Richard Halverson Quote

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If I were starting my family over again, I would give first priority to my wife and children, not my work.

From Psalm 90:12:  “So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.”

Charles Swindoll Quote

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The two most important tools of parenting are time and touch.  Listen to your boys and girls, look them in the eye, put your arms around them, hug them close, tell them how valuable they are.

From Proverbs 20:7:  “The righteous walk in integrity—happy are the children who follow them!”

Numbing Journey

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Breathing in silence

Poverty living

Suffocating life

Empty, ungiving

 

Living with little

Sadly, no escape

Seeing no future

Desolate landscape

 

Bonding together

Despite life’s darkness

Overcoming much

Home lives with starkness

 

Searching, any job

Family needs food

Tasting emptiness

Life feeling so skewed

 

Thinking of future

Numbing journey calls

Shattering each dream

Poverty’s pitfalls

 

Facing each crisis

Today’s worries leave

Finding work again

Hope now smiles, believe

 

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Different levels of poverty strike the world everywhere.  Some areas face more daunting challenges than others.  Here are a few sobering statistics:

  • Ten percent the world lives in extreme poverty.
  • For every 1,000 children born, 39 will die before reaching five years of age.
  • Over 60 million children, ages 6-11, are not attending school.
  • Seventy-five percent of extreme poverty is found in Africa and Asia.
  • About one third of the world’s least developed countries are the least churched in the world.

Cherished Treasures

From Mark 10:14:16:  “‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.  Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’  And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.”

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Our children and grandchildren

Grace fills their nurturing love

For generations to come

With God calling out with love

 

Young, innocent, and fragile

Our youth require constant love

Their welfare rests in our hands

With God sending lasting love

 

Our decisions beg wisdom

Cherished treasures need our love

Number “One” priority

With God shielding through His love

 

Unselfish, humble adults

Time to step forward with love

Our angry wrangling at rest

With God moving hearts with love

 

Common sense should always lead

Precious children seek our love

Misplaced actions now buried

With God dispatching His love

 

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From 1 Corinthians 13:11-13:  “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.  For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.  And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”

As a community, we are called by God to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of our children and grandchildren.  There can be no greater calling when we are encouraged by the love and grace of our Heavenly Father.

Circle of Life

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Children and grandchildren

Each fills precious treasure

Hug this “Circle of Life”

Family time’s pleasure

 

Watching young daughters grow

Teaching lessons of love

Taking delight each day

Dad, where’s my softball glove?

 

Time moves much too quickly

Each day shares its rewards

Daughters become women

“Circle of Life” records

 

Transforming life’s landscape

Mastering how to crawl

Cherishing grandchildren

Grandpa, will you play ball?

 

Robust “Circle of Life”

Family roster grows

Memories made each day

Lifetime’s delightful rose

 

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Some of the best poems are written from from the heart.  Such is the case with this poem; created from just a thought about family and its blessings.  My wife and I have been blessed with five daughters between our Montana and Ohio families.  Our grandchildren now number ten.  Our own “Circle of Life’ has indeed been a blessed one.

Charles Stanley Quote

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What greater joy could we have than to see our sons and daughters walking with Jesus, not just in the early years but even after they grow up and leave home?

From Matthew 4:19-22:  “And He said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’  Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.  As He went from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”

L. R. Knost Quotes

It’s not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world.  It’s our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.

Forgiveness empties the past of its power to empty the present of its peace.

Evening with Family

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Sun sets on another day

Evening calls, wanting its way

 

Family gathers around

Home now, love and peace abound

 

Night sky envelopes the land

Stillness breathes on high command

 

Supper cooking, hunger calls

Mom’s spaghetti and meatballs

 

All hands on deck, helping mom

Frenzy soon returns to calm

 

Television calling out

Favorite show brings a shout

 

Mom crochets, sitting nearby

Dad reads book, about Shanghai

 

Final chores, homework to do

Soon slumber stirs up its brew

 

Before the last light goes out

Prayers praise God, so devout

 

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