Okay, that’s about the most narcissistic title for a blog post I can imagine–sorry! But some of you might have noticed that I haven’t responded to any comments in the past week, and I didn’t post anything on Tuesday or Wednesday. Because we took a family vacation (check back in tomorrow for some thoughts and more photos)! I didn’t even bring my computer on vacation (a victory for me–hard to resist the temptation to stay connected), but I did keep... Read more
I have a new post for her.meneutics called “The Lost Girls of India and China” that reports on the ongoing problem of “gendercide,” or abortion based upon the sex of the fetus. The post begins: Across most cultures and throughout time, parents have wanted boys more than they have wanted girls. Recently developed technologies are allowing parents to reject their girl children before they are even born.In India and China, the world’s two most populated nations, parents have chosen to abort... Read more
A few weeks ago, I reviewed Rachel Simon’s new novel, The Story of Beautiful Girl. As I wrote earlier, the book is a lovely story that travels a road of despair and delight, weaving together themes related to disability and faith. I loved it. But it gets better. Rachel Simon noticed my review, and she mentioned it on her own blog and tweeted me her thanks. We’ve been in touch since then, and she agreed to do an interview. I’m... Read more
When I went to the spiritual spa last week, I brought a few books with me. I’ve been slowly making my way through John Stott’s The Cross of Christ, and I brought Tim Keller’s latest, King’s Cross. But I didn’t open either one. Instead, I started reading Judith Shulevitz’s The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time. I’ve only made it through three chapters so far, so I may well write more in weeks to come, but I’ll... Read more
It happens all the time. Friends talk about our children, their own children, their grandchildren with reference to where they’ll go to college. College motivates some seven year olds we know (or, perhaps I should say, motivates the parents of some seven year olds) to play lacrosse, piano, violin. College comes up when William demonstrates his precocious language skills. It comes up when people assume that our children will follow in our footsteps and go to the same schools we... Read more
When I was younger and I heard the word disabled, I never really felt that tug at my heart or that compassion I saw so many others portray. In fact, other than Paul, the guitar player at our church with Down Syndrome, I never really had the opportunity to interact with someone with a disability. Growing up, I didn’t consider Paul disabled. In fact, it was our opinion as kids that he was the coolest grown up in the church!... Read more
Her.meneutics, the Christianity Today women’s blog, has posted a list of books that contributers will be reading this summer (myself included). It’s a fabulous list. Click here to read it and check back in on Friday for some of my initial thoughts on my summer reading book, The Sabbath World. What’s on your list this summer? Read more
A year ago, my agent suggested I spend some time in bookstores looking at covers. “Jot down what you like, and, as much as you’re able, why you like it.” It was much harder than I expected. I figured out that I like matte finishes instead of glossy ones. I like lower case letters. I like fonts that don’t look too “girly” or elaborate. But as for images? I knew some covers I liked, but I couldn’t say why. Then... Read more
We’re trying to get William to sleep in the same room as Penny so that Marilee can move into his crib and out of the bassinet and out of our room. We thought it would be pretty easy. We’ve been paving the way for the move with “sleepovers” for a while now. And on those nights, William lay in bed across the room from Penny, straight as a board, and went to sleep. But when he started having sleepovers night... Read more
As we head into Father’s Day Weekend, a few posts from the blogging world worth reading: My friend and fellow blogger/author Margot Starbuck wrote a post for her.meneutics today: Searching for Abba on Father’s Day. Margot describes her adoption as a young girl, the struggles she faced later in trying to figure out whether she was indeed beloved by anyone, and her ultimate discovery that God’s love is real and personal, for her. My friend Sara Hagerty writes about adoption... Read more
Thin Places-Faith, Family and Disability
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