Perhaps it is fitting that today was a day with William screaming in the night, with two overtired parents responding with anger, with a morning filled with tears and yelling.

Perhaps it is fitting that after I had locked him in his room for an escalated time-out, as I closed my eyes and took a few deep ...

Peter can always tell when I'm excited about something because I try, unsuccessfully, to hide my smile. Perhaps I'm afraid my excitement will come off as self-important or maybe I'm afraid he won't think it matters much. It happened again yesterday. I told him about another review of A Good and Perfect ...

Fellow Redbud writer Kelli Trujillo interviewed me for her blog this week, and in one question she asked:

When you first stepped into the journey of having a newborn daughter with Down Syndrome, you write about how you were faced with the reality that your daughter may not ever meet some of the expectations ...

Peter has a two week spring break. It involves some grading and commenting and preparing for the upcoming term, but it also involves a chance to rest. We took advantage of the graciousness of many family members and a babysitter and got away, just the two of us, for five nights, which, come to think ...

There's a verse from Psalm 46 that summarizes the relationship between the practice of religion and the practice of spirituality: "Be still, and know that I am God." It's a prayer, an admonition, an encouragement. The two poles of this verse – be still, know God – together they offer a different way ...

My husband and I are attending a funeral today. Our dear friend's mother died on Sunday from complications arising from surgery last week. I have no doubt that she is with Jesus, and yet I also wept with sorrow and anger when I learned the news. The faith that she is in God's presence is a comfort, ...

As those of you with young children already know, last week was Dr. Seuss' birthday. Penny's teachers celebrated by inviting all the parents in her class to sign up to read. I was slated for Thursday and Horton Hatches an Egg.

William soon picked up on this development, so he asked if I could come to ...

I should begin by explaining that our kids have initiated a new bedtime ritual. It started at Christmastime. We differentiated between Christmas songs like "Santa Claus is coming to town" and Christmas hymns, which my kids named "Christmas church songs." And William began to request Christmas church ...

I think my interview last week with Drew Marshall as his weekly "God blogger" might have been my favorite interview ever. Not only did he acknowledge the fact that my name is just plain difficult for interviewers–they either stumble to call me Amy Julia or they shorten it to Amy, which I don't love, ...

When 5:00 rolls around, I want a glass of wine. Especially if it's winter and I'm home alone with our children and it's dark outside. I started to notice this desire a few months ago. I had this niggling warning in the back of my brain about it, but I pushed it away every night. It's only one glass, ...

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 others, including children. ...

A few months ago, I wrote a post called, "Why I'm Both Spiritual and Religious." Due to a conversation with a reader in response to that post, I realized that I had a lot more to say on the topic. And so I have written an ebook (30 pages), available for 99 cents on Amazon. It's called Why I Am Both ...

One of the wonders of the Christmas season is the opportunity to teach our kids the Christmas story. We've used a sticker-based Advent calendar this December, in which readings from the Bible correspond to a little poem and a sticker. Penny remembers the details from years past, but to William, it's ...

For a few years now, I've talked about "American Christmas" and "Christian Christmas," and I've decided that as a family we observe both. For American Christmas we sing songs about Santa and decorate the living room. For Christian Christmas we have a Birthday Party for Jesus and a manger scene. But ...

Years ago, I watched a camp counselor illustrate a point. He held an empty jar, and first he filled it with pebbles. Then he tried to add three big rocks. They didn't fit. He poured out the pebbles. The three big rocks fit now, and the pebbles filled in the space around them. He was even able to add ...

Maybe next year I will remember ahead of time to recommend the book I use every Advent: God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas. It's a beautiful set of daily readings from Scripture combined with color prints of paintings from throughout the ages that correspond with the days' reading. ...

I live in the Northeast, where it's kind of unusual, and certainly suspect, to be an evangelical Christian. To believe in the Trinity and the Resurrection and forgiveness of sins and all that. But I do believe those things, and I go to a church where they believe those things, and I can't (or won't) ...

I had a post last week on her.meneutics, "Why Teens Drift Away From Faith" that reviewed a new book, Sticky Faith, by Dr. Kara E. Powell and Dr. Chap Clark. It begins:

Every week after Sunday School, I try to figure out if our kids have learned anything. Do they understand the stories they heard? Do ...

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. And I don't think God ...

"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

–2 Timothy 2:1

I believe that God's grace, offered through Jesus to each and every one of us, is always available. Even if we "cheapen" it (to paraphrase Bonhoeffer) by persistent sin, even if we wait until ...