Every Christmas my children beg for a turn to set up our wooden manger scene in a prominent place in our family room. They love arranging the figures and deciding which animals get to be in the stable and which have to stay outside. Sometimes the shepherd stands next to
Christmas can be so overwhelmingly cute. There are cute cards, cute sweaters, cute cookies, cute animals, cute decorations and cute kids singing cute songs. Why is Christmas the epitome of all things cute? Probably because it started with a baby and babies are cute. Well, all except this baby. Jesus
I was born far up north in a little town in Minnesota. I find it rather ironic now because I hate cold weather. Give me year-round summer any day! My husband was born in a little town in the mountains of North Carolina. Although he hasn’t lived there for years
Do you use an Advent calendar? Each of my kids has his own calendar that he opens each morning of December. They aren’t treat filled but just reveal a Christmas picture behind each door. Even though they have done the same calendar since they were little, they still enjoy opening
How do you get ready for Christmas? If you are the head coordinator for holidays in your household as I am in mine, then I’m sure your list is pretty long and you’re probably feeling a little anxiety just thinking about the Christmas season! But Advent can be a wonderful
Do you find yourself looking for the easy way out? I know I do, and I suspect it is part of our sinful human nature to find not necessarily the best way to do things but rather the most comfortable way. As someone once said, “We do these things not
Lutheran school teachers have several things they can count on when it comes to curriculum. For one, there will always be a Reformation unit in October. When Lent rolls around, you will be covering Holy Week in great detail. And finally, in first grade (and probably for many grades following)
Does it ever feel like God is a phantom in your life? Sometimes when we’re going through a particularly difficult time, struggling with our relationships, going through a hard medical diagnosis, trying to make ends meet on a tiny budget, God can seem pretty far away. We go to church
When my sons were little they used to love going up to the children’s message during church. Being rather outgoing precocious little people, they also enjoyed answering all the questions. Members of the church used to be surprised at how many Bible stories they knew. They could usually come up
I remember first introducing the topic of the Reformation in my first grade classroom each October and inevitably there would be at least one child who thought we were going to be talking about the Civil Rights movement because the name Martin Luther had really only been used in one
