“Never give up hope!” Our friends, Bill and Cynthia, were crying for joy as they shared some remarkable family news with my wife and me. We had shared many things over the years—we were neighbors and fellow parishioners, and our children all attended the same Christian school. Continue »

“I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” said the priest. It would have been more accurate to say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the moth-wing, and the Holy Spirit.” The priest’s eyes squarely focused on our son, Emery, he failed to see that in his second scoop of holy water, he’d also scooped up a dead moth floating in the baptismal font. Continue »

It looked like Hurricane Iwa had swept through the living room. Paper debris was scattered on the floor, along with magazine clippings, colorful construction paper, poster boards, scissors, marking pens, and bottles of glue. Continue »

When God breaks into human history, all the details of the story are important. In the details, he’s trying to tell us something. Here’s one significant “detail” that merits our attention during Advent: When God sent us a Savior, he sent him by way of a family—the Holy Family of Nazareth. Continue »

Nicholas was one year old and had been in four foster homes when my husband, Tom, and I adopted him from Guatemala. We realized he might have problems but were eager to love this little boy, along with our four other children. Continue »

Leaving our teenagers at home for a few days without a sitter for the first time was scary. Our decision to travel was made and unmade at least a thousand times (or so it seemed). Continue »