“Ugggh, what is wrong with them?” “I’m done with them!” “I’m over them!” “To heck with them!” These are the phrases we sometimes utter when it turns out that the fellow Christians we love, admire, and trust are, well, just people–people with inconsistencies, egos, secrets, proclivities, or, sometimes, just general weirdness. Fallen people. Ironically,…
I recently had a conversation with my sister about how life’s challenges have evolved since our thirties. Faced with decisions on how to care for aging parents, guide children we can no longer strap to our hip, handle our own physical ailments, manage job changes, or balance increased financial responsibilities, the two of us…
I remember the day I told my obstetrician I might be pregnant with my fifth child. Although he had delivered three of my four children, had consoled me through a miscarriage, and knew my husband and I remained open to life, something about showing up in his office at the ripe old age of…
Perhaps you’ve seen this 2012 YouTube video, capturing a Christmas-caroling flash mob. Distracted shoppers busily scurry through a large metropolitan mall when suddenly one shopper begins singing “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” At first the regular shoppers notice the planned singers with confusion and curiosity, but before long many join in with the litany…
By Krissie Allen (The following was originally published last year at Newevangelizers.com, but because the message still rings true, I wanted to share it again at Choosing God.) “You just can’t force someone to learn about God,” I declared years ago on a balance beam outside of Holy Spirit Catholic Elementary School. My best…
“The month of December does not just belong to religion or Christianity.” Those were the words of Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation—the organization responsible for erecting the letter A next to the nativity scene and Menorah in front of Chicago’s Daley Plaza this Christmas. Even though the Plaza’s…
My husband and I recently concocted a plan to bring our children, including our two-year-old daughter Cecilia, to Disney World over the Thanksgiving holidays. The plan was that my husband would drive our three older children down a day early, and I would fly in with our devilish little one early Saturday morning to…
When my plane got delayed in the Birmingham airport recently, I found myself with some quiet time away from my family with no form of entertainment. I therefore took the opportunity to create something I’ve heard so much about in both the media and among friends: a bucket list. When considering what places I…
“I did a craft! I did a craft!” Did I just write that out loud? I sure did. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not bragging. I’m not. The fact is I am NOT a natural kind of homemaker who makes my kids’ clothes, cooks organic meals, irons sheets, or even has any sense about…