A Letter to the Church on Friendship

Last updated on: April 23, 2012 at 9:19 pm By Amy Julia Becker

Intervarsity Press recently published Letters to a Future Church, written by an array of men and women, addressed to the North American Church. IVP is sponsoring a contest in which you can participate. I was asked to contribute a letter through the Patheos Book Club. Dear members of the North American church, all of you, liberal and conservative, Catholic and Protestant and Orthodox, black and white and Hispanic, immigrant and native, gay and straight, old and young, able-bodied and disabled,... Read more

A Blessed Life

Last updated on: April 26, 2012 at 9:44 am By Amy Julia Becker

Last week, I had the privilege of sharing some thoughts on the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-11, during chapel at Western Theological Seminary. Here is an edited version of what I said: If we were to come up with a parallel list of “Beatitudes” within American culture today, they’d sound quite different. Blessed are the celebrities, for theirs is the cover of a magazine. Blessed are the wealthy, for they will inherit big houses. Blessed are the intellectual elite, for they will... Read more

His Life Was Marked by Love, a Father’s Eulogy for his Son

Last updated on: April 19, 2012 at 6:14 pm By Amy Julia Becker

I’ve had the honor of trading a few emails with Aaron Cobb recently. He shared with me the eulogy he wrote for his son Samuel, who was born with Trisomy 18. It is a testimony to the goodness and beauty of life and love: Friends and family: Thank you for sharing this day with us. I stand before you today as a father who grieves the loss of my son – my Samuel. I’m able to stand and to speak... Read more

Losing My Voice and the Festival of Faith and Writing

Last updated on: April 18, 2012 at 2:42 pm By Amy Julia Becker

I lost my voice on Sunday. It happens often. Every few months, usually prompted by some combination of a cold (or, as in this case, allergies) and a speaking engagement. I’ve only had to cancel once, but I’ve coughed my way through some other sessions. But I’ve never had a situation quite like this one–where I have been invited to speak at a conference (the Festival of Faith and Writing) that I would have gladly attended even without the invitation, and... Read more

Some Thoughts on Infant Dedications, Happy Chaos, and Great Joy

Last updated on: April 17, 2012 at 12:25 pm By Amy Julia Becker

Our church doesn’t do infant baptisms (well, kind of, but that’s another story). We do infant dedications, and last Sunday was Marilee’s turn. We made a valiant effort to have all three kids sit through the service for thirty minutes until the dedication itself. Marilee was out within a minute or two. William made it for about 15. Penny stayed put the whole time. Then the time came for all of us to stand up front and testify to our... Read more

Bloom Where You Are Planted: Why We Chose Public School by Sarah Reimers

Last updated on: April 11, 2012 at 9:59 pm By Amy Julia Becker

Many years ago, a mentor told me, “Be careful what you teach on, because the Lord will probably make you live it as well as teach it.” This has proven true for me over the past decade as my husband and I have begun our family here in Venice, California. For 5 of the 10 years before we married, I was a youth worker, and I taught a particular lesson to high-school students each summer. The talk, entitled “Bloom Where... Read more

Why I Homeschool by Marlene Molewyk

Last updated on: April 11, 2012 at 9:26 pm By Amy Julia Becker

Many years ago, my husband John asked me to consider homeschooling our children. I immediately responded, “Are you nuts?” John pointed out that I was judging something I knew little about, and he asked me to research homeschooling, so I could make an informed decision. I reluctantly agreed, but my mind was already made up—I would never do something as crazy as homeschooling! But to my surprise, the more I educated myself about homeschooling, the more appealing it became. Today,... Read more

Duty and Desire: The Best Hope for Our Children’s Education by Steven Garber

Last updated on: April 12, 2012 at 9:29 am By Amy Julia Becker

There are very few absolutes in this life. What kind of school our children attend is not one of them. Home schools, private schools of kinds, public schools, each in their different ways are places where good parents hope for a good education, knowing that at the end of the day they are responsible for teaching their children to love God and his world. We have chosen all three along the way, raising our five children, and each one has... Read more

The Safety of a Christian School by Elisabeth Klein Corcoran

Last updated on: April 11, 2012 at 7:41 am By Amy Julia Becker

Christian school was never in the plan or the budget for my kids. I liked their school just fine and we were set on them finishing out their schooling at our local public school. Until one day when my sweet son, then at the beginning of his seventh grade year, asked me if he could transfer to the Christian school in our area. When your twelve-year-old makes a request like that, you listen. You ask why. You dig around. You pray, a lot.... Read more

An Unexpected Choice: Why We Traded the Public School for Homeschooling by Helen Lee

Last updated on: April 11, 2012 at 7:30 am By Amy Julia Becker

When I was 6 and my dad had been hired by the U.S. government to work as an economist, one of the first things he and my mom did after we moved was to call the few fellow Korean immigrants they knew in the D.C. area. “Where are the good schools?” they interrogated. When they ran out of people to call, they called their friends’ friends and asked the same question. It took no time to build a list of... Read more