by Shannon Popkin | Oct 8, 2012 | Faith, Marriage
It’s Yellow Ball Monday, and Christy has the ball:My husband, PJ, struggles with me spending time at church. Whether I’m there to fellowship, worship, learn, or volunteer, he doesn’t understand why I’d want to go. He’s a scientific thinker, and...
by Shannon Popkin | Oct 1, 2012 | Communication, Discipline, Faith, Kids' Perspective, Love, Mistakes, Pain, Parenting, Teens, Wisdom
My friend’s son was a 9th grader when a girl suddenly began inserting herself into his life in a big way. She came to his games, invited herself over, sent him texts (lots of texts). She was everywhere. My friend became concerned by how much her son was enjoying...
by Shannon Popkin | Sep 12, 2012 | Faith, Parenting
TRADITION: Each year, Ken and I choose a verse-of-the-year for each of our kids. We think through the individual challenges or struggles he/she is facing and try to find a fitting verse. Doing so reminds us to periodically evaluate where our kids are in their walk of...
by Shannon Popkin | Aug 28, 2012 | Anxiety, Church, Faith, God, Hardship, Leadership, Serving, Women
Last year, we left our church. Not the Church, mind you. But still, it was our church. And while we felt the Lord leading us to do so (despite our strong convictions against ‘church-hopping’), it was still really hard to leave. And hard to begin somewhere else.One of...
by Shannon Popkin | Aug 6, 2012 | Faith, God, Sin, Wisdom
For Cole’s fifth birthday, we bought him a fish, which he named Goldfish. Goldfish has become legendary at our house, and we love to tell her ‘fish tales’ over and over. Though the story I’m going to tell today is the last story of...
by Shannon Popkin | Aug 4, 2012 | Faith, Funny, Mistakes, Parenting
Thanks to Mom Colored Glasses for publishing this story:My husband, Ken, didn’t have a lot of experience with babies before our firstborn, Lindsay, arrived. During her first year, as she discovered and learned new things, he was learning right alongside her.When...