• Motherhood

    Lutheran Labor Singers–satire

    By Emily Cook   (This post is a lighter and silly one) This week, I was blessed to meet for tea with a special woman: Topanga Lovegood. Topanga is the president of Lutheran Labor Singers, Inc., a brand new Lutheran ministry (official synod endorsement pending.) She was joined by Soliel, the very first mother to make use of this unusual ministry. Soliel, a self-described “natural mother,” spoke to us wearing her baby. “It all started at our women’s Bible study. I was weeks from delivery, and planning my own home birth. I considering how to bring my child into the world in the best, most natural, most peaceful way possible…”…

  • Katie Luther Posts

    Living Water

    By Amanda Markel I spent most of the Divine Service the Second Sunday after Pentecost sweating bullets, on the edge of the pew with worry. What was the cause of my distress? Well, you see, my three-year-old is as repeater. Anything she hears that she understands, is interested in, or finds funny, she repeats. Loudly. It’s something we’re working on, especially in church, but in the meantime, the Old Testament reading was about the fall into sin. And if you’re familiar with that reading from Genesis 3, you know that the word naked comes up more than once. My preschooler, like many children her age, thinks the word “naked,” as…

  • Katie Luther Posts

    Teaching Children Church History

    By Amanda Markel Teaching church history to children is an important, although often overlooked, part of their growth in the Christian faith. We tend to be intentional about teaching the Bible, at home, in Sunday School, and Vacation Bible School, which is great. We also make an effort to teach Luther’s Small Catechism, if not at home (the place for which the Small Catechism was written!), at least in the church as we prepare children for Confirmation, which is also good. We might even teach some Lutheran history as we do that, but in general, early church history is often forgotten. But church history is also important! Just as we…

  • Katie Luther Posts

    Interview With an Adult Convert

    By Holly Scheer   Vanessa Rasanen is a regular writer here at Sisters of Katie Luther and was kind enough to let me interview her about her experiences growing up as an athiest and coming to Lutheranism (and Christianity, in general) as an adult. Grab a cup of coffee and read along as Vanessa tells us about her experiences. How old were you when you became a Lutheran? 22 is when I became a christian. I didn’t really learn what Lutheranism was until I was 30 and became a member at our current LCMS church.   What kind of religious life was in your family growing up? I vaguely remember…

  • Katie Luther Posts

    Longing to Belong: A Sheep’s Tale

    By Debra-Lynn Swearingen We were lost sheep for a season. There is nothing like church shopping to make you certain you are shepherd-less. Especially if you are susceptible to being a part of the growing sad, mad, church alumni. In some churches we were greeted heartily, some put us through a grueling Q&A session, and some we passed through without notice. We knew little of what we were looking for, and more of what we weren’t willing to endure. We were unsure of how right doctrine and social-fit unite, but we wanted both. We were longing to belong. We just didn’t know what that meant. This was not a new quest…

  • Katie Luther Posts

    Vocation

    By Amanda Markel Christians, especially Lutheran Christians, understand the concept of vocation…that God has called each of us to unique tasks in life. This can be seen in the form of our careers, a task for which we are often paid, as well as other callings in life, such as relationships like wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, or volunteer positions like Sunday School teacher or after-school tutor. We can hold many different vocations at the same time, and our vocations can change throughout our lives. One thing should remain the same, however. Whatever our vocation is, we should do it joyfully, as though we are serving God Himself when we…

  • Katie Luther Posts

    A Two Pronged Approach to Modesty

    By Amanda Markel I’m going to admit to something that may not be popular in Christian circles…I no longer use the word “modesty” when talking to my daughters. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the idea of modesty…it even appears several times in the New Testament. But modesty is another one of those words that our modern culture has twisted to mean something other than what the Bible expresses, and like many other things in American Evangelicalism, I want to stay as far away from it as possible. First of all, there is a tendency when we emphasize modesty, for Christian women to act in a less than Christlike manner toward…

  • Katie Luther Posts

    Uno

    By Anonymous One blessing. Children are a gift from God; my family has been blessed with one child. That’s right, only one. One healthy little girl who made me a Mommy at the age of 33. This little girl has given my family much joy. My heart swelled with love as she grew inside my womb and the day she was born hardly feels like seven years ago. If God blesses my family with another child, our hearts will grow in ways I cannot imagine. There are joys and challenges with having children; I think different experiences are intensified depending on how many kids you have. The time I spend…

  • Katie Luther Posts

    To My Daughter, On Becoming a Woman

    To my daughter once, my dear little girl, and now, a young woman: One normal evening, out of the blue, you were catapulted into the next stage of your life, and I, without any qualifications and little warning, was advanced to the next level of parenting.  Like you, I’m a few parts scared and a few parts excited. Here are a few things I’d like you to know, from my heart to yours. This is a lot to handle. Oh, how I’d like to let you stay home from school, curl up in a ball, and eat chocolate all day! I know, dear, that this is a lot to handle. …

  • encouragement,  Motherhood,  Vocation

    Raising Our Daughters (and Sons) To Just Be

    By Vanessa Rasanen Never, in all my years of growing up, did I doubt I would get married and have children. It was a given. It was part of my dream, my goals, my plan. Despite my liberal and feminist upbringing — which emphasized career over “just” being a housewife — I wanted a family and I wanted to stay home to care for that family. And no matter what it took, I was going to have it. And I do. I have three wonderful children, an amazing husband, two sweet dogs. I have a home filled with love and laughter, joy and hilarity. And though I’m no longer home…