To See Suffering
A morning not long ago, I was walking my dog in the woods near my house. It was my day off, so I was out later than usual. The summer sun was already high in the sky; light streamed through the trees in the most dazzling way.
Parenting
Grow at the Movies: Toy Story 4
A few months ago, I watched a documentary on Netflix called “The Pixar Story” which charted the rise of the animation studio through its first several movies and told the story of its partnership with and ultimate acquisition by Disney.
The Unattainable Rubric
As I sit here writing… I am inhabiting a body. As you sit there reading… you are, also, inhabiting a body.I am sure, just as I do, you have a long and complex history with your body. Most of my history surrounds my body’s interaction with gravity and how much space it takes up.
The Miraculous Dinnertime Question Jar
Several years ago, the Holy Spirit sent me, via the internet of course, a simple activity to ease dinner table tension by building relationship through storytelling. A mason jar, minimally decorated and containing slips of paper in three colors.
Practicing Gratitude and Joy on the Feast of the Visitation
There were exactly two snowballs in my south Louisiana childhood, and they didn’t fall from the sky in Baton Rouge. They rode down from Ohio on the side of our neighbor’s station wagon, and took their shape when she scooped them and gave them to wide-eyed children who had never seen snow.
Why are you staring at the sky?
In the retelling of this story in Acts chapter one, after Jesus ascends, the disciples are staring up towards the heavens and two men in white robes appear. They ask the disciples:“Why do you stand looking up towards heaven?”
God Loves You, Even in Maycember
Several years ago, Jen Hatmaker’s Worst End of School Year Mom Ever made the rounds, describing the desperate limp toward the finish line that many parents experience. More recently, the Holderness family produced a video about “Maycember,” illustrating the feeling that parents have at this time of year – just as busy as Christmas, without the lights and the peppy music.
Empty Nest
My mom texted a picture to all seven of us kids at the end of August after Nathan, my youngest brother and twenty years my junior, left for his freshman year of college. “In the first week of empty nesting we found an empty nest!” she wrote.
Growing in the knowledge and love of God over the summer
As you make your plans for summer study or travel, for camps and play dates, consider making some time for summer formation as well. After all, your kids (at least) might have some extra time, and what better opportunity to grow in the knowledge and love of God?!
