Parenting
« Previous EntriesThe Importance of Grandparents, Part 2
Monday, April 28th, 2008Andrew, my oldest of 4 children, who by the way is getting married in a week, was in 7th grade. As with so many boys that age he decided that home work was an option. Despite the best attempts of teachers his mother and even his educator father, Andy continued to have missing homework assignments [...]
Seed Corn
Thursday, April 10th, 2008It has been some time since I have walked through Illinois corn fields with my dog. I love the Pennsylvania rolling hills and green trees but every once in a while I do miss the vastness of acre upon acre of corn.
For the most part the acres of corn are never touched by a farmer’s [...]
The Three Legged Stool
Monday, March 31st, 2008I have been reading the book Prude by Carol Platt Liebau. It has been a real eye opener for me. As the father of three girls I have been angered at how a large portion of our culture has bombarded our girls with message after message telling them that only sad, unintelligent, ugly people keep [...]
Some things God Does Not Want Us To Know
Monday, March 24th, 2008Years ago when I would study a subject I would gather as many Scriptures on the subject as I could. I would then read and re-read those Scriptures until I could see a clear pattern or a clear Biblical instruction.
Here are some Scriptures on what God does not want us (or our children) to know.
I [...]
Do We Teach Our Children To Lie?
Monday, February 25th, 2008My daughter Alli pointed me to this excellent blog entry from Albert Mohler, author of Culture Shift. In it he challenges us to think about a topic we would rather push under the rug - that of lying. It is an excellent read.
http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=1101
May God’s grace and peace be with you,
Mark Strohm
Encourage Your Child To Reach For Great Hights
Saturday, November 24th, 2007My father loved baseball and due to complaining about a lack of something to do, at age nine I was required to play little league. Three years later I found myself on a competitive team with a coach who had something to prove. This coach yelled and belittled his players. For example, speaking so those [...]
Parenting Isn’t For Cowards
Sunday, November 4th, 2007As a school principal, I meet with parents weekly who talk to me about their difficulties in parenting. Boys getting into punching matches while dad is away on business, girls sneaking online to post swear words on their friend’s sites, children stealing items from stores, and the list goes on. I listen to parents of [...]
School and Routines
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007In counseling with parents whose families are suffering from lack of routines, I have observed that they often believe the circumstances that lead to the chaos are outside of their control. While life’s circumstances occasionally force us to put aside routines for a time, typically those circumstances are temporary. It is often within our power [...]
Non Punitive Parenting?
Saturday, September 8th, 2007I have noticed a rise in websites and discussion groups where it appears young parents are proclaiming they have come up with a superior way of raising their children. The difference between this group and a very similar group from the 60’s - this group is using a few Scriptures and the “grace” theology as [...]
Is This Important Work?
Sunday, August 12th, 2007When our children were very young, my wife would sometimes look deep into my eyes and say “I think I am losing it! I need to speak to adults and remember how to hold a normal adult conversation.”
No wonder she would question her sanity. She was in hand to hand combat all day with two [...]