Today I brought my daughter's baby doll in my box. Her name is "Cupcake" and my daughter plays with her all the time. She loves to sing quietly to Cupcake, and rock her, and put her to bed. Sometimes she pushes her around in a stroller, or takes her clothes off and on. Most of the time my not-so-gentle daughter is very gentle with her doll. Playing with Cupcake allows her to practice being gentle and loving so that when she is around a real baby she knows how to act. And when she does drag her doll around upside down, it allows us to remind her that "We are gentle with babies" and show her how to hold her doll more carefully.
It can be very difficult to teach something like gentleness to children without a model of what gentleness looks like. It must have been very frustrating for God to try and teach us about love. God tried talking to chosen leaders and prophets so that they could explain it to us. But it was only by sending us a model of love in Jesus Christ, that we finally understood. Jesus was able to show us how to love one another and ourselves. Now it is up to us to practice the lesson.
About Me
- Laura Mann Magevney
- I received my BA, JD and MDiv from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. My husband, Michael Magevney, and I founded Break Away, a national non-profit organization that trains college and high school students to develop alternative spring break volunteer programs at their schools. I also served for several years as a Public Defender in Nashville. I have been on staff at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Jacksonville since 2004. I have experience in children, youth and family ministries, as well as in teaching scripture and theology to adults. Any free time I have is spent with my husband and four children, as well as volunteering in the Jacksonville community.
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