relationships

I Saw Them in Our Kitchen

First, this on the window sill above the sink:

A good thought to keep in mind

Lord, help us to touch each other.

When children were brought to Jesus, He touched them and blessed them.

Bless us, Lord….

That’s a great saying. Digest it, parents! (I love to hug and hold close my grandchildren. But maybe my grown children need that too…?)

And then (speaking of digesting) this, on the table:

A gross thought: lose weight; help feed America!

Lose weight; help feed America — General Mills, sir, that’s a gross thought to put anywhere, but particularly on the front of a wonderful breakfast cereal like Cheerios! Maybe the ad agency could issue you a partial refund.

😆

But to close on a better thought, how about a bit of a mind game: What’s the yellow stuff in the first photo?

Welcoming Daddy Home

I think it was a Google Alert that (somehow) brought this to my attention earlier today (I’m giving only the titles of each little section):

I want to share with you for just a moment, an excerpt out of an actual 1950’s Home Economics textbook. You might have read this before, but take a moment and read it again:

How to be a Good Wife

HAVE DINNER READY

PREPARE YOURSELF

CLEAR AWAY THE CLUTTER

PREPARE THE CHILDREN

MINIMIZE ALL NOISE

SOME “DO NOT’S”

MAKE HIM COMFORTABLE

LISTEN TO HIM

MAKE THE EVENING HIS

After quoting from the old textbook, the author details what she learned from it and how she’s applying it in her home.

Read the whole piece at Joyfully Living.

Children and Parents

Here are three statements by John Coblentz:

In the confused values and hectic schedule of this day,
children need relationship with their parents more than ever.

The fundamental law of relationships:
We need to spend enjoyable time together.

We cannot build relationship with our children
without spending time with them.

Source: May/June 2009 Deeper Life Ministries Newsletter (reprinted from June 1999 Newsletter)

To the Hilt

What do you do when you discover the hard way that someone you should have been able to trust had a dagger up his sleeve…waiting for your back to be turned?

(Figuratively, of course.)

How do you respond to someone who deals nicely with you to your face…but easily deals treacherously with you otherwise?

😥

Picked On?

Not necessarily! Four measuring sticks to answer the question...

Everyone has felt picked on. (I assume that to be a reasonably accurate statement, don’t you?)

Too easily and too often, though, we feel picked on when we shouldn’t.

So, in the interest of clarifying that statement (as well as in the interest of helping you not feel picked on when you shouldn’t), I offer up four measuring sticks to answer this question:

Are “they” picking on you?

  1. If they are just fault-finding, yes.
  2. If they are sincerely concerned about you, no.
  3. If they want to know your view instead of assuming to know it, no.
  4. If they want you to tell them more about The Issue in order to balance their own views, no

Does that makes sense to you like it does to me?

But what if you truly are being picked on?

What are godly responses to being picked on?

  1. Pray blessing on them.
  2. Be open to what might apply to you anyway.
  3. Forgive them.
  4. Look for the opportunities to love them.
  5. Reject anger, bitterness, self-pity, vengefulness, and further fault-finding.
  6. Don’t gossip or resort to evil speaking of them.
  7. Remember: Any “lumps” you get actually are less than you deserve.

Pre-Christian Behavior

Over the last couple of years or so, I’ve had various times to wonder why Christians insist (at times) on behaving in Christ-less manners.

  • Making someone else look bad
  • Undermining authority
  • Paying back spitefully what someone else did unwittingly
  • Spreading an evil report about another
  • Reacting viciously against contradiction or correction
  • Dishonoring parents
  • Belittling children
  • Returning evil for evil

That’s only the beginning of the list, of course. But why do Christians indulge that kind of behavior?

When I see it, I’m left feeling puzzled.

And (at times) angry or vindictive or hurt or depressed or scornful.

Which raises another question: Aren’t those also forms of pre-Christian behavior?

Above all, love God!