With just a small window on the same continent before she went off to college, it was a challenge to pull off Karis’ senior shoot. When I saw that the props she brought along were books and mugs, I was delighted. A kindred spirit! We chatted about literature and coffee and life between two cultures. Her mom and her best friend tagged along to help with hair and wardrobe changes, and I could sense their joy-tinged-sorrow as they celebrated Karis and prepared to say farewells. This endearing young lady has a bright future ahead of her, with loving friends and family cheering her on!
Jesus Modeled D6!
–Originally published on FWB21 June 23, 2011– The Holy Spirit opened my eyes to something today. As I was reading this morning, the realization dawned on me that the Deuteronomy 6 way of teaching was perfectly modeled by Jesus Christ himself. I’m sure this is probably not news to most of you, but I personally had never really thought about it that way before. Even though he was not a parent, Jesus taught his disciples both in the house and walking by the way, when lying down and rising up. Think back on the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life. He was constantly teaching His disciples. After encounters with various individuals, He would take His disciples aside and explain some truth […]
Home, Sweet Home… Is Where, Exactly?
–Originally published on FWB21 June 18, 2011– After almost two weeks away, it’s good to be home. Our own beds, our normal routine, our comfortable life. In the car yesterday, with a few hours left to travel, our 4-year-old asked me, “Mommy, where are we going now?” “Home, dear! We’re going home.” His next question surprised me a bit: “Where is that?” Now, if you know our son, you know that memory is not one of his weak points. He knows full well where we live right now, but in his short life span he also remembers living in a trailer next door to my parents and living in an apartment in Spain. I think he was just looking for […]
God Speaks the Language of the Heart
–Originally published on FWB21 June 12, 2011– Tonight during E-TEAM training, we had the great privilege of hearing Mrs. Lorene Miley speak. At “fourscore and some years,” Mrs. Miley joyfully and personally connected with her audience of teens (and adults, too!) as she shared the testimony of what God has done in her life and the road down which He led her to Africa and back. Mrs. Miley’s recurring statement was this: God speaks the language of the heart. Even when we do not, or cannot, speak, God hears and understands our hearts. As she spoke, my mind recalled passages such as “obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” and “a broken and contrite […]
Thoughts on Courage from The Seven Cardinal Virtues
–Originally published on FWB21 May 30, 2011– My husband found a gem of a used book for $0.99 at a local bookstore. Its title: The Seven Cardinal Virtues, by James Stalker, D.D. (1902, reprinted 1961). It’s a tiny book and lends itself to reading short excerpts here and there. This morning I just happened to read the section on courage, and I thought the following excerpts are profoundly fitting today’s celebration of those who gave their lives for the freedom of our country: What, then, is the connection between wisdom and courage? Wisdom, as we saw in the last chapter, is chiefly concerned with the object of existence; it fixes on the supreme good which we decide to pursue. And […]
Be a Reader
–Originally published on FWB21 May 27, 2011– Christians should be readers. After all, the God we serve chose to reveal himself articulately, and He has preserved His Word for us. Since God has revealed Himself through Word, our faith then behooves us to be readers. We, of all peoples, have no excuse for being illiterate. Our nation has one of the highest literacy rates in all of history, and libraries are readily available in most areas. Add to that the wealth of information available at our fingertips (including a host of full-length books available for free in digital form), and we are really left with no excuse. “Well, I’m really not a reader,” you say. Let me repeat here a […]
One Like Bin Laden…
–Originally posted on FWB21 May 12, 2011– Upon the news of Osama Bin Laden’s recent death, I heard strong reactions from Christians that hit both ends of the spectrum. Some celebrated his death with great victory, relishing that justice had been met; others mourned the loss of a soul made in the image of God, despite his actions on earth. Still others tried to work through–out loud–what a Christian’s reaction should be in the face of such news. I can honestly say I had no immediate reaction. I absorbed the information the same way as if you had told me that my book is lying on the table. I’m still trying to process it all, and I have no answers […]
Why Honor?
–Originally published on FWB21 May 6, 2011– Does it ever seem strange to those of you who are parents that we are the ones who have to teach our kids to honor us? There have been times that I feel quite uncomfortable demanding that my son honor and obey me, for I am keenly aware of my own shortcomings and inconsistencies. It is those times that I have to remind myself that it is not I who demand honor and obedience, but God: Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving […]
C.S. Lewis on Faith: Part 2
–Originally published on FWB21 May 2, 2011– My previous post covered Lewis’ take on Faith in the first sense: Belief. His comments concerning the second, higher sense are even more compelling, for I have personally experienced that of which he speaks: No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. … Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. … That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. … The main thing we learn from a serious attempt to practice the Christian virtues is that we fail. … Then comes another discovery. Every faculty you have… is given you by God. If you devoted […]
C.S. Lewis on Faith: Part 1
–Originally published on FWB21 May 2, 2011– As I said before, lately I have been devouring Lewis’ Mere Christianity. I just finished the chapters on Faith, and I felt that I must share some thoughts on the subject as I feel they must have some implication for parenting. Lewis talks about Faith in two senses: 1) Belief, and 2) a higher sense. For space, I’ll share these two treatments of Faith in two different posts. First: Belief. Faith [in the first sense] is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes. … This rebellion of your moods against your real self […]