by Shannon Popkin | Nov 14, 2011 | Fear, Freedom, Jesus, Marriage
When I was twenty-three, I sensed God leading me to accept a job offer in Milwaukee. Before making the decision, I had visited a Milwaukee church, and being the single girl that I was, I scanned the pews for any interesting looking guys. Zilch. I didn’t see even one...
by Shannon Popkin | Nov 12, 2011 | Kids' Perspective, Sin
When he was about four, Cade asked me if there will be pirates in heaven. He really loved pirates and wanted to be sure that his mateys would be walking next to him on the streets o’ gold. Since pirates are fundamentally people who greedily steal from others, I...
by Shannon Popkin | Nov 10, 2011 | Kids' Perspective, Parenting
When Cade was a preschooler, Ken told him, “Come here and let me help you wipe your nose.” But Cade responded, “Oh, that’s ok, Dad. Because, look… I know how to get it all back up in there.” And he gave a giant sniff.Do you...
by Shannon Popkin | Nov 4, 2011 | Compassion, Parenting, Sin
“I want to go punch that little boy in the nose!” I punched the air with my free hand for emphasis, and almost dropped the phone. My friend on the other line commiserated with my story. She understood how my heart hurts for my own child, and how I long to...
by Shannon Popkin | Oct 31, 2011 | Holidays, Parenting
I always forget how busy Halloween is. A man at our school’s parade told me that his girls deliberate over carefully scrutinized costume catalogs several months prior, and have their costumes lined up in a closet at the beginning of October. That sounds so...
by Shannon Popkin | Oct 24, 2011 | Marriage, Parenting
One evening, we saw a bat, stuck between our screen door and the glass sliding door. The bat’s face was right up against the glass and his wings spread out. With his mouth open, it looked like he was hissing curses at us. And by the looks of him, I was convinced...