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
The Most Powerful, Doable Way to Pray for Your Children
If I asked, "Do you think you pray enough for your kids?", my guess is you'd say no. Or maybe you'd say you don't feel very good at praying for them. Maybe your best shot is, "Thank you, Jesus, that I didn't kill them today. Again." When it comes to prayer, a little structure can be super helpful. One of my favorite ways to pray for my children, and now my grandchildren, is to pray the Scriptures over them. Here's one idea: the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters, one for each day of the month. Read a chapter a day, and then choose one or more verses and personalize them as a prayer Continue Reading