Marriage Communication (From Focus on the Family)

I came across a very good article from Focus on the Family about communication in marriage. It has some really good points. Will cause you to think for sure.

Read it HERE.

Some Cleaning Recipes

I am very interested these days in things we can make instead of buy. Don't know why exactly, but maybe partially because I am more concerened about chemicals and cost. Or it's just a season where I want to be a little more Suzy Homemaker. THIS blog post had several recipes that I might just have to try.

Good Marriage Post

I just read this blog and thought it was a good reminder for all of us wives. Hope you enjoy as well.

Falling in Love vs. Living in Love

Parenting Helps - To Train Up a Child

Here is another great parenting resource. It is a very thorough approach to parenting. The gist of it is, as in probably almost anything that I would advocate, that the goal in parenting is raising godly adults, not good children. So, everything that you do should be to that end. These people (Michael and Debi Pearl) have practiced what they preach and their children are the fruit of that labor and the proof is surely in the pudding. I recommend their books "To Train up a Child" and all of the volumes of "No Greater Joy". You can read the Introduction and first chapter of "To Train Up a Child" HERE and sign up for their free magazine HERE .

Parenting Helps - Raising Godly Tomatoes

People are often asking me how I deal with different "parenting" situations. The truth is I've done a lot of reading and re-reading. I'll do really well for a while, then things around here will get crazy and I'll realize I haven't been bing consistent and I'll have to jump back on the wagon. As my girls are approaching their teenage years and the fact that Mason is a boy I'm always coming across situations I'm not sure how to deal with. I thought I would share some resources that have been helpful to me over the years and that I sometimes still turn to. Of course the ultimate resource is the Word, but sometimes it's nice to learn how to handle specifics.

Here's the first:

www.raisinggodlytomatoes.com


She has a book, but I believe most of the info is on her site. It's a very common sense approach and like any good parenting approach, it will require work on your part. I think the only benefit of the book is having all the info in a convenient format. I have considered purchasing the book.

Hope someone finds this helpful. (Oh and for you Moms with little ones, it's never to early to start, as a matter of fact the earlier you start, the better of you and your family will be.)

How Judgemental Can We Be?

I grew up in a very judgemental home and have really had to work at becoming different and not judging people. I will not begin to say that I succeed at that everyday, but I am at least to a point that when I am being judgemental I feel the Lord's conviction and am able to repent and learn from that mistake. That being said, I have realized recently how guilty many of us are of judging other peoples convictions and walk with the Lord. Especially in the area of family planning or lack thereof. Why do we think that it is okay to judge people about the size of their family if it is something they feel like they are called to. Would we judge someones calling to be a Pastor, Missionary, Worship leader, etc. What if someone is called to adopt, do you judge that? The Word does not speak of modern day forms of birth control, so did we all just deccide that since it is available we must all use it? I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with using birth control. We to some degree planned the size of our family (although now that we are living for the Lord I have some regrets about that). God designed things a certain way and if he enables people to get pregnant and give birth many, many times, maybe that was His plan for their lives. I was unable (because of a miscarriage and difficult pregnancies with pre-term labor and delivery) to have a large family (although the four children that we have is large by many peoples definition) so maybe that wasn't His plan for me. I'm not trying to be on a soap box or say that everyone is wrong. I just hope that people will begin to think about what they are thinking or saying and how God would feel about those feelings or words. I happen to be friends with or aquainted with many large families and several people that desire to allow the Lord to determine the size of their families and I'm telling you I respect them greatly. For the most part these families bear good fruit. You can see Jesus in them and their children. They typically lack selfishness and have the heart of a servant. They tend to be very polite and respectful and have the kind of children that you want your children around because they are such good examples. I guess I'm just saying, look at your attitude about such things, commit it to prayer and ask the Lord if you've had a right heart in that area. I know I haven't always, but I'm sure glad that He has and is changing my heart in that and many more areas and that He has brought some of these families into my life, they truly sharpen me and I am blessed immensly by them.