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Motherhood
Transparency and Grace
By Ruth Eshbaugh
I was coming off a high. On Mother’s Day my youngest son honored me in church as part of a video segment where some of the youth and children told why their moms were great moms. Scott’s cameo came last and was very touching as he thanked me for my support as a single mom who loved and cared for him unconditionally. This Sunday he was to be baptized, confirming an adult decision to follow Christ at a more intense and purposeful level.
Scott pulled me aside about an hour before we were to go to the home where our small church baptizes its member in the family pool. He read aloud the part of his testimony concerning me and the struggles he has overcome and all the sudden I am not so great a mom. I am an all too human mom with some glaring character defects. These defects have affected him and he has confronted the pain he feels as the result of these defects with a sponsor and a counselor as he has worked out his salvation and God’s call on his life.
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How Consistency with Our Children Teaches Them to Honor God
By JB Miller
Raising our children to honor God is a challenging task. It will be even more challenging if they have not been properly trained to respect their parents and elders. Our culture is full of influences that teach children to be disrespectful and crave instant gratification. It is hard work to counteract these influences, but it can be done, with God’s help. The first step to teaching your children respect is teaching them consistency. This will help them throughout their lives, and help them to cultivate a loving relationship with God.
You may be wondering why consistency was chosen above other aspects of parenting that could have been covered. The answer is that I believe most Christian parents know what morals and life lessons they want to impart to their children, and make rules and decisions based on these morals. Oftentimes the trouble is not in making the rules, but in applying them consistently. But by being consistent, by showing your children that you mean what you say and say what you mean, you can help them develop the character they will need to have in order to serve God. This process is best started when a child is very young, by making sure they attend to your words and follow your instructions promptly.
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Training, Not Trying
By Jennifer Ash
"Making the decision to have a child-it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."
--Elizabeth Stone
It is inevitable that as a parent at one point or another you run through the complete gamut of emotions with a child. You wonder what they will become when they grow up, who they will be like, and daydream about the possibilities their life holds. Once they are born, it becomes a moment to moment task trying to figure how to give them the world, and protect them from it seemingly at the same time.
As any parent, you try to teach your child right from wrong, how to live a moral life, and be a positive influence in all they do. As a Christian parent you have an even more specific commission to raise your children in a manner where God and His ways are an active influence in their lives. But no matter how hard you try, you still wonder if it makes a difference, and if they will learn to make the right choices.
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It's All About Me
By Robin Sheeves
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)
My five year old got into a fight with his eight year old brother and hurt him, yet it was the five year old who ended up crying uncontrollably. It’s tough being five.
“Why are you crying when your brother is the one who got hurt?” I asked him.
“But mommy, you don’t understand. It’s always all about me!” he wailed. I had to hold back a laugh.
Most moms know that when something like that is said, some interpretation needs to be applied. What my son was really trying to say was, “But mommy, it’s always my fault.” He was feeling like he couldn’t do anything right. He was always getting into trouble. Such is the life of a five year old.
Anyone who doesn’t know my child as well as I do (can anyone know a child as his mother does?) would have heard my son’s comment and thought he was a very self-centered little boy. But I know him, and I understand what he means even when he can’t express it very well. He needs me to interpret for him sometimes because he doesn’t always know what he is trying to say.
Like a little child who can’t clearly express his feelings, wants and needs, I often need an interpreter, too – especially when I am praying.
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