Most years at Christmastime, I enjoy putting together an Advent calendar for my family. The calendar varies from year to year – sometimes I focus on quiet reflection and sometimes on lively activity; sometimes I hang the activities in a long paper chain, or make a poster with flaps that open. I try to create a […]
Everyone says the moral of Thanksgiving is to be thankful. And it is. The Pilgrims took a deep breath and said, “We made it. Look at this harvest, we’ve stored up what we need for next winter, and we give thanks to God.” But I can’t help thinking about that first dark winter, and the poverty of isolation, the shivering widows standing at the graves of their babies under a chilly moon. God forbid that someone finds out we’re not doing okay…
Confession: Even though the month of April is history, I still want to share pictures of our Passover supper with you. For the past two years, we’ve chosen to celebrate a Passover feast with our children on the Thursday night before Easter, as part of remembering Jesus’ last days before death. My giant disclaimer fits […]
Congratulations, everybody. We made it through another Mother’s Day. All you dads thought of something heart-warming and appropriate to give your wives, or survived the humiliation if you did not. All you church leaders and Sunday school teachers avoided the fraught topics, or not, but at least it’s behind you. You women who wonder if […]
“To: GOD! From: Kelly! Dear God, I’m exitet For you’r Birth-Day, at Chrismas!! Love, Kelly” I know it’s terribly uncouth to mention the word “Christmas” too early, but I waited as long as I could. Could we just call it “The busy season of merriment and festivities that fast approacheth” for short? It’s coming. It’s […]
Confession: Sometimes I am tired of confessing my idiocies. If you’re tired of hearing of them, don’t worry—you’re not nearly as tired as I am of committing them. I told Alison this week that “any organizational/ navigational skills I have are a desperate attempt to get a handle on my naturally forgetful and scatterbrained self. […]