The moms and dads that I meet carry around a lot of guilt. I include myself, first and foremost. I lost my temper.ย I let them watch too much TV while I worked.ย You don’t even want to know what I fed them for dinner.ย I’m not making enough money to send them to college.ย […]
One of the obvious things I do as a pastor is pray. I often feel that my prayers are insufficient or incomplete, but I feel called to continue to do it. I lift up, every day, the needs of my congregation and the concerns they lay before me. It is an honor and a privilege.
A Prayer for San Antonio Parents and Teachers in a Time of Fear Read More ยป
The Saturday before Easter, my lovely congregation will be holding a little Easter Egg hunt with cupcakes, cascarones, music and laughter. Some pastors might argue this is liturgically, theologically or spiritually inappropriate. I don’t think so, and here are four reasons why. 1. The Easter date was chosen to coincide with a pagan festival… there’s
Four Reasons Why This Pastor Encourages Egg Hunts in Churches Read More ยป
My parentsย always succeeded in getting me to fall for age-appropriate April Fool’s Jokes. I still remember the first one, I was very small. Five years old, maybe younger. “You have dirt on your face! Go wash it off!” I went to the mirror and looked “No I don’t!” I said to which I heard the
April Fools’ Day Conversations Read More ยป
Maybe it’s just me, but I seem to be reading a lot of articles and blog posts recently that imply I’m “doing it wrong.” ย Reading them makes me feel like a worse parent, not a better one. Just this week I read articles that told me I’m doing it wrong with regard to the following:
You’re Not “Doing it Wrong” (A quick reminder) Read More ยป
On my way to a Presbytery meeting in Austin this week, I knew I’d be in the car for a few hours, so I burned a couple of the podcasts that were on my “to listen to” list to CD to bring with me. One of the podcasts I heard was this episode of On
Reprinted from the church newsletter. Enjoy (if you can get past the giant run-on sentences!) When I was interviewing for the position as pastor at Northwood, I was very pregnant with Samuel, and it was a phone interview. I was full of nerves when I considered what would happen when I got to the stage
Some thoughts on being a pastor and a mother — a reverend mother? Read More ยป
Psssst. Lean in. I’m talking to you, mother or father or guardian of small children. You’re doing aย greatย job. I know you’re really, really tired sometimes, and part of the reason is that it’s exhausting to do a bunch of little mundane but very important things like cut the grapes in half I meanย quartersย so your kids
On Kids Making Their Own Valentines and 5 Underachieving Valentines Ideas Read More ยป
Recently an old post (from 2010) called “Top Ten Mistakes Christian Parents of Teens Make” started making the rounds on Facebook again. While I don’t know much about the author, I’m deeply interested in the subject matter. Encouraging parents as they raise faithful children is a passion, and I wrote the book on it. (Ok,ย aย book.
Ten Things Parents of Teens are Doing Right Read More ยป
My older son, Clayton, loves to play “Ring Around the Rosie.” It’s the “all fall down” part he loves (of course!) In recent days, I’ve distracted him from many-a-meltdown by saying “Want to play ring around the Rosie?” The answer is always a resounding YES! Today, while I was folding laundry on the other side
Ring Around the Rosie in Real Time… Read More ยป
