All My Children

Dear Amy,

I know that during this past week you have suffered pain like never before, the burden that you bear is perhaps the heaviest you’ve ever carried. Yet through it all God assures us: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness”.

And one thing I’ve come to realize is that God has not declared that life is over because of an unplanned pregnancy. God has great plans for your future. You have not been disqualified from the race. In fact, He plans to draw you closer to Him and teach you to know Him better than you have ever known Him before. Once we realize that our main purpose in life is to know God and glorify Him, life comes into proper perspective. And I believe, Amy, the more you and I know Him and see life from His perspective, the more life and all its struggles and problems begin to be resolved. Continue Reading »

Transition homes in the community

This is an area where it is extremely difficult to succeed. Because of the stigma attached to the street children, people in the community generally fear to accommodate them in their own homes. There is a tremendous need to educate the community in this regard; already the project held its first seminar in the township to make people aware of the street children’s plight and of its difficulties in finding transition homes, before the children can return to their own families. The project has also approached the churches for transition homes, but failed to obtain a positive response! As a result, it applied to the local township council and was given a piece of land to erect a transition home but funds are needed to build such a home to accommodate the children. Continue Reading »

Some children keep score on their ability to exercise this type of self- control, and they know very well that the issue is the ability of their mind, or will, consciously to dominate the spontaneous reactions of their body. These games are so common that one may assert that all children, at one time or another, engage in games whose main purpose is to test themselves and their performance. I knew one six-year-old, for example, who kept score through checking off one of two columns which he had labeled “Me” and “My mind,” indicating that for him the issue was not whether he or his partner won, but how well his mind could control his body. Continue Reading »

A child become familiar with material things and their properties as he plays with them; thus he masters objects and they become acceptable to him. This is why playing with his food is so important to the infant, and why he tries to feed the person who is feeding him. Through handling the food it becomes familiar to the infant; it becomes truly his food. The more he mashes it, the safer he feels it is and the more pleasant to ingest. By feeding his mother, he demonstrates to himself that he is not just the passive recipient of food but also its active dispenser; mastering the process of feeding makes eating all the more enjoyable. Continue Reading »

In the courtly tradition, a knight who entered a tournament made it clear that he was competing primarily for the favor and admiration of his lady and to prove his manliness to her. At the same time he was proving his manliness to himself and others, so that he himself could feel secure about it. Only secondarily was his purpose that of defeating his opponent. Similarly today, the main value of a trophy won in competition is the pleasure of displaying it to attract the admiration of others, who thus continue to enhance one’s self-esteem. Continue Reading »

What Does It Mean to Be a Protestant?

If you’re Protestant you are probably well aware of a religious tradition that includes the earliest settlers of our country, and you may have passed that on to your child.

Awareness of Protestant history can help a child better understand the common qualities Protestant denominations share.

Perhaps with the aid of a story or picture book, explain to your child that Protestantism is the name for several religious groups which were formed during the Great Reformation of the early sixteenth century. Continue Reading »

What Is an Unaffiliated Believer?

Some families and individuals march to the tune of a different spiritual drummer. While these individuals may have been raised in the major traditions just described, they have decided that formal religion is just not for them. Or alternatively, they have grown up in families which were unaffiliated to begin with. Nonetheless, these individuals come together as couples and continue to pursue an earnest, noninstitutionalized belief in God. If that description fits you and your spouse, then how have you decided to teach your child about God? Continue Reading »

You might tell your child that although your beliefs are different, you still love each other and, of course, your child. If God is love, then that will overcome things that confuse us or make us disagree. Your joint openness and respect for each other will undoubtedly serve as a great comfort to your child.

In contrast, some interfaith parents wish to avoid these embroiled difficulties. They may believe that the best thing to do is to bring up a child without the heavy blanket of religion at all. They may feel that religion is either a burden or just something that will cause difficulty. But their spiritual path—and their children’s—is usually not so clear. Continue Reading »

The second priority for an interfaith couple is to determine what to communicate about God, since that husband and wife may have grown up with vastly different images of God. In a sense, all married couples must deal with this dilemma. Every husband and wife, once they become parents, must figure out a way to mesh their very personalized ideas about God and communicate that integrated view to a child.

Let’s imagine that your concept of God suggests a very nurturing figure who is concerned with nature and the care of all beings. Perhaps your spouse envisions a powerful figure who represents justice and order. What will you tell your child about what God is like? Continue Reading »

The special circumstances of the interfaith family make consideration of religious ideas and practices a particularly complex issue. Growing up with parents of different religious backgrounds, or perhaps with parents who still have divergent views, a child must also deal with a variety of situations that can be obstructive or perplexing. For example, the child must be prepared to deal with the attitudes and responses of family, friends, and neighbors toward him or her. It is the duty of good parents to provide that preparation. Parents must discuss with their children how to react to questions and comments about their mixed religious heritage. Continue Reading »