Book reviews

Jill J. Duffield When I begin working on a new concept with a class of learners, I like to spend time connecting what they already know about to what we are about to learn. Basically, using what one already knows and understands bolsters a person’s comprehension of a...

Alan Fadling If someone were collecting data on the most common answers to the question of how one is doing, certainly one of the top three answers would be busy. People, especially as they emerge from the pandemic with new responsibilities on their shoulders, have...

Growing in Grace My husband and I met due to a shared love of music. We invest a LOT of time and money each month in piano lessons for our children. We have a collection of over 40 different hymnals, hundreds of CDs, and playlists amassed on several different...

Shani E. McIlwain I must admit that I have written and rewritten and rewritten the rewrites of this introductory paragraph at least a dozen times. I am not qualified to make analogies, discuss my experiences, or relate my own feelings on the sins of racism, injustice,...

Edited by John Roberto When March, 2020 rolled around, I had been in my current position (director of educational ministries for a small congregation) for five months. We had gone from an average of 1.2 kids to a steady attendance of 12. Then the world shut down. I...

Glenys Nellist When my husband and I got married a long time ago, the family of one of my students gave us a magnet for our refrigerator. It had 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 printed on it and it has moved with us from each home, hanging prominently among our collection of...

Linsey Davis I have heard some fabulous questions from children over the past 25 years; how old is the stuff in lava, will deer swim in a pool if no one is watching, can I harness the energy in lightning to make my mom’s car run? Often times, I get questions that I...

Sarah Cowan Johnson I will own the fact that I find human development and pedagogy fascinating. They are not your everyday interests, but I can find people that share them and have conversations about what we’ve noticed, what we’ve read, and what we've done in our...

Susan Eaddy My family has an affinity for the story of Jesus’s birth. My husband and I met while he was performing as one of the Three Kings in Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and The Night Visitors. (Side note: fabulous operetta; great for families of all ages; if you...

Krin Van Tatenhove and Rob Mueller As we all process the lessons we have learned from the pandemic, one resounding cry we hear from people is that they only want to be part of what speaks to the truth of their values. People ache to be part of something that is bigger...