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Posts from the ‘House Building’ Category

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

Jan 17

Attention to Detail is the Scriptural Means

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much…

Luke 16:10a

A person who thoroughly and consistently does what they are supposed to do, has started well on the path to faithfulness. The next important component is the insight Christ gives here: faithfulness is an expanding process. Attending to details with no eye to purpose only results in burrowing a deep hole by spinning around the same small patch of detail and responsibility.

Faithfulness means attending to that little patch of responsibility, but seeing through the details to the purpose beyond. A purpose-focused detail attender grows along an expanding spiral of competence and influence in life, instead of digging a hole. Faithfulness is much more about attending to little in the context of embracing the big, than dependably doing the same thing  every time.

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