One of my prize possessions sits on a dresser in our bedroom. It’s one of the first things I would grab if the house was on fire. It’s nothing fancy — just a little pitcher from an antique store — but inside it are several folded pieces of paper. Those are what I would want to save. They’re letters — letters from my children on the eve of their wedding […]
Read More →Category: Raising sons
Courtship, Part 4: Courtship Pitfalls
I had to laugh when someone shared this typically snarky quote from Doug Wilson with me. “Since I wrote ‘Her Hand in Marriage’, I have heard more than one courtship horror story. And more than once I have consequently said that the courtship model means that we have six idiots involved instead of two.” Maybe this is why any post about courtship is usually met with at least a few […]
Read More →Make Some Lists!
I’ve spent the last few weeks with a lot of lists. I’ve been making lists, referring to lists, and checking off lists. We have a wedding in just 23 days (!), and lists are what keep me on track (most of the time). I have lists for food, lists for flowers, lists for purchases, lists for music. I have lists I am faithfully checking off in my well-used copy of […]
Read More →Courtship, Part 3: Some Thoughts on Courtship
Courtship is a topic that’s dear to me because I believe in it. It’s also a topic that’s fresh on my mind. We have six children. Four are married. Another is engaged and will be married in a month. (Oh, my goodness! What am I doing writing blog posts?! ) This will be our fifth wedding in a little more than six years! We can say that we’ve seen courtship […]
Read More →How NOT to Discipline with Scripture
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” …but we can misuse it. Don’t use God’s Word to discipline your children without a real love for God and His Word. Children are experts in detecting hypocrisy. They will see right through you, and be provoked to anger. They will be tempted to reject you or what you are trying to teach them. When […]
Read More →The Importance of Community: Courtship, Part 2
I am basking in the joy of our church’s annual family camp this week. This is the 25th year we have attended camp with this group of fellow-believers! Some of our babies weren’t even born when we started coming to this camp. Now most of them are married, and some are chasing their own little ones around the campground! In between the great singing and eating, learning and sharing, and […]
Read More →Growth is Gradual
In his recent post on 5 Ways we Grow, Tim Challies gave me a good picture of the patience that is required when we’re looking for growth (in our own lives, or in the lives of our children). We are an impatient people accustomed to instant gratification. But fruit grows slowly. A fruit tree grows gradually and over many years of careful and deliberate cultivation. If you purchase a sapling […]
Read More →We’re Just a Part of Their Stories
The topic of courtship has been on my mind a lot lately. One reason is this: Our “baby” is getting married! And we praise God for the man who will be her husband! God continues to write stories that we could never think up on our own. (More on that in another post. 🙂 ) So if posts are a bit more sporadic over the next two or three months, […]
Read More →A Perfect Father Whose Children Rebelled
God is the perfect Father. But His children still rebel. They rebelled in a perfect environment while they had perfect fellowship with Him. They rebelled in the wilderness, even after He opened up the Red Sea for them to walk through. Even after He gave them water out of the rock. Even after He gave them food every day. Even after He demolished city walls and conquered nations before them. […]
Read More →Yes, Daddy!
I love watching our adult children do a better job of training their children than we did! I have watched and learned as they train our grandchildren. For instance, I really wish we had trained our children to always respond when we instructed or directed them. I have watched little minds struggling with their own wills and not wanting to obey their daddy or mama. Then, when they respond with a […]
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