MM -


Ooops...sorry. For some reason I thought you had 3 boys.


I know that feeling <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Our daughter just turned 4, but she knows that no matter how old or big she gets (she's going to dwarf me at the rate she's growing), she will always be my baby girl.

MM:

"So, if I found out my pastor didnt actually believe in Scripture, would it be okay for me to continue to send them to church and him preach to them...and let them make up their own minds?"

Well, you probably saw this coming... ...um, YES!

They're going 2 need 2 make up their own minds at some point.

-ol' 2long

Yeah...thanks. I have two boys and a girl. I'll give you an example on how frustrated they get sometimes with their sister and her relationship with me.

Last week, we were out and I decided we would just eat out. So, I began to ask them what they wanted for dinner. I got three different answers. So, I told them they had about 10 minutes to work it our amongst themselves. But, they couldnt. No one would bend.

So, I turned to my daughter and said "Where would you like to go?" And we went there. My youngest son, who is 8, cried out "Why do we have to go where she wants to go?"

I turned around and told him "Because she is a girl, because she is MY girl."

My boys have been taught to treat all females the way they should be treated. I tell them their sister is treated differently because she is indeed different. Sure, I dont let her abuse that (she has tried!!). But it has been a very valuable lesson for all three of them on what kind of relationship a man should have with a woman. The type of sacrificial love that a man should have for a woman. The kind of respect a woman should have for a man.

Now, I spend ALOT of tiem with my boys..at baseball...fishing...whatever. So, they get plenty of male bonding time with Dad. But they have learned that when it comes to me and my daughter...it will always be different.

In His arms.

I did see it coming, 2Long. I actually thought you might chime in.

I dont believe this to be true. I dotn need my kids to try every church (Islam, Judaism, Christian, etc) so that they can make up their own mind. Just as I dont need them to make up their own minds whether 2+2=4. If they answer 5, they are wrong. and I must guide them back to the right answer. It is why I am the adult.

Same goes for that pastor in my example. I will raise my children in the truth. My oldest actually came to me recently and asked about why other religions are wrong, even though so many believe in what they believe. I didnt just dismiss him by saying "because I told you so." I began to reason with him, to show him what they stood for and believed. And then went back to what he has been taught all of his life. And then asked him..."now what do you think?"

You see, adultery is wrong. My kids will understand that. What my wife and the Troll has done is wrong. Them marrying is wrong. No way around that. It is as simple as 2+2.

Left unguided, my kids will fall for anything. Even the PC world that we live in now. I will stand on the truth. it is my responsibility to give them the truth, to teach them and to guide them. I do not lord it over them. I dont say it in a way as "my way or the highway." That NEVER works and only starts rebellion. Instead, I help them come to the right conclusion. "Hey Dad, 2+2 does equal 4."

In His arms.

MM:

Well, the train of thought wasn't firmly on any particular track. I of course agree that if the pastor of a church you chose 2 take your family 2 because you wanted it 2 be scrip2rally-based were 2 choose not 2 do follow scrip2re, then it would certainly make sense for you not 2 take them there. That would be false advertising on the pastor's part, and not something you should support.

But at some level of development, I think it makes sense 2 know the other religious views. And I think that making those choices (who we are, what do we believe and why), daily, is everyone's responsibility.

This isn't a one to one comparison with mathematics, though. Even you should be able 2 see that. Even I can see that geology isn't as clear-cut or quantifiable a science as mathematics. And spiri2ality is far more complex.

-ol' 2long

(((Mortarman)))

You know that you have our prayers...We are behind you all the way!

I wanted to share something comical that my pastor from my hometown church said in the pulpit years ago...He said that when his children, whether it be his boy or girl, began to date that he was going to put a Bible on the console of the car that they would be driving/riding in...he said that while he understood very well the raging hormones of young people...particularly those of young men...he still doubted the power and strength of any young man or his hormones when it came to being able to knock down and climb over the likes of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> LOL...Good point I think! Mr. W has already begun thinking about just what's in store for those young men that will one day be knocking at our door to date our DD...I don't envy them! LOL! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Mrs. W

MM:

As you know, I still refer 2 the OM as Rat Meat. Is that disrespectful? Heck yeah it is. But what is it disrespectful of? Him? His actions?

Since I only know his actions (I met him once over 15 years ago and can't remember what he looks like), I have no problem with judging those and even considering his actions and his person as one in the same. For all intenses and purposes, they are.

I will do like you and continue 2 judge his actions harshly. I can envision forgiving him, but he certainly hasn't sought that, and for him 2 do so would require not having any contact with my W for the rest of his life. So, it's possible that he may gradually earn my forgiveness, but if he's "behaving", he'll never know when or if that has happened.

-ol' 2long

Howya doin' MM?