Category Archives: Wemmick Relationships

How to (and how NOT to) Help Someone Battling Cancer

SBC Voices
July 19, 2014

Reflecting on our past and present experience with cancer, we have been blessed to have family, friends and a church family who have been wonderfully supportive. Quite often, people want to know how they can help and encourage someone going through the experience of cancer or other medical related trials. I hope that you will find this list useful as you minister to others. Here are a few things I found to be helpful and not so helpful in our journey:

Helpful: Encouraging me to trust God through our trial

More Helpful: Sharing your experience of God’s grace in your time of need and the assurance that God will be with me as well

Not Helpful: Telling me about all the people you know who also have/had cancer

Definitely Avoid: Telling me about the people you know who died from cancer

Read the rest HERE.

Submission and the Mutual Lust for Autonomy

Practical Theology for Women
October 6, 2014

“The problem with interpreting Genesis 3:16 to teach that women more than men have a desire to control is not that women don’t often act independently of God, but that, first, that’s not what this verse is saying, and two, men struggle with such lust for autonomy as much if not more than women. But who gets rebuked for rebellion in most modern Christian dialogue? Who gets instructed to obey their authorities? Have you heard an argument for submission lately that doesn’t focus on wives to husbands, kids to parents, or church members to elders? In my little neck of the woods, discussions on submission get aimed at these groups. Period. Today, I want to talk about our mutual lust for autonomy and the widespread need in the Body of Christ for submission that transcends gender. Who, oh husband, parent, pastor, or judge, are YOU submitted to? Who can tell you NO?”

Read the rest of this article by Wendy Alsup HERE.

When Your Child’s Personality Annoys You

The Beginning of Wisdom
October 2, 2014

But every bloom cultivated in an orderly garden grows as a wildflower somewhere. Children’s untamed and sometimes frustrating personality traits are no different. Before you work to uproot them, consider whether behind that annoying trait is a strength waiting to be trained up. So often, the quality that manifests as a child’s greatest weakness holds the potential to be his greatest strength.

Read the rest of this article by Jen Wilkin HERE.
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Feedback for a Young Commenter About Submission & Humility

Photo Credit: Ray_from_LA via Compfight cc

I recently had a young reader take the time to write up quite a lengthy comment on this blog. I’ll keep her anonymous, but I’d like to address her public comment, well, publicly, in hopes of helping her and other younger readers who have lots of zeal but little life experience. She writes: I pray […]

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Is the Word “Fool” a Swear Word?

Fool a Swear Word

God warns us not to be a companion of fools. How can we obey God in this area if it is sinful to identify a fool? If we insist on being naive and, dare I say it, foolish, we will very likely mishandle the fools we come across, and that will lead to all sorts and kinds of trouble in our lives. Trouble God wants us to avoid, if possible.

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Confused About Submission? Some Clarification!

submission

In a cut and dried world of blue skies and straightforward rules, the answer to misogyny is to cheerfully encourage women to suck it up and suffer like Christ. Problem solved with deeply ingrained theological beliefs still intact. It’s challenging to leave your spoon feeders behind you and sit down with just the Bible and your questions.

One of my favorite online friends, Jennifer Ross, is part of a documentary project that is being released August 26: Unmarried: The Rise of Singleness.

The price will be $18 when it is released, BUT – right now you can pre-purchase it for only $13.

This release falls in the same month our 20-year-old son will be marrying his 20-year-old fiance. One week to go, and I will be a mother-in-law. That feels weird to me, I have to admit. Wasn’t it only yesterday I was on a date with my 2-year-old in his favorite restaurant (McDonalds) eating french fries? Just the two of us? I can’t think of that without crying. It inspires me to smother my current 2-year-old with a few more hugs than he likes every day.

I’ll post some wedding pictures when it’s all over. In the meantime, check out this thought-provoking documentary HERE.

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Should a Husband Force His Wife to Home School?

homeschool

Picture this: it’s the Judgement Day, and you are standing next to your spouse and kids. Maybe your family of origin too. Maybe your friends from college. Hey, there’s a whole crowd of people you recognize all around you. It’s like “This is Your Life” from Sesame Street.