Fireproof the Movie Update

The movie I talked about in a previous post "Fireproof" which stars Kirk Cameron and is produced by the same company as Facing the Giants is set to come out September 26th. This is going to be an awesome movie and I firmly believe it is going to change marriages, families, and countless lives in the process. We really want this movie to do well on opening weekend so I hope that you will make every effort to get out to see this movie on the 26th, 27th, or 28th of September! You can find out more here.

Training up a Child

We have experienced a great breakthrough with our five year old son recently. We had been having tantrums, selfishness, and other ugliness rearing its head within him. I was beginning to feel very discouraged and as though nothing I had tried to or intended to teach him over the last 5 years had stuck. Needless to say, I was upset.

I went back to a site I had utilized a long time ago www.raisinggodlytomatoes.com . Now, I do not agree with everything she advocates but there are two things on that site that I find wonderful. The first one is the Proverbs Parenting section and the second is the section on Tomato Staking. The object is that if a tomato plant is left to itself it will be wild and unruly and it must be staked and well taken care of. The same can be true of the child. If he is left to his own he will become wild and unruly and in this case is staked to the mother. She explains it much better than I could. There are also different types of tomato staking.

I did this with my son and honestly it took two days of intense tomato staking and explaining to him everything that was going on, and teaching him responsibility and self control through various things. I had expected it to take much longer. However, our son has been incredible since we did this last week. He is exhibiting self control, he is caring for his sister, thinking of others first, showing manners, coming when he is called. All the things I thought he had "lost" have come back. Of course, it is taking some changes on my part as well (being more vigilant when something is going on, encouraging him to continue acting as he is now, telling him the good qualities that he is now showing, not letting things go when I know the heart is behind them even if it will take time and energy that I do not think I have).

My heart is encouraged again and I'd recommend any mom at least trying this method when in my situation. All children will go through stages where it becomes hard or seemingly unnecessary to make good choices and this is an excellent way to get them back on track and develop a good bond with them as well. Afterall, you are spending every minute with them (I was having to do the intense tomato staking with not having him more than three feet from me at any given time) and the entire goal is to train them to make the good choices on their own, whether it be a refresher course or doing it for the first time.

A few thoughts on Exodus Chapter 1

In the first few verses we are told why the Israelites are thrown into captivity/bondage. They were enjoying the fruits of Joseph as the king had shown them favor because of him. However, once that generation had passed away and a new king came into power who did not know about Joseph, the party was over so to speak. This new king was intimidated by the sheer number of the Israelites. That is what he feared the most! He did not fear them as a people, but rather he feared them because with their numbers, he thought they could/would overthrow him. From these verses it is probably safe to say that this king was filled with pride rather than humility. So much so that all he could focus on was how to diminish the number of the Israelites. His first plan - throwing them into hard, ruthless work - did not go so well. The Israelites were able to stand under the pressure and not only did they stand but they were multiplied, they were increased in number! So, instead of realizing that God wanted the Israelites to flourish he decided to come up with another plan. This time he decided instead of killing them off by working them to death he would just kill the boys as soon as they were born. No boys meant that the Israelites would eventually dwindle to very small numbers and finally none if he kept it up long enough. However, he overestimated his power. He thought he could control the midwives to do as he said. They feared God and did not do it! Not only that, but again God saw fit to increase them in number! Talk about two failed attempts on behalf of the king! You would think that would make him open his eyes, but no. Again he has devised a plan to get rid of them. This time he wants to get rid of the boys by having them put into the Nile. We both know that one didn't work out to his liking either.

In all of this I saw a few things that really struck me:
1. They went from living well and having favor shown to them, to living in captivity under a king who wanted to kill them off. Their lives were definitely turned upside down. Everything they knew, everything they had lived prior to that was stripped from them and they were thrown into a very hostile environment.

2. Despite all of that, it is completely obvious that God did not abandon them. He thwarted every man devised scheme to get rid of them. The king did not see that though, he was determined to do evil - and Yahweh was determined to do good. You can see how that played out and who won!

3. From the point of view of the king it is seen how dangerous and blinding pride can be. To have faith within your own power is not a good thing. It is humility that brings us before our Creator, it is humility that brings us to our knees. Humility is such a vital thing...selfishness and pride cannot be what leads us and I definitely would not want to be in the king's shoes especially since we know what takes place.

When I read this it caused me to meditate on the work of Satan in the life of the Believer. Satan is classified as an imposter in the life of the convert because once one accepts the work of the stake and turns their life over to the Messiah, Jesus becomes their King. Satan however tries to come in as a "NEW" king (impersonated) He thinks he is the king and seeks to make us think he is the king. This "NEW" king doesn't KNOW (understand) the work of the Messiah and what he did for the believer and so comes in trying to "steal, kill, and destroy the "strength" and "might" of Yahshua's disciples who are growing in number fast which intimidates him. Satan considers the possibility of what they might be able to do if they grow in their christian walk and so throws all kinds of turmoil, trials, and temptations to weaken them in some way. Though the life of the believer isn't easy and oftentimes feel as though the way is full of bitter hard labor, if they endure until the end their strength will be multiplied.

What a whirlwind!

I took a bit longer to come back to blogging than I thought I would. It all started with the death of Ethan Powell. I could not stop thinking about his parents and how such a small boy was taken by such a horrible disease.

Shortly after that my brother who had not been in contact with us in 3 years got in touch with my mother. It was only a week later that he informed my mom that he was in need of transportation and a place to live with his wife and eighteen month old son. He was in a Sacred Name Movement sect (I posted on this topic quite some time ago). After going to get them they made a planned trip to see us. I hadn't seen my brother in 5 years and it was a wonderful reuinion. They have a lot to overcome, but it is wonderful that they are out of this. I have longed for true heart fellowship with someone for a long time. It is something few people openly desire I'm afraid. I have wanted to go beneath the surface, study the Scriptures, and really have someone I can be transparent with. I feel that person is my new sister in law whom I only met three weeks ago. It is difficult though because they were separated from the world for so long and they are still very leary of anything to do with the world. I know that many things will change for them as the days pass and I'm trying to be a support to her without letting myself get drawn in. I have learned things from her that I plan on posting about in the future, and I think I've been able to pass some things along as well. I know this relationship will take a lot of work and patience as they continue to sort through evaluating everything they have followed for the past several years. We are studying Exodus together which I plan to post some of that here as well.

All that to say, I'm back!