Mollie Hemingway summed it up best in her piece, “Fecundophobia: The Growing Fear of Children and Fertile Women“, when she said,
“The media remind us regularly that the most important cultural value relative to family life is what’s euphemistically called “choice.” The choice of whether to have kids or not is held so sacrosanct that our laws permit the decision to be made many months after a new human life begins. Some even advocate extending the choice to a period of time after birth. So why the weird reaction to people receiving children as a blessing instead of fighting them tooth and nail with hormones, chemicals, surgery and scissors? Do we need some remedial courses in how babies are made? It’s entirely natural, of course, for babies to be conceived when men and women have sex. Treating the entirely expected procreation of children as something to be avoided at all costs — and an unspeakable atrocity if one has, say, three children already — would be weird even if our culture weren’t obsessed with sex at all times, in all places, in every context, at every moment.”
Read the rest of It’s Weird That Having Lots of Kids is Weird, by Kelly Crawford.
Here’s my advice for those burned by the Church. It’s simple, yet profound. Here goes.
Trust the Church.
I need to qualify that, right?! How do you trust the same entity that wounded you deeply? It’s fundamentally helpful to distinguish between the Church local and the Church global. The global Church is made up of local churches, some with organized denominational structures and some without. When you’ve been burned by a local congregation or even the larger denominational system with which they are affiliated, it’s helpful to zoom out in your own head and remember that the Big C Church is way bigger than the particular group that hurt you. The group that wounded you is really just a very small subset of the larger Body of Christ. And the worst thing you can do after being burned by a local congregation is to allow your beliefs on the larger Body to fall apart.
Read the rest of Advice for Those Burned by the Church, by Wendy Alsup.
Should Christian parents send their children to the public schools? That question has emerged as one of the most controversial debates of our times. And yet, every family must come to terms with the issues involved in the public school debate—and fast.
Read the rest of Is Public School an Option? by Albert Mohler.
Today’s Question: I still feel stuck when it comes to asking my husband for changes in his attitude or behavior. He has asked for specifics so he can see what I am referring to in what he calls a “blind spot.” I sense the need to define it also.
I do not want to manipulate; so how do I ask for action yet not manipulate? If I spend time away or separate in some way to let him know this is serious and I am asking for a response, aren’t I forcing my hand? My request?
I think part of it is that I need a plan if he says “no” and sticks to that. He has to have the freedom to say “no”, but that involves consequences and raises the same type of question again: How do I give consequences and not cross the boundary into manipulation or sounding peevish (well, since you won’t, then I will…). I feel like if he continues as is, I need time for balance away from the chaos for myself.
I do check myself by asking: Am I handling this biblically? Am I being subject to authorities with respect, gentleness and a quiet spirit (I Peter 2)?. Yet, am I doing well, which I think probably includes more than tolerating and peacekeeping. I don’t want to put the tools of boundaries before God’s leading.
Read Leslie Vernick’s answer in the rest of Am I Manipulative or Am I Implementing Consequences?
Want to know how to make magnesium oil? The Journal of the American College of Nutrition says that at least 68% of us are magnesium deficient (most likely more), leading to a host of health problems — including insomnia, depression, and fatigue. Topically-applied magnesium oil is perhaps the best tool we’ve got to combat that deficiency and improve our health and wellness.
While it’s true you can buy magnesium oil already made, it’s far less expensive to make magnesium oil yourself (and surprisingly easy)!
Read the rest of How to Make Magnesium Oil on Food Renegade. I’m totally doing that.
Grace and peace to you this week end!
