At a recent get-together for young mums, I was asked to share some of the ways I try and point our children (currently 4 years, 2 years and 4 months) towards the gospel – the good news about Jesus Christ. That my personality is disorganised, anxious and perfectionistic works against me. Yet Christ makes all things new! What a wonderful […]
Category Archives: Parenting
Caterpillars
Beneath a grey, complaining sun, we wandered, I and you, disconsolate and dubious, to where the milkweed grew. But there were monarch caterpillars nestled in the ‘weed, and puffy green ballooning fruit that scatters swan plant seed. We glimpsed a tiny second-instar feasting on a leaf; The big ones wore their velvet stripes in black and gold […]
Prone to wander: balance, family and priorities
As I look back at our calendar over the past 12 months, it’s easy to be puffed up. We are the perfect family where I write interesting things, preach, lead worship, study, read, go cycling, play. Cheryl is the perfect housewife who bakes, sews, binds books, cooks, teaches the girls. It’s easy to rattle off what we’ve done […]
When your yes means no
Our oldest daughter turned 3 in May. We had a fantastic birthday party with friends and family, involving all kinds of instruments, and it ended with a sing-a-long with E on the ukulele. About a week later, we got a call from a kindy who had E on their waitlist. “We’ve got two days a […]
Family devotions: building for the long-term
Tim Challies gives some good encouragement here regarding family worship: There is no good way to measure the success of family devotions except by this: Did we do it? The thing is, we are building for the long-term here, not the short-term. A single episode of family devotions can so easily seem like a complete waste. But […]