Daily Archives: May 23, 2013

2 posts

Mommy, will a tornado come to our house?

Your children may have questions about the destructive tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma this past Monday.  Your answer to these questions will impact the way your children think about God. When something good happens like an unexpected gift or news that a biopsy was benign, it is not difficult to say that God is good. When someone who is obviously evil  experiences judgement it is also easy to talk about the goodness and justice of God.  But what about when the third massive tornado strikes the same town in 15 years?  This  third storm, an EF5 tornado, leveled neighborhoods and took the lives of children in their elementary school. Is God still good and just? What do you tell your […]

Parentspeak

It is much easier to speak first, thinking you will listen later. But often, speaking first means losing the opportunity to listen at all. It is hard to be a good listener. The pressing issues of everyday life are obstacles to good, everyday listening. You can become so focused on your own problems that you fail to be a good listener. This sort of preoccupation leads to what I call parentspeak. Parentspeak is talking without listening. This is the sort of everyday talk that damages your relationship with your kids. Most parents do this at times, sometimes without even being conscious of it. Here is an example of parentspeak. See if this conversation sounds at all familiar to you. You […]