Mighty Miscues!

A horse or mule can be controlled by a bit and bridle but controlling the human tongue or managing anger can be a terribly difficult task. Parents need to model self control for the sake of their children, but even their best efforts may fail for a strong-willed child. We can get the wisdom and strength we need, if we ask God for it.

A Prayer begins . . .

Dear Heavenly Father, we know you are wise. Help us learn self control so we can model it well for our children and others.

An Announcement begins . . .

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Selected book quotations begin . . .

Your Son Committed Murder!

Angela Elwell Hunt, The Shadow Women, Warner Faith, Warner Books, 2002, pp. 152, 153. SoAmazing.com

" 'Mighty Pharaoh.' I knelt on the floor. 'Life, strength, and health to you!'

Pharaoh, who usually greeted visitors with a practiced nonchalance, rose halfway out of his chair and disregarded the traditional phrases of greeting, 'Merytamon, did you know your son has murdered a captain of the Egyptian workers?'

My heart went blank with shock even as my thoughts came rushing together. Moses in the temple--he had been there to confess a crime, and I had been too blind to understand.

My right arm began to tremble--instinctively seeking support, I suppose, but neither Nema nor Moses stood by my side. I knelt there, a quivering composite of wig, flesh, and linen, and stared at the man who had always been the center of my universe.

'Surely the king has been misinformed' I whispered when I had caught my breath. 'Moses is no killer.'

Ramesses, upon whose face I could now see full evidence of the passing of seventy years, gestured toward the vile little accountant. 'This scribe, Baken-khonsu, employs a spy in a certain Hebrew village. This morning he has learned what the Hebrews have known for days--your son, Moses, killed a captain in the king's workforce and buried the man's body in the sand. He has committed a double crime, murdering a man in this life and the next, but he cannot hide his transgression! He will most surely die for this.'

Strength fled my body; only the quick reflexes of a Nubian guard prevented me from collapsing like a creature without bones. The evil I had expected had been supplanted by something far worse. . . .

'I have also learned,' the king continued, his face a mask of rage,' that you, a daughter of Pharaoh, lied about the child's birth! You claimed he was the son of a god, but he is nothing but a slave! You have brought a viper into the Great House; you have allowed a murderer to dwell among the god's loyal children, to train alongside them with the lethal weapons of sword, mace, and spear--

'As Pharaoh lives,' I cried, choosing the most serious vow an Egyptian could utter, 'I meant no harm!'

My words fell like stones into water, vanishing with no more than a ripple. Pharaoh's mouth did not soften; his eyes did not glimmer with affection or memory. Instead, his hand curled around the crook and flail, the symbols of his authority; then he extended his right arm toward me.

'You, Merytamon, are hereby exiled to the women's palace at Mi-Wer, to live out your days apart from the great god of Egypt. And when this usurper, this false prince, is apprehended, he shall be executed without recourse. I Ramesses, decree it, and as long as I live this edict shall stand!' "

SoAmazing Review: You may have read about the dramatic and miraculous life of Moses in the Old Testament, including his adoption by Pharoah's wife, his murderous act of anger, the burning bush, the ten devasting plagues against Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea, but did you ever want to hear the rest of the story? Angela Elwell Hunt, in engaging and lucid detail, fleshes out the life of one of the most fascinating and influential men to ever live. The Shadow Women is great reading. Don't miss it.

Buy The Shadow Women Now!   Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Christianbook.

Sideline Rage

Dr. James Dobson, Bringing Up Boys, Practical Advice And Encouragement For Those Shaping The Next Generation of Men, Tyndale House Publishers, 2001, Inc., pp. 149, 150. SoAmazing.com

"A front-page article in The New York Times recently described the appalling behavior of parents whose youngsters are competing in soccer, baseball and basketball. Referees, the writer said, are quitting in record numbers because of the abuse they are subjected to routinely. Moms and dads yell, jeer, spit, and brawl when decisions go against their sons and daughters. Their behavior has even been given a name: sideline rage. One ref who recently hung up his whistle said he was tired of spectators shouting, 'Get your fat body down the field,' 'You're blind,' 'You're just in this for the money,' and 'My kid is heartbroken because of you.' About 15 percent of youth games involve some sort of verbal abuse from parents or coaches, compared with only 5 percent five years ago. It is a disgraceful development.

Your attitude as a parent will shape the future behavior of your boy. If he sees you acting like a spoiled kid, yelling at the umpire or referee, taunting other players, and throwing tantrums when things go wrong, your son will behave just as badly. You must remember what you are trying to accomplish through organized sports. Winning at this age is nothing; teaching your boy to deal properly with his anger, disappointment, and frustration is everything. This does not mean that you should belittle or ignore his feelings in difficult moments. In fact, you must never underestimate how bad your boy feels when he does poorly at something important to him. The issue is not just that he lost but that he embarrassed himself at having failed. It goes straight to his heart. Let your son talk about the experience and help him understand that there will be wins and losses for the rest of his life. Fathers should tell about times when they played well and other days when they flopped. In doing so, Dad will be modeling how to deal with each outcome. Rudyard Kipling, in his great poem 'If,' refereed to both disaster and triumph as 'impostors.' There is wisdom there. One's successes are not as wonderful as they appear, but neither are failures as awful as they seem at the time.

SoAmazing Review: In Bringing Up Boys, Dr. James Dobson stresses how critical families are to the well-being of children. Family life, everywhere, is under attack, and single parent families are faced with an almost impossible task. There are some answers, and Dobson, one of the world's foremost experts on the family, covers them in depth.

Buy Bringing Up Boys Now!   Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Christianbook.

Editors: Douglas W. Scott, Douglas E. Scott, Marilyn R. Scott

Another Great Book Quotation

"We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed. And as a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?" C.S. Lewis, p. 109, Buy Mere Christianity Now!

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