Change can be challenging for everyone, but it can feel especially overwhelming for children. As parents, we experience transitions alongside them, navigating not only their questions and emotions but also our own. Whether it’s a move, a new school, or a significant life event, it’s wise to consider how to provide stability and reassurance when so much feels uncertain. In the midst of change...
This Easter season, readers are invited to meditate deeply on Christ’s final moments before his death and his triumphant resurrection through the teachings of Charles H. Spurgeon. In What Depth of Love: Devotions on the Cross and Resurrection, Geoffrey Chang, curator of the Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has compiled forty devotions taken from Spurgeon’s sermons to...
When I served as a children’s minister, I’d often poke my head into classrooms on Sunday mornings to say “Hi” to the kids and teachers and see how class was going. One day I walked into the three-year-olds’ classroom, and the tables and chairs had all been pushed against the walls. The teacher was standing at the far side of the room. She smiled expectantly and held up a ruler with a red...
We might try to manage our anxiety by not thinking about it, which, of course, is impossible. But consider a different strategy. Let’s take a hard look. Underneath fears and anxieties are personal desires that are at risk. We are anxious about a job interview because a poor interview jeopardizes our financial future. We are anxious about the results of a biopsy because cancer can be life...
As the Israelites travel toward the promised land, they vow, “What the Lord has said, we will do.” As it turns out, they didn’t really mean it. What the Lord said, they did . . . for a little while. Of course, there were some clues before God filled the tabernacle with his presence that the Israelites were a fickle bunch. The golden calf incident in Exodus 32 stands out. While Moses stood on the...
