The Second Day of Christmas: Laura Boggess

Over at the High Calling Blogs, Mondays have been devoted to a discussion of Gerald May’s book, The Wisdom of Wilderness. We’ve all learned that May is nothing if not provocative. But he’s telling his story, he writes well, and there’s a lot to learn from his book. So I’ve been content to read and offer an occasional comment if I think he goes off the deep end. Like in chapter 9, ‘Rainstorms,” when he does a wild dance in the wilderness around a campfire in the middle of a thunderstorm.

I laughed. I remembered something a friend in college once said – that we are ordained by our creator to have the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – and to make monumental fools out of ourselves.

Instead of a rant about Gerald May, I wanted to talk about our discussion leader, Laura Boggess, who has intrepidly guided us through the discussion with good humor and grace.

Laura lives in West Virginia, and was born and raised there. She has a master’s in Clinical Psychology from Marshall University, and that’s where she met her husband. They have two sons and a Boston terrier named Lucy and are active with the Boston Terrier Rescue League. (I identify here: my very first dog was a Boston terrier named Mr. Ike, which tells you who was President when I was three years old.)

She works in a physical rehabilitation unit at a hospital, where she counsels individuals and families going through traumatic medical experiences. Experiences like spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, amputation. (Consider the grace and the strength needed for that job.)

Laura teaches Sunday School and works with middle school kids at church midweek meetings. Her husband is the praise band leader, and she says music has always been a big part of their lives. And she’s a runner (as in exercise).

And she is a published author of a novel for young adults called Brody’s Story, the first in a series (and the second is set for 2010).

You can find Laura at her blog, The Wellspring. She writes about the stuff that matters, like family, and children, and God, and you'll find your heart warmed and your soul encouraged. This weekend, snow arrived, and she was inspired enough to write this simple, beautiful poem. And you can follow her on Twitter, too.


(Over at the High Calling Blogs, we’re celebrating the 12 days of Christmas by highlighting a blog or web site of someone besides ourselves during this season of Advent and Christmas.) (Which is what we should also be doing the other 353 days of the year.)