PARENTING FREEDOM

carol | March 10, 2010

Chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7056689.ece

Category: Christianity, Out of this World | No Comments »
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carol | March 10, 2010

“Believer, you are not exempt from trials, but you have sufficient grace for any trouble. God’s choicest love letters are sent in black-edged envelopes. The envelope frightens us, but if we know how to break the seal we will find riches for our soul. Great trials are the clouds from which God showers great mercies. Frequently, when the Lord has an extraordinary mercy to send, He employs His rough and grizzled horses to drag it to our door. The smooth rivers of ease are usually navigated by little vessels filled with common commodities, but a huge ship loaded with treasure crosses deep seas.” Charles Spurgeon

Thanks for the quote, thatmom!
http://www.thatmom.com/

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Category: Christianity, Depression, Inspiration, Miscarriage, Quotes | No Comments »
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carol | March 8, 2010

I recently received this very encouraging email.

“WOW! You have no idea how stumbling across your website in search of one particular homeschool book has changed our children’s and our family’s life forever!”

“The Lord has been dealing with me on a handful of issues for a while now. Spanking, Vaccinating and as you put it “baby dumping”… With each baby the way we were “supposed” to do things seemed more and more wrong. After reading your sections on spanking and vaccinating and talking with my husband we have committed to gentle parenting w/no spankings or time outs or other “punishments” and to not vaccinate our baby any more… I do wear my baby as much as possible…”

“I just wanted to say thank you for this site and the obvious time, effort, and energy put into it. It’s been a turning point in my life and my children’s life.”

“I especially appreciate that you don’t act like you’ve got it all together. Saying you want your kids to ‘go play’ and things of that nature make me feel like I can do better, too.”

“I’m a stay at home mom… I breastfeed and practice natural family planning and find myself aligning (to my surprise) to attachment parenting.”

“God bless you and your work here and your new baby. Please pray for me and my husband that we can overcome our past and look toward our gentle parenting future!”

What stuck out the most as I read, was when she said, “I especially appreciate that you don’t act like you’ve got it all together.”

I could write a book on things I do wrong! I certainly don’t have it all together. Not even a little bit. Thankfully, that is where grace comes in big time.

I actually try to avoid writing about things I’ve done wrong, particularly because I don’t want to embarrass my children in this age of the internet. I do worry about the future consequences of my writing.

So far, I am fully convinced in my own mind that what I write is true. “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” Romans 14:5

I might be wrong about my beliefs, but on the other hand, you might be wrong.

I appreciated this recent sermon, shared by TulipGirl.

http://www.gohope.net/resources/multimedia/details/?id=58903

Among other things, I liked where the pastor mentioned that he is getting better at his parenting responses as he has grown as a Christian, by God’s grace. I have had similiar experiences. Even though I continue to do things I wish I did not do, and I fail to do things I want to do, I notice that God is getting rid of some of my old bad habits (sins). For example, when I came to my conclusions about child discipline, (after Child #2), it took a while before I lost the urge to hit with my hand. One time, when my third child was two years old, I shocked myself (and her) when I instinctively swatted her leg to get her to stop flipping over during a diaper change. Thankfully, I have never felt the urge to swat or hit her before or after and have never felt that instinct with my fourth child. Still, occasionally, I disappoint myself when I notice I am yelling at one of the children. I thought I had that under control, but it seeps out. But I am not the one in control. God is. 

Remember… Grace… Forgiveness… Freedom…

These are surely the theme verses for my life:

“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!“ Romans 7:21-25

TulipGirl also gave me a lovely gift for Christmas. A book! *grin* Not just any book, but a book about freedom. One that I found easy to apply to parenting freedom.

I enjoyed A Scandalous Freedom by Steve Brown very much. I hope this is an acceptable amount of quotes that one has the freedom to post from a book, but there were many more that I would love to share. You will have to order the book for yourself.

Here are a couple of interesting quotes from A Scandalous Freedom on the topic I was just discussing.

“The very fact that you want to be better – even perfect – is a sign that you belong to Christ. One of the best ways to find assurance of your salvation is not so much to examine what you do, but to look carefully at what you want to do.” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 61

“You greatly diminish your freedom when you pretend to others that you are accomplishing perfection.” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 64

I found the following to be the most interesting part of the book, A Scandalous Freedom, especially in regard to parenting:

“Sometimes God will gives us the gift of obedience, and sometimes he won’t. When God doesn’t, he gives us love and forgiveness. But more important than that, God gives us himself – freely, joyously, and without reservation.”

“And when he does gives us the gift of obedience, God also gives us an acute awareness that it wasn’t us; it was him. We had very little to do with obedience except, of course, that we went to him. And even that came by his bidding and through his grace…”

“If you’ve been a Christian very long, you may be wondering why I left out the guilt, the condemnation, and the promises to get better and better in every way, every day. I left them out because they simply aren’t in the Bible. I am drawn to that stuff too, but it simply isn’t there.”

“If you use the law of God to condemn yourself, go ahead, but don’t say it’s from God. If you allow others to use the law to make you guilty and afraid, go ahead, but don’t call them God’s servants…” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 233

“Something about religion will, if you let it, make you into an insecure, self-doubting, failure-producing worm. It happens with the misuse of the law…” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 234

“If something we think about God violates what we know of Jesus, what he taught, and how he acted, then that thought lies.” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 40

“This is a book about freedom, but it is really more a book about God – not a god we have created from our guilt and our neurotic need for punishment, but about the real God who would have us laugh, sing, and dance.” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 48

Here are some more quotes from A Scandalous Freedom. I also included some Scripture verses and a quote from another book.

“This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’ The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” Romans 4:22-24

“Because of the imputed righteousness of Christ, he won’t be angry with you nor will he ever condemn you.” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 14

“God loves you and will bless you without condition, without reservation, and without equivocation. You are free!” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 15

“The more I experience his love and grace, the more I want to please him.” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 16

I mentioned this type of relationship in my essay on child discipline and attachment parenting. I wrote, “ The closer our walk with the Lord, the easier it is to do His will. The parallelism in parenting is similar. The better our relationship with our children, the more they want to obey. It is all about relationship.”

“Freedom threatens religious people because it takes away their leverage and makes it more difficult for them to maintain control.” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 19

People are so afraid that if they take away the punishment factor in their parent/child relationship that they won’t be able to maintain control.

“Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:33-39

“Someone has described the church services of American Christianity as a nice man standing in front of nice people, telling them that God calls them to be nicer. But if the Christian faith is about being nicer, it becomes moralism; and in that case, Buddhism will probably be of more help than biblical Christianity.” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 83

“Through grace, with our assent, our desire begins to be transformed. Energies that once were dedicated simply to relieving ourselves from pain now become dedicated to a larger goodness, more aligned with the true treasure of our hearts. Where we were once interested only in conquering a specific addiction, we are now claiming a deeper longing, and we are concerned with becoming more free from attachments in general, for the sake of love. What had begun as an expedient attempt to reform our behavior has now become a process of transforming a life.” Gerald May, Addiction and Grace

“The biggest battle you will fight will be with yourself, not with the people you perceive as enemies. They really don’t need fixing. And even if they do, you’re not their mother. We are the ones who need fixing… When I have enemies, I must control, change, or defeat them. That takes a lot of time; but even more important, I find that I have given my enemy the ability to control me and take away my freedom… I don’t have to fix anything or anyone. That is God’s business. When I let him be God, I’m incredibly free to be…well, his servant.” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 148, 149

What? We don’t have to constantly fix our children?

On an aside, I enjoyed what author Steve Brown said about setting himself free from the fear of the West Nile virus (p. 150). Just like I felt free of the Swine Flu!

“All of the things the world feels are desperately important aren’t really so important after all.” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 153

“What if I could admit to you that I’m a sinner and that the statue of limitations hasn’t run out because I committed my sin this morning. What if I no longer had to pretend to be good?” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 156

“If God loves me, you can’t manipulate me by threatening to take away your love.” Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, p. 165

This threatening of taking away of love, comfort, and attachment is a very common discipline style in parenting. It is the worst kind of punishment, but often the easiest to employ. How many times have you been in a store and heard a parent say, “If you don’t come now, I will leave you here.” How many times have you said a similiar thing yourself? Some popular (anti-spanking) parenting programs are based on this philosophy.

I could quote so many more intersting things from the book, but for now, just read A Scandalous Freedom.

“Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” 1 Peter 2:10

“Let freedom ring!!” Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Category: Books, Movies, Television, Christianity, Freedom, Health, Parenting Attachment, Parenting Discipline, Quotes | No Comments »
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carol | March 7, 2010

“Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” Isaiah 49:16

Hat Tip: http://www.therightscoop.com/sarah-palin-god-wrote-on-his-hand-too/

I am still looking for a transcript or complete video, but here are a couple quotes from her speech:

“There is no accident. Every child has purpose.” Sarah Palin

“What seems like life’s greatest challenges in the moment are the greatest blessings in the end.” Sarah Palin

“The truest measure of a society is how we treat those who are unable to defend or speak for themselves.” Sarah Palin

Category: Abortion, Christianity, Politics Sarah Palin, Quotes | No Comments »
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carol | March 4, 2010

Cardinal: Stay-at-Home Moms Deserve Compensation, Incentives
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10030313.html

“The president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, has highlighted the importance of a mother in the home caring for her family and has suggested economic compensation or tax reductions for those women who choose to do this…”

“Cardinal Antonelli also addressed the problem of the effects of a missing father figure on children, and cited statistics from the U.S. which he said illustrate a trend in many parts of the Western world to single parent families.”

“‘Ninety percent of homeless people, 72 percent of adolescent suicides, 60 percent of rapists and 85 percent of youth in jail grew up without a father present,’ the Cardinal said.”

“‘The traditional family,’ Cardinal Antonelli continued, ‘is even being considered oppressive injustice, and matrimony and maternity are viewed as things from which a woman must liberate herself.’”

“The Cardinal pointed out that while raising a family and seeking a career outside the home are not incompatible for women, support services and a ‘variety of opportunities in professional work: part-time work, telework, flexibility of hours and vacations’ are crucial to a successful outcome.”

Category: Christianity, Parenting Stay-at-Home | No Comments »
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carol | March 2, 2010

We usually tell about our pregnancies within the first six weeks. We were living in another city with Baby #1, so we told as soon as we could be in person with our families. With Baby #2, we told everyone on Christmas at 15 days after conception! With Baby #3, we waited until six weeks, so we could tell everyone on Christmas as well. Baby #4 was announced on Valentine’s Day. I told about Baby #5 at six weeks, but the miscarriage had already started. Mainly because of not wanting to worry the children, I waited until 3 months to tell about Baby #6. That was past the first trimester which is the highest miscarriage risk. This sixth pregnancy was announced on Valentine’s as well (technically the night before at a family Valentine’s party.) We told the children earlier that afternoon. They were thrilled. I was actually surprised at how excited they were. At the party, we told my parents, my brother and sister-in-law, two nephews, my maternal grandparents and aunt. Everyone seemed genuinely happy and congratulated us. Later, my paternal grandfather and other aunt happened to call, and they congratulated me as well. My sister was happy for me when we talked on the phone that night. After the party, we went to Derek’s parents and told them. Only his mother congratulated us. I did send personal Facebook messages to a handful of people I thought would care and they all replied positively. My website post brought some nice comments as well. The next afternoon, Derek’s brother called him to congratulate us. Nothing from his sister and brother-in-law. Only one person called me. Thanks, AS. Since then, NOBODY except my mother and grandmother has even mentioned anything to me about the pregnancy. The other night, Derek went to his aunt and uncle’s house (they had congratulated him), and a few of his cousins were there. When learning we were expecting, one did the typical, “Don’t you know what causes that?” and his cousin’s wife only said, “Nobody told me!” No congratulations from any of them. Derek’s work aquaintances are being just as negative. Derek described people as being downright “mean”.

It’s funny that I see this as a small little family. (Derek took the picture.) Others see it as “too many children”, “too expensive”, “too much bother”, “better you than me!”

Just after telling the children about the baby.

Which of my children shouldn’t have been allowed to live? Obviously the one in the womb would be the first to go since nobody can see it or feel attached to it much (and of course, it’s legal to have her killed). So that leaves at least one more that should have been eliminated. (At least that’s what almost everyone seems to think.) Which one?

“How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers.”
Mother Teresa

“He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.’”
Mark 9:36

Category: Abortion, Baby #6, Christianity, Parenting Pregnancy, Quotes | 14 Comments »
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carol | March 2, 2010

I haven’t had the strength to deal with this topic since my chronic fatigue has gone into high gear during this pregnancy. The Pearl parenting method of beating children into submission with a rod is a trend in the Christian homeschooling movement that is very disturbing. I started to post some of the links I’ve read recently, but Tulipgirl has provided a very comprehensive list that includes all the articles I have read. I’ve also included a letter written by Karen Campbell (thatmom). She encourages you to pass it on to other parents and homeschoolers.

Who Is Speaking Out Against Abuse?
http://www.tulipgirl.com/index.php/2010/02/who-is-speaking-out-against-abuse/

an open letter to my brothers and sisters in Christ who serve in leadership to homeschooling families:
http://www.thatmom.com/?p=3927

March 1st, 2010

An open letter to my brothers and sisters in Christ who serve in leadership to homeschooling families:

“On February 6, 2010, Lydia Schatz, the seven year old homeschooled daughter of Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz, died after having been brutally beaten for mispronouncing a word while reading out loud to her mother. Butte County, California District Attorney, Mike Ramsey, reported that evidence shows the child was severely and repeatedly whipped, most likely for several hours, with a 15” piece of ¼” plumbing supply line, the same instrument that also left her older sister with severe kidney damage and in critical condition. The other seven Schatz children are now in foster homes, their parents having been charged with torture and murder.”

“While it might be comforting to believe that this is one horrific, isolated case of abusive behavior, the fact is that Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz were Bible-believing Christians who welcomed not only their own children into their home but three adopted ones as well. Their friends reported how shocked they were to hear this story about parents whom they called ‘loving’ and ‘warm’ and children who were ‘polite and well-behaved,’ words that could describe most homeschooling families.”

“But Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz were also devotees of the book To Train Up A Child and its authors, Michael and Debi Pearl, and they patterned their “discipline” methods after the Pearls’ instructions, down to the very instrument they used to beat their children.”

“This is not the first time a child has died at the hands of parents who embraced the teachings from TTUAC. In 2004, four year old Sean Paddock suffocated after his mother also beat him with ¼” plumbing supply line and then wrapped him tightly in a blanket to keep him from getting out of bed. She is now serving time in jail for first degree murder.”

“The killing of precious children in the name of ‘discipline’ must stop and those of us who desire to come alongside and encourage homeschooling families must do all that we can to see that this sort of tragedy never happens again. I believe that the Pearls’ teachings on chastisement unto repentance, found in their books and magazines and on their website, is not just one among many approaches to disciplining children, but rather, is a form of child abuse and even one that is considered to be assault and battery of a child and punishable by law in many states.”

“As Christians, it is even more important to understand that the Pearls’ philosophy is based on the aberrant theology of ’sinless perfection,’ a perspective that leads to the notion that parents are able to change a child’s sinful heart and save a child’s soul. Here are some excerpts from TTUAC:”

- – - “‘The parent holds in his hand (in the form of a little switch) the power to absolve the child of guilt, cleanse his soul, instruct his spirit, strengthen his resolve, and give him a fresh start through a confidence that all indebtedness is paid.’” – - -

- – - “‘The guilt burdened soul cries out for the lashes and nails of justice. Your child cannot yet understand that the Creator has been lashed and nailed in his place. Only the rod of correction can preserve his soul until the day of moral dawning.’” – - -

- – - “‘Let the guilt come, and then, while they are yet too young to understand, absolve it by means of the rod. When their time comes, the principles of the cross will be easy to grasp.’” - - -

“The Holy Word of God tells us that only by faith in the finished, atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross, an act of His mercy and grace, is a person saved. (‘Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.’~Titus 3:5) Physical chastisement by a parent cannot truly absolve a child of guilt nor can it cleanse his soul. To teach this and to lead any parent to think otherwise is promoting false doctrine and false hope in the works of man.”

“To that end, I would like to ask those who serve as homeschooling support group leaders and others who seek to serve within the homeschooling community to join the growing number of voices who are expressing their outrage and horror at the death of little Lydia Schatz and I would ask you to remove any recommendation of Michael and Debi Pearl’s teachings you have on your blogs or websites. Please stand with me and publicly say ‘This is wrong and it must stop.’”

“‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.’” ~ Proverbs 31:8-9

By His grace,
Karen Campbell,
homeschooling mother and grandmother
http://www.thatmom.com

For more on this topic, choose from the following:
Essay ~ Bible Verses ~ Quotes ~ Blog Posts ~ Books

Category: Christianity, Parenting Discipline | 3 Comments »
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carol | March 2, 2010

Stupak: It’s Not Just Abortion
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/03/01/stupak-its-not-just-abortion/

“In recent days, he’s [Rep. Bart Stupak] reiterated that he objects to the Senate’s more-lenient treatment of abortion coverage that would almost certainly be part of any final health legislation.”

Don’t let politicians bully you, Lord Carey warns Christians
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1254687/MPs-bullying-Christianity-UK-political-correctness-claims-Lord-Carey.html

Studies: Belief in God relieves depression
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/25/research-indicates-belief-in-god-relieves-depressi/

Archaeologist sees proof for Bible in ancient wall
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100223/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_ancient_wall

SHARON OSBOURNE: The dark side of fame… and why the cult of celebrity is destroying today’s children
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1254209/SHARON-OSBOURNE-The-dark-fame–cult-celebrity-destroying-todays-children.html

Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck hit road together
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33535.html

Category: Abortion, Christianity, Depression, Media Glenn Beck, Politics Sarah Palin | No Comments »
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carol | February 10, 2010

The pitfalls of compassion ~ Mgr Michel Schooyans
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010_docs/Compassion.pdf

Excellent essay.

Category: Abortion, Christianity, Family Planning, Homosexuality, Marriage, Sex Education | 1 Comment »
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carol | February 9, 2010

Disclaimer: I am not into sports and don’t remember ever watching a second of any Super Bowl, but I was looking forward to seeing the Tim Tebow ad.

Focus on the Family’s Super Bowl commercial with Pam and Tim Tebow

I found the ad to be sweet, but anticlimactic since the network wouldn’t allow them to use any controversial terms. I believe it was worth every penny due to the tremendous amount of publicity before and after the Super Bowl. Hear the rest of the story here: http://www.focusonthefamily.com/nsc/box/video_tebow.aspx

THE JOURNEY TO LIFE

Accurate on when life begins… Family bed… Pro-Family

Parisian Love

K-I-S-S-I-N-G
First comes love.
Then comes marriage.
Then they come with a baby carriage.

Another pro-life/pro-family moment was captured with the pictures of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and his son Baylen:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/gallery/Super-Bowl-XLIV-Postgame-Gallery-020710#sport=NFL&photo=10874661

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20100207/ARTICLES/100209295/1211?Title=Brees-Culmination-of-belief-and-faith-

Category: Abortion, Books, Movies, Television, Christianity, Family Planning, Feminism, Parenting Sleep Sharing | No Comments »
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carol | January 19, 2010

I appreciate and respect Elizabeth Foss, author and homeschooling mother of nine children.

Spanking
http://ebeth.typepad.com/reallearning/2010/01/spanking.html

“I have spanked one child, one time, while under the *very temporary* influence of the Ezzos and I still rue the day.”

You gotta love Sally Clarkson!
http://ebeth.typepad.com/reallearning/2008/05/you-gotta-love.html

Summertime Lessons
http://ebeth.typepad.com/reallearning/2008/05/summertime-less.html

Please Pick up Your Socks!
http://ebeth.typepad.com/reallearning/2008/03/please-pick-up.html

Quotes from Elizabeth Foss:

“Connected parenting is evangelistic in the truest sense of the word. If we treat our children with the respect they deserve because they are created in the image and likeness of God and if we meet them with the gentle love of the Blessed Mother, we reach them for Christ.”
Elizabeth Foss

“We have so very many ready opportunities to offer a cup of water to the least of these! How many opportunities we have daily to let the little children come to Him!”
Elizabeth Foss

“Done prayerfully and with grace, connected parenting is truly a living spirituality!”
Elizabeth Foss

“This style of parenting drives us to our knees and so brings us closer to heaven. It forces us to die to self again and again to meet the needs of God’s little creatures. It’s immediately easier to shout and/or hit and abuse our authority to put out the fires of our day. We can stop the behavior through fear and punishment. But that doesn’t really require any heroic, saintly effort on our part, does it? Ultimately, it destroys the relationship with the child and it becomes for us the occasion of sin.”
Elizabeth Foss

“In order to parent effectively, we have to grow. We have to change and mature. We have to meet children where they are and lead them somewhere better. We can’t do that without relying heavily on God’s grace…”
Elizabeth Foss

Elizabeth’s book:

Here is a helpful parenting book from the Roman Catholic perspective:

For more on this topic, choose from the following:
Essay ~ Bible Verses ~ Quotes ~ Blog Posts ~ Books

Category: Christianity, Parenting Attachment, Parenting Discipline | 1 Comment »
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carol | January 13, 2010

Category: Christianity, Politics Sarah Palin | No Comments »
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carol | January 3, 2010

Brit Hume to Tiger Woods: “Turn to the Christian faith.”
Brit Hume: Tiger Woods Must Become Christian To Be Forgiven

Edited to add follow-up:
O’Reilly – Britt Hume on his “Tiger should choose Christianity” comment

Edited on January 7, 2010 to add:

“Christianity is a religion for sinners… If you’re trying to find the two most explosive words in the English language. Those two words are Jesus Christ. You start talking about Jesus Christ, and I don’t mean to make a pun here but, all hell breaks loose. People rage about this.”

Category: Christianity | 2 Comments »
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carol | January 2, 2010

Robert Miles – Freedom

Freedom ~ Robert Miles

All my life I have searched for clues
This is what they taught me
Every mystery I pursued
Was a secret I already knew
Deep down you know – in your soul
Love is in control
How, if you could find the angel within
Time, time to have faith in your wings

Free – everybody’s free
In the new day that’s coming
Freedom for all is our destiny

Every stone that I left unturned
Soon came back to haunt me
Every fall, every finger burned
Was a step on the road to the truth
That I am you – in my soul
You are not alone
How, when your heart is turned to stone
Love, love is the only way home

Free – everyone’s free
In the new day that’s coming
Freedom for all is our destiny

Free – everything’s free
In the new day that’s coming
Freedom for all is our destiny

Freedom from shame
Freedmo from fear
Freedom to live – it’s your right to be here

Category: Christianity, Freedom, Music | No Comments »
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carol | December 24, 2009

Are you struggling with trying to do better as a parent, yet still failing on a continual basis? You are not alone. We continue to sin and fail, yet we continue to be forgiven.

Read this passage from Romans with your own self in mind, and then again from the perspective of your child. Paul shared our struggles.

“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

“So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

“So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.”
Romans 7:14-25

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:1

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
Ephesians 1:7

Repent and you are forgiven!!!! Do you realize the significance of this good news??!! Since we regularly forget this truth in our own lives, it is understandable when we forget to treat our children with grace. Rest and find joy in the freedom of HIS GRACE!!!!!!! Take some pressure off yourself as a parent as you begin the new year. Take some pressure off your children.

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