A little rant

I was forwarded this article by a friend the other day...and it fired me up! If you don't have time to read it, it's from The Christian Post and talks about an athiest activist who plans to target FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) in 2012 for their "proselytizing at public schools while targeting the impressionable minds of our children.""

This paragraph really got me:

‎"Regardless of majority demographics, not everyone is Christian and these two groups in particular use nefarious methods of passive-aggressive proselytizing that affects the children of non-Christian parents who should be able to send their kids off to school without the worry that they will be exposed to religious propaganda (magazines, tracts, fliers, etc.) that these organizations leave behind, or via the training they give school teachers and administrators to integrate into their daily activities..."

Really?? Then we should be able to send our kids to school without worrying that they will be exposed to secular/liberal propaganda {"safe" sex education, evolution. etc.} as part of their educational experience. Shouldn't it work both ways??

At least FCA and Good News Clubs aren't a required part of the educational experience.

I think this hit close to home for me because, this school year we made the hard choice to give up attending our church's Wednesday night "Adventure Club", so we could get involved with the Good News Club at Ethan and Karis' school on Wednesday afternoons. For those of you who might not be familiar with this program, it's an after school club, similar to a VBS or Awana Club, run by volunteers from CEF. In our district, the schools will not advertise this club. The only way to let kids know about it is through word of mouth. {We've gone from having 5 kids at our first meeting back at the end of October to having 30 registered kids...and we've passed out 6 Bibles to kids who didn't have one!} 

When a kid is invited to Club, a permission slip goes home clearly stating what the club is all about...if a parent doesn't want their kid there, then they don't sign the form {contrary to what this guy seems to think, we are not handcuffing kids and dragging them into this club without their parents knowing what's going on}..simple as that. I wouldn't like it if there was an "athiests' news" club meeting at the school, but since I value my First Amendment rights {and I want GNC to be allowed to meet} I'm not gonna put up a stink {or at least a huge one :o)}...and if someone invited one of our kids to it, we obviously would tell them that's not what we believe, why we don't believe it, and we wouldn't allow them to attend.

I'm not sure I see why this same logic would be so difficult for an athiest family that might find their kids invited to a Good News Club?

As Christian parents who send our kids to public school, we're well aware that they are going to encounter things that go against the core of what we believe. We already have every intent of pulling them from the standard "sex education" course provided by the schools. We have plans to purchase some of our own supplemental materials to help provide our kids with a more "rounded" study of some eras of world history and fields of science. We fully realize that we have to counteract the parts of the education system that don't align with our way of thinking...that we have the responsibility to make up for the areas where we feel the schools fall short {while these are some of the very reasons some pull their kids from public schools, they are part of the reason we feel like the Lord wants us there}.

Again, would this same philosophy really be that difficult for an athiest family? 

It's our prayer that the Lord protects these organizations from the attacks of {Satan} this group....that we will be able to encourage the students that call on the name of the Lord to stand firm in their faith each day...and that we will continue to have the opportunity to feed those children who are hungry for something that they aren't even aware of.       

Projects Lately...

So, here comes an attempt to bring the ol' blog back to life. Here are some of the fun things we've worked on recently while I could have been blogging {:o)}:

Craft Stick Snowmen
I was in charge of Ethan's class Christmas Party and we made these for the craft. I came across something similar to them while looking for ideas online, but these are really my own creation. The kids loved at school loved them and we had fun making more here at home to give as Christmas gifts.

Slouchy Slipper Socks
Karis signed out a fleece craft book from the school library and picked out this fun project. Of course, Natalie is making a pair, too. They are super easy...Karis {who has never sewn before} picked up the backstitch really fast. I'll have to post pics of the girls wearing them when we get them all finished.

Wall Verses
I finally finished the verse in Karis' and Natalie's room. Love the way it turned out {...now to finish the flowers around the room!}. I also started on Ephesians 6 around the front door. I went with a simple all caps "font" and a paint marker. Goes so fast if you're looking for something a little more subtle. Of course, after I finished the main part of it, Ethan pointed out that I forgot the "s" on the end of Ephesians...so there will be some touching up happening!

Sled Riding and Snowmen
Okay, I know this isn't really a project but the past two weekends we've spent probably a total of 6+ hours sled riding!! We were getting worried for a while there that we weren't getting any snow this winter, but we've had two snowy weekends in a row. We're still waiting for the BIG snow, though :o)!

5...going on 15....

Our Natalie-girl turned 5 on the 29th of December. Such a crazy time to have a birthday. {I had every intent of completing her slideshow on time and getting it posted on her actual day because I hate that it seems like her celebration gets lost in the hustle and bustle, but, of course, I forgot to take the computer on our trip to my parents' house and failed on the supermom gig once again.}

At five years old, Natalie often has the attitude you might expect from a 15 year old {which I never expected from one of our kids}. With the attitude, though, comes a unique maturity and ability to communicate that our first two didn't have. It is so interesting to watch her express herself. There were days in her younger years when we had worried that she might be the trouble maker of her class at school, but she has proved us wrong. Her teacher has stopped me more than once to commend her obedience...doing the right thing even before she is told to. She is a people watcher and people pleaser...constantly observing what is going on around her. She is a girl of prayer...often catching on to a need in a passing conversation and then bringing that need to the Lord later in the day. We love her like crazy and can't wait to see how she'll grow this year.