Annie

The newest member of our family is Annie, a golden retriever puppy. She will be coming home with us on October 31, when she is 8 weeks old. My daughters are THRILLED to say the least. I'm a little apprehensive, as we already have 2 Boston Terriers, but I was outvoted. No doubt, Annie will be providing me lots of devotional material on patience, grace, mercy and forgiveness. *grin*

Fun Friday - Music

For your listening pleasure, Mandisa's The Definition of Me.


Everybody's got an opinion
Of what they want me to be
Everybody's got a condition
That I may never meet

So tired of looking in the mirror
‘Cause it always says the same thing
I want to be about something different
Something more than the mirror can see

Like joy, peace
Alive in me
When it comes to my identity

I want the love
I want the light
I want the beauty
On the inside
I want the one that you can't see
To be the definition of me

More than the face
More than the girl
More than the voice
More than the world
I want the truth that I believe
To be the definition of me

Pretty is cool for a minute
But it will always fade away
Trends are hot for a second
But they'll be gone the very next day

So before you get lost in the moment
Let’s get one thing clear
Only love will last forever
That's the reason that we're here

It's up to you ‘cause everybody's looking
Who do you want them to see?

I want Your love to be
The very heart of me
Jesus, I want You to be
Living inside of me

Thankful Thursday 10/15

5 things I'm thankful for this week:

1. My 5 yr old, who usually I have to drag out of bed and fuss at all morning to get ready for school, came down this morning fully dressed, ready for school, without me even waking her up, and announced "I also made up my bed." What?

2. Thankful that even when I'm not having coffee dates with my friends (we've all been so busy lately) that the friendship remains. I thankful that friendships weather time & seasons.

3. Thankful for a fun filled weekend! We went apple picking on Saturday, and to the pumpkin patch on Monday (school holiday). It was a great weekend for family fun, and spending time with friends.

4. The economy is bad, and things are "tight" for us, yet I still feel so blessed at the abundance of things I already have. We didn't get to go on vacation this summer, yet we belong to a pool and had theme park season passes. We may not be able to go out and buy "new things," but we have so many things already. We have our food, clothing, shelter. We are so blessed. Thank you Jesus!

5. I'm thankful that God is always God. He's not just God during the good, or during the bad, but always. Beth Moore says when we are worrying about the "What ifs" of life (what if I lose my job, what if a loved one dies, what if....) we need to remember no matter what happens, God is still God. Amen!

The Well-Behaved Child - Book Review

The Well-Behaved Child - Discipline that REALLY works is John Rosemonds latest parenting book. Let me just say right off of the bat, I am a big fan of Rosemond. I believe if you have kids and have never read a Rosemond book, you should pick one up right now!

Rosemond's parenting advice isn't anything "new." In fact, he himself tells you the problem with parenting today is all of the new ideas. Everything today is a syndrome or a disorder with kids being labeled more all the time. Rosemond's ideas stem back to "Grandma's" time when children knew their place and it wasn't in the center of the family. The marriage came first, then the children.

Rosemond's latest book is well packaged with parenting tools of the trade, including "Seven Fundamentals of Effective Parenting, Seven Essential Tools, Top Seven Behavior Problems Solved, Seven Tales of Strange and Unexpected, and Seven Final Words of Advice." While Rosemond provides methods and tools to correct behavior problems, he strongly believes the they are only vehicles to bring back the authority that parents have lost over their kids.

If you are looking for a book that relies completely on Biblical principals, I recommend his book Parenting by THE BOOK, with "the book" being the Bible. The Well-Behaved Child is written so that it will have both secular and Christian appeal. It is laced with scripture, but not as much as Parenting by THE BOOK, which was written especially for the Christian community.

If you are a Rosemond fan like myself, you may find yourself familiar with many of his stories. The hair pulling girl is back, as are many of the other anecdotes of previous books. They are repackaged nicely, but the stories are still familiar. His mandatory thumbing of his nose at Adele Faber (an author who once accused him of being hung up on punishing children) was also included.

Overall, I am a huge Rosemond fan, and whether you are too, or are new to his writing, I think if you have children in your life you will love the parenting ideas in this book that give us permission to regain the authority in our homes and the respect of our children. 5 Stars, Mr. Rosemond!

Coexist

I saw this bumper sticker the other day. It says "Coexist" but the letters are symbolized. They stand for Islam, Buddhism, Science, Judaism, Paganism, Wiccan and Christian, respectively. The dictionary defines coexist as "to exist separately or independently but peaceably, often while remaining rivals or adversaries."

I am all for peace! And I believe that we should love our fellow man (and woman.) But what else does the bumper sticker imply? That we should exist together and leave each other alone, leaving everyone to their own opinion?


What does the Bible have to say about that? Romans 12:18 says, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." I think that is crystal clear, don't you? Peace with everyone.

1 Peter 2:11, 12 says, "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." Here we are clearly doing more than "coexisting." No, we are to be an example to the others, that they see a difference among us as Christians. Are you living your life as an example to the world?

What else does the Bible say? Matthew 28:19, 20 says "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." The verbs here are go, which is an action word, and make, another action word. We are to be making Christians of all nations. Not by physical force, but by this dictionary definition of make, "to convert from one state, condition, category, etc., to another." Convert. We are to be making Christians from other beliefs.

While "coexist" has a worldly warm-fuzzy feel about it, I don't believe we are called to simply coexist living parallel lives as rivals. I believe we are called to live peaceably and honorably, sharing the gospel, praying for them, and teaching them, that they may know the Lord, like we do.

What do you think?