Parent’s Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you.
You have redeemed us out of destruction,
Delivered us from the power of sin in our lives,
Given us your loving kindness and mercy.
Help us, Father, to express your love to our children
In ways that teach them to honor You above all.
Help us so we do not bruise your fruit, Lord.
Make us always aware of your desire for us,
Our duties, our hope and delight in You.
Renew our motives. Stretch us and strengthen us in You.
Expand our awareness of your love.
By your power we were made from nothing.
You made our brains, yet we use a small fraction of that gift.
Give us grace to use more of our resources in your service.
Help us to commit all our resources to building your kingdom.
Purify our aims, ambitions, and activity.
Focus our scattered lives.
Teach us, that we may master your lessons.
Make them second nature.
Dear Father, only You can expand our spiritual,
Mental and emotional boundaries beyond our small selves.
Help us to create, out of the confusion of our lives,
Holy priesthood teams in our church and home.
You are the great I AM, giver of every good gift.
Thank you for the gifts we already enjoy.
The greatest of these is our children.
Amen.
The Enemy of What’s Best
It is up to us. We can choose to have optimal (the best) health or just-getting-by health–the best parenting skills or just-getting-by parenting skills. Stress-free Discipline teaches optimal parenting.
Remember, what’s OK is the enemy of what’s best.
“Watching television for two to three hours or more per day is linked to significantly higher risks of developing diabetes and heart disease and dying from all causes, according to a new analysis from the Harvard School of Public Health.” (June 15, Journal of the American Medical Association.)
If it were just health, some parents would ignore the need to change TV habits. But wait! Thinking ability is also at risk here.
A New Yorker study indicates that “A reader learns about the world and imagines it differently from the way a viewer does; according to some…a reader and a viewer even think differently.” (Crain, 2007, 135)
In several cited studies, illiterates resisted giving definitions of words, grouping like objects, and making logical inferences about hypothetical situations. (Crain, 2007, 137) Moreover, “in an oral culture, cliché and stereotype are valued as accumulations of wisdom, and analysis is frowned upon…” (Crain, 138)
Detailed and consistent decline in reading and thus in thinking ability have been reported by the National Endowment for the Arts…
It is much harder to compare viewpoints and ideas between streaming media than to analyze the written word.
Juxtaposed images give the impression of cause and effect where none exists. Logical thinking and learning words become a strain. Social and communication skills suffer. Experienced teachers and social workers have noted the trend. Teamwork, highly valued in the global marketplace and in parenting, is suffering.
According to the scholars Jack Goody and Ian Watt, Crain says, (2007, 138) “it is only in a literate culture that the past’s inconsistencies have to be accounted for, a process that encourages skepticism and forces history to diverge from myth.” My experience on the Navajo Reservation corroborates all of the above.
Recall is also enhanced by reading, as opposed to merely viewing. Moreover, viewers from the age of eight to sixteen months begin loosing word power for every hour of baby DVD’s and videos they watch daily, according to Crain.
Data on more than a million students worldwide by Micha Razel “found ‘little room for doubt’ that television worsened performance in reading, science and math.” (Crain, 2007, 138)
The N.E.A. reported recently that “readers are more likely than non-readers to play sports, exercise, visit art museums, attend theatre, paint, go to music events, take photographs, and volunteer.” (Crain, 2007, 139)
If parents cannot read, their children will not be encouraged to learn more than the minimum to get by. Thus, each generation will become more ignorant.
Apply the Bingo test: is reading, good health and the ability to live a richer, fuller life worth changing your TV habits?
Thirsting for Righteousness?
Thirst, dehydration
We don’t feel thirsty until we are already dehydrated. According to Brian D. Foltz and Joe Ferrara, PhD, chronic dehydration elevates histamine, which can lead to allergies and an increase of stress hormones (cortisol). This suppress the production of white blood cells and we become more vulnerable to more allergens (triggers of allergy). Less energy is the first sign of dehydration. For every one percent drop of water inside your cells, energy production is cut by ten percent. Unfortunately, much more harm can result.
Dehydration can cause constipation, diverticulitis, polyps, and colon cancer. But wait! Dehydration, according to Foltz and Ferrara, “is a frequent cause of mental difficulties, including depression…feelings of anxiety, anger, irritableness, short attention span, impatience… asthma, hypertension…pain and Type II diabetes.”
http://www.hydrationsecrets.com details other consequences, including weight gain and decrease of oxygen uptake. Our brains need 40% more oxygen than the rest of our body. Brain fog is not always the result of sleep loss.
What can we do? Short-term dehydration shows up in darker urine—except urine colored by certain vitamins, foods, medications, etc. Extreme dehydration is orange color. The darker your urine, the more acidic your body is, and the more damage occurs in cells. Acidic blood feeds pathogens, while normal pH helps kill germs, viruses and other problems. Keep your urine clear or a very pale yellow.
Now that you are aware of physical needs for water, what about your spiritual need for the Living Water of Christ? Read the rest of this entry »
God’s OODA loop for Spiritual victory, part 2
As we noted, God’s Spiritual Warfare and the Top Gun winning strategy against migs in Korea have much in common. The Biblical strategy in Mathew 5: 3-10, the Beatitudes, if used within God’s will, has God’s power behind it to guarantee a win.
It’s no surprise that the OODA loop—Observe, Orient, Decide and Act—was first formulated in the Beatitudes. The first step, Observe, depends greatly on how honest we are with ourselves, and how alert we are to the world around us, as seen through the lens of truth: God’s eyes. Matthew 5:3-4 help us to observe and mourn our moral bankruptcy with promises of blessings and hope in heaven.
Our ability to observe depends upon rooting out sin, keeping focus, and learning from God’s word. We need to see the world through God’s eyes in order to take the second step of this strategy: Orient
The race car driver orients him- or herself, taking continuous action into account, using information gained through study and observation to place the car in the right position for a win. Matthew 5: 5 and 6 detail the importance of this step in a spiritual win.
These verses speak about blessings for meekness (humility), and hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Humility is not being a doormat so others can victimize us. We do have to realize that our sins–selfishness and greed and deadly mental games—are not things we can fix with our own will power. We probably are so comfortable with them that we do not really want to fix them, only to make them more effective or workable.
God’s OODA Loop for Spiritual Victory: Part 1
God’s Spiritual Warfare and the Top Gun winning strategy against migs in Korea have much in common. The Biblical strategy in Mathew 5: 3-10, known as the Beatitudes, is a real winner whether we apply it in warfare, business, education or family problem-solving. If we use it within God’s will, God’s power guarantees a win.
It’s no surprise that the OODA loop—Observe, Orient, Decide and Act—was first formulated in the Beatitudes. Just how does this winning wartime strategy work?
The Most Important Person in Your Life?
Is your child really the most important person after God and your spouse? How do your priorities line up? If streaming and social media consume four or more hours of your time each day, how are your children going to learn effective life skills?Effective life skills are those things everyone has to do–to be an effective adult–or pay someone else to do them. The teaching job required for this list of chores takes time and plenty of work. It is ongoing, frustrating, lasts a lifetime and is worth every minute of your self-sacrifice.
If your child can do those adult chores fast and well, he or she will be happy, according to “happiness research.” How many of the following adult chores are you planning to teach your child…or how many of them have you mastered? Here’s a list of adult responsibilities which—if you are skillful—will make you a happy adult. Unplug from the TV and plug into life.
Parent’s Duty and Skill List (Frame this and hang it in plain sight. Review it often with your child when you assign chores to yourself and children.) Read the rest of this entry »
Course Planning in Process
San Diego, CA: Course curriculum maps and other information is available for San Diego readers receptive to a hybrid series of classes on Stress-Free Discipline. Coursework is pending at St. James and at Trinity Lutheran churches. The course launch is October 30 at Trinity Lutheran church on 7210 Lisbon Street, San Diego, 92114. If you are interested in signing up, please respond to this post or call Phillip Sammuli, at 619.262.1633!
Book Release
Stress-Free Discipline gives you tested, unique, time-saving tools for tots-to-teens discipline!
This step-by-step plan not only reduces stress, it builds life-long love, teamwork, life skills and responsibility.
- Five expectation sets are realistic, gradually building complex skills.
- Children master adult skills almost painlessly.
- They are rewarded for every right choice.
- Negatives are minimized, releasing energy for building and bonding.
- Motivational rewards are simple, fun and educational.
- Parents and children grow accountable in a bond of love.
Endorsements
William C. Reeves, Ph.D. Human Behavior writes: “Stress Free Discipline presents some great ideas that have been successfully used to help children mature. Setting up positive rewards for good behavior is presented as the best way to help children learn self discipline and appropriate behavior. Children are also presented with the reality that poor behavior results in unwanted consequences for them. Behavior is tracked by a point system that allows the child to understand the results of both good and improper actions.”
Charles Jeter, Combat Veteran, Software Engineer writes: “Stress Free Discipline has valuable strategy and rules of engagement.”
John Demas, attorney writes: “Stress Free Discipline has worked with my children. Judith has a gift.”
Gary Kirk, pastor, publisher, counselor writes: “As the father of a son with special needs, I feel your book should be required reading for everyone involved in an IEP—educators and parents alike…From many years of being a small group pastor and counselor, I consistently see the need for parents to find the kind of equipping that you have offered in your book.”
Contact Judith to purchase the book ($17.95 + shipping), or contact legacylinepublishing.com.
Protect yourself from Cyber-Crime
Internet security, identity theft, Computer safety, Charles Jeter
The statistics about cyber-crime and data breach are shocking. Don’t be ignorant or you’re next.
ESET, a local San Diego anti-virus software company, recently started a not-for-profit grassroots educational effort to secure our San Diego e-City against this threat through education. It’s a Neighborhood Watch style educational program for the community targeted at preventing cyber-crime.
SOEC website: www.securingourecity.org
For a direct link to the on-demand training: Securing Our eCity Training Presentation
Who Provides Wisdom?
Teaching, knowledge, parenting
Wisdom is the godly, practical use of knowledge. Knowledge is power.
Parents translate the world to their children. The world is confusing and untruthful. What to do? How to do it? What is meaningfull and what needs to be ignored? One challenge for parents is believing they have to learn all the information all at once.