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Select a Month September 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011

March 2016

March 15, 2016

A Mother’s Call to Care for Other People’s Children

My good friend Sally has been traveling to the West Bank for a dozen years as...

March 10, 2016

Lenten Compline for the Weary Parent

I need to make room for confession that goes deeper than my grimy kitchen floor...

February 2016

February 29, 2016

Please Don’t Post a Photo of Your Kid’s Broken Arm, For Her Sake (& Mine)

We can help people understand what it means to live with a disability without shining...

January 2016

January 16, 2016

The Limits of Gratitude

Gratitude is having a moment in our culture. Lifestyle gurus, including Oprah, tout the positive...

December 2015

December 24, 2015

My Christmas Pageant Moment

This post was originally published on the Episcopal Café web site on January 21, 2010, and has...

December 17, 2015

Redefining “Fruitful”: Is Procreation a Divine Mandate?

I have an article in the latest issue of Sojourners magazine, looking at fresh theology questioning the...

October 2015

October 26, 2015

On Marriage, Church, and Sticking Around When Things Get Hard

In both marriages and churches, sometimes the challenge is to stay in the aftermath of...

August 2015

August 04, 2015

Our Alleged “Contraceptive Mentality” is a Straw Man That Needs to Die

The way forward on abortion requires seeking common ground with those on a different side...

August 03, 2015

Big Gifts of a Small Life: Meeting God in Sticky Floors, Carpools, & the Needy People I Call My Own

We must believe that it's necessary to go on with small acts of daily care...

July 2015

July 23, 2015

Seven Favorite Posts on Disability, in Honor of the ADA’s 25th Anniversary

On the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), I'm sharing seven of...

July 18, 2015

Suspicions Confirmed: Local Volunteer Does Not, In Fact, Have a Life

I've been on a wonderful family vacation and recovering from the whirlwind end of the school...

June 2015

June 13, 2015

On a Difficult Anniversary, Making Room for the Better Stories

I will always remember that terrible June day in 2009. But I’ve reached a point...

May 2015

May 07, 2015

How Technology Has—and Hasn’t—Changed the Experience of Having a Baby

What has changed since I had my first baby is that the divide between public...

April 2015

April 22, 2015

“Why don’t you just adopt?” is the wrong question to ask infertile couples. Here’s why.

Besides making people feel defensive for experiencing the fundamentally human urge to conceive and bear...

March 2015

March 26, 2015

Natural Family Planning Isn’t the Only Ethical Option for Christians: Why I Chose an IUD

As I cradled my third newborn in his first hours of life, I was seized...

March 13, 2015

Rethinking Margaret Sanger, Contraception, & How We are All a Moral “Mixed Bag”

A mixed bag. We are all a mixed bag. This is Theology 101, a most...

March 04, 2015

Remembering One of My “Cloud of Witnesses”

My "cloud of witnesses"—people whose stories have influenced my life, shown me what is important...

January 2015

January 29, 2015

The Perfect Pair of Boots and the Essential Work of Parenting

I wonder if, as our children grow and their increasingly complicated needs outgrow our capacities...

December 2014

December 30, 2014

14 Blog Posts from 2014 That You Need to Read

These are the posts written in 2014 for which I had immediate recall because they...

December 29, 2014

On Assisted Suicide and Chronic Pain, Sex and Prayer, DNA and Ice Buckets: Top 10 Posts of 2014

The 10 most-read blog posts of 2014—a list that provides a good snapshot of topics...

December 19, 2014

Let’s Stop Bashing These Christmas Traditions

I’m all for trashing traditions that give us only glitz, gluttony, and maxed-out credit cards....

December 17, 2014

Feel Like Everyone Wants a Piece of You?: A Guide for More Wholehearted Living for Moms

The core message of Wholehearted Living is that while our families and responsibilities will sometimes...

December 16, 2014

How Much is Too Much for Holiday Giving to Kids?

Three perspectives on why holiday gifts and giving traditions need to be thoughtful, meaningful, and...

December 08, 2014

All Good Things (& Christmas Trees) Come to An End

The sight of a Christmas tree strapped onto a car roof awakens all kinds of...

November 2014

November 21, 2014

On Three-Parent IVF and the Act of Begetting

Every few months, a story pops up about a new frontier in reproductive medical technologies:...

November 18, 2014

Not All Pain is Gain

Not all pain is gain. Pain is not always fixable. This is the truth. But...

October 2014

October 31, 2014

Bittersweet Bedtime Stories

My two younger kids were feeling nostalgic the other night. While they have long been in...

October 22, 2013

Let the Kids Keep Their *@$%#^ Halloween Candy!

This is an updated version of a piece originally published as an op ed in...

October 17, 2013

Do I Still Think Overscheduled Kids are a Myth? Yes…Sort Of

A little more than a year ago, I wrote that I believe the prevalent notion...

September 2013

September 30, 2013

The Radical Hospitality of Learning to Live with All My Kids’ Stuff

I am taking the week off from producing any new writing. Instead, I am doing...