by Shannon Popkin | Dec 15, 2011 | Funny, Holidays, Jesus, Kids' Perspective, Witness
At the end of our Bible study Christmas brunch yesterday, the little ones came in with their jingle bells. They had darling costumes and had practiced their lines and songs. But the best part of the show was cute, little about-to-turn-three Makenna.As the kids were...
by Shannon Popkin | Dec 12, 2011 | Kids' Perspective
When Lindsay was two, she had a little Bible story book. She could easily find the page about Jesus’ birth, and loved to point to Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus in the picture.One day I heard her say, “One, two… A savior has been born!” (I think...
by Shannon Popkin | Dec 7, 2011 | Family, Holidays, Parenting
After weeks of saying, ‘You better watch out! You better not cry! You better not pout!”, I finally did more than tell my kids why. I made good on a my plethora of nagging threats.No, I didn’t cancel Santa. But I did ground someone. I sent her* to her...
by Shannon Popkin | Nov 26, 2011 | Holidays, Kids' Perspective, Prayer
I was driving in the car with Lindsay one November day, when she was in kindergarten. Suddenly, she caught her breath in alarm, as if she had just remembered something.”What is it?” I asked.She said, “Mommy! In our kindergarten class, we never…...
by Shannon Popkin | Nov 19, 2011 | Kids' Perspective, Mistakes, Parenting, Teens
In eighth grade Language Arts, Lindsay was asked to write about her Michigan Hero. I’ll let her surprise you…When someone asks me who my Michigan Hero is I think of an experience I had in fourth grade….In Math class, I was bent over, squinting at my...
by Shannon Popkin | Nov 16, 2011 | Communication, Father, Leadership
When I was a young teacher, my principal called me into his office a few minutes before the school day was to begin. He wanted to talk to me about James. But the thing was, we had just talked about James. The day before. We had exhausted the subject. And so I nodded...