Allowing Animals to Speak

“Animals appear throughout the Bible from the very beginning…. They swim and fly, slither and climb all through the pages. The wolf lies down with the lamb, the ram arrives in the nick of time, and foxes run through vineyards. We read about them, but they have no voice of their own…. What if we were to allow the animals to speak, to tell us their feelings and their perspective about the world around them and the humans they encounter?”
— The Raven and the Dove, The Big Fish, and The Stubborn Donkey

Bravery

“Being brave is being strong enough to name what scares you and to face it with the help of others and with faith."
— I Am Not Afraid

The Comfort of Presence

"A soft voice inside comforts me, saying, 'I am here.' "
— I Am Not Afraid

God's Colors in Our Children

"We often tell children that God is everywhere, but our children are not everywhere: they are in a particular time and place in their lives. We need to talk to our children where they are, to allow them to look in God's mirror and tell us what they see. And when we are privileged to glimpse God's colors in them, we too will paint with God's paintbrush."
— God's Paintbrush

Human Imagination

"God delights in the human imagination. No one person can claim to hold the key to unlock what God intended, because what God intended was for each generation to read its story into the text."
— God's Echo

Mystery

"Children realize that they can't control everything and that the world is filled with mystery."
— God's Paintbrush

Parables

"Parables are not designed to have special answer keys; rather, they encourage us to think in new ways. Sometimes a tree is just a tree that takes a while to mature; sometimes a gardener is not always willing to do the work. Yet every parable prompts questions and explorations."
— The Good for Nothing Tree

Patient Tending

"Then, as spring turned into summer, buds appeared.
They were tiny, but if you looked hard enough, you could see them.
The children kept watering and weeding, watching and waiting."
— The Good for Nothing Tree

With Open Hand

"Perhaps one day, when each person learns to reach out an open hand without the rock, without the sword, without the gun, the entire world can be saved."
— Cain and Abel