Handmaidens -Parenting

Summer, 2001
Handmaidens

Parenting Issues

Topics

Pure Faith
Submitted by Bobby Lewis

To close each day's activities in summer and on holidays in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., a huge fireworks display lights up the sky. One night I noticed a small boy about three years old perched on his father's shoulder. The child sat mesmerized, aware only of what was exploding in the heavens. When the fireworks were over, the little boy looked up into the sky again and said, "Thank you, God."

Adoption Link

Cover Page
Christian
Comedy
Education
Essays, etc.
Health
Home
Letters
Marriage
Parenting
Poetry/Art
Stewardship
Sites to See
Work
Extra

Compassion Begins in Childhood

One snowy February day in Colorado I fell on the ice while wheeling an overloaded grocery cart out to my van. On hands and kneesI crawled on the ice to gather my scattered provisions. I was cold, tired and frustrated... but all that melted away when a chubby pair of hands reached for my bloodied ones.

Before me stood a three year old (according to his mom). He held one of my hands in both of his and with deep concern asked. "Does it hurt?" Then with not the least hesitation he "kissed it better" and reached for my other hand. He paid no mind to the grime and blood now smeared on his face. His only care was to comfort me... and it was the most genuine act of campassion I have ever experienced.

Contrary to some schools of psychological thought, most experienced parents and observers of children agree that the very young frequently and sponteneously display deep compassion.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words defines compassion (sumpatheo) as "to suffer with another."
God's compassion for us

Psalms 25:6 (NNAS)
"Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old."

Psalms 72:13 (NNAS)
"He will have compassion on the poor and needy, And the lives of the needy he will save."

Mark 6:34 (NNAS)
"When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things."

Heb 4:15 (NNAS)
"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."

James 5:11 (NNAS)
"We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful."

The compassion we are to show

Prov 12:10 (NNAS)
"A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel."

Mat 9:13 (NNAS)
""But go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Col 3:12-13 (NNAS)
"So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you."

Phil 2:1-2 (NNAS)
"Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose."

Heb 10:34 (NNAS)
"For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one."

Natural Kid Humor
Submitted by Bobby Lewis

While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about six years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, "Are you a cop?" "Yes," I answered and continued writing the report. "My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?" "Yes, that's right," I told her. "Well, then," she said as she extended her foot toward me, "would you please tie my shoe?"

It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me. "Is that a dog you got back there?" he asked. "It sure is," I replied. Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the van. Finally he said, "What'd he do?"

While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my four-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, "The tooth fairy will never believe this!"

My best lesson in child psychology came when I saw our five-year-old, Steven, roughly jerking our toy poodle's leash. Suddenly his fuming father appeared and asked, "Do you want to tell me how sorry you are?" "I don't know how much you saw!" Steven stammered.

A little girl had just finished her first week of school. "I'm wasting my time," she said to her mother. "I can't read, I can't write - and they won't let me talk!"

And thanks to Carol Skipper for this one:
Children were lined up in the cafeteria of a religious school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, "take only one, God is watching". Moving through the line, to the other end of the table, was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A boy wrote a note, "take all you want, God is watching the apples."

Graphics, Design & Hosting by Web4Christ Ministries