My Mallory Weiss Tear

2 05 2013

I’m sure you can tell many of your own personal stories to your children. They will love hearing about them! Don’t neglect to pass on your journey to the next generation. They will benefit from your experience and the lessons you learned from it. Here’s one of my stories and a simple lesson you can teach your children.

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from Wikipedia

One night a few years ago, there was some sickness going around. I got it. I started feeling a little queasy before bed. In the middle of the night, I woke up and was like, “Oh boy, here it is.” So I went downstairs knowing that I was going to throw up, but trying to think of anyway I could avoid it. You know, crackers and stuff. But nope, nothing was going to work. My body needed to throw up!

So it happened. Not cool, but something didn’t look right. What came out was kind of dark. So I was trying to figure out if I should go to the hospital or not. Cause I felt siiiick! I ended up going to the doctor and he said it’s probably just a virus. I came back home, but didn’t feel any better.

Later that morning, I threw up again. It was dark again. I’m thinking, “Now I know I threw up blood.” Ya gross right? So I went back to the hospital. I knew something wasn’t right, but there was NOTHING…I…COULD…DO! My wife came along with me and she said I looked white. I waited at emerge for somebody, ANYBODY to help me. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew the doctors could help me. I trusted that they knew what to do and would take care of my problem.

I ended up waiting awhile and discovered that something had gone wrong inside my body. When I threw up, the doctor told me that I tore something inside me and they had to go inside and have a look. He said it was called a Mallory Weiss tear and sometimes happens with young, strong, powerful, good looking and amazing young men. Okay, okay that’s not all true, but he did say young and strong.

So they prepared me for an operation. They put me to sleep, for which I was SO thankful! Then they stuck a tube down my throat with a camera. They found a tear, then they used water to wash it away and clean me up inside. They couldn’t use stitches or anything, but I think the medicine they gave me helped to heal my wound.

I had to recover for awhile. The doctor said later that I had lost a lot of blood and was close to needing a blood transfusion, which just means I would need to get blood put into me. I’ll tell you what, I am SOO thankful for doctors and hospitals!!!

After that experience, I hate throwing up even more. I bet you hate throwing up too. Isn’t it so good to know that when we have problems with our bodies, we can go to hospitals and have doctors fix us up?

You could say this to your children: “We have a more serious problem than our bodies getting sick, injured and even dying! There is nothing we can do about this problem on our own. We need something far better than doctors. We need Doctor Jesus!”

[Jesus] told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor–sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” -Mark 2:17





Book Review: The Christian Parenting Handbook!

29 04 2013

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I’ve been privileged to get a preview of this brand new book by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, known for great parenting books based on Biblical and heart-based approaches. Their website is http://www.biblicalparenting.org. You can pre-order the new book anywhere, but here is a link to it at the Canadian Amazon site. Below is my review.

When Joanne and Scott say in the introduction, “You’re holding a book of ideas,” they aren’t kidding!  If you’re looking for a treasure trove of parenting ideas that goes beyond clever quips and coy research to truly heart transformational truth, you’re going to want to pick up this book. As the title says, it’s a handbook. You’ll want it close by for quick reference relevant to almost any situation or any question you’ll face as a parent.

As a parent, you’re also looking for more than a plethora of ideas, you’re also looking for an overarching way of thinking that breathes vitality into your family life. Scott and Joanne provide the Biblical foundations that are essential for looking beyond the parenting pressures of day-to-day life and into eternally valuable insights that will sustain and energize your journey.

The authors don’t sugar coat their principles or try to make parenting seem easy. They acknowledge the difficulties, but provide more than adequate inspiration to accompany many truths that will equip parents well. They often suggest things that may take a little more work on the surface, but will greatly improve the results and increase the satisfaction and sense of purpose along the way. I love their emphasis on training, which I like to call rhythm, and their solid understanding of the Bible’s use of the word “discipline.” Here’s a quote:

“The word discipline used in the Old Testament is translated from the Hebrew word chanak. It means “to train.””

Oftentimes, we as parents feel we’re constantly in the corrective mode and trying to “get kids to behave.” This book offers a refreshing approach that focuses on building relationships, the joy of great character, building on strengths and a life of wisdom leading to success.

I feel a sigh of relief coming on and see the sun of hope rising on the horizon!

This book is super-charged with practical and easy to find advice and, more importantly, it is infused with a Christ-focused way of thinking about the parenting journey. It is a proactive versus reactive approach that will empower you to be a great parent. You’re going to want this as your go-to book in your parenting library!





Making Faith Part of Everyday Life

1 03 2013

Making Faith Part of Everyday Life, Part 1.

This article is a thoughtful look at building faith conversations into your daily rhythms and routines. Worth a click!





Share the Gospel with Children

12 02 2013

 

Share the Gospel with Children.

From www.letthelittlechildrencome.com are the BEST child evangelism tools I’ve ever seen.





What to Do When We Blow Up – Connected Families

7 02 2013

What to Do When We Blow Up – Connected Families.

The goal and hope of Christianity is restoration. Jesus Christ sacrificed his life so that we could be restored in our relationship with God. One day, He will restore all things and make all things new and right and good. For the mean time we have families that are broken. We can demonstrate this hope for a better future when we model humility after a blowout. Great article here. Click the link!





The Power of Persistent Parenting

29 11 2012

A big difference between effective and ineffective parenting lies in the word ‘persistence.’ 

My three children were playing with cards contentedly at the dinner table when out of nowhere my oldest starts crying. Now sometimes, when she cries, I dismiss it as an episode of ‘crying wolf.’ This situation was a bit different. Perhaps she could have cried less and maybe she exaggerated a bit, but the tears were genuine. I quickly found out that my two year old full out punched her older sister in the nose. Now she’s a little tike so a full punch for her isn’t too bad.

[Feel free to debate my chosen approach, but remember the main goal here is persistence.]

My littlest cutie, Selah

Sometimes I don’t want to deal with one more fight at home, but then there are times when I remember why an engaged parent is so critical to raising children. When one of my children does something wrong I have them make a statement of what they did wrong and have them ask forgiveness. Now at two years old this needs to be very simplified. So with her I required her to say, “I will not hit.” (In retrospect, this may have been too many words as she’s not quite putting full sentences together quite yet.) However, she refused to say anything and I could see in her little heart a stubbornness that refused to feel remorse. So when my children aren’t being cooperative they go to sit on the stairs to have a little break until they’re ready.

Here is where persistence comes in. She knew she had to go to the stairs, but wouldn’t let me take her. She trotted over there by herself and plopped herself down. After a few seconds she came back and I asked her if she was ready to say, “I will not hit.” She was not so I sent her back to her spot. She willingly trotted back and then a little later came back, but she again was not ready to make her statement. Cute right? However, this happened at least five times, but I’m thinking about eight times. This gets a little frustrating and the temptation is to just give up and move on. Giving up would have significant consequences down the road. Each time you make an expectation of your child, then fail to follow through, it becomes far more difficult in the future. So persist! Persist until the job is done, an expression of remorse is made and relationships are restored.

I did (thankfully!) persist. And it did pay off. She eventually said, “Not hit.” Then our next step is asking forgiveness. For my littlest, this will take some more time to develop, so for now, saying, “Sorry,” and giving a hug is sufficient for me.

So why persist? Because if I didn’t I would have missed out on seeing my children be restored in their relationship, my littlest would have learned that it’s ok to hit and both my girls would have sustained a small little scar in their lifetime relationship. And most, importantly, I would have missed a moment in time to teach my children that when relationships are broken, they can be restored. Doing this leaves a little hint in our home that, apart from Jesus, relationships could never be fully healed.

Persistence leads little ones to Jesus!





Two Mindsets to Hold While Reading the Gospels

24 11 2012

The Gospels are a fascinating look into the life of the Messiah, the Chosen One, who delivers us from sin and brings us back to God. Surrounded in controversy, yet filled with wonder, how can we best read these books and also inspire others to read them well?

1-The Wonder of the Person of Jesus

I think the first way we can come to the Gospels and encourage the church with the Gospels is to fall in love with the person of Jesus. These stories about him are filled with mystery and intrigue. We can simply enjoy the story and become fascinated with the person and identity of Jesus. Too many times we approach the Gospels looking to dissect them or to manipulate them to our own presuppositions. Rather than constantly running to the debate of fine details, there is much joy to be found when we are caught up in the wonder of this man who came and changed history. This man who came in obscurity (a poor peasant in outer villages) and sought obscurity (telling many not to talk about him), then actively injected himself into hostile environments (rebuking religious leaders) leading to his violent death, but his death was not the end. This story, filled with so many layers of marvel, can bring us to our knees in awe. Watching this kind of example in the leadership will draw people to the message of these Gospel writings. It will also turn some people off, but we can bring people to a crossroad of decision as Jesus did. This can move people from ignorance of these stories to a desire to hear them and engage with them.

2-Facing the Challenges Head-On

From Wikipedia

A lot of people are turned off when they are confused or feel threatened. I think it’s important to be engaged with the confusion. Those who heard Jesus say, “drink my blood and eat my flesh,” (John 6) left him admitting what he said was hard. Those closest to Jesus stayed with him saying, “you have the words of life.” So no matter how well we understand the person of Jesus or the words of Jesus, rather than rejecting him, we can stick with him no matter what, knowing the treasure he is. As leaders, we avoid being turned off by Jesus. This means we humbly come into the light personally unlike many of the religious leaders. We model for the congregation what following Jesus looks like. It means we don’t always get our reading of the Gospels right, but when we know we’re wrong, we admit it and we cling to Jesus with all we’ve got. Many will have objections to what they read in the Gospels. While maintaining an attitude of humility, we also can maintain a solid approach to interpretation. We can sift through the challenging objections and do the work well without being overly defensive or oppositional. When people have questions, we can give our best to answer them with well thought out answers. Rather than bristling against different opinions, we can hold to a standard of civil discourse in the middle of disagreements.




How claustrophobia almost grounded supersonic skydiver – CNN.com

13 10 2012

How claustrophobia almost grounded supersonic skydiver – CNN.com.

“Simply put, he needed to get his eyes back on the prize.”

For the one who believes in Jesus, there are no greater stakes. To defy fear to become the world record holder for highest jump is amazing. To defy fear for the enduring kingdom of God is of far greater value. We succumb to fear too often and that’s because we’ve taken our eyes off of the greatest prize: Jesus.

Hebrews 12:2: “…fixing our eyes on Jesus…”

Philippians 3:14: “I press on toward the goal for the prize…”





Dazzle Your Children with the Gospel of Grace

22 09 2012

Dazzle Your Children with the Gospel of Grace | The Resurgence.

Click for a quick article about parenting with the Gospel in mind and referencing Elyse Fitzpatrick’s book.





Fatherlessness in Canada

17 06 2012

Fatherlessness in Canada, statistics, fatherlessness children studies.

The power of a daddy’s presence is massive. So great that when Jesus died, he called out, “Father, why have you forsaken me?” The greatest consequence of our sin is separation from the Father’s love. The greatest reward of forgiveness is closeness to the Father! Jesus took the greatest consequence and in return provides us with the greatest reward. Dads, BE THERE for your kids!








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