For the explanation of these posts, and all other entries from my mom, please go here.

Dearest Children,

Don’t wait for the other person to do it and avoid responsibility. 36 People watched as a man killed a woman and didn’t even phone the police. When asked, they said they didn’t want to get involved. When you were born, children, you became involved. There is nothing you can do about that fact. If the dog needs feeding and you are close, even if it is someone else’s turn, you must not let the dog go hungry. “You ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.”

Being involved and doing the Christian thing is not as some preachers say not an assurance of health, wealth, and happiness. A minister said, “religion is not an inoculation.” Being involved led to Jesus’ death and Martin Luther King’s and the Kennedy’s .

For the explanation of these posts, and all other entries from my mom, please go here.

Dearest Children,

Here is a saying your Grandma Seymour sent, which I like especially – “One thing we can do for our children’s future – give them fine memories of today.”

There was a time when I felt overwhelmed by all the babies! I had 5 babies/toddlers and life seemed so tense! There was disciplining, sicknesses, feeding everyone, gardening, disciplining, canning, cleaning, laundry, dishes, homeschooling the eldest, and more discipleship! My head was spinning, as I was just trying to find time to take a shower and/or read my Bible and give my husband the attention he needed.

It was about this time that the Lord gave us twins! I remember saying, “Lord, I am VERY contented with 7, thank You very much! If you chose to close my womb now, I’d be contented, indeed.” A short time after, the Lord gave us Maddy, a stillborn at 20 weeks. All of a sudden, we were in shock! We had taken our fertility for granted, because things always seemed to go so well. Then, after Maddy, there was Michael, a miscarriage at 16 weeks. We didn’t want anymore! We didn’t want the pain that came with the losses!

Well, after some time had passed, God did bless us with another. She is 4 years apart from the twins. Oh how God is good in His sovereignty! See, we had lost focus because we let the business, the stresses, the here and now get in the way of our view…the bigger picture. It’s easy to do this when toddlers are pulling and tugging at you every which way. It’s always time to nurse and grocery shopping is a nightmare!

Be diligent with discipline and you will see the fruits of your labors as the quiver increases….*if* God chooses to increase it, and lastly, don’t take your fertility for granted. Love each of those sweeties…take time to read to them and play with them, and enjoy them. Not everyone is able to have a precious baby. God knows what’s best for YOU.

I have been reading Withhold Not Correction. The last time I read it was about 18 years ago.

The author lays out specifics on the actual way to discipline, very similar to the Lindvall article/audio we have in the articles area at cmomb’s forum, but then he gave a brief outline, which I thought helpful and easy to remember:

These are the basic questions to be asked of the child to use this as a training moment.

What did you do? (specifically)

What does God say about this?

Was what you did right or wrong according to the Scriptures?

What happens when you disobey?

What must I do as a parent under God’s authority?

What ought you to do in the future?

We will, of course, have to adjust the details of such a discussion to suit the different ages and circumstances of our children, but the thrust of what we must say must be the same whether we are dealing with a child of fourteen months or fourteen years. Little children and big children, even grown children, must hear words that tell them why they are being disciplined by their parents, or by the Lord.

We have not had a television since we came to Christ almost 18 years ago (next month). The only regret we have is that we didn’t use it for target practice, but instead, sold it at a garage sale. ~smile~

We have never regretted the decision to remove it from our home. We have found that we haven’t really missed anything.

We read the book, HOME INVADERS, which was a real eye opener for us at that time (we read it AFTER getting rid of the tube). Further, we wanted to have no appearance of evil in our home. It’s not just the language, it’s the content. The entertainment factor…the flitting of the pictures…gotta keep things going and entertaining. Since then, we’ve heard how bad television has actually gotten in the last 18 years.

Can small children actually distinguish between what is appropriate and inappropriate? I have not found that they can.  They don’t have that discernment yet. And it might not make sense when one program is ok and another is not.

The television is a time sucker. I don’t know how I could get anything done! As it is, I have to be very good about limiting computer time. As for my children, we only allow 1/2 hour each day, except weekends, for something educational. A couple of them have their own web pages and have become very good at html and java. They are now working on creating graphics. We have only a couple games they may play *if* they earn their time (another half hour).

We replaced our television with a 30 gallon fish tank. It has been so nice! But no….we do not have our furniture all encircled around it.

We do not do videos, either. The children are all avid readers, to put it mildly! They are excellent at researching when they come across things of interest. They also take what they learn from audio tapes and books and create their own puppets and hold puppet shows. They have even made their own puppets. They checked out books, asked Mom and Dad what they sound like, etc. ~smile~

There are times when we would love to share educational things with the kids or especially good movies. We realize, however, that there are usually books that cover it all, anyway. Perhaps when our smaller ones are older, and are more able to discern, we could consider this. But right now, it wouldn’t work for us.

Oh yes! One thing we have missed! When we were visiting in Oregon several summers ago, some missionaries we support happened to have been in the state on furlough from Africa. We went to a church to hear them speak. While waiting, we realized they were going to show a video. After much whispering and private discussion, we whispered down the line of our 8 kids to “follow us”. We had been sitting in the front pew, btw. We left as quietly as our “Queen Mary” family could. Later, we heard that it was a good thing, as they work around natives that do not wear clothes! LOL Uh….my kids (boys especially) were NOT ready for that! LOL We were so thankful we left.

Unfortunately, so much of television, the bad pictures, the foul language, the attitudes, etc. flashes before your eyes before you have a chance to change a station…. the damage is already done. It’s too late. Images are sealed in the brain.

• The number of television sets in U.S. households in 2001: 248 million
• The percentage of households with at least one TV in 2001: 98.2%
• The average number of TVs per home in 2001: 2.4
• The projected number of hours that adults (age 18 and older) will watch television in 2004: 1,669 (This is the equivalent of about 70 days.)
• The percentage of people age 18 and over who said they watched television in the spring of 2002: 94.3%
• Older Americans (age 65 and over) were more likely to be glued to the tube (97 percent) than any other age group.
• The projected spending per person for cable and satellite TV in 2004: $255.18
• The estimated average monthly rate for cable TV in 2002: $34.71
• The number of stores that primarily sold televisions and other electronic equipment in 2001: 21,724
• The annual payroll for the 245,000 employees of 6,692 cable TV networks and program distribution firms in the United States in 2001: $11.7 billion
• The number of television broadcasting networks and stations in the United States in 2001: 1,937

– Source: United States Census Bureau, March 2004