Family

A mix of personal reflections and cultural commentary about family in A mix of personal reflections and cultural commentary about family in America

Love Is Slow, but It LastsFinal thoughts on family, faith, and what matters most.
Love Is Slow, but It Lasts
Image: Chris Capozziello

When I first met my husband I was 16 years old. I would have said I fell in love with him immediately. We stood in the darkness of an October night and talked and talked. Two months later we exchanged those words—I love you—also whispered in the dark of night. But it took five more years ...

"Looking for Ways to Build Bridges"A conversation with CT editor Katelyn Beaty about blogging, books, and what's next.
"Looking for Ways to Build Bridges"
Image: Kuster & Wildhaber Photography

Fifteen months ago, this blog began with a conversation with Katelyn Beaty about my hopes and dreams for Thin Places. As I conclude this blog, we thought it fitting to have a concluding conversation as well. Katelyn and I had a chance to talk about the most exciting and most challenging aspects of ...

Nine Favorite Posts from Thin Places The best of faith, family, disability, and culture as I say goodbye to blogging.
Nine Favorite Posts from Thin Places
Image: flickr

One of the wonderful aspects of blogging is that I get to write about pretty much anything that is on my mind and might connect with readers. Over the past 15 months of blogging for Christianity Today, I've written or edited nearly 200 posts. As I wrote last week, many posts soar to the top of ...

Why I Need to Stop BloggingThe possibilities and limitations of logging life on the Internet.
Why I Need to Stop Blogging
Image: Marcie Casas/flickr

“Blog” is a word that was coined nearly two decades ago as a shortened version of “web log.” As the word suggests, blogs originated as online spaces in which individuals or groups log their experiences in something approaching real time, much as a sailor would record the daily ...

When My Son with Autism Didn't Drop the BallWhat one night at lacrosse practice showed me about who he is becoming.
When My Son with Autism Didn't Drop the Ball
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April is my bittersweet month, when the world turns blue for autism awareness, when it’s more conscious of the thing that is my constant companion. But after April, the world sometimes forgets.

I cannot.

When he was little, our neurologist commended us for being proactive in seeking Noah’s ...

Has Mindfulness Supplanted Thoughtfulness?Love always requires sacrifice.
Has Mindfulness Supplanted Thoughtfulness?
Image: Βethan

“Mindfulness” is a buzzword these days. As a recent article in the Sunday New York Times points out:

. . . mindfulness has come to comprise a dizzying range of meanings for popular audiences. It’s an intimately attentive frame of mind. It’s a relaxed-alert frame of mind. ...
True or False: 90% of Babies with Down Syndrome are AbortedA new study demonstrates the role of culture in welcoming children with Down syndrome.
True or False: 90% of Babies with Down Syndrome are Aborted
Image: kudaker

For years, I have read news headlines in Christian and secular outlets, from conservatives and liberals alike, stating that “90% of babies with Down syndrome are aborted.” As I have argued before, and as a new study demonstrates, it’s just not true. Correcting this common misconception ...

Joy for a Little Girl with AutismEveryone can experience God’s presence through worship
Joy for a Little Girl with Autism
Image: michelle.parker52

In honor of autism awareness month, Jared Kennedy reflects on his daughter Lucy's experience as a part of a church community:

Kelly couldn’t wait to talk after the service. She met Megan and me in the stairwell on our way to the children’s wing. “I have to tell you about Lucy’s ...

Deep Calls Out to Deep, but I Long to Stay ShallowWhat spring break taught me about God.
Deep Calls Out to Deep, but I Long to Stay Shallow
Image: Pandu Adnyana

In March, we went on vacation as a family. It was a beautiful trip—clear skies, blue water, white sandy beaches. The resort where we stayed offered a “kids club” in the morning, so I had time for walks by myself and with Peter, for naps in the shade of a palm tree, for times of ...

The Need for Spiritual End-of-Life CarePrayer and a ministry of presence can make an eternal difference.
The Need for Spiritual End-of-Life Care
Image: Vinoth Chandar/flickr

My grandmother died ten days ago. She was 88 years old. By all accounts she had lived a colorful life, with three husbands, three children, six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. She routinely stated her intention to live another decade. Even though her body was failing her through arthritis ...

What Do Our Kids Need to Learn about Easter?This theological abstract reality needs support all year round for any of us to believe it.
What Do Our Kids Need to Learn about Easter?
Image: Jarosław Pocztarski/flickr

When it comes to explaining Easter to our children, we bump up against the same problems every year. First of all, our culture doesn’t point to Easter. There are no Easter songs playing on the radio. There are no parties in the lead up or the aftermath. Compared to Christmas, Easter just happens, ...

Contraception and FaithA compilation of the past three weeks of posts about contraception.
Contraception and Faith
Image: Selbe <3

I've been interested in the topic of contraception and faith for quite some time, both in light of my own unwillingness to think about contraception in theological terms in the early years of my marriage (an unwillingness I have observed in others as well), and also in the way decisions about ...

From Depo-Provera to Natural Family PlanningWhat I learned about sex, my body, and the rhythms of life.
From Depo-Provera to Natural Family Planning
Image: Dr PS Sahana * Kadamtala Howrah

As this series on contraception comes to a close, Emily Heady offers a Protestant perspective on Natural Family Planning.

When my husband and I married in 2001, we were graduate students with tiny salaries, tiny living quarters, and gargantuan workloads. It was not a good time for a baby. So a few ...

I Stopped Using Natural Family PlanningBut I am grateful for what it taught me about my body and God’s role in welcoming children.
I Stopped Using Natural Family Planning
Image: Word By Word

My her.meneutics colleague, Liuan Huska, joins the conversation today in describing the choices she and her husband have made to first use NFP and then a barrier method as forms of contraception. I am so grateful for Liuan’s gracious approach to this topic:

When my husband and I first married, ...

Why I Had a VasectomyLoving my wife meant limiting the number of children we conceived together.
Why I Had a Vasectomy
Image: phalinn

As I mentioned last week, we will be offering a variety of personal essays about the choices Christians have made about the use of contraceptives. Today, Matthew Towles, PhD, explains why he decided to have a vasectomy:

I wonder how many life-changing conversations happen in the parking lots of doctors’ ...

From Banned to MandatedA history of contraceptives in the United States.
From Banned to Mandated
Image: Seattle Municipal Archives

Last week, I began a series of blog posts about contraception and faith. Rather than rehashing the debate that ensued, please refer to Friday's post that discusses contraception, Margaret Sanger, and women's health in the developing world. Last week also featured a doctor's perspective on ...

Why I Have Seven ChildrenOur Decision to Follow Catholic Teaching about Marriage
Why I Have Seven Children
Image: amiefedora

Mary Alice Teti offers the first of a handful of personal Christian perspectives on contraception here in the United States. She writes about how her Catholicism has shaped her view of marriage, and next week we will hear a diverse series of Protestant views:

Any young person who was raised in a Christian ...

Questioning Margaret SangerA response to Rachel Stone's post about contraception and global health.
Questioning Margaret Sanger
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Two days ago, I published a piece on this blog by Rachel Marie Stone called "Contraception Saves Lives." Toward the end of this post, Stone writes:

Another study found that if every woman who wanted birth control had access to it, each year, there would be: 25 million fewer abortions 7 ...
A Doctor's View on Hormonal Contraception The ethical and personal questions that arise with the advent of hormonal contraceptive methods.
A Doctor's View on Hormonal Contraception
Image: +mara

Dr. Emily Gibson has written about contraception for her.meneutics in the past, and I asked her to offer her perspective as a physician when it comes to the questions Christians might want to ask about hormonal contraception in particular. I appreciate her measured tone and informative approach:

As ...

Contraception Saves LivesReconsidering Margaret Sanger as one who was opposed to abortion but emphatic about the personal and social good of contraception.
Contraception Saves Lives
Image: Jenny Lee Silver

To begin our conversation about contraception and faith, I asked my friend and colleague Rachel Marie Stone to reflect upon her time working as a doula in Malawi. Here are her reflections on contraception and global health:

The young nurse was one of eleven living children -- one of eighteen, if you ...

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