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2 weeks ago | 
kaylacraig.substack.com | Kayla Craig
It’s easy to lose track of our truest identity. As parents, we know how quickly life can become a series of labels. We introduce our kids at playdates or family gatherings with the shorthand of who they are—“This is my athlete1,” “my artist,” “my bookworm.”Without realizing it, we define our children by their interests and abilities. It’s only a small step from there to defining ourselves by our children’s identities.
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3 weeks ago | 
kaylacraig.substack.com | Kayla Craig
You know what itâs like to worry. To be caught in those familiar loops of anxious thought, trying to control what feels uncontrollable. This week, weâre exploring the One who doesnât shame us but meets us in our worry. Our time together is adapted from a sermon my husband Jonny gave that I canât stop thinking about, where he explores what the story of Gideon in the Old Testament teaches us about Godâs response to our worry, to our fears, to our hiding.
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4 weeks ago | 
kaylacraig.substack.com | Kayla Craig
Motherâs Day can bring up complicated emotions. Whether youâre celebrating or grieving (or maybe holding space for both), hereâs your reminder that even your most silent prayers are heard by a God who loves you deeply. Whatever youâre holding, God knows. I marvel at the way Jesus described his love like that of a mother hen, gathering her chicks beneath her wings â a vivid and comforting image of protection, tenderness, and fierce care.
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1 month ago | 
kaylacraig.substack.com | Kayla Craig
Sun warmed my shoulders. Sea mist tickled my nose. As I sat along the Pacific Ocean listening to the waves roar like thunder, I felt myself actually…exhale. The only prayer I could muster was thank you. Thank you for the beauty of creation. Thank you for letting me marvel at it. Thank you. I had nowhere to be and nothing to do except sit with God and breathe. I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath for so long.
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1 month ago | 
kaylacraig.substack.com | Kayla Craig
When Jesus was crucified, all who loved Him wept in anguish. It's hard for us now, knowing the glorious Resurrection that was to come, to truly wrap our minds around how devastated His friends and family must have felt at His death. “Resurrection is another word for change, but particularly positive change—which we tend to see only in the long run. In the short run, it often just looks like death,” says Richard Rohr. As humans created by a Maker God, we are created to be transformed, too.
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1 month ago | 
kaylacraig.substack.com | Kayla Craig
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedAs much as we want to race toward resurrection, Holy Week is not a week to rush through. Instead, we're asking: What would it look like to enter the story and let Love do its slow, sacred work as we follow Jesus toward the cross? Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedWeâre arriving at the edge of the story. Palm branches scatter. Echoes of Hosanna! linger.
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2 months ago | 
kaylacraig.substack.com | Kayla Craig
As we continue our slow journey toward the darkest night, I canât help but marvel at how Christ, betrayed and beaten, embodies forgiveness. In a world that so often chooses retaliation, he chooses redemption. In the face of cruelty, Jesus opens his arms. This is the invitation of Lent: To loosen our grip, to release what cannot redeem us, and to prepare our hearts not only for death, but for the kind of love that rises again.
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2 months ago | 
kaylacraig.substack.com | Kayla Craig
What if the thing pulling you away from GodâŚlooks like something good? Something noble? Responsible? Even spiritual? I have an outsized view of myself. Maybe you do, too. I want to stretch my arms over the world and protect it from harm. Every time another breaking news alert pops up, my heart dropsâand I immediately feel pressure to fix it. Fix what, exactly? Centuries of injustice? Millennia of the human condition? If Iâm honest, yes. I read the headlines. I see the pain in my community.
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2 months ago | 
kaylacraig.substack.com | Kayla Craig
Exciting news! Every Season Sacred is temporarily on sale, and thereās a coupon, which means you can get this beautiful hardcover book, filled with prayers and reflections for the entire year, for just $10! This price is even lower than what I, as an author, can purchase it for. Stock up on gifts!Liturgies for Parents is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
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2 months ago | 
kaylacraig.substack.com | Kayla Craig
Beeps and buzzes of the emergency department flutter in and out of our room. Propped on plastic pillows, my feverish sonâs long legs dangle dangerously close to the edge of his bed. I look at him â all fourteen years of him â under the fluorescent hospital lights. I remember when he was a toddler, and I climbed into his metal hospital crib to watch Toy Story with him, rubbing his back until he forgot his IV and finally fell asleep. âWhy didnât you tell us you didnât feel well?â I ask.