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Musings of a Grandmother-to-Be
I’m finally going to be a grandmother for the first time. And all the thoughts and emotions swirling inside of me need to be sorted and find expression. Excitement. Giddy with anticipation. Love already growing for someone yet unknown. And fear, concern, worry. But also hope, curiosity, and joy. And inadequacy. And relief… All my grandmother-friends tell me that this is the greatest “gig,” even better than advertised. The writer of Proverbs seems to agree, stating that grandchildren are the crown of the elderly (Pr 17:6). I know I am entering this new phase a little later than many of my peers. My age has occupied a good bit of…
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You’re Okay
The toddler in this YouTube sweetly passes on what others have said to her. For generations, mothers have often tried to soothe their fraught children with three simple words, “You’re okay.” As a child wails and reels from known and unknown causes, a mother will try to calm and reassure her child with, “You’re okay, you’re okay.” My mother probably said it to me, I said it to my children, and I watch them say it to their children. And their children will probably say it to their children. Mothers know more than their children, they know that things will be okay, things are not as bad as they seem,…
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What is Christmas Without a Christ-child?
The future of our world depends on steady hearts and strong hands from the next generation. The next generation always comes to us first as a child. The children we teach today will be the future leaders of our homes, our churches, our country, and our world. They are valuable even when many times they don’t feel that value. Christmas is a perfect time to emphasize the importance that God has placed on children. “The potential possibilities of any child are the most intriguing and stimulating in all creation.” — Ray L. Wilbur, third president of Stanford University “Every child you encounter is a divine appointment.” — Wess Stafford, President…
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Christian Parenting Mistakes: #5 Not Helping Them Embrace Their Spiritual Gifts
Just as sad as mistakenly raising cultural Christians who know the talk but can’t walk the walk because they have not yet accepted Christ as Savior, is the mistake of having a child in our family or classroom who has accepted Christ as Savior and yet we don’t help them discover and use their spiritual gifts. We hamstring their spiritual muscles and hamper their growth in Christ when we don’t help them learn how to spiritually exercise. When a person believes in Christ He is placed into the body of Christ. He is born again and given spiritual gifts. However, most churches function as though these gifts can only be…