Teaching children about Good Friday isn’t easy, especially if you’re talking with younger children. How do you explain why Jesus had to die? That Jesus knew ahead of Good Friday that he would die? And the true meaning of the cross as Jesus’ sacrifice for our ultimate salvation? Teaching children about Good Friday isn’t easy,…
Jesus or the Easter Bunny: An Easter Memory
As I think back on the years of celebrating the Easter holiday with my husband and children, my memories are filled with Easter morning church services, frilly handmade dresses, matching ties, and baskets full of fresh fruit, plastic eggs, and inexpensive treats. I remember Easter afternoons spent vacuuming the green plastic Easter grass off our…
Dig In
The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention. ~ Richard Moss Having written this book before COVID-19, I want to hug you, to pull you near and tell you that brighter days are ahead of whatever difficult season you’ve gone or are going through. I also want to jump up…
God Isn’t Uncomfortable With Your Grief
Grief is uncomfortable. Not just for the griever, but for those next to or in the general vicinity of the griever. Of course, I knew nothing about this until what had begun as a season of gratitude quickly and unexpectedly transitioned to one of deep grief. On a cold January night, I arrived at the…
Reignited Fire in the Spirit
The first time I had ever been to my cousin’s house was also the first time we ever prayed together as a family. Unlike our usual family festivities, this get-together was a hard one to attend. We were here to pray for healing over my aunt who was just diagnosed with cancer. Everyone gathered together,…
Bedtime Liturgies That Help Us Rest in the Work of Jesus
Failure and Grace in the Story of God In a very real sense, parenting is one long process of revealing who you are. And usually that is not pretty. Perhaps it’s a one-year-old who won’t sleep. Or maybe it’s a pre-teen who talks back constantly, a five-year-old who is still wetting the bed, a third-grader…
A Bright Future
Christmas is the time of year when you are actually excited for snow, cold, and all things made of wool. We have a Savior to celebrate and a house that smells like peppermint candles and cookies. Come February though you start to look and feel like a bloated version of Wendy Torrance from that Stephen…
How to Set Family Goals: Becoming a Family with Purpose
Have you set any family goals or resolutions for the new year? I like the word goals better than resolutions. New Year’s resolutions always seem doomed to fail, and if you don’t start on January 1 or fall off the bandwagon by January 3, you feel defeated. But goals? Goals can be set anytime, and…
Making Memories
Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. — Luke 2:19 Each year during the holidays, our family pulls out the home movies, loads a bowl with truffle-salt popcorn, and settles in for our absolute favorite trilogy of the year: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids; Honey, I Blew Up the Kids;…
Four Ways Families Can Keep Christ In Christmas
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – the Christmas season is here! Everywhere we turn, the sights, sounds, and wonders of Christmas surround us ready to captivate our family’s hearts. Have you noticed as you drive around town how your children’s eyes fill with wonder as they gaze at the spectacularly lit…