call and response

By Karen Brown

Have you seen this documentary? It's an amazing film about modern-day slavery.

REUNION showed it as part of our Freedom Sunday celebration. It is thought-provoking and will truly make you think about what is happening in our neighborhoods and in the world around us. Slavery is more prevalent today than it ever has been in all of history, and includes forced labor, child labor, sex trafficking, child soldiers, and childhood prostitution. And did you know it's more profitable than both the drug and arms trades combined? It's the fastest growing crime in America. 

You can order Call + Response on Netflix here. Seriously...order it now or watch the trailer here. 

We are trying to think through what our response can be as a community and as a family. One of the quotes that really spoke to me was when Ashley Judd said that she didn't want to wear someone else's despair (speaking of child & forced labor in clothing manufacturing). I am often the one looking for the best deal, but I imagine that must mean someone isn't being treated fairly or paid fairly somewhere down the chain of production. We are trying to consider how we inadvertently contribute to this crime and how we can make choices that promote love and justice for all. 

I would want someone to think about those things if it was my child in the video.

1 Kings 17

By Julie Wilson 

I home school my two youngest girls, who are in third and first grades. Recently, Jonah has been studying the story from the Bible, found in I Kings 17. A widowed mother is down to her last bit of flour and oil, only enough left to make one small loaf of bread. Elijah comes along and asks the woman to first make him some bread and give it to him before she and her son eat. I’ve heard this story before, but this time it really struck me as we read it. As a mother, I don’t know if I would have the compassion that this mother did to give away some of the food that was intended for my starving child. Especially to a stranger whose God I did not know or believe in! If my child were hungry, I would want to do everything I could to provide food for them. The thought of giving away the very nourishment that could help save my child from hunger is one that I cannot comprehend. Yet, Elijah promises her that if she fulfills his request the Lord will not let her flour or oil run dry until the day the Lord sends rain. And this is exactly what happens. God blessed her compassion and willingness to share with another who was in need. I pray that God will help me to have a heart that would be so willing.

A Tip for Teaching Your Baby to Sit

By Anna Hamman

Some babies learn to sit early on and others will take longer. If you are reading this, please make sure your baby is at the stage where they are strong enough and have the neck control to start sitting. It is different for every baby, but most babies develop this skill around four to eight months.

The best way to teach them to sit of course is to sit with them on the floor and interact and support them as they start to topple. This is important to do regularly---but you can’t do this all day. So here’s a tip for helping them develop the muscles for sitting when you cannot sit with them. This can be done with materials you already have around the house, so you don’t have to spendg money on a product designed specifically for this purpose.

• Take a large plastic storage crate or bin or washing basket that is rectangular, sturdy and large. (I found the plastic storage bins are really sturdy, especially the clear ones, so that the baby doesn’t feel closed in.) 
• Place your baby sitting up in the bin with supports of rolled towels or blankets on either side of them until they are strong enough to sit without needing the supports. 
• Put toys in front of them to encourage them to reach and shift their weight, and to help their fine motor development. The sides of the bin and the towels will support them if they lean. A baby-safe mirror in front of them also encourages interaction, movement, and language development. 

This is a photo to show how it can be done. In the beginning, as the baby is learning, you will need more rolled towel supports on either sides of the baby than displayed in this picture

Spend, Save, Share

by Karen Brown

One of the things we hope to instill in our children from a young age is fiscal responsibility. We want to model the value of money for them, how and what it is used for, and what a spirit of generosity looks like. 

Something we are currently trying, to help them be responsible for their money, is creating separate banks for them for different categories: Spend, Save and Share. The idea is that when they receive money, they immediately divide it up into each bank based on agreed upon percentages. This makes it very easy for our children to know what they can spend on treats or gifts, what they need to save, and what they should, at a minimum, share with others through their tithe and other generosity opportunities at school, etc.

We started with simple recycled pasta sauce jars. I labeled each jar and painted the lids with primer and then chalkboard paint. By using chalkboard paint, the kids can keep a tally on the jar lid of how much money they have. 

the Brown's jars

Here are a couple others I found online. I love how this one gives visual clues for the child as to what each jar is for. 

(source unknown)

Here’s another variation on the same thing. I love these for boys! And Rachel of Smile and Wave has a great tutorial for how to make these.

from Rachel at Smile and Wave

And if DIY is not your style, you can purchase one from Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Jr.

Sliding on Your Face Through the Ice

By Katharine Grubb 

A couple of winters ago, my kid went down an icy hill on his face. I didn't see it. I was a few yards away pushing his little sister in the swing. I just heard him crying. He cries when his carrots touch his peas, so I wasn't overly concerned. Until he came up the hill and I saw him.

The ice scratched his face up so badly, it looked like he got in a fight with an alley cat. Blood was slowly seeping out of the cuts. Bruises were starting to form. My four other children were playing happily, and we had just arrived at the playground about ten minutes before, so I didn't want to pack everyone up just yet. I wiped the blood off his face with someone's ski hat and had him sit on a park bench, trying to comfort him and also trying to call my husband.

If there is ever an area when my own insecurity and ignorance comes through, it's when my children are sick or injured. I need a Super Mom to descend on me and tell me exactly what to do in situations like this. I hate having to guess on my own. I'm never sure I'm making the right choices. If I were a parent of one, trips to the ER might be a lot more frequent. But because I have a crowd to deal with, I have to attempt to meet their needs too.

My husband wasn't answering his phone. All this did was make me more panicky. My little boy's injuries were really only scratches, but the bruises and blood (and his whimpers) made it appear to be much worse. It doesn't help matters that my active imagination (and too many episodes of House) was magnifying these injuries; my conclusion was this: I'm not doing this right, my children are suffering, I am a bad mother.

I told my big kids I would allow them to stay 15 more minutes and then we would go home. The wind was picking up and those of us who were standing around were getting very cold. I tried calling my husband two more times. Still nothing.

I needed my husband to tell me what to do. I needed him to see these injuries (I tried taking pictures with my phone, but Sad Boy wouldn't cooperate and the lighting was terrible) and make a diagnosis. I wanted the responsibility of potentially causing more harm to my children to rest on someone else's shoulders. I needed someone to see that I was an emotional mess and needed comfort too.

Within minutes, my other son fell off his sled and came up the hill crying. His nose and upper lip were scratched up and there was more blood, but his injury didn’t look as bad as his little brother’s. That settled it. We were done. I called everyone over and loaded the van. I couldn't think of anything we needed more desperately than hot chocolate and Motrin. (I could go for a drink, but that would have to wait until after dinner.)

I am such a pansy. I got home and finally spoke to my husband; I felt like an idiot for the fear and anxiety this little adventure caused me. Their injuries were just scratches and bruises, that was all. But yet, there was that lie: the one that says I am bad. I fail. It's my fault. That lie is still there.

Two weeks ago, my husband and I got into an argument. And while the episode was over soon enough, what lingered was the emotional bruising I gave myself. For days, I recounted the precise words that were said by both of us (never taking into account the fact that my husband had forgiven me completely) and concluded that the reason this issue was brought up to begin with was my fault. I am bad. I fail.

I don't know what made me think this - perhaps it was divine mercy - but at some point five days later, I realized that there was a simple solution: Step away from the lie.

My husband loves me. He and I have been married for 13 years. We have five children. If I were truly a failure, if I truly deserved rejection, if it were all my fault, wouldn't he see it too? He is meticulous, analytical and picky. He has strong opinions and never settles for second best. So how is it he picked me to marry unless there was some value here? Let's even go beyond my husband, let's look at someone who loves me deeper.

What does God say about me? I can get a clue about this from what he said about others. In John 8, there was a woman caught in adultery who was guilty, who failed, who was clearly at fault and Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."

I am not used to seeing myself as un-condemned. I'm used to seeing myself as a mess. I'm used to having others point out my faults, then pulling out even more faults and then calling me names for good measure. I'm used to having arguments lead to eerie, malicious silences that might last for days, broken only by a joke. I'm used to every mistake being broadcast to others. I'm used to shame. I'm used to pain. I'm used to despair.

It's difficult to put down these lies, even though they've choked me for years. In my Bible reading, I've found that not only does it please God when I attempt to do so, He gives me strength to do this. He knows how weak I am.

My little boys' injuries are going to heal just fine. We're trying to figure out a funny remark when they're seen at church: You should have seen the other guy!...It was a Siberian tiger in our backyard! It's okay - I took it out. They're going to grow up stronger and more resilient for it. And if they ever play organized sports, they'll probably have far worse (of course, their mother will need sedatives at that point).

And I'll grow up too. I have an amazing healing grace that pours over me. It heals, restores and gives me strength to believe the truth. I am not bad, for I have God's righteousness. I do fail, but I have power in me to succeed. And whatever fault I have, God forgives me.

And that's even more comforting that Motrin, hot chocolate and a good stiff drink.