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I love this! “I Will Wait”
Two of my favorite people, Carolyn McCulley and Pastor Anyabwile, pointed me to this video years ago and it is still a favorite. I do SO urge you to watch it all the way to the end. It may not be your culture. Poetry reading may not be something you take part in often. Listen anyway. This is excellent.
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I Bet I Was A Prayer Request Just Like That When I Was 13 Years Old (The Rich Tapestry of God’s Providence)
If you haven’t read this Tim Challies’ post, you really should. It is wonderful! The Rich Tapestry of God’s Providence It reminds me of five minutes I spent with a woman at my church after our service. She had given a prayer request during the service for a thirteen year-old girl she knows whose life situation is utterly chaotic: addict mother, no stable home, might have to move out of state to live with a father who has had no contact with her in years. This dear woman was not only concerned, she was trying to discern the role (if any) she and her her husband should play in this…
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My Arguments Bounced Off of Her Like Tigger on Red Bull
A few years ago, I had the joy of serving a group of pre-teens and teens in a Geography class. Not being a geography expert (understatement of the year and a fact that I made quite clear to the parents and students when they asked me to serve), I was happy to walk with the students through their Geography textbook as they memorized vocabulary words and definitions and took their tests and quizzes. But, as I told them, I was never going to remember the name of every ocean / river / lake or the capital of every country / province / state, etc. because: A) I don’t have the time to memorize all of…
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The Difficult Task of Declining the Sleepover Invitation
Last year I read a post by Tim Challies on why his family doesn’t do sleepovers, reminded me of an awkward conversation we had to have with some of our dearest friends in the world. It had to do with an invitation that one of our daughters had for a birthday party sleepover. As a general rule, we are a “NO SLEEPOVER” type of family. But we have some exceptions to this rule—basically, when we have known a family for years and years and we trust them and their children to be not only appropriate, but vigilant, re: access to and use of technology, nature of entertainment, length of unsupervised child-time,…
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Child Abuse in the Church: Justice Can be Grace
I greatly appreciated this link from Challies and I urge you to read it and listen to its counsel: Safeguarding Against Abuse in the Church The only thing I would add is that it’s never too young to (age-appropriately) begin talking with children about these things. Let me give you an example … When Sophia was little, my assigned task at our little homeschooling co-op was theology and parties. (Great job I have, eh?!) One Christmas Co-Op Party sticks out in my mind because that week, a dear friend had shared with me more details of how she was sexually abused for years by her own father, pastor, and other church leaders (many of whom are in…
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PCA Women’s Ministry Connection Series – Videos on Key Doctrines and Women’s Ministry Topics
I am so grateful for the entire PCA Discipleship Ministries team (PCA = my denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America)! Their prayerful, sacrificial and wise ministry creates wonderful, biblical, Christ-centered resources and events for our denomination and I thank God for them every day. This year, the PCA women’s ministry is releasing a series videos to help connect women to key doctrines and Women’s Ministry topics. Each video is paired with questions for your own personal reflection and to encourage conversation and connection among your women’s ministry too. I encourage you to check them all out! I was so honored to get to participate: To access the other videos and the discussion questions for the PCA…
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Forgiven — Not Just Our Sin, But the GUILT of Our Sin
One of our family’s favorite Psalms is Psalm 32. I really can’t imagine parenting without it. As one example of why it is so necessary to us, years ago, my husband and young daughter were reading through The Hobbit and Fred had to correct her attitude on something. I wouldn’t have even known about this little exchange because I was upstairs at the time, in an entirely different area of the house, preparing (“coincidentally”) for our women’s study that week on Psalm 32, but the weeping child roused me and I headed downstairs to see what was going on. (BTW— meditating on Scripture, praying, and looking up theological terms that I could not easily define…
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It’s Time. Name Guardians, Sign Your Powers of Attorney, and Get Your Basic Estate Planning Done (!).
Tonight I will meet with some friends to help them finish a task they’ve been meaning to do for, well, years: Get a Will Name Guardians for Our Children Figure Out What the Heck Powers of Attorney & Living Wills Are and Maybe Get One? Or Two? Maybe some of you can relate … You’re adults. You have young children. You know you should have those basic estate planning documents, but oh! Those pesky lawyers are so expensive. And you’re just barely living month-to-month financially, so what does it really matter anyway? It. Matters. Not just because you have young children–but because so many of the financial medical issues that you may be facing one…
- Eulogy for a Bad Mother, Grace in Daily Life, Hope in Suffering, Surviving a Childhood of Neglect and Abuse
Your Childhood Does Not Determine Your Life
This past weekend, Fred and I had more time than usual to just talk and visit. It was such a grace to me because I am currently so tired—tired to my bones tired (physically); tired and weeping a lot (emotionally) … intellectually, relationally … spent. So listening to Fred tell me new stories from his childhood—and replaying various moments from our courtship and falling in love season of life? Well. It was sweet and I am grateful. I am also grateful for just how much all of our discussions reminded me of the truth that I could never have experienced (almost!) twenty years of marriage and friendship and love with…
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Ministers are Suspicious, Insecure and Jealous People
Or so says, Rev. Dr. Ligon Duncan in a sermon that I encourage every one of you to listen to: Who is the Greatest? (Taken from Luke 9:46-56 ESV …) An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we…
