104 things I want to tell you about my year of covid but probably never will
Tag: kids
Spiritual detangler
If I brushed my daughter’s hair every day, it wouldn’t hurt so much to brush; if I spent time with God every day, it wouldn’t hurt so much to live.
State of Wonder: 21 in ’21
I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, but when I do, it’s about progress, not perfection.
The greatest storyteller ever
If you read my daughter a story, she’s going to sit on you. It’s just a fact. In preschool circle time, she’d crawl into the teacher’s lap in defiance of all propriety. At home, she insists on cramming into the recliner alongside me, wedging into my armpit as I read, and I frequently find her …
He calls you as you are not
God calls out who you are long before it’s who you are. Just before the Unpleasantness, I found an extremely abridged version of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” at the thrift store (remember those?) and scooped it up for Mackenzie. She found it over the weekend, so we read it together. She was …
If Mary can be okay with it, so can I
This Sunday is anything but still around here. Not only are we celebrating Mothers Day pandemic-style, but it’s also my daughter’s 4th birthday. Dang moveable holidays. I confess part of me is annoyed. My flesh wants a day just for me! Momming during Covid-19 is harder than it’s ever been, and it’d be nice to …
For my big-little girl on her 4th birthday
You don’t fit on my lap anymore.I can barely carry you.Not that you’re ever still enough for either. You are a giant.Taller than your older friends,mountainous in your anger,a cathedral of words and laughter. You walk on tiptoe everywhere,Your dance more irritated bumblebee than prima ballerina. You have a favorite version of the Bible,But you …
The double ache of Jesus
Yesterday on our walk, my daughter casually mentioned she’d been praying the night before. “That’s great, baby. What did you say?” “I prayed that I don’t want to go to Heaven yet.” Every parent just got the same icicle in their heart that I did. I asked why she thought she might go to Heaven …
We’re all addicted to something
Last Sunday, I was that person sobbing in their car. I stopped at the light by my house and saw a young guy wearing a T-shirt and no coat in -4C air coming down the sidewalk. As he passed by, I noticed the white bracelet on his wrist and realized he’d just been discharged from …
Holy jeans
These are my actual jeans. Notice anything odd about them? (Hint: It’s the knees.) I acquired these pants at different times, and I’ve worn them in steady rotation over the last four years, but when I bought them, none of them had holes or weird dye jobs (a fashion plate, I’m not). I earned these …
Mary, did you know?
Do you think Mary knew? When she held her newborn son in her arms, both of them exhausted and raw, she knew he was the Son of God, but did she know he was the Savior? Did she know when she marvelled at his tiny hands and feet that one day she’d hold them when …