hard to fully digest before … Continued
“The Ugly Sister and the Beautiful Sister” Here I try a little storytelling in Latin, telling bits of the traditional tale of “Tatterhood.”
Inspired by some great conversations recently (thanks, Amy & Janelle), here is the beginning of a piece on acedia… Have you seen those shirts that say, “I Can’t Adult Today”? Have you felt worn down by the constant choices of … Continued
v.1: When my hands are empty and aching My dream burned down to ash God’s power is made perfect in weakness He will use my “yes” at last chorus: The barren hills are holy hearts plowed up with pain this … Continued
What is fulfillment? I was recently reminded of this poem—the first thing I ever posted on this site, and probably my favorite of all the poems I have written. It is my attempt to delve into Psalm 1. This poem … Continued
One day I had an intense prayer walk. In the image of a George Herbert poem, I felt that I was thundering at heaven. As I thought about it later, I realized that intercessory prayer has shifted as I have … Continued
Reflections on the experience of isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic lead me to a George Herbert poem about being stretched, “The Temper (I)” A friend wrote to me recently about the “weight of absence,” and I am finding absence heavy, … Continued
What do you do when all your plans for education—your own as well as your child’s—are swept aside by unexpected circumstance? This “mother culture encouragement” letter was sent out to our Sursum Corda homeschool community.
Here are weekly devotionals for families to use, featuring picture study, activities, and discussion questions. This version was offered to our Sursum Corda community; a version with prayer prompts by Sarah Groot was sent to our FOL Covenant Church community.
Our Form III (middle school) history class was covering Desiderius Erasmus as we learned about the Renaissance, so I interviewed my father, Nathan Feldmeth, a professor at Fuller Seminary with a specialty in Erasmus. Several mothers mentioned that they enjoyed … Continued
Our Latin coaches asked for some “transition” phrases and other conversational Latin to use in class, so I made a set of prompt cards which we printed and put on binder rings. Printable Prompt Cards
How do you get started, reading old books? It might not be as easy as it sounds, even for those who believe in its importance… Here are some ideas and tips for Charlotte Mason homeschoolers who are practicing “mother culture”—the … Continued
This is the third in a series of illustrate-it-yourself Latin readers that I created for our homeschool community, Sursum Corda. The first was The Geography of Narnia; the second was The Dogs of Sursum Corda (featuring community input describing their … Continued
A “tiered reading” takes an excerpt of real literature, makes progressively easier versions of it, and lets students walk through from a gentle conversation introducing a few of the words, to a version in simple language, to a slightly more … Continued
While reading the beautiful prayers of Thomas Cramner in the Book of Common Prayer, I decided to try writing in his style. A Prayer for Time Almighty and Most Merciful God, who holdest all time in thy hands, and bestowest … Continued
Here is a poem first “published” as a text message! After reading Helen Gardner’s introduction to The Metaphysical Poets, I decided to write my “narration” (re-telling in my own words some of what I learned) in verse! Gardner suggested that … Continued
I created this tiny Latin word study to post on our homeschool community’s dedicated social media platform. I like this word I found in the Latin translation of the Psalms! (“super” as a prefix means pretty much the same as … Continued
Here is a little story I made up…with some help from my friends! I posted several “polls” on our homeschool community’s dedicated social media platform, asking what characters to use, where they should be, and what they were seeking. Here … Continued
Every two months, our Sursum Corda homeschool community learns a song, a scripture verse, and a proverb in Latin. The first song for the 2020 school year was this Latin translation of “Amazing Grace.” My sister, Lindsay Feldmeth Westra, graciously … Continued
It is not easy to work on a foreign language with a child. When I work on literature or history, I have a sense of easiness. Even if I have never read the particular book or studied the subject at … Continued
This is the first in a series of illustrate-it-yourself Latin readers that I created for our homeschool community, Sursum Corda. It uses mostly words from chapter one of our textbook (Familia Romana), along with familiar proper nouns. Apart from proper … Continued
There’s nothing like a 30-second snippet of literature that feels like an inside joke! The teacher calls out a phrase, and the students respond in these “antiphona.” Most of these we used in upper school Latin class last year, but … Continued
Here is the first study on Colossians, using my Creative Margins method. Hello From Paul Colossians 1:1-2 (ESV) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers … Continued
Why would we need another style of Bible study? Let me tell you why, in this introduction to my new concept of “Creative Margins,” an imaginative and playful way to engage with scripture, drawing on the practices of medieval Christians. … Continued
This “vision board” collection of images was created for students to paste in the front of their Latin journals, to inspire them with thoughts of all the great works they will someday read. On the first day of classes, they … Continued
In Renaissance times, students often memorized colloquia (dialogues, like skits) as a way to learn Latin. I have been reading the Colloquia of Erasmus and Corderius recently. Here I try my hand at a few modern versions: one between students … Continued
This article about the “wonder” in learning Latin first appeared on the website of the Sursum Corda homeschool community. What do you think of, when you hear the word “grammar”? As a child, I picked up the attitude from adults … Continued
My belief in Jesus does not make him more real! It might, however, make me more real… In April of 2020, living under stay-at-home orders, my daughters and I began the “Quarantine Sonnet” Project. Each day, we each tried to … Continued
Feeling humbled as I read about scholars of the humanities in the Renaissance, in this poem I reflected on scholarly ambition and my own self-image. In April of 2020, living under stay-at-home orders, my daughters and I began the “Quarantine … Continued
A few months after our first Phrases & Praises sheet, designed to be posted on a family fridge or wall, I asked my students to come up with some new phrases that would be useful in the strange times we … Continued
My Latin students were posting on our dedicated social media platform, and responding to one another’s work…but one student complained that everyone was just saying “bene” (‘good,’ lit. ‘well’) all the time. So I created this handout of all kinds … Continued
I had just been teaching my Latin students about chiasm, the literary device that makes a kind of mirror of repeated words, or concepts, or grammatical forms–and often nests the most crucial thing in the very middle. This poem considers … Continued
thoughts on the much-maligned study of grammar, and on why humans actually enjoy learning details… In April of 2020, living under stay-at-home orders, my daughters and I began the “Quarantine Sonnet” Project. Each day, we each tried to write a … Continued
I had been reading about medieval meditation, and on Good Friday I imagined Christ’s passion as a form of study. In April of 2020, living under stay-at-home orders, my daughters and I began the “Quarantine Sonnet” Project. Each day, we … Continued
I start this poem remembering a day full of the joy of learning, in graduate school…then reflect on how rare and precious that was in my education, and how I long to see it in my daughters’ days. In April … Continued
Reflecting on how naked it feels to make or learn, compared to the comfort of critiquing and teaching—and how wonderful it is, after all. In April of 2020, living under stay-at-home orders, my daughters and I began the “Quarantine Sonnet” … Continued
Imagining what it feels like for Jesus to relive that day every year, as his people remember. In April of 2020, living under stay-at-home orders, my daughters and I began the “Quarantine Sonnet” Project. Each day, we each tried to … Continued
Swatting at to-do lists, I imagine a more instinct-driven life. In April of 2020, living under stay-at-home orders, my daughters and I began the “Quarantine Sonnet” Project. Each day, we each tried to write a sonnet, and we posted them … Continued
This very quick overview of Latin grammar was designed to orient a complete beginner–as if she were seeing the territory from an airplane! This video was part of the online Latin course for mothers/teachers in the Sursum Corda homeschool community.
What did Charlotte Mason–beloved 19th-century educationalist–actually say about Latin? Here are a few interesting quotes in a handout I made to accompany my colleague Sami Brandon’s talk in the online Latin course for mothers/teachers in the Sursum Corda community.
Why do I give up something for Lent? How can a family celebrate Lent? This is the written version of a testimony I gave at the Ash Wednesday service for FOL Covenant church. I observe Lent to let the Holy … Continued
What is “fluency,” really, and how is it achieved? This video is the follow up to An Audacious Goal: WHY Study Latin. Both appeared in an online course I developed for mothers/teachers in the Sursum Corda homeschool community.
Learn Latin in order to read living books—from a long and beautiful tradition—in their original language. This video was part of an online course I created for mothers/teachers at our Sursum Corda homeschool community. Here is a Reflection Worksheet, to … Continued
Printable sheets for families to put on the fridge and use at home! These first appeared (with pronunciation guides in Ecclesiastical or Classical Latin) for our Sursum Corda homeschool community on January 13, 2020.
Trade in your to-do lists for A Story, this Advent! This first appeared in the FOL Covenant Church newsletter and website, December 3, 2019. A few years ago, I discovered that I had stopped reading fiction. Oh, not completely, I … Continued
This list of ideas for family Advent activities was first published in the FOL Covenant Church newsletter and website, November 17, 2019.
…when family Advent Devotions FAIL! This piece first appeared in the FOL Covenant Church newsletter in November 2019. This picture shows the moment before a major Family Advent Devotions FAIL. That year, I had actually prepared some little lessons–like Children’s … Continued
How can we respond to rejection and failure in ministry? This piece was published in the FOL Covenant Church newsletter and website on March 26, 2019. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give … Continued
What in your life keeps you on an “even keel”? (This is part of a series of one-word prompts that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set … Continued
I believe in the importance of time spent in nature. But going outside has never been my natural instinct: I’m just more of a curl-up-with-a-book-and-tea person. I read with awe about mothers who are constantly outside with their kids: getting … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! Definition of “Cultivate”: … Continued
I have always been fascinated by words that are part of visual images, and I decided to play with that in my Bible journaling last week. The second half of Mark 1 has Jesus reaching out with his hand twice–once … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! Definitions of Fold … Continued
My early journals were very one-dimensional. Whether I intended them to or not, they usually covered one topic: my emotions in my teens or self-analysis and career in my twenties. Eventually, through examples, I began to branch out and include … Continued
For Christmas, I received an ESV Journaling Bible: one of those now-popular Bibles with extra margin room for notes and illustrations. I’ve been admiring all the Bible-margin artwork popping up on the Internet these days, and wondering what it would … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! Definitions of … Continued
What kind of foreign-language writing is simple enough to keep up every day? or even every week? Writing in the foreign language(s) you are studying is powerful, and I have gained a lot from each “journal” I have started over … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts (OK, sometimes two-word!) that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours. … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! “Merely having an … Continued
Happy New Year! I’m excited to announce that we have just released The 7-Day Prayer Journal and the companion e-book The 7-Day Prayer Journal Guide. A few years ago, my mother, my sister, and I began to experiment with prayer … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! When are you … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! ‘Tis the gift … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! In his stillness … Continued
What if your journal could be a place to find and incubate new ideas? A greenhouse, a workshop, a laboratory? My journals as a kid were essentially diaries. Gradually they expanded to include “commonplace” books or pages (copied quotes I … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts (OK, sometimes two-word) that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts (OK, sometimes two-word) that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! … Continued
Gratitude Lists are popular for good reason. They not only lift your spirits, they fulfill your ultimate mission, “to glorify God and enjoy him forever,” or as poet Mary Oliver puts it, “Instructions for / living a life: / Pay … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! “ A wonderful … Continued
Writing out a verse slowly and illustrating it can be a wonderful way to meditate on it, to “think on the page.” But it’s not always easy to get started, and to know what to draw. Here is one straightforward … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! “a vapor … Continued
Do you keep a reading journal? One just for your thoughts about books? I have to confess that soon after I started with the bold title page in the picture, that journal started to have entries about other things…and soon … Continued
How do you help a kid find something to write about a poem? How do you dig into a poem yourself, especially one you don’t “get”? And how do you find the beauty in densely poetic scripture texts? I use … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! “A disciple once … Continued
Seasons of Journaling I have found that my journal-keeping runs in seasons. There are seasons when I need to spill page upon page of freewriting, clearing out emotions and working through fears, like the “daily pages” of The Artist’s Way. … Continued
Taking your children to an art museum can be frustrating: it can involve hot children, tired feet, a harried parent, and a fair amount of squabbling. But it can also—even on the same trip—involve a few moments of magic. For … Continued
This is a series of one-word prompts that you can use to get writing today. Each is accompanied by a little doodle from my own journal, to set the scene: a gift from my journal to yours! “The task … Continued
I am re-launching this blog today with a tighter sense of focus, and a theme I’m excited about: Journals and Journaling. Does that Mean it’s all about Diaries? When I say journals, I don’t really mean daily diaries—only very … Continued
You had a good plan. A lovely plan. If God had just gone along with it, you would have given him the praise, and the world would have been a better place. But omnipotent God somehow let everything go wrong, … Continued
“You are holy…” “I praise your name…” Does it seem like you’ve sung the same words of praise a hundred times? This morning? A villanelle is a poetic form in which two whole lines must be re-used in a strict … Continued
I’ve never used an actual shield…but every day I feel the need of some kind of shielding, and I started this psalm-poem thinking about that need for protection and escape. It moves on, of course, from there through all the … Continued
Some Psalms cry out in pain…we rarely sing those verses in our praise songs or print them on posters or pin them on pinterest, but the songs of God’s people are often full of agony mixed in with faith and … Continued
What are the first words out of your mouth each morning? It only recently occurred to me that this might be important. For many years, without any thought at all, my first words have been to ask my husband how … Continued
“Sweet God, turn to me, I turn to you…” From “wooly thoughts” to “echoes laid straight,” here is my version of Psalm 5, “Spinning.” (My sister Lindsay and I are writing poems based on each of the psalms in order. … Continued
From “speak softness when I make an ugly noise” to “amplify, great God, turn up the shine”–I love the way psalms move from one emotional place to another, like a river sweeping the reader along. Here is Lindsay’s version of … Continued
per There are days when freedom to choose what to do is a great burden. This week I am feeling the combination of anticlimax (after my sister’s wedding), spring fever, and Santa Ana winds (i.e. heat and headaches). It’s exactly … Continued
This week I decided to read John Milton’s poem “Lycidas,” which I saw praised as the greatest elegy in English. But as I stepped into the poem, I felt disoriented–I felt, I imagine, as Milton might if he stepped into … Continued
The slogan of a local radio station, “Safe for the Whole Family,” never fails to irritate me. It’s not only that I don’t think the station is safe–from the lure of American consumerism, for instance. It’s not only that I … Continued
Spring is here, and everything is fresh and restless…and pastel. It doesn’t seem to fit the Lenten mood or palette sometimes. I expect to dwell in purple, moving somberly into black, and instead the world around me is full of … Continued
Here is my poem version of Psalm 3. (You might want to start at the beginning of our Psalter Project, or see all the psalms I’ve posted so far.) I am my own worst enemy. God, swarms of fears are … Continued
Have you ever wished for greater consistency in your prayer, but simultaneously felt bored by praying for the same few things each day? I have! A few years ago, my mother, my sister, and I began to experiment with a … Continued
Here is Lindsay’s poetic response to Psalm 2, the next installment in our Psalter Project. (To see all the psalms posted so far, click here.) Why do they stew in their own spleen in a bath that boils but does … Continued
“Longer than you wish, sooner than you think.” I was driving 65 mph on the 110 when I heard this today, and laughed aloud. My daughters promptly reminded me that I had laughed at the same quote last week–which I … Continued
“In what torne ship soever I embarke…” The very word “whatsoever” is ripped apart, flapping around that wounded ship, and suddenly I feel the torn ship of my life. The sea of “s” sounds swallows me and washes me into … Continued
A few years ago, my sister Lindsay and I began writing a “Psalter” together: our own poems based on each of the biblical Psalms in order. I write the odd-numbered psalms, she writes the evens! All kinds of life events … Continued
