We currently have an 8-week old and a 4-year old, which makes getting to church a challenge. Because we want to cultivate a strong faith in our kids, attending church is a priority for us. But doing so is HARD. Based on our experience, here are 8...
Recently, we took our newborn baby girl, Kendall, to worship for the first time. Several people stopped us on the way into worship, which meant that despite our best efforts, we didn’t actually make it into worship on time. Despite this, we went...
My daughter, Hope, has literally grown up in church. (That’s what you get when your mom works for one…)
When Hope turned two, she began asking questions about communion, which wasn’t surprising since she’d gone forward to the communion rail with...
After finishing Alia Joy’s Glorious Weakness, I Instagramed a photo of the book with the caption, “Hands down the best Christian book I’ve read in a long time.”
That’s not a statement I make lightly.
I read a lot of Christian books – some for...
The other day, I was asked whether confirmation should be held in the spring or fall – a common question for congregations that offer confirmation. There are pros and cons to each practice.
Confirming teens in the spring gives families a sense of...
I have a three-year old.
As Christmas approaches and I choose gifts for her, I’m constantly looking at the age recommendations of toys. I do so because I want to know if a toy is developmentally appropriate for her. If I give my daughter a toy...
Today, I'm linking up with Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
This week's prompt: Done.
My boss, Joe, walked me up to my office at the end of a long Sunday. It was a good...
“Let’s play church,” said my two-year old daughter, Hope. She then proceeded to seat my husband and I, hand out songbooks, and push two ottomans in our living room together to form a makeshift altar.
“I’ll be Pastor Wende,” she said,...
As a youth pastor, I believe apologetics are important – not just in equipping teens to share their faith with others but even more importantly, in helping them understand what they believe and why.
As a parent, I also want my daughter to know...
“I have to go get my guys!” my two-year old daughter, Hope, told me as I began reading the Christmas story to her during our morning devotion. A few minutes later she returned with her Fisher Price nativity set and proceeded to act out the...