You’ve probably heard J.M. Barrie’s fairy origin story in the book Peter Pan: “When the very first baby laughed for the very first time, the sound broke into a million tiny pieces which became fairies.” Hearing a baby laugh is a magical sound, and it is no wonder that joy gives birth to whimsy. DespiteContinue reading “Out of the Mouths of Infants”
Tag Archives: Christianity
Subjected to Futility
I scooped up the dead kitten on the same day that I heard of a friend’s death. As I carried it on the shovel, I felt a deep sense of futility. Why had the Lord allowed the kitten to even be born? What had my friend’s life amounted to after countless struggles with addiction andContinue reading “Subjected to Futility”
Thirsty Together
It’s amazing how thirst spreads like wildfire amongst young children. When the first one says, “I am thirsty,” the room fills with echoes of the same. Everyone has to go to the water fountain to get a drink. Thirsting is catching just like yawning. I bet you just looked around for your water bottle. That’sContinue reading “Thirsty Together”
The Distilling
On a whim in 2001, my mother and I drove late into the night to West Virginia, to a little old house on a lake that once belonged to her grandparents. She loves genealogy, and we spent the weekend exploring cemeteries and old home sites in hollers left empty by time and progress. In Pax,Continue reading “The Distilling”
Crunchy
Confession: I make my own granola. You probably just mentally labeled me a “crunchy mom,” if you use the new lingo. With the advent of an entire department of the government dedicated to “making America healthy again,” we’ve developed a lot of terminology for our latest health trends and crazes. I like making my ownContinue reading “Crunchy”
Into the Deep
Our pastor brought a thimble to church. I was sitting so far back that I could barely see it. He held it up between his thumb and forefinger and stood in front of the pulpit. “If what there is to be known about God is an ocean,” he said, “this represents how much we know.”Continue reading “Into the Deep”
Jesus is Enough
Or, When Drowning Makes You Thirsty… For the woman at the well, carrying much more of a burden than her water jar. For the hypocritical Pharisees who didn’t really want answers to their questions. For Mary and Martha, drowning in grief. For Thomas, doubting the intangible, fearful of what the tangible might mean. For theContinue reading “Jesus is Enough”
Cure for Unbelief
A four year old who is dear to my heart visited this week, and when I announced that it was time to clean up all of our toys, she had as many excuses as Moses when He was called by God to return to Egypt. “I am so tired,” she tried. “My hands are tooContinue reading “Cure for Unbelief”
Sure
This is not going to be an article about homeschooling, or the passage of time, or how quickly children grow up, but my oldest child graduated from high school last weekend. The day was beautiful, and my take-away has been thankfulness that I can know what I’m sure of. Launching a child into this coldContinue reading “Sure”
Impoverished
There are many kinds of poverty. Several weeks ago, an eleven year old boy told me that when he was younger, there had been no food in the house. He had seen puppies nursing and had realized that they were receiving sustenance. He was so hungry that he had fed alongside those puppies from theContinue reading “Impoverished”
