My dear friend Sue has a plaque that she keeps at her work station.  It reads “Attention everyone, this is God. I will be solving all of your problems today. I do not require your help.”

I find this notion extremely comforting. But don’t get me wrong – I don’t think God means for us to lay on our couches, pork rinds in one hand, a phone in the other, ordering up additional couches we don’t need from Pottery Barn while smirking “Get a loada this, one, Big Guy!” as we gaze heavenward and expect God to somehow pay our credit card bills and not make us obese with no action whatsoever on our parts.

But, I love the idea that there is something bigger than ourselves, some entity, in fact, with whom we can have a deep and personal connection.  I fervently believe in God, despite a number of people who tried to talk me out of it in the past years and  regardless of the fact that my best friend is currently an atheist. And I think that the belief in God, in a power that loves and forgives us unconditionally, becomes even more important when you become a parent. [Read more...]