“Nanny 911” is appointment television for me. More often than not, the families (whom you have to admire for being willing to subject themselves to public embarrassment) bear a strong resemblance to the one who lives under our roof. At least sometimes. So when the family in the hot-seat had a four-year-old whose normal tone of voice was a cross between a fire siren and a fog horn, I sat up and took note. Imagine my shock when Nanny Stella gave Mom what-for (Craig and I thought the dad was going to get it, but she surprised us). “The child wouldn’t yell so much,” Nanny […]

Kimberly exuded gentle feminine grace even in her most rambunctious moments. Raised in a quiet Mennonite community, she was one of only two women on campus who wore a “prayer covering” over her chestnut mane. And yet, she was not the least bit self-conscious about it, even while performing on the student worship team. I admired Kimberly’s innate ability to draw people to her, make people love her. Shortly after graduation, she married a classmate and they prepared for their first term of mission service in China. She had utter confidence in her God and her young husband. Most missionary couples had one or two […]

Last weekend we celebrated the children’s baptisms. The best present of all came from the social worker, who said FIA had finally gotten their collective acts together and processed the paperwork we needed for our court date. We should have it in about four weeks. We have deliberately kept the children uninformed about the delays and aggravation that we have experienced in this process, not wanting them to worry or feel insecure in their relationship with us. Instead we made the date of their baptisms the day that we celebrated the adoption. They seem to understand on some basic level that things have been settled. […]

“Mommy Monster” is on vacation… “Mellow Mom” is filling in. This went on our adoptive children’s welcome party invitations…. Enjoy. When God makes parentsHe places a special hole in their hearts.One place for each child He wants to send. Sometimes that child grows out of love,safe and warm under his mother’s heartuntil he is ready to meet the world. But sometimes God sees two peopleWith holey hearts and empty arms,And says, “Hey! Let’s make a family!” So the angels spread out, searching high and low,and east and west, for just the right children.Then tenderly, carefully they guide them home. These children have two real mothers:One […]

Today “Mommy Monster” has hit her “wah… zone,” feeling kinda mellow. And so, to celebrate the moment, here is a little poem I wrote to go with our adoption party invitations: When God makes parentsHe places a special hole in their hearts.One place for each child He wants to send. Sometimes that child grows out of love,safe and warm under his mother’s heartuntil he is ready to meet the world. But sometimes God sees two peopleWith holey hearts and empty arms,And says, “Hey! Let’s make a family!” So the angels spread out, searching high and low,and east and west, for just the right children.Then tenderly, […]

Today, April 19, for the third time in 100 years, the new pope was elected just two days after the conclave: Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. I heard one radio commentator explain the bear on the new pope’s coat of arms: The new Holy Father likens himself to a legendary bear that, upon attacking the horse of the pope, was forced to carry the load to Rome on his furry back. This pope, who has already proven himself to be a fierce defender of Catholic dogma, may indeed lack the personal warmth of his predecessor — and yet, he is no less a son […]

April 2, 2005 It was just today, on the eve of Mercy Sunday, that he breathed his last and found himself at the Gates of Heaven. No doubt Saint Faustina was there to welcome him, along with his other good friend, Blessed Mother Teresa. His father and mother, brother and sister… All were present to greet their Karol as he broke the bonds of earth, running just ahead of the rest of his earthly family, having accomplished the work his Master had asked him to do. “Holy Father.” Never has the appellation been quite so apt. One glance into those startling blue eyes, and you […]

Hello, friends! Traditionally, Lent is the forty days before Easter when we contemplate God’s goodness, and His unfathomable sacrifice: Not only did he come to earth and walk among us; he died in the most gruesome and painful way possible, in full payment for our sins, and for the sins of the whole world. Explaining this to a three-year-old, however, can be a bit tricky. As we were on our way out of church the other day, Sarah pointed to the life-size crucifix that adorns the “cry room”/day chapel wall. “Jesus died on the cross?” she said to me, her brown eyes wide and concerned. […]

Like most people without children, I assumed that training a toddler to sit through Mass would be a snap. In reality, the idea is more like fool’s gold: glittering with promise, but without any real grounding in reality. If our children are our visas to heaven, that particular stamp in the passport must be worth more than a few weeks of humiliation. That thought got me through a few rough weeks, until another epiphany hit: I am more like my children than I care to admit. Christopher and his sister Sarah had been living with us about a week when we took them to church […]