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Strong Vs. Safe Christian Kids

I've been reading the book Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel. So far it's been a decent read, but I was really struck with the section that describes how many Christian families want to raise "safe" Christian kids. This is done by essentially raising them in a bubble -- Christian schools, Christian friends, protection from the evils of the world, and so on.

Kimmel tells the story of a Christian college that sent some students on a missions trip. One student was injured on the trip; her mother sued the school. And won. While I don't know the specifics of this event, it really struck me as being an interesting and disturbing shift in Christian thought. And it also left me aching at the shallowness of some peoples' faith (including my own). And it challenged me to consider risking everything in order to share God's love with others, to live a life that rests and relies completely on Him, and to treasure following God above my own safety.

Kimmel's own daughter was planning on going on a missions trip in Haiti with a group from her Christian college. At the time, Haiti was placed on the U.S. State Department's travelers alert. A parent called the college and said they should cancel the trip because it was unsafe. The school responded that many places where missions were most needed were on the travelers alert list. The parent asked if the university was prepared to guarantee the safety of their daughter. And threatened a lawsuit if anything did happen to her daughter. The school was backed into a financial and legal corner and ended up canceling the trip. (Why the mom didn't just pull her own kid from the trip I don't know...)

How did Kimmel's daughter respond? She went to Haiti on her own, brought the supplies the school had gathered with her, and returned the following summer to continue work.

I hope that I can raise my children to be strong and reliant on Christ. Though I would be so grieved if anything happened to my children on the mission field, my joy would be overwhelming to know that their hope rested in God.

Recognizing Gender Differences

Today at Musikgarten I noticed more gender differences in our budding toddlers. In a class of 3 boys and 3 girls, there were clear things that boys and girls did differently. First, the boys were more likely to run away from the group to explore the room. Actually, I never saw the girls do this, but us moms of boys were constantly up on our feet to retrieve our little guys.

The other thing is that all of the boys, at least twice each (or about nine-million times for Caleb) kept going over to examine the door stop on the back of the door. They never saw each other doing this, but would in their own time notice it and then squat down to flip it up and down. Two of the boys were also very interested in the under-parts of the folding table, one piece would make a clinking sound. There seemed to be this deep boy interest in exploring and figuring out how things worked.

The other boy difference I noticed is that Caleb and one of the other boys are obsessed with trying to find the remote control for the CD player. If the teacher has it, they try to get it (sometimes both at once!). If she sets it down, one of them will inevitably escape his mother and nab it before taking off towards the door. Caleb will take it and point it at the CD player while pushing buttons (I really have to be fast at catching this one!). His mother and I usually mumble something about "his dad loves technology" before whisking our child away and trying to distract him with something else.

The girls, seriously, all stay near their mothers and participate in class with the singing, playing with stuffed kitties, jingling little bells, and playing peek-a-boo with colored scarves.

I encourage my son to participate in the class as much as I can and strive to show him benefits that come from both male and female. At home we have toys from both genders as well as gender-neutral ones. He observes me more than he observes dad (because I'm home with him all day), but is definitely getting strong influence from both genders.

However much we'd like to believe that gender differences don't exist, it's so apparent when observing little ones that they do exist. It just brings out the complementarian in me even more.

Caleb Gives a High-Five

Caleb Gives a High-Five from Steph Lewis on Vimeo.

Many Happy Returns! Or, I'm 30!

Yes, I'm 30 now. It doesn't feel older or weird or anything like that.

I went on an exciting adventure with Josh on Monday to get my birthday present. We had a mix-up with cars so I borrowed my parents' SUV to go get Josh in Minneapolis then down to IKEA to buy my birthday cabinet. Well, part way down the freeway some guy pulls alongside me and starts gesturing. I didn't catch the gesture, but figured he was just some sick-o.

So, I exit on 4th Ave. and suddenly smell gasoline. Then my car stops. In the middle of a one-way, four-lane, off ramp into the city. I look down and my gas is nearly on empty, even though it was full when I left my hometown. Like a total idiot, I started the car to drive less than 1/2 block to get the car out of traffic. A cop pulled me over and used the speaker-dealy from his car to shout, "Is your ignition off? Shut your ignition off!"

I shut off my car and went over to talk to the cop. I asked him if my car was going to explode. He said, "I don't know, but they always did on Chips!"

I had to wait for the fire department to come. The fire chief asked me how long my gas tank had been leaking, and I told him probably down a fair amount of the freeway. He grinned and said, "I supposed we could just light a match to find out!" We didn't light a match, but that would have been bad and awesome at the same time if we did.

Anyway, after a $100 mandatory tow out of the city, my dad and brother came and got the car (from a ghetto-tastic part of North Minneapolis). We took the car my dad drove to go to Ikea, where my cabinet barely fit in the car. Got home late. Good times. Put the cabinet together on Tuesday and I love it! Woo!

The Lewis family had a nice gathering for me on Thursday with pizza & strawberry shortcake. My nieces made me and Caleb party necklaces to wear. I got two books that I've wanted (Stand & Valley of Vision) as well as a Canon Backpack for all of my photo gear. I had fun hanging out with them all.

On Saturday, the Whiting family came over to our house for some of my mom's lasagna, a beehive cake (yum!), and some good times. I got a Michael's giftcard, some clothes, and the cabinet that was mentioned previously.

I was thinking the other day about how I can have, as Brennan Manning would say, an "attitude of gratitude." This whole past year has included so many changes, but I am amazed at the blessings and love that has been showered on me. What a joy to be able to actually celebrate my birthday with my family, for the first time in many years. And what gratitude I feel to be so surrounded with so many people who love me.