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Tag Archives: parenting

Sweeter than honey

As a parent, I fight a losing battle with sugar. But sugar isn’t evil. It is a powerful gift. We can learn and re-learn on each fresh new day how to choose God’s abundant life, that finicky recipe of restraint and indulgence, recognizing our agency in choosing to not have something that we can have, and giving thanks for the sweet gifts received along the way. Continue reading

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Confessions from a guilty working mother (and finding the grace to push back)

These cultural narratives touch me and worry me. I count my two children as the greatest blessings of my life. I desperately want to raise them to know generous and unconditional and ever-present love. I worry that I work too much, that I’m distracted too often, that I get too caught up in the busyness of life and responsibilities and that I am failing them as their mother. I am a guilty working mother. Continue reading

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If you wouldn’t put it on a shirt…

Do we think about the ramifications of what we post on line? How much do we ‘own’ the images we post, or the words that we say? As parents, are we being thoughtful and responsible about what we chose to post on-line? Continue reading

Posted in Pop Culture Piety | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The refugee crisis and that picture

The picture. Yes—“that” picture that started circulating yesterday of the 3 year old boy washed up on the beach in Turkey. One of God’s children without hope is too many and every refugee on this God given earth, is one of God’s children. Continue reading

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The one I have not read yet

The soup is starting to steam. Above the stove, I glance at the crucifix I put there. The crucifixion is an account told endlessly since it occurred. Those two familiar lines—one crossing the other. Today when I look at the cross I see one line that represents time, the other that shows me place. The truth of Christ meets us in the exact time and place in which we find ourselves. So, the way to deeply understand the Gospels is to read them and read them again. Continue reading

Posted in Children's Ministry | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Buying the magic

Do I regret taking my children to a Disney production on March Break? Readers may judge, but I will no doubt invest in other shamelessly corporate production consumables, imagining that a modern day parent has to give in to some of the junk. But I’m glad that I have a people and a prayer to which I can turn (repent) in order to receive true sustenance. Continue reading

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My child called

Children’s misbehaviour shocks us out of our habits. A child calls its parents to consider themselves anew: that which is unnecessary must fall away. Continue reading

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Everyone is searching

Followed by crowds of needy people, Jesus must have wondered about some of the things done by those who looked for him. But when the disciples came to Jesus and told Jesus that everyone was searching for him, how did Jesus respond? He said, “let’s go to more towns and find more of those needy people to search for me.” Why? Continue reading

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Trying to control the vertical and the horizontal

“What did your parents do to keep you guys in church?” was once asked of my wife Rachel and me by a priest who was disappointed to see his children who were about our age not show any interest in maintaining a regular church life. We didn’t really know how to respond. Continue reading

Posted in Parental Ponderings | Tagged , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Busy being born

My family made a prayerful decision to move. We have felt loved and supported and prayed for every step of the way through this transition. I am happy and feel blessed in my new home and church home. And now that I am four months in, I finally have to admit that I, too, would like to just know where I am going, to feel as if the road is familiar to me again. I, too, know that instinct to grab mommy’s legs and have a little cry. Continue reading

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