I began to understand why Halloween can be such a polarizing topic in the church community. And now as a Christian parent, I’ve reflected upon it more and faced even harder questions.

When our children know the place from which they came and the story to which they entered, they are grounded in the family narrative.

I was stunned, stopped by that small word staring at me. How many times had I passed by it before?

I looked at the clock on the oven and once I said “go,” my ears filled with words and phrases that broke my heart.

With our new list, we are saying yes. Because maybe we too have walked through our hard stuff so we would be strong enough to step into theirs.

I felt like I lived in a fish bowl of temper tantrums, potty-talk and sticky fingers declaring my failures. Parenthood is a vulnerable position.