My family’s favorite gathering place is the hand-me-down couch filled with colorful pillows in our living room, a brimming bookcase along one side, and a white-mantled fireplace on the other. On the top shelf of the corner hutch sits a framed photo of my twin sister, Brenda, and me. We are snuggled on Michael Landon’s lap.
“Pa” is playfully grinning as though he’s the luckiest man on earth.
Whenever I look at that photo, I grin too. At eight months old, Brenda and I were cast as Baby Grace, Charles Ingalls’s youngest daughter, for the television series Little House on the Prairie. The four seasons we spent as Baby Grace turned our lives right-side-up. Although too young to grasp our good fortune, we have since come to realize that we were—are—the lucky ones, blessed to have been part of a television family that modeled for us what a real family can be.
I don’t know if your parents watched Little House with you the way mine did, but it was a tradition I carried on when I became a parent. When my daughter began kindergarten, the Ingalls family entertained us every Monday night. With each episode, I gleaned nuggets of wisdom from Charles and Caroline, and even from the unlikely character of Nellie Oleson.
Many of the relationship and faith connections I had missed when watching as a child now jumped out at me as an adult. I saw relevant lessons for today, and the episodes became opportunities for family discussions.
One night, as all of us crowded onto the couch watching a favorite Little House episode, my husband suggested that I write a devotional built on the show’s themes. Although it sounded like a great idea, I didn’t have the confidence to try. Growing up in a broken home and being the younger twin, I struggled with self-doubt. A devotional sounded like a task too great for me to attempt.
Years of joy and heartache went by, both for our family and for the Ingallses. As we watched the Ingalls family overcome challenges week after week, I noticed how universal and timeless the themes were. We all struggle with loneliness, illness, setbacks, and loss. I had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and was dealing with insecurity, grief, and the unknowns of brain surgery. My family’s challenges were no different from those of the Ingalls family. Just as Little House encouraged us, I could encourage others—if I paid heed to Pa, that is. “All you can do is try,” he’d said.
This devotional is the result of doing just that.
First airing in 1974 and running for nine seasons, the television series was based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s children’s books. Wilder charmed the world with her delightful stories of growing up as a pioneer girl. Although her stories are not all happy, they do encourage and inspire. Underlying her adventures is a strong faith in a good God, faith to which the television series stayed true.
Within these pages are stories of joy and heartache, fear and triumph, doubt and strength, each story a testament of faith that helped the Ingalls family—and our family—navigate life’s challenges. I invite you to gather your family on your couch and join me as we step into the world of the Ingallses and into a closer walk with God.
Wendi Lou Lee