Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Q & A Answers, part 2

Here, at long last, is the second part of the most recent Q & A. To read part 1, please click here. The third and final part is still coming.


Growing up, I was taught the pre-trib rapture. After looking at scripture with my husband, I've come to realize how false it is. I can see why people want to believe in in because knowing my children may live through terrible persecution scares me when I allow myself to think about it. How do you deal with this? Just not think about it?
 
I think the most important thing to realize is that safety is of the Lord. Our primary concern must be to be right with God, so that He will be able to bless and protect us regardless of our circumstances. So the most important "prepper" aspect is to fear the Lord, not man, and then realize that whatever He allows to happen is His will. "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer" ...
 
Beyond that, I do think it is always wise and prudent to acquire lost skills in self-sufficiency, and keep a food store beyond just the average 3-day supply. There are many reasons this could come in handy, such as a loss of income (could be due to job loss, illness, or death of the bread winner), price fluctuations based on availability, natural disaster, etc. Having a 6-month supply of the major staples will allow for time in adjusting to changing circumstances. This is especially critical for a large family, where there are many mouths to feed.

 

I've always wondered about children getting saved. I've heard many stories about people who thought they were saved when they were young, only to find out they were wrong. But, at the same time, I wouldn't want a child to grow up doubting his salvation just because he was young. How do you know a child has grasped the gospel?
 
Great question! I think where a lot of the confusion comes from is that there are many who, on the one hand, teach salvation by grace through faith alone, not works, even as they talk about how one must turn from their sins in order to be saved, or at least be willing to. This is often falsely referred to as "repentance." While repenting of sins is something every Christian should always strive to do, and while repenting of unbelief or false religion is an integral part of getting saved, it is heresy to say that one cannot be saved unless they give up XYZ the sin.
 
Others teach that if one is truly saved, there will be tears, crying, and strong emotions. I read the testimony of the wife of a missionary a few years back who had grown up in church her whole life, but as an adult for many years still struggled with doubting her salvation, because she agonized over not having gotten saved with enough feeling or sincerity. Not until she had asked Jesus to save her, while feeling completely broken (I am paraphrasing), was she sure of her salvation. To be sure, she had understood all along that salvation was through believing on Jesus, and she DID believe on Him. My take is that she was either saved all along, or that if she thought she had to add a certain amount of emotion and tears in order to truly be saved, she still is not saved because she must not understand that believing/faith is ALL it takes.



How do you deal with (1) whining/complaining, (2) arguing with parental directions, (3) poor attiudes (sulking, etc.) in response to chores, food, parental decisions, etc., (4) tantrums.

All of the above are a lot easier to avoid, than to deal with. We do not permit whining, complaining, arguing, sulking, tantrums, sibling fighting, rudeness, etc. We avoid them by teaching why such attitudes and behaviors are wrong, and then punishing them if they occur. As a result, these episodes are few and far between, to the betterment of every member of the family.



I love having my children with me in church services. Do you or your congregants do anything to help new families whose children may be a little rambunctious? Like, do you have coloring books or anything for toddlers? I am very opposed to any church that makes children go to junior church or the nursery but have seen some parents so embarrassed by their children in the service, I doubt they would ever come back. I have my hands full with my own little ones but would love to help and just wondering what you do. Thanks!
No, we do not offer coloring books or anything like that. For babies and younger children, we have two rooms for parents to step out into with their child, while still being able to see and hear the service. Older kids usually look around the room at everyone else and realize that they are supposed to be quiet and listen. This really has never been a big problem for visitors at our church.

My question is, what DVDs (if any) do you allow your children to watch?


We try to limit media use in our house, including watching DVDs etc. on the computer. The ones we watch are almost exclusively documentaries. I also like to show them German kids shows that talk about how stuff is made, to practice their language skills.

My question is, how do you modestly put your daughter in a 5-point harness carseat. We have all boys, but if we have girls they will wear only long skirts and long dresses. I have often wondered how you buckle the 5-point harness carseat without showing the little girls undergarments and without completely wrinkling her dress.


I have never found this to be a problem, because unless they are wearing a pencil skirt (which they never do), there is more than enough fabric to keep them modestly covered while buckled. That being said, little children are notoriously immodest, as evidenced by any 2-year old who will just walk into the family room stark nude after triumphantly removing all their own clothes. Obviously, all the older kids have often seen the younger kids in their birthday suits because of this, so I am not worried about them catching a glimpse of their little sister's thigh while she is riding in the van. Since I never iron the kids' clothes, I am not worried about them getting wrinkled ;)
 
 
Dear Mrs. Anderson, I know that you are a proponent of bed sharing from your blog and have mentioned before having several children in bed at once. I would love to hear your ideas for tandem co-sleeping. My son will be 22 months old when our next baby is due and I would love to continue to sleep with both of them. My husband's work schedule can be erratic as he works on-call several times weekly so he is unable to be consistently available for night time parenting. 

 
I do NOT recommend tandem co-sleeping with two children. Young children are not as aware of their surroundings in their sleep as adults are. For example, you can carry a sleeping toddler from the car to the house, change their diaper and clothes, and put them in bed, and they will never wake. Try doing that to an adult, and they will immediately wake, unless they are inebriated (in which case they should not be sleeping next to a baby or young child.
 
If you absolutely must have two kids in bed in order to get any sleep, the only recommendations I can offer are: get as large a bed as possible, push the head and one side flush up against a wall and add a bed rail on the other side, sleep in the middle yourself, with one child on either side of you. This will prevent anyone from falling off the bed on the sides, while you are there blocking one child from rolling on top of another.
 
Hi! You have already answered my question in the past concerning miscarriage, but I have a new one. It is more of a what would you do type of question. My husband and I would love to have more children, but last year, we lost 3 babies very early in the pregnancies (my first email was the first time) My question though is concerning intervention. Where is the line with intervention? My midwife suggested progresterone suppositories to see if that would help. I have no problem with conception, God has given life, but maintaining the pregnancy seems to be a problem for me. Is "helping" my body keep the pregnancy interference in God's will? From what I read, the progesterone will not "make" me keep a pregnancy, just help sustain it. Thanks for your opinion, Erin from Ohio 
 
I absolutely think that any treatment that restores normal health is not just permissible, but should be highly recommended. So while I would shun fertility treatments that are unnatural such as IUI, IVF, egg donation, surrogacy, etc. I see nothing wrong with supplementing or adjusting your hormone levels if they are out of balance. Many ladies have had great success using progesterone in early pregnancy, and I have heard that the suppositories are a lot more effective than creams.

 

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for these great Q&As. For the woman asking about the progesterone: I also struggled with this, and one woman counseled me "as life begins at conception, you should do everything possible to maintain your child's life whether they are in the womb or outside of it. If that means you need to take progesterone to protect your child's life, you should do that". I felt so much better about it after she told me that!

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  2. Thank you! To the lady wondering about children being saved, I used to wonder if I really was saved as a child as well because when I got older, I strayed greatly from the Lord. But, looking back I know I understood and believed the TRUTH. Salvation is really is simple! I can also suspect God protected me in many areas of my life as well. Finally, he drew me home through some catastrophic events but I'm so thankful He did.

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  3. Thanks for answering my question, and for doing the Q&A - I always enjoy these!
    Diana

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  4. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question! I asked about children getting saved, and I love that you gave a straightforward answer, very refreshing to hear. Also a little sad because it reminds me of the false doctrines deceiving people.

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  5. To the woman writing about the baby girl in the car seat -

    Why don't you put some sweatpants on her until you arrive at your destination and then change her into more appropriate clothes. That way the skirt won't be crushed and the boys won't be scandalized by "immodesty". I must say though I am shocked at this ludicrous question. As a fellow follower of Christ I feel the need to offer you some counsel: you need to pray about this. Surely you cannot believe God intends for even babies to be covered from their own brothers 24/7. You are making mountains out of molehills. Why not just downplay any little legs showing by just ignoring it while you are in the car.
    Zsuszanna I do aplaud your sensible response.

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Your KINDLY WORDED, constructive comments are welcome, whether or not they express a differing opinion. All others will be deleted without second thought.