Tag Archive | parenting
The Rhythms of Grace
Last week, I signed my 4-year-old daughter up for her first dance class. !! I bought tights and leotards, and she’s been wearing them around the house for weeks now. I’m trying to teach her the grande jette. Because, you know, it is always preferable to begin the (beginner, toddler, community center) class from a […]
An Empty House
A Tao of Christmas shopping, from a wannabe minimalist: So, i buy most of my kids’ clothes at consignment sales. Also sell stuff there, so i almost break even. I go to this one sale twice a year (because it is at my church and i get to shop early!) While i’m shopping for clothes, […]
One More Piece of the Puzzle
On a lighter note… One of the most miraculous parts of parenting, by far, is listening as the pieces of the language puzzle click into place. Even though i’ve watched it come together with the first kid, it is no less of a wonder the second time around. One day they are screaming, crying, flailing little […]
Like a Child
When the kids hit that tiny carpet square in Worship and Wonder, they say some of the most profound, prophetic and challenging things you’ll ever hear. I’m grateful for adult leaders who know how to hear their words as what they are–gospel–and not as just the cute stuff that kids say. If you ask me, children have a far greater range of spiritual motion than adults do. Again, not because they are ‘good,’ or pure, but because it is simply a gift of childhood to live with and accept that which is too great for reason, logic, or a business plan.
Sometimes, It Falls from the Sky
It was one of those rare Phoenix days when everything shimmered with a utopian light. (No, not recently!) Hot air balloons dotted the sky, and rocky mountain foothills struck a dramatic pose against the technicolor blue. Ancient saguaro raised their arms in praise of all creation. The sun was a friend and not the oppressor it would […]
What Whining Will Get You…
I’ve got two small children. I know what whining sounds like. Sometimes, before the request has completely left the tongue, I will stop and say, “Is that really how you want to ask me about that?” Because I would really like them to learn young that whining gets them nowhere. That i tend to be […]
To Be
I started getting in trouble for my ‘to be’ verbs in junior AP English. It was my favorite class of my whole school experience, but it was also the point at which i realized i was not the greatest writer of all time. (WHAT???) My teacher, the legendary Mrs. McNulty, would take a red ink […]
A Perfect Day
Following a pretty rotten day, the universe will sometimes throw you a nearly perfect one. Or maybe it’s just that, for me, two consecutive rotten days are unacceptable. In any case, yesterday= pretty dang crummy. Today, however, rolled something like this: Day started, per usual, with a small girl crawling into bed with me and […]
Immediately
Parenthood comes with that same sense of urgency. They grow so quickly, we don’t have much time. Let me get just this one snack made, this one conflict dissolved, this one dance recital/baseball season/science project under wraps…then i will rest. Then I can enjoy the ride. But sometimes…well, sometimes, the urgent replaces the important. And we can spend a great deal of our lives focused on that ‘just one more’ thing, and far too little of it in the moment.
Irreverin 