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Hope Mountain Women

What about the children: Skipping through Proverbs #5

5/29/2013

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~ Proverbs 5:20 ~
(NKV)
For why should you, my son,
be enraptured by an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

~*~***~*~

How hard is it to keep our sons away from immorality these days -
im·mo·ral·i·ty  [im-uh-ral-i-tee, im-aw-] 
noun, plural im·mo·ral·i·ties.
1.immoral quality, character, or conduct; wickedness; evilness.
2.sexual misconduct.
3.an immoral act.
(Dictionary.com)
- in an age that openly celebrates promiscuity like none that have been before it? And not just our sons, but our daughters - and even ourselves, also. 

Turn on the television any time of day, no matter whether it's children's viewing hour or not, and sooner or later sexual "immorality" will be advertised for one thing or another.

In this age, beauty is power. Sex is power. The more sexually attractive a person is the greater their fame will be. They sell their products with sex, and we buy into it because our desires have been tickled by that. We want to be beautiful. We want to be sexy. We women want power over men; we want them to bow to our sexual charms - even though they're not bowing to our sexual charms. They're bowing to their sexual urges and using us to satisfy their desires. We've been tricked into selling ourselves, and more often than not we do it for free. And it's become such a big part of our culture now that we no longer see what it's doing to our kids.

Beauty sells. Sex sells. And we're offering such things to children at a younger age at least every decade, it seems. We're being numbed to what we're doing to our kids. And part of me reckons many of our teens are rebelling as they are because no one is protecting them as something deep inside them tells them they should. 

Whatever it takes to sell a product - be it a food item, clothing, toys, music, movies, or whatever, the need to find a bigger market keeps calling, and so why not go for the kids, too, huh? Companies get richer while we get used...while our kids get used to make them money.

When did we start selling out on our kids? And why? When did we stop protecting their innocence? We traded in their innocence and purity for what...? trends...? to keep up with the neighbours...? to live through them...? to make them look good so we can, too...? Doesn't that mean we're selling out on our kids, or selling our kids to whoever sets eyes on them, just so we can take pride in their 'beauty'?

Please don't mishear me. I'm not having a go at anyone. I'm not pointing any fingers. God knows I'm a sinner. He knows I've sold out in many ways over the years. If it wasn't for His mercy and grace I wouldn't be here now - for my own strength and character would've left me fallen by the roadside years ago, using sex as power. And I know it's not my job or place to condemn - not in any way, but to love. But I'm seriously worried about the children... :( 

My son Matt (in pictures) was in a school play several months ago, written by his drama teacher, I believe, about rescuing sex slaves. It was gut-wrenching to learn of how many women and girls (the youngest being 2 or 3 yrs of age) are kidnapped and forced into sex slavery -females from every country...even yours.
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( Learn more: The A21 Campaign)
I believe males are kidnapped, also, but more for their organs than for sex. Either way, who's protecting the children from that immorality?

Hey, I'm not saying lock the kids away, or cover them from neck to toe, or for them not to dress well. But someone has to look out for them, ay. We won't allow them to vote or drink until they're 'this old', yet...the 'sex industry' is right there in front of us every day - on billboards, in shop windows, on tv, and so on - and we just step over it while the children play with it.

Personally, I'd love to see every company that uses sex - especially aimed at children, or in children's viewing hours - sued for every cent they own, and that money used to rescue, protect, and counsel the children that need it.

When will we protect the children from immorality - be it in the church or out of it? Before or after they've been abused? Before or after they're gone? Before or after they grow up and find themselves looking back at their childhood through a heart of grief and/or deep conviction...?

~ Proverbs 5:21-23 ~
(NKV)
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He ponders all his paths.
22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked man,
And he is caught in the cords of his sin.
23 He shall die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

~*~***~*~

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Please... I'm not having a go at anyone. I'm not. I just really worry about the children. :/ xxx
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What about the children: Skipping through Proverbs #4

5/28/2013

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I couldn't pick anything from this chapter without picking it all, and because there is so much to read in the Proverbs 2, and so much to take in, I will just leave you with one thought: Imagine how wonderful it would be to install wisdom into the heart of our children for these reasons...and that through love.

~ Proverbs 2 ~

1 My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding--
3 indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.


9 Then you will understand what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you.


12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
    from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths
    to walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing wrong
    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked
    and who are devious in their ways.


16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.
18 Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19 None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.


20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,
    and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

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What about the children: Skipping through Proverbs #3

5/27/2013

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I'm skipping over Proverbs 1:10-19. However, press on the link and it will take you to it, if you would care to check it out now. Mind you, it's not that I don't find a few passionate thoughts in those verses, rather, I write "What about the Children - Skipping through Proverbs" not for the children to read, but for the parent/s. I write to the parent on behalf of the children in this section, with the sole desire to see the bond of the parent and child strengthened. (For I believe that a stronger bond between parent and child can help make this world a far more beautiful place than it is.)  This particular passage (Proverbs 1:10-19) is a section I would prefer to present to the children...another time - maybe. ;)

What calls me to share my thoughts to "the parent/s" at the moment is:

~ Proverbs 1:20-33 ~

20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
    she raises her voice in the public square;
21 on top of the wall she cries out,
    at the city gate she makes her speech:
22 “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?
    How long will mockers delight in mockery
    and fools hate knowledge?
23 Repent at my rebuke!
    Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
    I will make known to you my teachings.
24 But since you refuse to listen when I call
    and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
25 since you disregard all my advice
    and do not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
    I will mock when calamity overtakes you--
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
    when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
    when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
    they will look for me but will not find me,
29 since they hated knowledge
    and did not choose to fear the Lord.
30 Since they would not accept my advice
    and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
    and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
    and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
    and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

~*~***~*~

This passage, in the NIV Bible at Biblegateway.com, is given the title "Wisdom's Rebuke", yet - and this never ceases to amuse or amaze me - I've often heard this quoted in Church circles as though it's God speaking. (Stay with me. ;) )

First up, a man recorded these thoughts on behalf of 'wisdom'. Yes, I know the Bible tells us in  2 Timothy 3:16 that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness," and I'm not arguing that. And I know God is wise - I'm not arguing that, either. However, let us not overlook who is recording what on 'whose' behalf, as I've seen happen. 

We read and quote these verses as though God is rejoicing over the fall of "man", but this is Wisdom delighting over the downfall of stupidity. 

I have to say that again: This is Wisdom delighting over the downfall of STUPIDITY...!!

Read back over that above verses, if you will, knowing God is love and soooo loves the world, while keeping in mind that wisdom rejects stupidity.

A loving parent does not reject a child for their lack of wisdom. An impatient, controlling one might, but a loving one does not - unless they've slipped into a foul mood and stepped outside the barriers of love. And in the NT, through Jesus, through His intimate knowledge of the Father, we learn what a loving parent looks like. We of the NT are called to love as God first loved us (1 John 4:19), knowing the top two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40), and the new commandment Jesus gave us (John 13:34), knowing the greatest virtue is love (1 Corinthians 13:13), and that God is love (1 John 4:8). So when we teach 'wisdom', should it not be founded on love - especially when we know we are called to be so radical in love that we're even to love our enemies? (Matthew 5:43-44) 

When we, Jesus' disciples (whom, He states, will be known by their love- John 13:35), are to read the word of God with an attitude of love - while remembering Jesus is the living word of God, and  knowing that Jesus knows better than anyone the heart of the Father. And not simply read the word with an attitude such as this (love), but to offer it to the world, also - just as Jesus did. How much more should we give it to the children in our care?

Wisdom rejects stupidity. Love does not reject the person displaying a lack of wisdom. Wisdom rejects the guidance of stupidity. Love accepts the heart blinded by it - just as God first loved us while we were blinded by it. But it's so much easier to go in the way of striking out at another's heart than it is to love that heart while not being controlled or manipulated by stupidity, isn't it. It's much easier to strike out than it is to love what we deem to be the unlovable. But it is Jesus we follow if it is Him we proclaim as Lord and Saviour; His name we're walking in before others; His path we walk on. And He loves the "unlovable." Yes, He used wisdom, He has wisdom, and He will correct when it's needed, but He never betrays love in order to do it. Neither should we.

Mind you, in the above verses, even Wisdom says, "How long will mockers delight in mocking...?" So not even wisdom delights in mockery. I don't believe the Father, Jesus or Wisdom would have us mock another soul...which brings me to a new thought: 

If you've ever mocked your child then, with all my heart and without judgement, I implore you to repent. First to God, but, more importantly at this time, to your child/ren. Even if you don't have children, but are a teacher or a leader, or are in any place of authority or position where there are children, and you have mocked a child, humble yourself before them and tell them you're sorry. We have no right to belittle anyone. How much damage do we bring to the children who look up to us when we mock them - the children (be them your own or someone else's) that God has placed in our hands to care for?

The child/ren need to know they have worth - and they do, for they, too, were created by God, in His image, and, whether they display it at present or not, they are His heart - and you know it... They need to know it, too.
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This is our granddaughter - Diaz. :)
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Skipping through Proverbs #2

5/27/2013

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~ Proverbs 1:8,9 ~

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
They are a garland to grace your head
    and a chain to adorn your neck.

I have every intention of "skipping through Proverbs" in this section, stopping every now and then when something touches my heart, and am not intending to follow each section on after the previous verse...but this one grabbed me. :)

This passage speaks to me as the child, and touches upon the same thing I spoke to my youngest three  about on the weekend, and that is: I don't believe children really appreciate the wisdom of their parents until their parents pass on. I know I didn't. In fact, it wasn't until after my mother's death that I started to view her as a woman, from a woman's point of view, figuring she must've known more about being a woman than I ever asked her about.

When my mother was alive, I viewed her through the heart of a daughter, and one who needed answers. At times I viewed my mum through my heartache, through the worries of my childhood, through my insecurities and lack of understanding, and other times I viewed her as my children's grandmother, and so on. But not as the passionate woman she was.

If I could have my mum back today, I would take her out for lunch (though I'd have to argue with her over who's paying the bill, as she preferred to pay her own way in life and that of her children, whenever she could :) ), and I'd do my best to have her not think of me as daughter, nor I think of her as mum, but to have the both of us talking as women, sharing dreams and hopes and passions.

The more I look back at my mum, when she was with us, the more I see how passionate she was, how loving she was, and how much she sacrificed of her own life for her kids. I want to know that woman. I want to know what she was anticipating from life when she was a child. What did she long for as a teen? Was she a troubled teen? Was she excited about the future? Did she have plans? Insecurities? Fears...? How did she cope with heartbreak? And what of her as an adult. How many years prior to my parents' separation did the breaking of her heart cause her to turn her cold towards my dad? Did he love her right? 

Oh, the questions I would ask her...and my dad. He's gone, too. There are things I'd like to know how him now that I cannot ask him now. I want to know what made him tick. What made both of them tick. And I would listen to their experiences and seek the voice of wisdom within... What I'd give to be able to do that.

I keep my heart as open to my kids - about who I am, not just about being a mum - as best I can, hoping wisdom leads my tongue. They know they can ask me anything. I want them to know me. I want them to know the woman I am, not just the mum they know they can find anytime just by looking for her computer. ;)

Do your children know you? Have you let them in...? Or do you keep the door closed between you, leaving them to guess at who you are; leaving them to judge your character by whatever mood confronts them when they're in your presence...?

When I chose to have children, it was because I wanted them with all my heart...so isn't it fair that I give them free access to all of that heart, opening the door to them when they knock on it? Chances are, if I don't keep my heart open to them, they're not going to care what "wisdom" I do or do not possess.

I don't want to lay there on my last day of life and have my children look at me as though they never knew me. I want them to know I love/d them with all that I am, in the best way that I could - no matter how faulty that may have appeared - and that I offered 'instruction' and 'teaching' not because I wanted to control them, not because I wanted them to be carbon copies of me, but because I loved them and wanted to see them safe. And I want them to say they knew me as others knew me, as Donna Keevers Driver, not just as mum.

Well, that's how I'd instruct my kids to love theirs... :)xxx
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Skipping through Proverbs #1

5/26/2013

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Proverbs 1:2-7

2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
    for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behaviour,
    doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,
    knowledge and discretion to the young –
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
    and let the discerning get guidance –
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
    the sayings and riddles of the wise.

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
    but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

~*~***~*~

In seeking God on where to start this section, I was drawn to Proverbs. I had to laugh when I realised I would start with the second verse - and that because it's an in-house joke with my kids, that they never learned to count by starting at one.

You see, while I love my kids with all my heart, I was strict in some areas. One of those areas was when it came to disciplining them to sway more towards acts of love rather than disobedience - such as 'No fighting with your siblings'. When I gave them the heads up on something, pulling them up for misbehaving, as far as I was concerned, that was the first warning. So if they disobeyed, rather than saying "one" upon counting to three, I would start with, "two". I never said one. 

Again, the first warning was the "one", as far as I was concerned. And it didn't take long before my kids knew that I didn't say three, either. Upon three, they would receive the consequences of their choices. So I find starting here, on '2', really cute - knowing my kids would laugh at it, also.

For those of you who don't know, my family looks like this:

His: 2 daughters, Brooke and Amy - born 1980 and 1982.
Hers: 1 daughter, Amanda - born 1984
Ours: 2 sons and 1 daughter - Timothy (jr), Matthew and Kathleen - born 1993, 1994, 1996

We were two broken families brought together with the hope of being transformed into one... and we had our challenges.

When Tim and I married in 1992, I went from being a single mother of one, for several years, to sharing a 2 bedroom home with 3 near-strangers. You see, Tim and I met in July, had our first date in August, were engaged by September, and we were married the following April - and that a month after his divorce was finalised - which, I will add, was not my fault  lol. Needless to say, there was a lot of baggage brought with all of us into the relationship, and it was all forced into a small 2 bedroom home.

Tim (jr), Matt and Kathleen, were born within the first three years of our marriage. And no, they weren't triplets, nor were there twins. (Oh,my aching back! ;) )

By the time Kathleen needed somewhere to lay her head, the three older girls shared one room and the rest of us shared the other. It was crowded, there was baggage and post-natal depression, and a rush to figure out where everyone fit in, and times where I wanted out - as I am sure many of us did. But I look back at those days now (with my youngest now 17) and smile while praising God for these precious souls and the transformation and healing He brought into our home.

Honestly, without the wisdom of God to guide me, to guide all of us, I wouldn't have made it. When it comes to giving up and walking out, I'm an expert. In my own strength, I would've ended my marriage years ago, and not  because I didn't love my husband, but because I didn't need the struggle, or the extra baggage in my home, or the ex in the picture, and for a number of other reasons that my sinful, selfish nature couldn't cope with.

Now, 21 years on, I sit and look at my kids (three of whom - 17, 18, and 20 - just spent the weekend away with us) and I thank God for His hand, heart, presence and word in my life. 

Did I always listen to Him? Oh, no, I've had my struggles over the years. Did I trust Him at all times? No, I did not - especially during those struggles. Did I rebel against 'loving as He loves' and doing it His way? Oh, yes, many times...! And many times I questioned God's sanity. But He carried us through. Over hills we thought were impossible to climb, through valleys we believed we'd never get out of, we went, and we made it each time, better for it, solely because of God's love, patience, and wisdom.

~ John 1 ~

1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.

~*~***~*~

In June 1991, broken and no longer living in a world without love, I, as a single mother, cried out to God for help. I longed to suicide but I could not take my daughter with me, and I did not trust anyone else to look after her. Suicide was not an option because of this... so God was my last choice.

Sitting on the veranda of my Government-owned home one night, I looked up at the full moon and thought, "Wouldn't that be wonderful if it was the face of God watching over us..." then prayed, "God, if You're there, I've had enough of this BS. Help."

That night, not knowing it was the thing to do - even though I had found love in Jesus when I was a young child, many years earlier - I asked Jesus that He would speak to God for me. :) Not knowing who God was at the time, believing He was this angry task-master in the sky, I asked Jesus to intercede for me. 

Not knowing it was the thing to do, but needing to do it, I  repented for all my sins. I asked that God would forgive me for all the wrong I'd done to Him and to others, and asked that He would also forgive those who had sinned against me. I asked that God would wipe my slate clean and help me start again...then promptly cried myself to sleep. 

Two days later I ran into the only Christian I knew but hadn't seen in many months, in a dead-end street, at the back of the hall I attended Sunday School twenty years prior to that day. God had heard my cry and had come to rescue me, and would go on to reveal to me the symbolism of this day. For example, by arranging for me to "run into" the only Christian I knew, on that particular spot, God was showing me, "I never left you; you left Me..."  (Which I'll talk more on another time.)

Nearly 22 years later - married and with 6 children - I know, without doubt, God heard me that night...and He sent His One and Only Son, His Word, to save me, to help me, to heal me, to raise me up, dust me off, and help me start again. He took my ashes and traded them for beauty (Isaiah 61:3). He took my brokenness and traded it for love. He took my grief and traded it for hope. He took me and bonded His heart to mine...and because He first loved me, I was then able to be set free of the bondages of old, and the baggage, and love the children He placed into my care.

I know - by knowing who I am, being aware of my limits and patience when functioning in my own strength...or lack therefore of - that without the Word of God, without His wisdom and instruction, the family I have, and am blessed with 'today', would not be.
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    Who will teach them well...?

    In a world highly judgemental,
    where hypocrisy rules and beauty is only skin deep,
    who will show the children their true worth;
    who will teach them well...?

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