My 8-year-old daughter recently started horseback riding lessons. One afternoon I walked behind on her trail ride. Earlier that morning, I’d lost my patience with the kids while getting ready for school, and the guilt lingered. I worried about how much time I spend on my phone rather than looking my kids in the eyes. […]
Focal verse “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act” (Psalm 37:5). Reflection Next to my armchair sits a wicker basket that holds books and journals. Grabbing my coffee, I take myself to this chair most mornings to sit, read and write before anyone else is awake. My hardcover Bible […]
Focal verse “This is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning—you must walk in it” (2 John 6). Reflection For four Saturdays this winter, I sat along a gymnasium wall watching 5- and 6-year-olds practice soccer skills. To begin, the teachers […]
Focal verse “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:3-4). Reflection On a blustery January day my 5-year-old son and I attended a funeral viewing […]
Focal verse “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit” (Psalm 51:10-12). Reflection The […]
Focal verse “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’” (Matthew 16:13). Reflection Our kids have no shortage of questions: What is that? Why? How does that work? Where was I before I was born? What does that mean? […]
Focal verse “Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14). Reflection One word guides the way I teach Sunday school: love. On the first day of class this year, I began with students’ highs and lows of that week. And then I pointed to the whiteboard and asked the kids to […]
Focal verse “God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Reflection I recently taught a confirmation class on the creation story. To dig into it, I invited the youth to write down all the things they could think of that were […]
Focal verse “Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Reflection Saturday mornings in our family have become cheerleading days. My daughter cheers with other elementary children for the flag football team. Pulling into the school parking lot for the first game, we were met with […]
