What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Friday, November 11, 2005

An apology and review....



CURRENTLY READING: The Fruit of Her Hands~Respect and the Christian Woman by Nancy Wilson

I don't have much time today to write, but I thought it important enough to do so. The other day I opened up this book, that my friend Michelle loaned to me, and really felt ashamed! In one section (Chapter four) it identified the difference of Principles and Methods and spoke volumes about women being at peace with one another and the importance of not being overzealous and putting undue pressure on other's who may not disagree.
This really made me step back and think about my last post about scheduling. My intent was not to put pressure on other ladies or to be on a 'moral crusade' , and I certainly don't want to suggest that "I am right and you are very wrong-do what I do if you want to be a good mother." I am afraid though, that it might have appeared that way and for that insensitivity, I am sorry. All of you are friends and so it is good to talk among friends-but I may have taken advantage of our 'friendships' by assuming no hard-feelings or bad feelings would occur.
I am the mother of only one child, that breathes air anyway, and so I wil not claim to be an expert on ANYTHING related to parenting. Maybe I was an expert with Corynn, but my next child could be completely different-and so, I still have a lot to learn. I think I have the principles down as I think you all do to, but my methods may change per child. Who knows? Principles are what should be dictated, and those ONLY from Scripture. Methods are up to the individual family-and no one else.
I still believe that any topic should be discussable-but I also see that perhaps the way I 'discussed' my method was more critical than necessary and may have not been written in the way of kindness and love. I look forward to posting other somewhat 'contraversial' topics in the future, but I do commit to doing so with a greater care for the way my words sound and with other parties in mind.
So-for all of you that know me and didn't take offense, I am grateful for our friendship but will not take advantage of it in the future by assuming anything I say will be taken as it should be, and for those of you who were offended, my deepest apologies. As Nancy Wilson put in her book, "We ought to rejoice in a common commitment to biblical principles and in the variety of methods God's people employ." We may not agree with one another's ways of doing things....but since when are we in charge of raising other peoples' kids? We are in charge of our own-SO, why should we have an opinion about what so and so is doing with theirs and how? We are all mothers commited fully and completely to raising our children in the way of the Lord and that is what draws us together-not who breastfeeds and who bottle feeds-who comfort nurses and who does not, who schedules and who does not. Let's embrace that commitment with vigor and tread lightly on those methods which are for our own discretion. :-)

1 comment:

Abigail said...

Usually I'm the one giving inadvertant offense, so here's my plug that if I was too forceful in my (admittedly strong) views, I give my apology along with yours.

And I'm glad to hear you'll continue posting issues to discuss. Given my geographical isolation from young mothers up here (or mothers in general), I enjoy hearing thoughts of you and others--except when your opinions differ from mine, of course. THEN I hit the warpath! :) (kidding, kidding...my goodness.)