November 2011

Making Friends, or Inclusion in School

Penny had a playdate yesterday. Her second of the year, actually. Long term readers of this blog know that playdates have not always been easy in our household. I used to invite other kids over only to find Penny by herself, or, more likely, in the lap of the other kids' mom. ...

An Early Thanksgiving

For the first time in I don't know how long, we spent the weekend as a family. We didn't visit anyone else. We didn't run any errands. We even skipped swimming lessons on Saturday mornings because we realized that they provoke so much stress for Peter as he tries to cajole Penny ...

Denver, Boston, Princeton--Hope You'll Be There!

I have three upcoming events this week that might be of interest to some of you:

First, today I'll be talking to Stephanie Riggs of 94.7 FM, KRKS in Denver, CO. The show airs at 2:00 p.m. Denver time (4:00 EST), and it lasts for an hour and takes caller questions. So please join ...

The Meaning of Providence

I wrote a post last week called "We're Moving, or the Providence of God" in which I described my husband's new job as the Headmaster of a small boarding school in Connecticut. But I never really explained what I meant by the "providence" part.

I don't think God has us in lockstep. ...

Measuring a Life, or Kindergarten Update

I was having dinner with friends a few weeks back. They have an adult daughter with autism, and their daughter has also been diagnosed with a rare syndrome. My friend described her conversation with a new social worker: "So the social worker asked the name of K's syndrome. I ...

What I've Learned from Penny: An Interview on Her.meneutics

My friend and colleague Karen Swallow Prior interviewed me about A Good and Perfect Gift for her.meneutics, the women's blog of Christianity Today (Perfection Obsession: What It Looks Like to Accept God-Given Limitations). Among other things, our conversation touches upon comparisons, ...

A Good and Perfect Gift in Publisher's Weekly Top Ten . . .

I can't really believe that I'm about to write this, but I just found out that A Good and Perfect Gift has been named one of the "Top Ten Religion Books of 2011" by Publisher's Weekly. They write:

Unexamined faith is not worth having, and Becker asks the right heartfelt questions ...
Who is at the Center of your Family?

I wrote last week about our upcoming move to a small boarding school in Connecticut, and I wrote about my fears related to that move, fears which focused upon Penny's schooling. As we were contemplating the move, a friend said, "I don't think you want to have a Penny-centered ...

A Good and Perfect Gift Reviews: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

has been "out there" for about two months now, and I've had my first string of readings and talks associated with it (and by the way, I fixed the link to the talk about perfection from earlier this week so you can now access it). Overall, the response has been a positive one, ...

Quick Family and Blog Archives Update

I wrote on Tuesday about missing Penny's Halloween party. She was very forgiving, but I also agreed to come to her school to read a book to her class. As soon as I showed up, she came to the door and said, "Mom, you missed the Halloween party."

I nodded. "But I'm here to read ...

We're Moving, or the Providence of God

My husband has a new job. It doesn't start until July, but he was recently appointed as Head of School at a small boarding school in Western Connecticut. In the early summer we will move to a 4,000 person town and settle down for the foreseeable future.

The job is exciting. The ...

Rethinking Perfection

Last Thursday night, I was invited to share my thoughts on the meaning of perfection in our culture at the City Church Forum in Richmond, VA. I tried to address three questions:

How does our culture understand perfection?

How have I—and in turn, you—unintentionally or inadvertently ...

I Missed the Halloween Party ?!?

Halloween. Never a holiday that brings out the best in me. Last year's Halloween post included my admission that I generally lean (heavily) upon my mother for costumes and decorations, including many a year where even the trick or treating occurred in her neighborhood. I remembered ...

Follow Christianity Today
Free Newsletters