THE AWKWARD MOM

because uncomfortable conversations are the ones worth having

Tag: Christians

7 Easy Ways to Disciple Your Teens a Little More

Reading Time: 3 minutes

disciple teens

So often, to disciple teens just means making the most of a moment.

We’re training their hearts to engage, connecting their faith with everything: from the cashier at McDonald’s to the bully who slams my kid’s locker on their fingers. read more

Christians and the Arts, Part II

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Ever had a conversation flip-flop your perspective entirely? It’s hard for me to pick just one.

But what about a one-sided conversation, like a book? What about…fiction? I have a running list of fiction books altering how I look at the world. Back in fourth grade, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry rocked my world, and my understanding of our nation’s history of racism.  In middle school, I drank in every Peretti novel I could get my grubby little hands on. But of course those I read as an adult have transformed me: Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible (still a favorite). Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. John Grisham’s The Appeal. Randy Alcorn’s Safely Home. Alan Paton’s Cry, The Beloved Country.  R.J. Palacio’s Wonder. read more

Christians and the Arts, Part I…and Why I’m Writing Fiction

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Well. I’m going for it.

This week is a writer’s conference, when I’ll be doling out book proposals to agents and receiving manuscript critiques. It feels a little like laying down in the middle of I-25 at this particular moment. And yes, one of the proposals is…fiction. read more

Guest Post: Diversity Training for Our Kids

Reading Time: 2 minutes

diversity training for our kidsWe were headed to church, exhaling clouds of steam in the still-cold car. Up in the front seat, I happily remarked to my husband about the expanding diversity in our small town–as judged authoritatively, of course, by my trips to Wal-Mart. After five and a half years in Africa, I can feel a little stifled amongst all the vanilla around me.

My daughter, from the backseat: “Why does ‘diversity’ make you happy?”

She didn’t, it turns out, know what diversity was. So we talked about it: That God expresses Himself through every culture. That differences make us more vibrant and loving and whole. That we want people of all types to be welcome here. read more

How would Jesus tweet? Social media as love, Part II

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Missed Part I on Monday? Grab it here–and make sure to come back for the social media giveaway on Friday!

4. If social media is to love others, it’s gotta stay in its proper place. I highly value this post on 6 Ways Your Smartphone Is Changing You, in which the author asserts that our smartphones can take the place of embodiment—of simply being fully present with the real, live folks around us.

How would Jesus tweet? Social media as love, Part I

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Confession: I have a love/hate relationship with social media.

Love: Part of it feels like that old gameshow, “This is Your Life” (though I confess to only seeing the Sesame Street version with Guy Smiley). I love connecting to people with whom I attended Sowers Elementary, when I had eighties hair. To my refugee students whose wide, blindingly-white grins I miss from Refuge and Hope.

Cry: The Hidden Art of Christian Grieving, Part II

Reading Time: 4 minutes

sad-4

Missed Part I? Grab it here.

I’ve been grieving some losses lately. The other day on my jog, they seemed to bottleneck inside, trickling out my eyes as my feet kept pounding, step after step. I’m not sure what God’s doing, but as I described in the last post, grief seemed… appropriate. read more

Cry: The Hidden Art of Christian Grieving, Part I

Reading Time: 3 minutes

It was one night several years ago when a couple of good friends were helping me sort action figures, Legos, and other kid-detritus into bins in my boys’ room following dinner together while our husbands were out of town. During the meal, they had asked candidly about how I was doing with our adoption—which is to say, the adoption we painfully decided not to complete.

Truthfully, my heart felt raw, as if it were beating outside of my body. My grief felt so vulnerable, so scraped and skinned and gaping, that privacy was all I could fathom to deal with it. I felt oddly embarrassed that we’d taken steps out of obedience to pursue this, and told people about it–and then, also out of obedience, backed out.

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