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The Humorous Tales of Our Children in Church
Our kids are all in church frequently — which is great. It has also provided us all some funny tales of their best (or worst — you decide) moments in church. Come, sigh and laugh with us, and maybe find comfort that you’re not — at all — alone. He was about three, and we were in church. I had been teaching him the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, and he jumped right in reciting them in church. I beamed, looked around to make sure everyone saw it, because, well, my kid rocks, and I’m an awesome mom. A few minutes later, I’m not paying attention, but am focused on the sermon, but he’s standing between…
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Welcome Spring
By Emily Cook “It’s like this, children,” said pastor-daddy, trying to explain the mysteries of faith one bleary morning, “Imagine little Peter walked across the street to the pond, and he fell through the ice and he died.” “No daddy I didn’t do that!” “Peter, it’s just a story, like a parable, I know it didn’t really happen.” “But I DIDN’T! Don’t laugh at me, Marcus!” “Okay, Peter. We know. Just listen.” “So, imagine he died. Could he call for help then? If he were dead, could he wave his arms and holler for us to come save him?” Heads shake. No way. That’s ridiculous. “Of course not. This is…
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Loss, Grief, and Miscarriage
–This post was submitted anonymously. I had a miscarriage, and it’s a secret. My child, which was being knit together by God in a secret place died, and became a secret also. He was alive inside me long enough for me to begin dreaming about what his life would be like, but not long enough to seem real now as I look back to this shadowy time in my life. This child, who in my imagination was my son, was a gift given to me years after I had given up the possibility of carrying a child. My pregnancy test turned positive only hours before I heard my pastor preach…
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For Good Friday
By Sandra Ostapowich “I couldn’t believe how gory it was.” That’s what my boss told me after going to see The Passion of the Christ when it first came out in the theater. “I knew the story of Jesus and what was going to happen, but I had never imagined it could be that violent.” And this from a snarky atheist. I used to be able to watch violent movies, shoot-em-ups and creepy murder mysteries without batting an eye. I’d go through Holy Week and piously imagine the betrayal, trumped-up charges, beatings, flogging, public humiliation and crucifixion and how horrible it must’ve been. But, in my mind, it was sanitized.…
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When “Training Up” Ends and Moving Out Begins: Parenting College Aged Children
By Pam Thompson Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 ESV It is difficult to discern whether this Proverb is a command, or a comfort. But, for most parents, it is our prayer — our plea. Our children grow up and move out. We spend years worrying about and sweating the small stuff. We agonize over preschool choices and screen time limits. But, we have also spent much time in prayer and teaching of our children. We teach them the prayers of our faith. We read to them from the Bible. We teach them…
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Celebrating the Church Year- April
By Marie McNary Life is busy. Sometimes in all the hustle and bustle the urgent takes priority, and the important is put off until another day. Keeping Christ at the center of our households is both urgent and important. It should be at the top of our “to-do” lists. Celebrating the church year within our homes is a fun way to bring Lutheran history to life that we are exposed to only in Church. We are always looking for ways to make Christ the central focus of our life and our days. When it comes to celebrating the church year sometimes it can be tough to know where to begin, but…
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Comfort for Those Tending to the Lord’s Littlest Sheep, Part 2
by Keri Wolfmueller Understanding Age Appropriate Behavior Greetings! If you are just now joining us, please see Comfort for Those Tending to the Lord’s Littlest Sheep, Part 1. Surprisingly, one of the most valid arguments against having children in church is sometimes brought to us from educators or pediatricians. These men and women have invested years into studying how children learn, how to best instruct them, how to care for them, and keep them healthy. (Please note the use of the word sometimes, this is not an absolute to these vocations.) The argument goes something like this, “It is not appropriate to expect young children to sit through an hour…
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Adoption and Loss
by Amy Stafford People often say how blessed our daughter is to have been adopted. And of course, my response is always that we are the blessed ones to have her in our lives. People also often say she was meant for our family. She certainly appears to be. Her personality is so much like her older sister’s, it’s scary. She fills what was previously a gaping hole in our family. She is the delight of our lives and fits in perfectly. But it must be said, she was also meant for her birth family. She was born to another mother, and another father. To other grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. …
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Motherhood as Vocation
There are few vocations as riddled with fruitless worry as that of motherhood. For many of us this begins as soon we find out we’re pregnant, with questions of what to eat, how our lives will change, what will remain the same, and all of the concerns over whether or not the baby will be healthy. Indeed, anxiety dreams during pregnancy are almost legendary—I know I once had a vivid dream that I was actually pregnant with a three-legged pony. It’s not as if these concerns stop once the baby is born. How many of us have sat up in the middle of the night with a screaming baby and…
