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Jan 22

Longer Lasting Gifts

Children and presents go together. All children want presents. All parents and grandparents and kid-lovers want to give presents. Presents are just one of the thrilling aspects of having close relationships with children.

You can chalk up some of my gift philosophy to my mother again, since two of my most wonderful presents, a copy of a Joy of Cooking I received for Christmas the year I was thirteen, and a solid foam bed pillow when I was fifteen or so, came from my her. I know she was not on a mission to give practical gifts. In fact, I asked for the bed pillow. (I would wake up coughing every night, and the only way to stop was to fold up my pillow and turn my head upside down on it, suck on ice, and try to breathe deeply for about an hour or so until things would settle down.) Anyway, I thought a more solid pillow would help this process, so I asked for one. Read more

Jan 21

Survival Living

 

Parents often downgrade the ongoing requirements of civilized living to chores for one of two reasons, 1) the tasks in and of themselves are not rocket science and children can usually do them, and/or 2) the adults do get tired of doing the same things over and over and want some relief. Both are woefully inadequate reasons for minimizing the immensity and value such tasks offer life.

Every individual in a family is crucial to God’s design of that family and every individual is completely responsible to master the basic living tasks that comprise civilized life’s work. The sooner any family member welcomes and takes on such living tasks as important elements of their own personal good life, the better everyone will be.

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Jan 20

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Children as Apprentices

The first conclusion many make connecting  children to apprentice is slave labor and child labor laws. A far cry from reality, I assure you. Children are not in the home for the benefit of the bigger people who want someone else to do all the dirty work.

In fact, one day I made a promise to whatever children I might have while standing at the kitchen sink. You see, I really did not like doing dishes. My sister who was my dish partner and I did a lot of dishes growing up. I don’t have any horrific stories about dish washing. She might. I just remember it being a regular thing. Day in. Day out. Day in. Day out. Endlessly. Read more

Jan 19

Accountability is the Scriptural Guard

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. Hebrews 13: 2

If someone showed up to your front door, unexpectedly, at some inconvenient hour (at least for public door opening), say 8:00 in the morning, how would you want your living space to look? Yes, I know that is the time the sloths are still turning on their beds, the diligent, godly, and exemplary are well into their day, and the rest of us are halfway between befuddlement and inspiration.

If you don’t completely blow off the question, but give it some consideration (preferably when most of the befuddlement has drained off, and inspiration in on the upswing), you will have the beginnings of a baseline for living space tidiness that will suit you and your situation. Read more

Jan 18

Balance is the Scriptural Caution

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Philippians 4:5

Moderation: gentleness, modesty, consideration, reasonableness, graciousness, humility, fairness, forbearance, restraint on the passions, free of all excesses, general soberness of living.

As the expositor Barnes has noted, “People indulge their passions – are extravagant in their plans of life, and in their expectations of earthly good for themselves and for their families, because they have no realizing sense of the truth that there is before them a vast eternity. He that has a lively expectation that heaven will soon be his, will form very moderate expectations of what this world can furnish.” Read more

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