I Have Hundreds of Children’s Books in My Kitchen. That’s Normal, Right?

Nine years ago, when our first child was born, God gifted us with a series of two children. And not just any two children, but two of the best human beings ever created.

(But yes, yours are great too.)

Two of the best human beings ever created though! Living right in my house! They wake up here, they eat with me, they brush their teeth with me, they fall asleep in my presence. They become who they will be, day by day, right in front of my eyes.

They also keep me busy as apparently it’s my job to feed them and keep them minimally dressed.

But on the days when the laundry is done (just clean, not folded, not even close to being put away), I sometimes still write. Books if I can. But really most days, sentences…if I’m lucky, paragraphs even.

And every once in a while, these things converge–the kids and the writing. Which is what happened recently with my new book, May God Bless You and Keep You.

To be clear, this is not the kind of Pullitzer-ish book that will be quoted from a world stage. But it is the kind of book that will be read (repeatedly) on a more important one: the stage of your child’s bedroom.

I’m convinced that bedtime is where solid human beings are bred. I’m not kidding either. The fight to feel loved, to belong, to be at peace…the battle often rages most fiercely at bedtime.

Which makes it a place of fierce opportunity as well.

This is the time where we snuggle in, where we pull our own best little humans tight. Where we all have the space to take a big deep breath together. To tell our favorite stories. To practice the art of taking care of ourselves and our own. And to let them drift off with their minds and hearts filled with the right things.

This is where they fuel up to live bravely in all their tomorrows.

(Also, the fact that you get to wear your leggings and they get to rock those one-size-too-small super hero pajamas while you read to them is a big plus.)

So humbly, let me put it out there, that there’s a new book in town. And that it’s designed to be part of exactly this ritual, to be spoken on exactly this stage.

Also, storing instructions: please shelve this title somewhere between The Pout Pout Fish and Llama, Llama. 

I promised the publisher I would make this Facebook Live video where I read it to people. And even though I look squirmy and awkward, and a tad bit forced, I’m sharing it below so you can listen to these words–words that I firmly believe are worth speaking over my best humans’ lives.

These are words plucked straight from our life together. These are the words that I let dance in the air, trailing my children, as they walk into school or go off to a slumber party…because I want these words to be the ones that revisit my kids, that recycle in their soul, that trail after them when they one day walk off to college.

May God bless you,

May God keep you,

May His face shine on you today.

May He give you grace,

And keep you safe,

May God be with you always.