Loving People - Dancing With My Father

Six Words that Modeled Chivalry (#chivalrymovement)

admin — Wed, 31 May 2017 00:36:02 +0000

Six little words. “Can I help you with that?” He coupled them with a welcoming smile, and a hand reached out to grab a door handle, on the way into the coffee shop where he was training to be a barista. The ladies he spoke them to were so taken aback, they were nearly speechless. Now, my second-born is 19. He’s got tattoos and a motorcycle and he was wearing a black leather jacket. This might have caused the reaction, or it might be (as he believed) a sign of the stark lack of gentlemanly behavior that exists (or doesn’t) in our current culture. But when that young man spoke words of kindness to two women in a coffee shop, he crossed a cultural line of expectation and opened a door for genuine conversation, real connection, and sharing the love of God. I’m raising five arrows – four young men and a lady, and we value honoring others with our words and actions. We’re all broken people and sometimes we shock ourselves with our ability to be impatient or rude when we’re inconvenienced, but overall, I see my children intentional about courteous behavior, because it’s something we expect, and […]

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Survival Tips For a Busy Family

Angela Sackett — Mon, 08 May 2017 06:17:14 +0000

Our family is rolling into a crazy busy season. We’ve got two young adult sons coming home to work for the summer. One is bringing a “significant other” who will live with us for a short time (and we are kicking our son out for that brief window, parents that we are). Two kiddos will be traveling and working elsewhere for a month. Throughout the summer we’re getting spoiled with visits from out-of-town friends. I’m working on a mom-and-me Bible study and trying to write a book, while my husband leads in ministry at a very busy camp and conference center. We have a LOT on our plates, and sometimes it feels like it’s too much. Some things get dropped when other things get added to the calendar, but through it all, our desire is to honor God and to honor relationship, first in our marriage and family, and then in connecting with others for intentional relationship. There are a few survival tips for a busy family that we’ve learned and are forever re-learning – not just to survive, but to thrive. Do it the night before. If you can do it before you go to bed, do it. How […]

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Dear Momma | Parenting With Courage and Saying No

Angela Sackett — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 08:22:10 +0000

Somehow, in our world, we’ve gotten the idea that saying “no,” that disagreeing, is a bad thing. We forget that when our babies are little, saying “no” to playing with the electrical outlet, to running into the street without us, to going in over over our heads when we can’t swim, is necessary for survival. We begin to think, early on, that being “friends” means nodding blithely to everything our children ask. We don’t want to upset them, we don’t want them to think we’re not their allies, and we definitely don’t want them to think we are “strict” compared to other parents. Somehow, we start to believe that parenting with courage is a bad thing. We get scared that telling kids no is bad parenting. I’ve written before about fear in parenting. I think it’s our own insecurity raising its ugly head, when we hesitate to do the hard thing because we’re afraid of our children being upset at us. But what is it that makes us think, in our world, and even within the realm of those who claim to be Christians (meaning, proclaim to follow Christ, using the Bible as their authority for life), that “saying no,” […]

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