luckylexy

I agree. God made us all so unique and special. I don't even know my own heart completely, let alone the heart of another. I think the danger here begins when we start thinking on an egocentric level. We each like to think that we have some rare knowledge and insight that no one else has ever conceived of. We become so convinced of the supposed value of our little musings, that we feel compelled to show it off by judging others. We presume a base of intentions in someone's heart, based on our "superior" thinking. We are so sure that we know exactly what they are doing and why... As the old saying goes (and I will quote this wrong, I'm sure, because I'm terrible at remembering how it goes): You never really know another man until you've walked a mile in his shoes. We are not omniscient. Thinking that we are, or that we could be, or should be, is buying into the same lie that Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. We need to remember our humanity: our uniqueness, our beauty, our failings, our desperate need for a Saviour. In these things we are alike. Knowing this can help us to have a little more compassion... I have a complicated story, which you know a bit of from our convo. a couple days ago. Having people judge me and make false assumptions has really helped to think of the error in my own ways in this area. We can look at the facts of someone's situations or actions, and can think that we know exactly what is going on. But, it rarely is what it seems. I think we can each take a look at our own lives and remember a time when a presumption was made about us that really hurt. Examining this can help us come to the realization that our lives and our hearts look so much different on the outside than they do from the inside. So, when we see that homeless guy on the street corner, or that lady screaming at her child in the store, we can be sure that what we saw is not the complete reality, and not the person's heart. We are seeing a few puzzle pieces. Unless we know a person well, we have no business inserting some false pieces into the puzzle and then projecting our presumptions out into the open. We can pray about these things... We can say to another person: I observed _____ and I have some concerns... Would you like to talk about what is going on? I think it is kinder to invite another to share their heart with us in this manner, rather than to presume. Okay... I'm done now...lol Time to go check on my babies again :-)

Trusting is so hard... You are in my prayers, friend.

Well, the problems have all been resolved! My java app. was not working and had to be reinstalled. It seemed like that might be it, but, because it was working just last week, I was like "nah..." user error... *sigh* I feel embarassed now...

As much as I appreciate George's appearance, I would never vote him into political office. He is very nice to look at though!

IE6 Do you think that's the problem?

This is is very disconcerting. I'm pregnant with baby #1, and my fiance and I are currently searching for a good ped. My fiance is a physician, but, for ethical reasons, we need to find a doc. other than him for the baby. Reading stories like this just makes me cringe though, not that I don't want to know about this stuff, it just makes me leery, ya know? I would want my daughter to feel comfortable telling her doc. if something was amiss in the home, but think that docs. pumping children for that kind of info., w/out any reasonable cause, is definitely inappropriate. And, I would NEVER leave my child alone w/ the doc. in the exam room! Thanks for posting this, Emily-Anne. Something else to add to the list of questions to ask prospective docs...

Okay, so I'm trying to figure stuff out on my own, but am having major problems here: 1) The drop-down menus (with the triangle on the right-hand side) don't work for me. I'm not able to add comments or view the options on user profiles, and can't use the feature on the lower left of a thread where you can jump to a certain page. 2) I can't access the tabs on profiles. I think there are like 5 of them. They're blue, and they're right above where it shows the most recent threads that the person has started. I assume that something is supposed to happen when I click on the tabs, but nothing does! 3) I can't get into chat. I go to the login page, and enter my name and pw. Then, it spits out this response that I need to register, or, if I've already registered, that I need to validate my account. 4) I can't get into the ladies forum. I input the password, and it pulls up the message that I am authorized to access the forum, but then just kicks me back to the login page. And my cookies are enabled. I even added Worthy to the "always allow" thing on my internet options. 5) Is there a shortcut for BB code? The BB Code Help link doesn't work for me. I know how to make stuff bold and whatnot, but it's time-consuming to manually type in the code! I'm getting frustrated. Somebody please help me!

Thanks to those who responded so far. You've given me some good ideas to ponder. The kids are 1st through 4th grade. It's hard because I never know which kids will show up and whether or not I'll have non-readers. I'm designing my own curriculum, because of budget constraints, and because of the age range. The curriculum I'm designing is very hands-on. It is interactive, with activities, games, and crafts. Right now we're studying the Book of Daniel, with an emphasis on obedience--how it stems from trusting God and how it a way that we practice our faith everyday. The kids will interrupt me while I'm presenting the story and say things like, "I want to go home; I don't like you, " "I know this story. Pick another one," or, "I hate Bible stories. I wish you'd be quiet!" I've thought about a reward system, and, with the ideas presented here, will implement one this coming Sunday. I was thinking that maybe I could get some of those "gold" coins that they have in the party favour section at the store. I could give each kid so many coins to start with, and then take them away as they disobey the rules. We've already had several discussions about the rules. I made a poster with the rules and tacked it up on the classroom wall. I have had a discussion with the parents, but it didn't go well because they won't acknowledge that there is a problem. They told me that I needed to learn how to discern normal child behaviour from defiance... When I tell a kid 3 times to stop interrupting while we're praying or something, and they keep doing it, that is defiance. The boundary is clear, and the kid keeps crossing it. How can the parents not see that? The Sunday before last, I had to send one of the children upstairs to sit with his parents because he couldn't settle down. The Pastor's wife was down there trying to help me with this child, and she couldn't get him to listen to me either! *sigh* Anyhow, I think that pretty much addresses what has been posted thus far. Any further feedback is appreciated! :-)

Trisha-anne, This is such a hard thing, and something that I've struggled with also, over the years. As Sierra said, you need people around you who will help you grow closer to God and feel good. As far as discernment goes... Open up slowly to people... Get to know them, their attitudes, their responses, etc. before sharing "heavy" stuff. Pray during this time, both by yourself and with your new friend. Don't be cold or closed-off, but go slow. As far as judging goes... You can acknowledge sin, forgive it, and modify your "ground rules" and boundaries with someone without venturing into the area of judging another. It's a fine line, but it can be done. You can simply say: It really upset me when you _____. I forgive you, and I still love you, but I want to see you turn away from these hurtful behaviours. I'm going to pray for you and I want you to keep me updated on how you're doing. I need to see that you're making progress in this area before the trust can be restored in our relationship. Until then, I need to set a few boundaries.... I think that "real" friends in this life a few, but that's okay! A true friend will not want to hurt you and will want a mutually encouraging relationship, where you can both point each other towards Christ. I think you can weed out those who will not make good friends by keeping the focus on God. Those who won't be true friends will likely just start leaving you alone! Hope this helps a little :-)

Very neat! I have a similar list of verses from a conference I attended, but it isn't in the shape of a bell. This would be neat on a Christmas card, I think. You could print that out on the front of the card and then embelish it with some fun stuff! Maybe I could do that with my Sunday School class!

I started going to a small church a couple months ago. Because I have experience in Kids' ministry and really enjoy working with children, I was recruited immediately. Well, the class has 3-7 students in it. The three regulars are siblings. Their former teacher did not establish any structure and let them have free-time for the entire session! So, we are having a difficult period of transition! The kids are disprectful and rude. They tell me that they hate what I've planned (even the activities and games) and even interrupt when I'm praying! Their Mother does not back me up and just makes excuses for her children... I want to teach the kids about God and have fun too, but these kids are driving me up the wall! HELP! edit: grrr... I made a typo. in my title and it won't let me edit it...

Awesome! I'm going to bookmark these links.

I read the Psalms when I have trouble praying. Seeing David's humanity, and his feelings of guilt, etc., then seeing how he works through those feelings and comes into the Lord's presence, is a real encouragement to me!

The 12 steps are good. I memorized Philippians 2:1-11 a few years ago. Being able to call that passage up in my mind really helps me to stay mindful in the area of humility.

Think of it in contrast to speaking into someone's head: practical, logical, intellectual, Q&A interaction, Mr. Fix-it approach... When you speak into someone's life, you offer encouragement, advice, etc. on a deeper level. You develop a relationship. You walk in his shoes, share his hurts and joys, and shower him with compassion. You breathe a bit of Jesus into his existence. You're not offering a solution; you are offering the joy and comfort that overflows from a Jesus-filled heart.