What could possibly be more beautiful to a parent’s ears than the sound of two young brothers playing nicely together? — especially when those same two are usually fighting, or at least when the elder is usually snipping at the younger? Read the rest of this entry »
I am so delighted to share with you the promo video for a soon-to-be-released book I’ve had the honor of editing. Author Bathsheba Smithen is only in her mid-20s, but she has wisdom beyond her years. Watch the video (Bathsheba is the first individual in it)… and then read the book’s Foreword, below, which she also gave me the privilege of writing:
Editor’s Foreword
“All is vanity and a chasing after wind. … So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly…” (Ecclesiastes 1:14 and others; 2:12, NRSV)
When Bathsheba Smithen first invited me to write this Foreword, I replied with a laugh, “You want a pasty white girl from small-town Minnesota to introduce a book by an African American from Washington, D.C.?!” Read the rest of this entry »
My little guy earned himself detention today.
Yup. In kindergarten.
I’ve never had a kid get detention before, but somehow I thought if it did happen, it would be in, say, fourth or fifth or sixth or seventh grade. Or maybe eleventh… you know, for skipping class or something.
Nope. Kindergarten. For punching a fellow kindergartner in the face. Read the rest of this entry »
“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” –1 Corinthians 1:31
As promised, here is my “boasting in God” story:
The day before yesterday, one of my 6-year-old’s regular babysitters (whom he adores), a 5th-grader who lives next door (daughter to the friend I wrote about yesterday), was charged with walking him home from school. Gabe chose to be disobedient and to play on a huge snow pile halfway between school and home. When he refused to come with her, she tried her best to rectify the situation, but he ended up hitting her. She finally opted to leave him there and came to me, nearly in tears, Read the rest of this entry »
“I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness…” –Psalm 40:10
My next-door neighbor called me yesterday: “I just have to boast about God and tell you what he did for us!” I had to ask her to repeat her words; not only was she on her cell phone with a bit of crackling going on, but it wasn’t a word-combination I was used to: “I just have to boast about God…” This Lutheran has been learning a lot from her about living faith openly Read the rest of this entry »
One of the Scripture readings for today, according to the Daily Lectionary I am using, is 1 Kings 10:1–13, the account of the Queen of Sheba’s visit to King Solomon. She journeyed to see him because she had heard the reports about his extraordinary wisdom and prosperity and, apparently, thought they were too good to be true. As it turns out, she is pleasantly surprised to find differently. They exchange lavish gifts (she brings him spices in such huge amounts that “never again did spices come in such quantity,” and he gives her “every desire that she expressed”), symbolizing, I take it, the mutual respect and admiration that has sprung up between them.
Have you ever heard about someone from someone else who told you, “You’ve got to meet So-and-so. She [or he] is incredible! I’ve learned so much from this person! She [He] is a great leader / teacher / preacher / parent…!”
I have. Read the rest of this entry »
