"Honey, Which Drawer Do You Keep the Girls In?"

In a Basket

The Rod

"He who withholds his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him diligently."
Prov 13:24

"Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of discipline will remove it far from him."
Prov 22:15

"Do not hold back discipline from the child,
Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
You shall strike him with the rod
And rescue his soul from Sheol."
Prov 23:13-14

"The rod and reproof give wisdom,
But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother."
Prov 29:15

We receive a lot of criticism for our use of the rod. But Scripture has made it clear that this is the instrument used to "rescue his soul from Sheol," to impart wisdom and to drive foolishness far from our children. We do not use the rod with anger and malice, but out of love. The more consistent I am to use it, the more infrequent my anger interferes with our discipline sessions.

When Jeramy answered phones for the police department, he would often get calls from the same parents wanting the police to come and discipline their misbehaving children. One child in particular was around 8 or 10 years old! What will happen when that child becomes older? Those parents will live with the shame of a lawless, disrespectful, insubordinate adult child who may end up dead or in prison. What a disservice Christian parents show their children when they don't discipline as the Scripture mandates, as often as needed. I love my children. I spank my children.

Eight-Point Deer!

We always see the does in our yard at all kinds of morning hours eating our shrubbery. This is the first time Jeramy and I have seen a buck in our yard. He appeared very late in the morning - about 10 a.m. I was shocked to see him greet me when I returned home from my 13 week ultrasound!

Holiday Pictures

Ultrasound in My Pocket

Last week I went in for an ultrasound to check on the baby after a little spotting over the weekend. There were only 2 days of spotting and I haven't had any since then. The baby was moving a lot and gave me a lot of relief from worry. I was 13 weeks at the time. I'm 14 weeks now and I've delayed on posting this. I can tell that by the shape of the baby's head, he or she will look more like Jeramy, like Lily does.

Why We Don't Buy Toys . . .

They did this for 45 minutes!

All the toys they have are given by grandparents and aunts. We can count on one finger the number of toys we've purchased for them. Often I go through their toy baskets and pick out those things that don't work anymore and what they're not playing with. They either get chucked or donated. This helps eliminate clutter too.

Pack 'Em Up

Fuzzy Pink Hat