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The Santa Question: What Do You Tell Your Children?

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How does your family deal with the Santa issue?

(Thought-provoking guest post by Sara Wallace over at The Gospel-Centered Mom. Re-printed by express permission of Sara Wallace. Her words contain so much grace, maturity, and truth. Please understand that how you handle this topic is a family decision, and you are in no way being judged. Thank you.)

I believed in Santa.

My husband believed in Santa.

We turned out okay. We didn’t walk away from the Lord or resent our parents. Before we had kids we figured we would do the whole Santa thing. We wanted Christmas to be as special for them as it was for us. But then we actually had kids and we had a big problem.

Santa wasn’t going to work….

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Three Main Styles Of The Words We Use Impacts Kids’ Learning and Listening

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Three Main Styles Of The Words We Use Impacts Kids' Learning and Listening, father, daughter, title, this is too hard, I'm not good enough, not smart enough, damage, disrespect, learning, listen, ability, aggressive, passive, assertive, modeling, actions, behavior, children, unlearn, model, parents, acting-up, yelling back, tuning out, words, consistent, clear, boundaries, strategies, struggles, challenges, knowledge, understanding, forgiveness, verbally abused, belittled, engaging, talking, communication, positive, confident, skill, problem-solve, what are you thinking, I give up, made a mistake, child's name, attention, eye contact, closeness, voice, volume, yelling, screaming, raise voice, pay attention, directions, language, name-calling, ridicule, shaming, practice, imitate, respect, praise, cooperation, options, alternatives, keep it simple, be consistent, nagging, job chart, affirming words, hugs, laughter, chores, playing, work, routines, good manners, please, thank you, you're welcome, wishy-washy, rules, spouse, companions, simple sentences, routine, interrupting, express gratitude, thankfulness, give notice, lecture, advance warning, kids, more is caught than taught, quote, Jim Rohn, Isaiah 50:4, miracles, speech, well-instructed tongue, God, sovereign Lord, 

(Creative Commons)

The words that comes out of your mouth. Do they injure or attract those you love?

The words and the way my father used to talk to me when I was as young as five had a huge impact on me, and it has taken me much of my life to heal and restore from the wounds. “You’ll never have any friends looking like that!” “No wonder your classmates don’t like you!” “Why are you so thick-headed?” “Don’t disrespect me. Look at my shoes!” Such confusing messages!…

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25 Encouraging Scriptures For Those Who Are Grieving

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25 Encouraging Scriptures For Those Grieving, tears, crying, shock and denial, death, despair, bargaining, sad memories, bereavement, unemployment, broken bonds, broken relationships, support loved ones, sympathy, discouragement, Why God?, flood waters, Robert Rogers, Into the Deep, book, true story, drowning, flash flood, trapped, loss, broken heart, coming to terms with death, loss of a loved one, suicide, trusting in God's promises, mourn, lament, sorrow, be sorrowful, feel grief, cause great distress to someone, sadden, upset, distress, pain, hurt, wound, break someone's heart,

(Creative Commons)

We will all do our fair share of grieving in this life, some more than others.

It’s been a few years since Robert Rogers lost his whole family in a wall of water on a rainy, dark night. This grieving man had come to play piano to the residents of the nursing home where my mother lives.

She told me his story as chronicled in his book Into the Deep: One Man’s Story of How Tragedy Took His Family but Could Not Take His Faith (Focus on the Family Books).

Robert alone survived raging, rapidly rising flash flood waters which swept their silver minivan off I-35, trapping some and sweeping others out into the cruel torrent.

Wouldn’t you ask, “Why?”

Why did God allow this to happen?

Stunned and exhausted, but alive, Robert had to deal with intense grieving in the days ahead as he identified and buried his loved ones and returned to an empty home. 

“As I stood in my home for the first time since the flood, the essence of my family engulfed me. Reminders of them surrounded me. But there was something else to remind me that they were gone: silence. There were no cheers as I came through the door, no cries in the other room, no whining over who pinched whom, no ‘I love yous,” and no music.”

…

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