Michelle Van Loon

Last year as my mom was dying, I was amazed at how very small the world became for her. There were no more trips for her to the nail salon or flea market, no need for the part-time job or…

This is not the chart. See below. I once read an article with a very arresting visual about child development. The chart in question overlaid graphs tracking an individual child’s physical, social and academic development. The article’s writer made the…

Just a couple of new pictures. Indulge me…Grandpa and Gabriel, during our apple-picking excursion. All of the apples were off the trees, so we technically didn’t pick apples. We picked them up off the ground. It looks like Lio is…

A pet parakeet wanders the yard of author, blogger, North Park University professor, birdwatcher and Cub fan Dr. Scot McKnight. The other backyard birds were terrified of the bizarre blue visitor’s quick movements and strange birdsong. The parakeet made its…

Early this morning, our second grandchild, Lionel Ilan (LEE-o-nel EE-lahn) Valenzuela-Lozano was born. Here’s a few pictures of this beautiful little guy’s birthday:

One of our former pastors (that’s a depressing phrase, but I digress…) had a catchy little way of summarizing spiritual growth. He would tell the congregation that as they followed the Lord, the bumps in the road wouldn’t get smaller,…