Last week I told the boys that today would be our pilgrimage day—that we would pick a destination and go pray for a great school year.

As I stood on the ground and watched them go up, I was suddenly scared. God has entrusted my husband and me with raising these two amazing children, and I just put them on a ride that would take them far up into the sky.

To reduce a human being to an object whose value is measured by “utility” is to destroy one of the building blocks of the democratic order – the moral truth that the American Declaration of Independence calls the “inalienable” right to “life.”

What a frightening time for the people who are affected by the flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Texas. They are in desperate need of our prayers—prayers for those who are being rescued and those doing the rescues, along with prayers for many who are still waiting and hoping that they will be able to stay in their homes.

These are the millennials that I’m proud of. Those who study or work overseas, or volunteer to serve others in this country, get to know not just the people who look and act and believe like them, but also those who do not.

My niece and nephew are spending the week with my parents, and with Daniel’s Gotcha Day, soccer practice, and other excitement, the week has been getting away from us without any solid cousin time. So yesterday I took our boys over to play.

The latest edition of Question Corner looks at the gate to heaven and whether children born out of wedlock can be baptised.

As we prepared for our first practice of the year, I may not have been the most excited member of the family. Soccer is a great sport, but I’m just not a fan of extracurricular activities that throw our lives into a tailspin for months.

Having the opportunity to be this little boy’s mother is an amazing blessing. It’s also an astonishing gift for me, especially since I wasn’t sure I would ever be a mother—never mind a mother of two sons who were born on the other side of the world.

We have to accept that even with the suffering and challenges life can bring, God is writing a more wonderful story than we could imagine.