"Oh, Mama," said my then four-year-old son joyfully, "I love Jesus, and you love Jesus, and ... oh, everyone loves Jesus!" Ever have a similarly sweet-yet-challenging parenting moment? "Well, Jed," I explained, "Umm ... not everyone loves Jesus." Eyes wide and hands on hips, Jed demanded, "Who doesn't love Jesus?" I figured my preschooler needed a simple, concrete example. "You know Mikey across the street? I don't think his parents have ever told him about ... hold on, Jed, wait! Come back!" I'm not sure how Jed planned to set Mikey straight, but I thought we'd better have Continue Reading
3 Effective Ways to Show Kindness to a Grieving Friend
Fidgeting with her hair, the nervous teen told me her parents would “kill her” if they found out she was pregnant. Her boyfriend didn’t want a baby. They’d broken up the night before. I expressed sympathy. The girl burst into tears. Then she said what most people say when they cry in front of others. “I’m sorry!” We’re not very good at grief and sorrow in our culture. We’re embarrassed at our tears. We apologize for allowing our feelings to show. Somehow, we’ve adopted a strange paradigm: it’s not okay to hurt --it’s only okay to be okay. So we hide our feelings and except Continue Reading
Why Christian Parents Must Understand and Teach Worldview
The professor stepped back to check the spelling of the word he'd just written on the chalkboard. "There should be two u's in Weltanschauung," I ventured timidly. All heads turned my direction. I was the only underclassman in the small Ancient History class (and the only girl). The professor grabbed an eraser and added a "u." My classmates groaned. They feared I was brilliant and would ruin the class curve. What they didn't know is that German was my first language. "Weltanschauung" is German for worldview, or the lens through which we view life. Everyone has a worldview. Continue Reading
7 Important Lessons my Father Taught Me
He arrived in the United States with $70 to his name, not knowing a word of English. Under the stigma of having fought on the German side in World War II, my father set out to build a new life for his family. He succeeded. We held a memorial in Papa’s honor this last Saturday, and I’ve been reflecting on lots of childhood memories… …traditional Christmas Eve (Heilige Abend) celebrations, starting with Papa reading Luke Chapter 2 from the German Bible and leading us in German Christmas hymns .… two awesome trips to Germany in my teens. .. …how Papa would take me out for real Continue Reading