So, we finally got a night out this past Friday– and it had been so long that we weren’t quite sure what to do or what we could afford.
When’s the last time that you’ve been out on a date with just your spouse?
You know, we had no trouble doing this when we were engaged or dating– and when we go with another couple it just isn’t the same! There’s no intimate conversation, you spend time talking about things you have in common (which usually ends up being the kids).
When did you go on your last date? If it’s been too long perhaps it’s time to schedule another!
MInTheGap has been commenting on the culture at large and current events since 2004. He enjoys spending time with his family, writing, and being active in his local church. Visit This Author's Website
In this article, Leslie Leyland Fields takes to task something that a lot of us who have more than the standard 2.5 children have heard– that we are breeders, that we have too many children, and that children are a burden. The thing is, children are a blessing.
The question?What are children for??may be best answered personally, as it is lived out in my own family, not anyone else’s. I must begin with an essential piece of information: Most families are larger than intended. The National Institutes of Health says that 60 percent of pregnancies in the U.S. are “mistimed, unplanned, or unwanted altogether.” It was not my plan to have six children?it was God’s. Though the last pregnancies were difficult, life was the only possible choice. What else could I say but, like Mary, Yes, I am your servant.
In this post, Sheri Prescott tackles a tough issue– what if the people around you don’t hold their children to the same standards?
I shared with her a dilemma I was facing a while ago with a certain family; the sweet wife being a friend of mine. The problem with our friendship was that I totally disagreed with how she was raising her children: child-centered, no discipline, constant whining, complaining, and very selfish, spoiled attitudes. This friend wanted to get together for play-dates and family events, but I prayerfully decided to distance myself from her, simply because I didn’t want Savannah and Alisa to pick up the incredibly bad habits and attitudes of her youngsters… Sometimes I wonder if I’m being too picky, but my mom assured me that regarding the topic of “association” or who our children spend time with, it’s important to be “picky” if you will. My wise mother also reminded me that when you become a parent, your friendships are a package deal. You simply can’t spend time with families, even if you enjoy the parents, who have children that are negative influences on your children.
This is a piece of wisdom my grandfather also gave me before he passed away. He told me that he was very careful about who his son (my dad) became friends with. He knew my dad’s friend’s parents. He carefully discouraged friendships that would take my dad down a wrong path. As parents, we have to evaluate who are children have as friends because friends do have an impact on our kids!
This post from an e-mail encourages us to be good parents– even to our own parents. When the time comes that we have to care for our parents, how will we do it? Will we do it in a way that we want to be treated, or will we consider it a waste of time?
That evening the husband took Grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.
MInTheGap has been commenting on the culture at large and current events since 2004. He enjoys spending time with his family, writing, and being active in his local church. Visit This Author's Website
One of the most difficult things that I have found with being the parent of young children is that getting out of the house has become a major undertaking. With an infant who’s crawling and getting into everything, you can’t trust a young teenager to watch them and you two older children.
And getting two babysitters just doesn’t seem to make any sense!
So, what options are you left with? For us, it’s my parents, but they live a good half hour away. My church’s teen population is limited to younger teen girls. Most of the other moms that have children have younger ones as well.
Here are some of the ideas that we have thought of:
Try to get referrals from people in other churches with older teen girls.
Take on two teen girls at a time.
Split up the children to multiple care givers.
Form a parent co-op where parents (with a teen helper) take turns watching the kids.
Can you think of any others?
MInTheGap has been commenting on the culture at large and current events since 2004. He enjoys spending time with his family, writing, and being active in his local church. Visit This Author's Website
So, today’s Weekend Kindness mission will stretch you if you have any degree of shyness!
Make a big sign such as: “I Love You, Kristi. Love, Joe” and put it in front of your house or her apartment complex for the world to see.
Yes, that’s right– some things are best said where all can see. I mean, you may be the kind of person that proposed on the Jumbotron, or in a crossword puzzle, but have you done anything in a big way to say “I love you!”?
Another way you can do this, if you’re not ones for big messages, is to adopt a pattern like in the one in the story about SHMILY — See How Much I Love You. If you read this story it’s sure to touch your heart, and you’ll realized just how much fun this can be!
MInTheGap has been commenting on the culture at large and current events since 2004. He enjoys spending time with his family, writing, and being active in his local church. Visit This Author's Website
I’m Lynnae, and I was pleasantly surprised when MInTheGap contacted me recently about contributing to Weekend Kindness. I’ll tell you a little bit about myself, so you know who is behind my posts.
I’ve been married for 12 years to my wonderful husband, and we have two children: a 9 year old girl, and an almost 5 year old boy. I grew up in a Christian home, but like many teenagers, I rebelled in a big way in college. Fortunately, I rededicated my life to Christ as a young adult, and I’ve been following Him ever since.
I’m a stay-at-home mom, which keeps me busy. I enjoy watching my children play soccer, helping them learn their AWANA verses, and just being home when they come home from school, so I can hear about their days. I’m also in the process of helping my husband start his own copywriting business. It’s a new adventure, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us!
In my (limited) spare time, I enjoy reading, writing, and occasionally singing with my husband on our church’s worship team.
I’m excited about contributing to Weekend Kindness! I believe that Christians can have a profound impact on the world through our relationships with others, and I can’t wait to see what God chooses to do through this blog!
Mary at Home-Steeped Hope tagged me over here to talk about what I was doing ten, twenty and thirty years ago for the 10-20-30 Meme, started at author Mary DeMuth?s Relevant blog?
10 Years Ago
Ten years ago I was 21. I was in my Senior year at Bob Jones University. I was finishing up a degree in Computer Science with a music minor.
This fall semester I was in my third semester singing Tenor with the University Chorus. This semester we actually were a part of the Sunday Vespers singing two different songs in Rodehaver Auditorium. This was the first time that the Chorus would sing in Vespers.
This semester we also built my first web application using ASP and an Access Database. It was the Annual BJU Contest Management System (CMS) program– a program that would be converted over to JAVA after I left.
Socially, I was dating a girl I met at summer music camp long distance– a girl that I would eventually break up with on the path to finding my wife! I was working at the BJU Dining Common, and was the regular server for the faculty and guests on Sunday– even doing a Thanksgiving meal for the Administration (even though I never left the kitchen).
20 Years Ago
Twenty years ago I was 11. It’s interesting that I am asked 10-20-30 this year, because it was just twenty years ago that my family was in England on account of my father. He worked for a company that was purchased by a company in Bracknell, Berkshire, and they moved all of us over to England between July and December of 1987– roughly 6 months.
We actually took a babysitter with us, who went back within two weeks, because we were sure we’d be in a hotel for some of the time, but ended up in a rented house–
14 Shepherds Hill, Bracknell, Berkshire, England (marked by the red tack) was where we lived, driving a French car because it was the only car big enough for our family.
I went to school around the corner (you can see some of it here on the left) and attended church in a community center.
At this point in my life I was adapting to a different culture– one that walked more than drove, said “Oi” instead of “Hey” and one that was different than anything I had experienced at the time. School was different in that I went to a private school that had to wear a tie and was setup like a high school, even though it was still elementary.
I placed into the upper track (1W), but had trouble keeping up with the different pace as well as trying to figure out how to switch classes and where to end up– I swear, looking back, that I must have missed some classes because I was never sure where I was supposed to be. For the most part, I just tagged along to where my friends were going!
30 Years Ago
In 1977 I was a 1 year old. I’m sure that the milestones here were learning to walk and talk! I was a late walker, I believe, but other than that, I’m not quite sure what’s notable here. Sorry!
And now, it’s my duty to tag some other individuals…
If you haven’t been around 30 years, do the best you can!
MInTheGap has been commenting on the culture at large and current events since 2004. He enjoys spending time with his family, writing, and being active in his local church. Visit This Author's Website
Lets see, I was asked to introduce myself but I?m never sure where to start. However, this past week, I was asked to do a personality test for work, so I thought I’d start there. It was mainly to see who makes up our team so that we work more effectively together. I found out that I?m a Gold. There are four colors, blue, green, orange and gold. Most people have a primary and secondary color. If your primary and secondary colors are within 4 points of each other there is likely to be overlap between the various characteristics making up your colors. Being that my primary color was 19/20 and secondary color was 11/20 it?s a pretty good indication that I-am-a-gold. I know we shouldn?t put ourselves into a box, but it was fun to see who made up my team of co-workers. I?ve done this type of personality test before and my primary color was blue but I guess over the years I?ve changed.
As I sat with the other Golds and read the description it was not surprising that gold was my primary color.
?Gold represents a need to be responsible, to fulfill duties and obligations, to organize and structure our life and that of others. Those with Gold as a Primary Color value being practical and sensible. They believe that people should earn their way in life through work and service to others? (taken from truecolors.org).
As we read through the description my supervisor and I chuckled because this described us to a tee!
But to get to the basics of who I identify as, I am a God-following, woman, fianc?e, (soon-to-be) step-mom, daughter, aunt, sister, niece, athlete who eats only fish (and recently chicken) but loves anything sweet!
Min asks me to write for Weekend Kindness so I?ll be contributing once a month. That’s me in a nutshell!
So, we finally got a night out this past Friday– and it had been so long that we weren’t quite sure what to do or what we could afford.
It’s that time again– time for some more links on a relationship topic. This week we’re going to focus on parenting.
One of the most difficult things that I have found with being the parent of young children is that getting out of the house has become a major undertaking. With an infant who’s crawling and getting into everything, you can’t trust a young teenager to watch them and you two older children.
So, today’s Weekend Kindness mission will stretch you if you have any degree of shyness!
