There are weeks when I can't help but write blogposts, and then there are weeks when my brain is too frazzled to put two sentences together. This week is one of the latter. William has had a fever. We have a new babysitter. Peter stayed home sick yesterday too. We're gearing ...

Some of you remember that Penny took ballet when she was 4. You might have read about her recital (Ballet Recitals, Carelessness, and Grace Part One and Part Two). It's a long story, but she's just really started dancing again, and I wrote about this renewed joy for the "My ...

Number one on my list this week, because it combines individuals with disabilities, families, adoption, hope, and some amazing dogs: "Wonder Dog" from the New York Times.

Number two, because it is a beautiful meditation on aging and being young, and because my beloved 91-year ...

Prayer paralyzes me. It's just too much. Too many people in need. Too many world events to consider. Too many personal needs and wants. Too many "oughts" and "shoulds" inside my head. And too many other things, practical things, to get done.

Which is exactly why I need to pray, ...

Penny will have surgery on her eyes and ears next week, on February 17th. She's had a few minor surgeries before–tubes in her ears twice, a heart procedure when she was 14 months old, stints placed in her tear ducts to help them open up. But this will be the first time that ...

As those of you who have read A Good and Perfect Gift know (and, I suspect, as those of you who read this blog regularly also know), I struggle with perfectionism. Having Penny, our six year old daughter with Down syndrome, in our lives, has offered us an opportunity to rethink ...

It's easy to find problems with religion. As I write in "Why I Am Both Spiritual and Religious,"

Religious texts have been used to justify everything from slavery to homophobia to abusive relationships. Religious people in positions of power have abused that power and harmed ...

My friend Sara Hagerty, who writes about her family of four children (three girls and a boy adopted from Ethiopia and Uganda) on the blog Every Bitter Thing is Sweet, has written two posts about their daughter Hope. Yes, these are posts about adoption, but they say as much about ...

That baby on the cover of "Why I'm Both Spiritual and Religious" is, yes, our son. William cried a lot as a baby, and he cried a lot in the night. Sometimes he screamed so hard I wondered if he might hyperventilate. And I remember one night, when I was traveling alone with him, ...

This interview appeared in a newsletter for Tiny Tots Therapy:

As an author & mother, what gave you the strength to share your personal story?

When Penny was diagnosed with Down syndrome a few hours after birth, I didn't know how to respond. Over the course of the next year, ...

You're stressed out. You're overwhelmed. You're running to catch up. You're amazed that there is yet another load of laundry to fold. Or maybe I should be writing this in the first person. Here's the scenario of our past few days: Our babysitter is sick. William threw up (not ...

Marilee (pronounced "merrily") turns one today. As I wrote in our Christmas letter:

Her name fits her well, as she is the happiest baby we've ever known. We often remark that she must sneak out at night and take classes in how to be cute. She claps readily, giggles at her older ...

Cary Umhau, co-creator of a very cool website (and more) called Spacious, has written twice about A Good and Perfect Gift this past week. In her first post, "People with _________ just aren't my thing" she challenges herself, and her readers:

What I had to wrestle with while ...

Yesterday William looked out the window and said, "Mom, why did Jesus decide to make it rain this morning?"

I cocked my head. Not only was I unsure how to answer him, I also wondered where the question came from. "Well, I guess Jesus just thought it was a good day for rain." ...

Over the course of the next few weeks, I'm going to run a series of posts that offer thoughts for cultivating "religious spirituality" in the midst of our busy everyday lives. These thoughts are meant to serve as a companion (or maybe, for those of you who haven't read it, as ...