Category: FAMILY
Mommy Wars: Judging and Feeling Judged in a Diverse Body
Within a few hours of airing on YouTube, a Similac commercial called “Mother ‘Hood” went viral. In it, groups from several different mommy sub-cultures show up at a playground—nursing moms, bottle-feeding moms, businesswomen-moms, even baby-wearing-yoga moms. Battle lines are drawn immediately and insults fly. Eventually, just...
The Enduring Effects of a Parent’s Daily Chatter
About a week ago, a knock came to my bedroom door. “Who is it?” “It’s Lilly!” Playfully, I responded, “Lilly? Who’s Lilly?” “The pretty one, Dad!” “Of course, come on in!” That’s a cute story, but why did she call herself “the pretty one?” Let me...
Young Christian Parents, Enjoy Your Children
I was on the couch reading some relatively important emails that had been piling up from the other elders I serve with, and I couldn’t focus. My 15-month-old had decided that there was nothing more interesting or important in the universe of our living room than...
Overcoming Over-gifting
Christian parents often struggle with ways to keep their children from becoming “spoiled” by material possessions. They recognize the danger of fostering a tendency toward greed, and are careful not to feed this dangerous appetite of the flesh. So, they carefully limit toys, clothes, and other...
Reclaiming Your Eyes from Pornography
I used to watch my dad brand cattle. I still remember the awful smell. The bovines would wail at the momentary pain, and the smoke from singed hair and burnt cowhide would rise into the afternoon sun. One by one the cattle would file through to...
What To Do About the Stuff You Have To Do
My wife and I recently returned from living overseas and will soon move into a rental house here in Kansas City. These two things have made life difficult. Too many things to think about: health insurance, car insurance, car registration, couches, rugs, tables, chairs, plates, cups,...
Improving March Madness
Men’s college basketball provides one of the most entertaining tournaments of the year. Sixty-four teams (or sixty-five, if you count the “play-in” game) make the “Big Dance,” a single-elimination tournament that culminates in a national championship. Sometimes bigger schools are defeated by smaller schools that weren’t...
Scoffer, Slacker, Seeker, or Saint? – A Spiritual Census for Teens
Every ten years in America a survey called a census is taken to determine the current number of U.S. residents. Other information is also obtained and used to paint an up-to-date economic, political, and religious portrait of our society. What if a census were taken in...
Sin, the Christian, and The Field-Goal Principle
For those not familiar with American football, the game is played on a 100-yard field. A team can score in two primary ways, either by carrying the ball into the other team’s end-zone and scoring a touchdown (6 points), or by kicking the ball from a...
The Woman Who Wouldn’t Heil Hitler
The first time young Kurt Ziefle said “Heil Hitler” to his mother, he wished he hadn’t. Maria Ziefle calmly and firmly laid down the rule of the household. “We do not salute man in place of God,” she said. “In this house we will continue to...
