Godly Family Carnival

I’m privileged once again to host the July 6, 2007 edition of the Godly Family Carnival. One can never stress enough the importance of family. Having just come off of a time of family get togethers, cook-outs, parades and fireworks, it’s almost a magical time to share with family. Whether it’s the youngest child’s awe at the colors and sounds, the bad parking spot you got, or the ice cream you rushed through eating on your way, there will always be memories that you’ll share about your time together.

Without further ado, here’s the submissions and what we can take from them…

Children

Our first post for the today comes from OurBlogs. The author of this site has posted a terrific post entitled The Perfect Play-Day. She talks about what to do to plan out the play date from the day before to the day of and gives different suggestions.

I know that women getting together with their children can be rewarding for both mom and kids. For one thing, the mom is able to have some time to talk with other moms. For the kids, it gives them social interaction, a chance to find and build friendships, and a chance to play with new toys. Plus, for those that are not hosting, you don’t have to clean up!

Family

In this category is a wonderful post that I think that we could all practice in our daily lives. Rebecca Newburn writes a post about taking a vacation, but not an ordinary vacation. She talks about Take a Vacation from Complaining. How true it is that if we would just spend time looking at our blessings and the things that are going right we would have an entirely different outlook on things. We tend to reinforce our perspective on the world based on how we process what we see. If we spend too much time focusing on the negative, that is all that we’ll see.

Next, we have some really great ways that your family can help out your church without spending a dime. Matthew Paulson talks about things such as helping out in the nursery to cleaning or working in leadership in his great post entitled Great Ways to Help Your Church Without Spending a Dime.

Are you a teen girl and are interested in receiving a newsletter teaching you how to help your family better? Then Laurie Bluedorn has a site for you. She submitted a post entitled Homeschooling in New Zealand and it’s for you even if you don’t live in New Zealand you may want to check it out!

A timely message it would have been. This post talks about the hope that we receive from the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Big Cajun Man presents It is Finished, a post that talks about the freedom and new beginning in Christ.

We display trust in many ways in our lives. We trust that the chairs that we sit in will continue to hold us up. We trust that people will obey laws. It is the very trust and its importance that baiguai takes up in his post The Importance of Trust. He comments:

Although this blog focuses on kung fu and martial arts, I am a Christian and often touch on important thoughts rooted in my faith. Here I talk about the importance of honesty.

What would you do if you heard of a need? How about if that person needed an organ– and you might have one that worked? That’s the type of thing Julee and her husband faced, and she talks about her story starting with Kidney Donation – Our Journey Part One. I know it’s one thing to donate something to someone close to you, but I don’t know what I’d do if it was a stranger.

ChristianPF talks about The seasons of life in a post that confronts the current cultural notion that “I have to have it, and I have to have it now.” He encourages us to wait out for the future glory, and enjoy the season that we are in– a timely reminder indeed.

An interesting story is the subject of a post from Reb Chaim HaQoton. He talks about a man and his son and a miraculous event in Carobs and Dates.

Taking family to places that have terrific meaning is a great thing. Having this trip coincide with a national holiday to make the day more that “just another day off” is even better. Jack Yoest presents a post about taking his family on a trip called Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery.

But you don’t have to spend your Memorial Day somewhere important to make sure that your children understand the importance of family. Ben Cotten talks about a trip to the beach, and Reconnecting With Family and leaves us with this message:

Taking time to reconnect with your family is often something that gets forgotten. Come see how God reminded me to keep my priorities in check.

Marriage

What do you do when a saver marries a spender? I know that this is a question that many couples have to face. In my family, I think my wife and I are a mixture of both at different times. I know of a few people that are text book savers and spenders. Matthew Paulson address this topic with a post entitled Marriage and Money: When a Saver Marries a Spender. Being close to getting out of debt, I think that we’re both going to want to be spenders once we’re out, but we’ll need to be savers!

Kara-Leah Masina reminds us that the love that we have for our spouse is a powerful thing. It’s a change agent that does a lot in our lives, but it is only the start and the glue that holds us together through the work that it takes to keep a relationship alive. Her post is identitiesLove: A powerful agent for spiritual transformation.

Wife

Hueina Su presents Journey into Love which talks about mother’s day, and how special mothers are. She writes:

Motherhood has been an absolutely amazing journey for me. This post is my reflections on Mother’s Day. It’s my small token of appreciation and inspiration for all mothers.

Well, that about wraps up this edition of Godly Family. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of those that submitted articles. I know that I truly enjoyed reading what you had written, and I hope that all that read this edition enjoy it as well.

If you’re interested in submitting an article that you or someone else has written to the next edition of this carnival, simply use the carnival submission form.

If you’re looking for past posts or future hosts, they can be found on the blog carnival index page.

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