It Will Grow Back: Parenting with Scissors and a Smile

What Makes You Laugh?
Finding joy, surprise, and grace in the chaos of parenting—and remembering to abide

You know God has a sense of humor.
He says, “Be anxious for nothing”—and then gives us children.

My kids make me laugh.

They also make me cry.

Sometimes both in the same breath.

Like the day I found Lucy at the kitchen garbage can—clump of hair in one hand, scissors in the other.

“What are you doing?”
“Does Mom know?”
“It’s okay, Daddy,” she said. “It will grow back.”

I laughed. I cried. I snapped a picture.

Parenting is like that—sacred and absurd, hilarious and gut-wrenching.

And somewhere between the tears and the tangled hair, you realize: this is where abiding matters most.

I stumbled across an old Forming post the other day.
The image made me laugh—again.

Top panel: me, wide-eyed, hands clutching my head, mouth gaping in sheer disbelief.
Bottom panel: a simple, smiling stick figure—arms, legs, no hair.

At first glance, you’d think one of my kids drew it.
But I did.

It’s my inner child.

The one who still panics.
The one who forgets to breathe.
The one who tries too hard.
And the one who, like Lucy, whispers, “It’s okay. It will grow back.”

In John 15, Jesus doesn’t say, “Hold it together.”
He says, “Abide in me.”

Remain. Stay rooted.

Even amid clumps of hair, scissors, sharp words, and messy feelings.

So today, I’m laughing.

At my kids.
At myself.
At the wild, unruly gift of life that never goes as planned—but somehow keeps growing back.

#WhatMakesYouLaugh #Forming2.0 #Abide #John15 #LivingFromTheInsideOut #ParentingWithGrace #ItWillGrowBack #InnerChildWisdom