A few weeks ago, I wrote a review of Jenell Paris’ book, The End of Sexuality. I talked about celibacy as an option for Christians who believe that they cannot engage in same-sex physical relationships. Some of you, with kindness and respect, expressed incredulity about celibacy. Around the same time, I came into contact with Wesley Hill, author of Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality. Although I have not yet read Wes’ book, I have had the... Read more
William Penny is sitting on William’s face. He pushes her off. “Penny, my head is not a playground.” She nods. Good point. Marilee Marilee wakes us up at 1:30 a.m. Peter attends to her. From my half-awake state, I hear her say “Ha Da Da.” It may well have been a loud exhale and then some babble, but it kept us both going to think she was saying hello to her dad. Penny I was trying to round out this... Read more
I just read a book by a pastor of ours from our college days, Ian Morgan Cron. It’s a story of conversion to Christianity. It’s a story of deep hurt and longing for an at times abusive, at times absent, father. It’s a story of a little boy growing up. It’s a story of God’s faithfulness. And it’s a story of God’s humility. It’s called Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me: A Memoir, of Sorts. I recommend it. I... Read more
Peter sometimes points out that we tend to do things with an extra level of intensity. Sometimes that’s intentional–when he runs 16 miles in the sand, for instance, or when I decide I need to make sure that unusual words aren’t repeated more than twice in the course of my book. But we also seem to attract intensity. Like our cat George, who has the loudest purr you’ve ever heard (even the vet concurs) and who was recently diagnosed with... Read more
I hope to take the time to write more about this in the next few days, but for now I simply want to draw your attention to an article from the New York Times magazine about “pregnancy reductions.” The article (The Two Minus One Pregnancy) describes the increasingly popular decision to “reduce” an unexpected pregnancy of twins from two babies to one. Ruth Padawer begins her treatment of this subject with a story: As Jenny lay on the obstetrician’s examination... Read more
I’m all for retirement savings and life insurance policies and buying shoes that our kids can grow into and planting trees with the hope that they will grow larger in time. There are times, of course, when planning for the future is good and necessary and right. But I’ve had a number of conversations lately that have led me to think that sometimes we need to admit that the future is out of our control. Sometimes all we can, and... Read more
They all have been, or will be, speaking at the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College. I’ve attended the last two Festivals, in 2008 and 2010, and this year, I will be a much-less-exciting-than-the-aforementioned-people speaker too! I’m already ordering books by the keynote speakers and others of interest, and I invite all of you who are writers or readers or people of faith (not just the Christian faith) to join me. The Festival includes a wonderful roster of... Read more
Jenni Newbury is a new friend of mine. She wrote a guest post a while ago about her younger brother Jason, who has Down syndrome, and she recently sent me the text of her keynote address from this year’s National Down Syndrome Congress Convention. As she relates, if you are a sibling of someone with Down syndrome, there is no memorable “before” and “after.” There is no conversion story to report. Living with a family member with Down syndrome has... Read more
I ran a series of guest posts in early August surrounding the topic of adoption. In one, Ellen Painter Dollar delineated the problems inherent in the question, “Why Don’t You Just Adopt?” I recently found out that Melissa Florer-Bixler, blogger at Sign on the Window, responded to Ellen’s post by distinguishing between the call to adopt (and the call to parenthood) and the conversion to adopt/parent. Melissa writes: But I do want us all to hesitate when we use the... Read more
It’s been in the works for oh, five and a half years now, if you count the journal entries I wrote as soon as Penny was born. Those journal entries provided an outline for A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny. And then the outline became a book proposal became a book contract became a book. In approximately two weeks, the book will be finished (click here to pre-order your copy now at a... Read more
Thin Places-Faith, Family and Disability
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