Higher Calling

I didn't know what to call this post. But I am going to leap in...a little.

As a Christian parent I feel it is my job to follow Deuteronomy 6:5-9 in the training of my kids ...so we had a talk today. You see, we have a couple of kids close to their teen years, and they need to know how to stay pure and on the path to Godliness in those years, as their hormones change them into men and women. We all know how strong the sexual needs can be and that is why God gave us marriage. There within that committed relationship we can enjoy sexual intimacy and the blessing of children. But in American society, those things are largely taking place outside the marriage bond as people "play" marriage without actually marrying--in other words, fornication. Especially in teens and young adults.
I have been reading to some of the kids from a book called I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris. It calls people to seek God's way first and honor your Lord in your relationships. Dating is one of those things like clothing and drinking. It is not sinful in and of itself. It is how you approach it and what behaviors you exhibit that make it sinful in certain situations. If your motivation when you get dressed is "how hot and sexy can i look " then your motivation is wrong and your dress is probably going to be sinful. Your motivation should be "am I pleasing God today".
And with dating, if your motivation is "he/she is so hot...i want some of that" and selfishly pursuing relationships for what we can get from them, then that is sinful. Dating relationships are to end with marriage (more properly called courtship). Why toy with people's emotions and play with sexual sin when you are not in a place where marriage can be a reality?
I would urge people to read the book I mentioned and get a Godly perspective on our search for a marriage partner. Mr. Harris is not to be taken as the authority, though. God is the authority.

Consider what scripture says:

1 Timothy 4:12--Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit,, in faith, in purity.

1 John 2:15-16--Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life-is not of the Father, but of the world.

Ephesians 5:3-5--But fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but the giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8--For this is the will of God: that you should abstain from sexual immorality. That each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God, that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such...

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 and 7:2--Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your won? For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.....Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife and each woman her own husband.

Romans 6:12-13--therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourself to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

Romans 12:1-2--I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to god, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

So, the above is from God, and speaks very loudy and clearly about our sexual behavior. That is what I am trying to teach my children.
If you want to get to know people, be their friends and know them well in many situations, always with supervision. Treat the opposite sex as you would your own brother and sister, since you have no marriage commitment or authority over them. Do not defraud them or use them for your own personal pleasure of the moment, in lust. Be careful of your behavior, as you are called to seek first the kingdom of God, you are an example to the believers, your body is God's and not yours so glorify Him in it. Do not put yourself in situations of sexual temptation. The sexual relationship is reserved by God for marriage, so if you aren't ready to walk that path with one whom you can share your life, carefully consider your actions and motivations toward the opposite sex.

As a side note, Joshua Harris' younger twin brothers Alex and Brett have a wonderful website called TheRebelution and two books, the first being Do Hard Things. They challenge the youth of today to live according to the above verses and set the high standard of godliness for themselves, so they will be above reproach. I persoanlly think these brothers are on the righteous path and I hope that my children will follow too.

Ballet!!!!!

The girls have been loving ballet! A friend from Washington is mailing us a bunch of her daughter's old dance items too. I would have had more photos of Emily but Lizzie got sick during the class and I had to leave early. Can't wait to see how the recital turns out!!!!

SNOW!

The flakes were very large. Jacob was away at a retreat and i was worried about his return. I prayed all morning for safety and God stopped the sleet and it became rain. Just as the bus pulled into the church parking lot it changed back to sleet and snow. I clearly saw the hand of God working to answer my prayers. Praise to HIM!!!!
The kids LOVED playing in the falling snow. It is unusual to have snow 2 years in a row here.
Very unusual.
But oh so much fun!
The snow really made the holly beautiful.
K wanted to eat some as you can see.
Jordand accidentally broke a wax myrtle branch to play with...at least that was his story ;)
They had to warm up when they came in.
Oh, and this is our littlest ballerina...has nothing to do with the snowfall. She's just cute.

Christmas 2010

These are all in backward order, but oh well! Here are the girls playing on Christmas day.
Jordan and daddy put together a model of a Star Wars ship.
Jordan gets a DS.
Kimmie gets a toy computer.
Lizzie gets a DS.
Emily gets a n ipod and Jacob gets Force Unleashed 2.
At the Anderson Christmas with my oldest joy!
Cousins getting ready to open gifts.
Everyone visiting after supper.
Animated discussions.
Will and Kim playing with toys.

Boys lounging with great grandma.
Jordan's atlantis lego.
More cousins opening gifts.
Jacob and Ben.
Lizzie and Kim.
Cousins at the tree.
Jordan got all dressed in some nice clothes he was given by a friend. So handsome!!!
Hope came over one day and the girls all got pedicures and manicures!
It was a very fun time for all of us.

Nutcracker Revisited

Chris, Jacob, Daniel and Isaac backstage before the performance.
Bailey, Emily and Josephine before the performance.
After the show, milling around onstage.
More of the actors/dancers.
Just a few more....We LOVE Timbrel school of dance. Love the kids there, love the teachers. And for spring I do believe we will have 3 in theater dance and one in ballet. Next fall we will have some in hip hop, too, and when Jordan is old enough, he wants to do theater dance, too. It is a fabulous family oriented place, and Christian in nature. So glad we discovered them.

Babysitter's Club

Opinion column:

People who know us, know that we are particular about the media we expose our family to. Well, last week when at the library, Emily chose a book from the Babysitter's Club series. I was unsure of the appropriateness, but agreed to let her check it out so I could preview it and decide if it was ok. Well, I noticed her reading a chapter so I got the book when she finished the first chapter. I was not happy with the content.
First, this is a series about 4 girls about age 12 who have a babysitting club. They take jobs for neighborhood people and inadvertently end up solving some mysteries that arise. Unfortunately the narrator, which is one of the girls, makes fun of the conservative way 2 of the girls dress (unstylish in plaid skirts and white tops), criticizes one for not wearing makeup (they are TWELVE---HELLO!!), criticizes one parent of a friend for being discriminating about what movies she can see (SHOCKING!), and complains that two of the friends are still babyish since they still play with toys instead of daydream about boys. And all this in the first chapter as she describes how her strict parents are horrible for making her complete her homework which she routinely blows off or does incompletely, and often gets in trouble at school over this matter.
Needless to say I gently told Emily that this book was not appropriate for anyone since it was teaching lust, and disrespect for parents, and immodest dress/makeup. She saw the elements I spoke to her about and agreed.

So that is my take on this series. Though I have only perused one book in this extensive series, it is clear that it will not be coming here again.

COMING SOON: book review and excerpts from a favorite preteen training book called I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris. He and his brothers and parents have great books and a website that is very noteworthy.

Random December

Totally out of order, but I really could care less today. Here is the tree, glowing in it's splendor....
And this is a miniature gingerbread house that Emily made out of sculpey! How cute is that??!!
And this is the food we ate for Thanksgiving at my in-laws house--I would have taken a photo of the food at my parents' house but it wasn't all in one place. Makes ya hungry, doesn't it?
And this is Em and her cousin Alissa--after Thanksgiving dinner they (and Elizabeth) ran a pretend restaurant for the family. I don't recommend eating there as they charged some exorbitant prices!
This was a pretty day at the park. It was just us and Hope, so poor Jordan had no boys to play with. I felt sorry for him.
But he seemed quite happy most of the time. He brought guns just in case his friend Isaiah came.
This was the beautiful sunset on Thanksgiving Day.
Still at the park--messing with the pond. Still totally out of order!
Playing in the street (bad mothering) and jumping in leaves. Very fallish and fun!
One of the crepe myrtles turned a beautiful red. Had to photograph that!
And this is a tea party Emily planned and set up using a fabulous library book, that she would love to have a copy of for her birthday--hint, hint!