Share the Love God has shared with you
Share the love. We are all qualified to teach the younger – and the older if we don’t over-step out boundaries. We can all be mentors to someone. Even if you don’t realize it, you already are! I think a major spot to start, is with mentoring or teaching, out siblings in a loving manner. God desires us to start in the home. For brothers and sisters to work together in harmony. We’re not going to have that perfect relationship, if we all don’t try. It is possible. The world will tell you and show you, that it is not though.
Siblings are often portrayed as annoyances, and pests. But God meant for us to love one another and work together. I’m reading, “Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends” by Sarah, Stephen and Grace Mally, and I have found it amazingly true, helpful and good. Though the funny thing is, my older sister and I used to not like the book at all. I’ll let you in on a secret. When we were younger, our Mom would take out this books and read a chapter, or section, everytime Dallas and I would fight. And so it was meant to teach us not to fight, but it just caused my sister and I never to like it. I decided to give it another try now that I am 14. I truthfully don’t remember much about the book when we read it before, except thinking that they were so perfect and no one can be that perfect. And dreading the book when it was removed from the shelf….! Anyway, now that I am reading it, I am thinking differently about my sisters, and how God made us for each other.
This is a quote in the book that I thought was neat: “Be a learner from the big ones, a teacher to the small ones, and a servant to all.” – Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends. It is not always easy to keep a perfect relationship, but it is very rewarding to do it and have it! Then there is also that verse in the Bible that says: “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in faith, purity,” 1 Timothy 4:12 We are to be an example to all. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven. (Matt. 5:6)
Set a good example, be a godly role model, so that others will see you and want to be that way too! Be the person that others should want to be. Follow God, and trust Him to lead your way. If we all try hard enough, we can change the next generation. Share the love that God has shared with you! May God bless your day!
Love in Christ
~Raechel~
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Raechel is 14 years old, a strong Christian, she loves the family God blessed her with, and she enjoys doing a lot of things : ) You can find her blog here: On a Mission For the Lord
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Review : The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
[note from Laura: I understand that a review of this book may offend some people. If you have a problem with the fact we reviewed this book, please email me, do NOT leave a comment on this post or on Lauren's blog. Thank you.]
The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
My mom came home from the library one day with a book for my sister and I.
I think you can already guess the books title, by the blog post title :) It looked fairly interesting, and I'm pretty interested in Greek mythology. So I started to read it. ( What else do you do with a book?)
The book is about a twelve year old kid named Percy Jackson. Percy has been expelled from several schools, in the short period of time he's been to school. After being expelled from the final school, he went home to his mother's house. His mother informed him that they were going to the beach for the week(end). Percy finds Grover, a friend from school, and followed him the whole way. A storm is brewing. Grover warns Percy about certain things, and Percy mother, Sally, sees the danger also. She takes Percy, along with Grover, to a certain camp called Camp Half Blood. Along with being attacked by a Minotaur, they made it to the camp. Percy finds out that Grover is a satyr. He also meets a girl his age named Annabeth.
Annabeth, Grover, and Percy are sent on a mission to find Zeus's master bolt, which Chiron believes Hades stole. Percy and his friends discover different people, and a different world. Percy meets his true father, and in-counters numerous difficulties along the way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'd love to tell you much more, but I don't want to give away anything, as you might want to read it :)
So, hopefully my review was enough to get you interested! My younger sister Rachel, really liked the book also. And if you really like the first book, there are three more :) Maybe I'll do reviews on them next time!
Blessings
~Lauren
Monday, July 19, 2010
Foolish?
One thing I struggle with a lot with my younger siblings is how foolish they seem to be at times. My little seven year old sister goes getting into a craft kit because she wants to do it all by herself instead of waiting for someone to help her? How dumb. My ten year old brother tries to fix himself something to eat instead of waiting for Mum or I to come help him? Get real. Just about every day, at least one of my little brothers or sisters do something that makes them look childish and immature and me grownup and very mature.
Until I realized something. I was once like that.
Yes, I was once seven years old and headstrong. [if you want me to be honest, I still am headstrong. But that's beside the point.] In fact, when I was about three years old, I made a habit of locking myself in bedrooms and refusing to open the door. Poor Mum had to call the fire station or police to come get the door open. I often locked myself in the bathroom and would then proceed to loudly shout "I'm the BOSS, boos, boss, boss." and would not unlock the door until I had done this several times.
But my point is not to sit here and tell you how awful I was growing up. ;-) It is to let you know, next time you get mad at your little brother or sister for throwing balls in the house or making a mess, that you were once like that too. You made mistakes. You still make mistakes, but this time you are old enough to LEARN from your mistakes. So don't be angry, try to understand.
Do tell: has there ever been a time where you wanted to be upset over something foolish your brother or sister did, but you chose not to? How did your sibling feel? How did you feel?
Blessings,
~Laura
Galatians 5: 22-23 --
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
James 1: 19 --
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
Until I realized something. I was once like that.
Yes, I was once seven years old and headstrong. [if you want me to be honest, I still am headstrong. But that's beside the point.] In fact, when I was about three years old, I made a habit of locking myself in bedrooms and refusing to open the door. Poor Mum had to call the fire station or police to come get the door open. I often locked myself in the bathroom and would then proceed to loudly shout "I'm the BOSS, boos, boss, boss." and would not unlock the door until I had done this several times.
But my point is not to sit here and tell you how awful I was growing up. ;-) It is to let you know, next time you get mad at your little brother or sister for throwing balls in the house or making a mess, that you were once like that too. You made mistakes. You still make mistakes, but this time you are old enough to LEARN from your mistakes. So don't be angry, try to understand.
Do tell: has there ever been a time where you wanted to be upset over something foolish your brother or sister did, but you chose not to? How did your sibling feel? How did you feel?
Blessings,
~Laura
Galatians 5: 22-23 --
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
James 1: 19 --
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Innocence and Good Stuff
There is something oddly horrible about an older sibling who doesn't take into regard the tender feelings of his/her younger sibling. I've been to many a house where the older siblings vented a chance to abuse their maturity and ran headfirst into a graphic explanation of a wound or a dead animal (we used to homechurch with large families on farms) and time after time, I've heard of little girls hiding their faces in pillows at a scary movie because, quite frankly, the older sibling was too lazy to fast forward or change the channel. Innocence is something that we older siblings should want to preserve and it's a huge responsibility, but when you pay attention to what might be crawling into your younger siblings' heads, it becomes second nature. It would be as easy as kindly asking a friend to stop talking about a subject you know is disturbing to a younger one, or previewing a movie before you all watch it, or sparing the graphic details of that dead snake you found in the barn to inform the parents about later. It's up to the parents and to us bigger kids to make sure that mature themes, disturbing mental content and downright dangerous topics don't worm their way into heads too little to hold all that meat.
It is true that we want to bred a certain sense of maturity and respect for taboo topics ("Johnny, I don't want you saying stupid because it's a bad word, okay?" "Annie, stay away from the fireplace because it might burn your fingers if you get too close.") but scaring our siblings into obedience or impressing them with our broad knowledge of a dissection or a PG-13 movie is not the answer. Steer them away from troubling topics and don't frighten them into submission. It's true that some special situations, such as an ill family member or a subject little minds keep wandering to, should engender a larger discussion and they should understand the gravity of a situation and what they should no do in order to avoid making the situation worse, but it should end there. We have a job as older siblings to teach our younger ones to love the good in life, and while we should be wary of what they allow into their hearts, they will develop a sense of right and wrong as we teach them to recognize the bad and to run from it, diving into the arms of grace and helping them if they stumble or disobey. Innocence is something intimately precious and something that is lost all too easily in this day and age; let's make it a habit to pay close attention and not to be careless about protecting our younger siblings, being someone they truly learn to look up to, to take shelter in, a hand to hold if they are frightened.
If you have any suggestions as an older sibling to an older sibling about how we can take steps to keep little minds fixed on "good stuff", please let us know! Or if you're a younger sibling and remember a time when you were helped by the "editing" protection of your older sibling, tell us!
It is true that we want to bred a certain sense of maturity and respect for taboo topics ("Johnny, I don't want you saying stupid because it's a bad word, okay?" "Annie, stay away from the fireplace because it might burn your fingers if you get too close.") but scaring our siblings into obedience or impressing them with our broad knowledge of a dissection or a PG-13 movie is not the answer. Steer them away from troubling topics and don't frighten them into submission. It's true that some special situations, such as an ill family member or a subject little minds keep wandering to, should engender a larger discussion and they should understand the gravity of a situation and what they should no do in order to avoid making the situation worse, but it should end there. We have a job as older siblings to teach our younger ones to love the good in life, and while we should be wary of what they allow into their hearts, they will develop a sense of right and wrong as we teach them to recognize the bad and to run from it, diving into the arms of grace and helping them if they stumble or disobey. Innocence is something intimately precious and something that is lost all too easily in this day and age; let's make it a habit to pay close attention and not to be careless about protecting our younger siblings, being someone they truly learn to look up to, to take shelter in, a hand to hold if they are frightened.
If you have any suggestions as an older sibling to an older sibling about how we can take steps to keep little minds fixed on "good stuff", please let us know! Or if you're a younger sibling and remember a time when you were helped by the "editing" protection of your older sibling, tell us!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Augh!
Okay, I am terribly sorry for not posting anything. On Saturday I became really sick with the stomach flu [or something nasty like that], and was not able to get on the computer until last last night, where I realized "oh shoot! I never posted here!" so yes.
Since the links are confusing and annoying, basically, here's what's going on concerning the mini-challenge. If you write, or have written, a post about your sibling[s] before July 12th, leave it in a comment in THIS POST. The Monday after that, July 19th, I will post my four favourite posts: two posts about a brother, two posts about a sister. There will be a vote for the two best posts, which you can vote in! So, does that all make sense? Yes. Good. Email me if you have any questions!
Blessings and apologies for any confusion,
~Laura
Since the links are confusing and annoying, basically, here's what's going on concerning the mini-challenge. If you write, or have written, a post about your sibling[s] before July 12th, leave it in a comment in THIS POST. The Monday after that, July 19th, I will post my four favourite posts: two posts about a brother, two posts about a sister. There will be a vote for the two best posts, which you can vote in! So, does that all make sense? Yes. Good. Email me if you have any questions!
Blessings and apologies for any confusion,
~Laura
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Picnics
We live in a modern age, where practically any ailment has some sort of prescribed medicine. Lest I begin ranting about how much money is wasted on mock "people-mending", when all we really need is a slap on the back and a couple pieces of chocolate, I'll state here that the pioneer in child psychology and home education, Ms. Charlotte Mason from England, had many views on many things and one of these views consisted of the healing power in sunshine. Whenever someone at my house falls ill, Mom "prescribes" sunshine. Sunshine is a beautiful thing, mellow and steeping or harsh and blaring on your eyeballs, and all those bottles of sunscreen should be thrown out the nearest window. Nothing is more nourishing than running around under the glow of sunshine and letting it permeate your skin.
The weather where I live has been blissful, breezy and cool in the mornings, growing into a sunny afternoon with the light chasing off any shadows lingering over from the night before. Naturally, long summer afternoons mean only one logical thing: picnics! My sisters and I have had several pleasant picnics out in the yard, sitting on a quilted blanket one of our relatives gave us as a present. My suggestion this week is to have your siblings flock together, prepare some finger foods or a simple meal that won't ruin your blanket or spill easily, and spend time warding off ants and enjoying your meal in the healthy sunshine.
Some suggestions for good picnic foods: small sandwiches, such as cream cheese and chive or ham and cheese; hamburgers; stir fried rice; tortilla wraps with chicken salad or tomato-basil-white cheese chunks; macaroni in plastic bowls; even a brunch with cut fruit, scones or muffins, juice in paper cups...picnics are extremely versatile, just like tea parties (see my most recent post), so have fun with this! And don't constrict picnics to summertime; one of my favorite memories is a picnic my family and I had when my older sister came to visit. It was near Christmas and we'd gone to a public park with sandwiches, only to find the temperature dropped from when we'd piled into the car. We ate our picnic in the back of the van, shivering and giggling.
Tell us about your picnic plans or experiences you've had with them. Note that funny stories about failed picnics would add a fun twist to our post! Please give us some feedback if you have something to share, we'd love to hear from you!
The weather where I live has been blissful, breezy and cool in the mornings, growing into a sunny afternoon with the light chasing off any shadows lingering over from the night before. Naturally, long summer afternoons mean only one logical thing: picnics! My sisters and I have had several pleasant picnics out in the yard, sitting on a quilted blanket one of our relatives gave us as a present. My suggestion this week is to have your siblings flock together, prepare some finger foods or a simple meal that won't ruin your blanket or spill easily, and spend time warding off ants and enjoying your meal in the healthy sunshine.
Some suggestions for good picnic foods: small sandwiches, such as cream cheese and chive or ham and cheese; hamburgers; stir fried rice; tortilla wraps with chicken salad or tomato-basil-white cheese chunks; macaroni in plastic bowls; even a brunch with cut fruit, scones or muffins, juice in paper cups...picnics are extremely versatile, just like tea parties (see my most recent post), so have fun with this! And don't constrict picnics to summertime; one of my favorite memories is a picnic my family and I had when my older sister came to visit. It was near Christmas and we'd gone to a public park with sandwiches, only to find the temperature dropped from when we'd piled into the car. We ate our picnic in the back of the van, shivering and giggling.
Tell us about your picnic plans or experiences you've had with them. Note that funny stories about failed picnics would add a fun twist to our post! Please give us some feedback if you have something to share, we'd love to hear from you!
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