In our final installment honoring Children’s Grief Awareness month, guest writer Lisa Appelo shares her wisdom from shepherding her own children through grief after the unexpected death of her husband. When I was newly pregnant, I bought all the books – What to Expect When You’re Expecting, the La Leche League handbook and more. IContinue reading “Lisa Appelo: Shepherding Children through Grief”
Tag Archives: Parenting
A Story I Cannot See
I’ve always been amazed at how quickly children change and grow. Nine months in the womb transforms a bunch of cells into a pudgy, giggling baby. Barely a year later, this helpless little angel throws her first tantrum, takes her first steps. The old parenting adage holds true that the days seem long but theContinue reading “A Story I Cannot See”
Martha Black: Encountering Death as a 6-Year-Old
Today’s guest post is part of our month-long series honoring National Children’s Grief Awareness Month. Growing up in small-town Arkansas, I was always a part of a tight-knit community. If someone wasn’t family, they still felt as if they were. My parents were even the leaders of the youth group at our small church. SuchContinue reading “Martha Black: Encountering Death as a 6-Year-Old”
National Children’s Grief Awareness Month
Nothing challenges parents more than shepherding a child through grief. Translating the realities of death and grief into terms a child can grasp tests all of our powers of communication, all of our relational skills, all of our capacity for empathy and emotional maturity. And yet, one of the greatest honors of my life hasContinue reading “National Children’s Grief Awareness Month”
What Shall I Give Unto the Lord?
For years, Rob sang a particular psalm to our kids at bedtime. He’d sit on the floor in their darkened bedrooms and sing to settle them as they headed off to sleep. I’d stand at the doorway as the tune washed over me at the day’s close. “What shall I give unto the Lord, forContinue reading “What Shall I Give Unto the Lord?”
A Different Kind of Birth
My fourth pregnancy poked along to the very end. I often tell my youngest, “You were just so comfy inside you didn’t want to come out!” On a sunny spring day, after labor had stopped and started all day, Rob finally convinced me to call my midwife for encouragement and an update. “Just relax,” sheContinue reading “A Different Kind of Birth”
Looking Ahead
School officially started this week, and all of the looking ahead has got me thinking lately about my kids growing up and my home emptying out in the years ahead. I can’t help thinking about it when I stack the high school textbooks and pull out the graphing calculators and lab books. My children haveContinue reading “Looking Ahead”
Getting Ready for Fall
“The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life.” Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Today is one of my favorite days of the summer: Getting Ready for Fall Day. I usually mourn the end of the summer, so each year IContinue reading “Getting Ready for Fall”
The Man Of The House
In the first days after Rob died, one of his best friends came to visit us with a special word on his heart for my boys. Our families are very close; our children have grown up together. The two dads are so much alike that mine see Rob’s friend as a second father. When Rob’sContinue reading “The Man Of The House”
Poetry Friday: “Lament”
What do you do with a lifetime’s worth of possessions when the person who owned them is gone? It is normal within grief to keep everything, to give everything away, and anything in between. Physical reminders of a loved one can bring back happy memories; they can also provoke pain. In the end, things areContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “Lament””