Explaining Easter to a Preschool Warrior
Bringing up topics of pain, torture and death to three year olds is hard. Splashed across the pages of my son’s children’s Bible are scenes of Jesus being whipped and hung on a cross. Before that page, though, are the ones that most grab his attention. Jesus is pictured, surrounded by a ring of soldiers…
Build Your Arsenal of Presidents’ Trivia
New life bursts. From a late-night walk with my oldest, a sprig of tiny green leaves and white balled blossoms now perch in a bud vase on my kitchen sink. In the living room my teens stood, taking turns with verbal presentations on American presidents. The assignment was to research, memorize, and regale us…
One of the Saddest Lover Scenes
It was like the ultimate lover betrayal. He walked through their rooms, seeing evidence of the Other Lover – of him who had grabbed her heart—everywhere. At the North entrance to their home stood a sculpture carved with the Other’s face. “This was my yard! How could it be here?” It felt like a…
Lightning Storms and Drafting Zeke
Photo credits He was thirty years old. Well-educated, articulate, up-to-date with history and current events, well-versed in foreign affairs, he was nonetheless an oddity. Forced into exile by a conquering nation, he lived thousands of miles from home and everything was unfamiliar – the language, cultures, and religion were all different. Still, he married and…
Dilapidated Barns (Praying Scripture for Your Children: A Week’s Guide — free printable)
Alongside rolling corn fields with the soil still dark and wet, and small rural towns where dilapidated wooden barns crumbled slowly inward, I drove. Greeted by a young school age girl who shyly, graciously, met me at the door and ushered me into the unfamiliar church building, I met her mom and the other coordinators…
Robins and Sunny Afternoons
Pale green blades of grass poked a half inch tall out of black pavement on the street beneath our feet. Determined to make healthy choices, my man and I alternated between jogging and walking on a hot Sunday afternoon. Walking was definitely more frequent than jogging, my rythmic breathing embarrassingly loud in the sunny suburban…
Life and Death Intertwined
A cloud of caramel-colored cattail fluff flew towards me. Waving his cattail sword gleefully against the red slide and grey drawbridge, Daniel laughed as each swat emitted another fairy-tale cloud of fluff. It clung to his navy and red-striped pants, and tickled his neck near the blue hoodie. Wrinkling my nose unconsciously at the tiny…
Talking to Your Kids About God (School-age Edition)
Walking past her doorway, we could hear booming actors talking inside about a woman desperately looking for her tenth coin, or about blind men chasing down a carpenter renowned for his miracles. Other days, a loud orator would discuss breaking seals and pouring out bowls, and Revelation soon became her favorite book of the Bible.…
Suburban Ninjas and a Peach Pie
The doorbell rang. Before we could get to the door, there was a clatter, the sound of running feet, and a car door slamming. Descending our flight of stairs and opening the front door, we could only perceive blurry details of some people and a car disappearing out of sight. On the wooden porch step…
Talking to Your Kids About God (Preschool Edition)
“But I want to SEE Jesus!” he insisted. “Where is he? Can he come play at my house?” “Well, you can’t see him right now.” “Why? Is he hiding?” My preschooler craned his neck to peer into the bathroom closet. “No, you just can’t see him right now,” I explained. “He’s here; but we can’t…