by Shannon Popkin | Oct 15, 2012 | Goals, God, Mistakes, Parenting, Sin
When I was a teacher, I always started out parent-teacher conferences by asking the parents if they had any concerns that we needed to discuss. One such parent voiced one that I wasn’t expecting:”I’m concerned about my daughter’s tardy,”...
by Shannon Popkin | Aug 24, 2012 | Disagreement, Family, Fear, Goals, Mistakes, Parenting
Once when Cole was about three, we had him in a church service with us. He had to go to the bathroom, so Daddy (Ken) took him out. From my seat near the front, I watched as they re-entered the sanctuary a few minutes later. Ken started walking down the side aisle, and...
by Shannon Popkin | May 7, 2012 | Goals, Kids' Perspective, Mistakes, Parenting, Teens
After you read this, go tell your child to do something that sounds absolutely ridiculous. Like, “Put a pair of socks on your ears.” Or, “Sing ‘Happy Birthday’ into the mailbox.” Or, “Go turn all of the door knobs in the...
by Shannon Popkin | Apr 25, 2012 | Church, Goals, Writing
“I think you should share your peanut butter & jelly,” I told her. (I didn’t really say ‘peanut butter & jelly’–but for the sake of this post, we’ll call it that.)”But I don’t want to share my peanut butter...
by Shannon Popkin | Mar 13, 2012 | Beauty, Fear, Goals, Teens
Last night, at a coffee shop, five moms and their middle school daughters discussed the crazy lengths girls go to for beauty. It’s ludicrous, when you consider how few of us ever achieve (and much less maintain) today’s stick figure standards. (We’re...
by Shannon Popkin | Feb 27, 2012 | Goals, Hardship, Mistakes
It’s ‘Yellow Ball Monday’ and Miriam Walsh has the ball:It was a ski-lover’s dream. Snow laden hill. Tiny puffs of snow falling from a January sky. Athletes gliding down the hill. Hot cocoa sippers watching from the nearby lodge.Enter the Walsh...