by Brenda L. Yoder | May 5, 2022 | Fledge, Parenting
I fell into bed at night, feeling like my head was pinned against a wall and there was no way out. The next day would be the same—up at 5:30 am, get the babysitter, get the kids to school, teach high schoolers, rush to a volleyball game, help kids with homework, get...
by Brenda L. Yoder | Feb 10, 2022 | Life
“Mrs. Yoder, you have tears in your eyes,” my 4th grade students said. “Yes, they are happy tears,” I said. “You guys made my heart happy” and I made a little symbol with my hands over my heart. “You...
by Brenda L. Yoder | Jan 15, 2022 | Parenting
“I can’t tell my mom that. She’ll freak out.” It’s the thing kids say when we’re talking about hard things. My hope as a counselor or speaker is that kids will take the hardest things in their lives to their parents. But hearing...
by Brenda L. Yoder | Sep 3, 2021 | For Women
A young mom, I laid sobbing on our couch in our basement. It was my reaction to a comment I received that day which validated feelings of unworthiness and unacceptability. I laid there, loathing myself. It triggered feelings I had as a teenager with an eating disorder...
by Brenda L. Yoder | Sep 3, 2021 | For Women
Community means different things to me. I live in the community in which I was raised, one where everyone knows your name. There’s safety and familiarity in knowing those around you, in others knowing where you’ve been and to whom you belong. I experienced community...
by Brenda L. Yoder | Aug 19, 2021 | Life
I’m afraid, she said. I’m anxious something will go wrong. Will you pray with me? Though I knew Moriah’s fears were unlikely to be realized, I hesitated to persuade her otherwise. What she needed in the moment wasn’t a “you’ll be...
