Cartwheels, Bricks, Marbles

Amanda vividly remembers the moment when she cried at her kitchen table in front of her three children.

At the time, her 14-year-old daughter was lying on the floor, her 12-year-old son had his head in his hands and her six-year-old girl was doing cartwheels around the room. Why the tears? Well, all this was happening in the middle of her family Bible time.

And so, when her latest question landed with silence, her tears fell. If the scene of chaos was rare, she might have laughed it off, but it was sadly an all too familiar sight. The cumulative effect of Bible studies ending in despair, disinterest, and … gymnastics finally pushed her over the edge. ‘Why do I bother?’ she thought. ‘Why would any parent introduce another source of strife, frustration and despair into their life?’