Parents now abdicate training even on the most basic of human functions to outside “professionals.” If your baby can’t sleep, bring in the professionals. Here is an excerpt:

“Dream Team Baby” comes into the home and helps infants and toddlers learn to fall asleep on their own and soothe themselves back to sleep during the night. Consultants organize a daytime napping and feeding schedule, so a child will be sleepy at bedtime and not hungry during the night. They also create the right sleep environment.

You can read the entire article here.

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Happy Birthday Pictures – Pictures

Here is a neat piece by my fellow elder Jason Dohm on Birthdays.

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Moved by the current economic, political and moral issues facing the country, MONUMENTAL, directed by Duane Barnhart, chronicles Cameron’s personal journey to historic sites across Europe and the U.S. to discover the secret that has made America the freest and most prosperous country in the word. As Cameron retraces the heroic and faithful beginnings of America, he discovers a monument to the founding fathers that answers what core principles will keep America strong, free, and well: freedom, justice, education, morality, and religion. – from Monumental’s official press release.

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Here is my sermon on Matthew 14:1-22, contrasting the kingdoms of Herod the Tetrarch and our Lord Jesus.

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Here is a fascinating article, Projecting Poverty Where it Does Not Exist,  by Steve Saint, whose father, Nate was killed in 1956 by the Waodani tribe. He states that we project our version of poverty on those who are not poverty stricken at all:

From my life experiences with the Waodani—and other people groups in Africa, Asia and South America who live simply and materially contentedly—I have learned that it is unreasonable to evaluate their “lack” based on our distorted and exaggerated perception of need.

Consider how our definition of an orphan is different from most other cultures. In the U.S., you are an orphan if your mother and father have died. In South America (where I grew up), as in other contexts where extended family structures are intact, you are not really considered an orphan as long as you have a living grandparent, uncle, aunt or older brother or sister who is capable of helping take care of you. So when North Americans build an orphanage in South America, we “create” orphans by tempting family members to take advantage of our well-intentioned largess. This is seldom in the best interest of those children who are “orphaned” by our desire to meet what we perceive as their need.

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The Bible says, “Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty” (Prov. 20:13).  But does that mean you should always cheat sleep?  Here is some real wisdom on sleep from John Piper, I can relate with.

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Teaching our children is something we must embrace with joy even while it is an effort that requires great work. But the hope of eternal reward in the form of regeneration of heart and newness of life is the goal of this magnificent effort — a reward with no rival or equal in payout.

Seeing my children show excitement about a biblical event, principle, or concept is one of the most rewarding things I get to observe in this life. Understanding concepts of sin, consequences of actions, failures of heroes who are nonetheless heroes, God’s mercy and deliverance, or remembering something the writer of an epistle may have said in another letter are among the great highlights and victories which I hope will prove foundational to our children taking their thoughts captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. (more…)

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Deborah’s great-grandmother writes of the impact of the salvation of her father:

My Father could not keep the good news, so a short time after he would take the train back every Sunday (after the morning service) to Martins Bay, and then walked to the hill country and preached to his own people and friends. Later on he preached in town in the market place, and opened a mission for the colored people where there was a settlement back of George St Belleville.

 We visited all these places when we visited Barbados on our 30th wedding anniversary.

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Deborah’s great-grandmother recalls her mother preaching the gospel to her on the island of Barbados. She writes:

“Some of my Mothers favorite verses were:

Perfect love casteth out fear.

Godliness with contentment is great gain.

Having food and raiment therewith be content.

Let the words of my mouth, and the mediation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, Oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.

How well I remember how she used to sit and tell us children of God’s simple plan of salvation!”

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In a nutshell, it’s theological. We both embrace a unifying principle that smoothes the bumps and calms the raging seas. It gives us compassion for one another. It is a 24/7 factory of patience. This principle helps us to understand everything. Let me explain. I have always been grateful for Deborah’s father and mother for a particular deposit they made in her life. They taught her that God was absolutely sovereign over all things. As a result, she believes  that “no one can restrain His hand” (Daniel 4:35). The world was not spinning out of control. Everything is on course. Every human being is being governed by Almighty God. She grew up believing that everything was a gift of God. The sunny day, the hurricane, and even the preoccupied husband are gifts from heaven to fulfill the “good pleasure of His will” (Ephesians 1:5).

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I am not the kind of person who is looking for an emotional high. I don’t think of it. But there are two days of my life that stand out against all others. They loom in my memory as days of happiness. The first was the day when I realized that Christ was my Savior. The sky was bluer, the grass was greener, the ocean was fresher and my smile was broader than ever before. The prophesy was fulfilled, “with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). The second day, was my wedding day. It was a day of extreme happiness. I savored every moment of that day. And the happiness of that day turned out to be a prophesy for the days ahead. We have had such a happy marriage these thirty years.

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Being away this week has given us some time to reflect on thirty years of marriage. Our marriage has been a comfortable union of souls. I have always marveled at the deep and abiding sense of “shalom” that has existed in our marriage. I am especially reminded of this as we fall into bed each night. It seems so natural to simply walk through the normal things of life. Our marriage has never been fueled by surges of new exciting things. There are no chivalrous feats or phenomenal heights of ecstasy or romance. It has been very normal. And, we have loved the normal. I don’t sweep Deborah off her feet everyday. I don’t wow her with flowers. We live day to day, raising children, having meals, going to church, receiving guests, and simply being together. I often feel embarrassed when people come to stay in our home because I know that they will quickly find out the truth. They soon realize that if they came expecting to see some amazing, jaw-dropping life, they have come to the wrong place. They come to a quiet place, where we are content to live life day by day. For us, that is what undergirds what has been such comfortable union.

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Deborah’s great-grandmother writes in her diary, “my Father, Robert Thomas Lanahan Gibson (Linnie), born March 14th, 1838 in Barbados, West Indies, Below the Cliff. He married Anna Lorinthia Edwards, born Jan 21st, 1843 in Barbados, West Indies, Below the Cliff. They married Oct 11th, 1863 at St Margarets Chapel, Below the Cliff. They had 10 children.”

Robert and Anna (Deborah’s great-great-grandparents)	Tom and Carol (Deborah’s parents)

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My friend Craig Houston wrote this to me regarding our celebration of the gospel coming to Deborah’s family:

“The Grace of God is truly amazing in that He moves in the hearts of His people to bring the gospel to the regions beyond, and people there are impacted by the good news, and then they take that glorious truth of the gospel to yet another country and people. Fast forward to the two centuries, and a descendent of those converts is a preacher’s wife in NC. Praise God!”

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