The need for mentors

From Focus on the Family

Many youth have a vague notion of what they want to do with their lives, and almost no information about what is to come. They may understand academic requirements, but are clueless about what life will be like.

I found myself in the same situation in my third year of university. I wanted to be a psychologist, but had very little information about the profession. One day, my aunt attended a lecture by a well-known psychologist called Dr Clyde Narramore who offered to meet with promising students who were interested in the field of mental health. I called him, and he gave me two hours of his valuable time.

The advice he offered that day guided me for the next six years, and may be responsible for what I’m doing today. I will always appreciate this generous man who, took time out of his busy schedule, at no charge or obligation, to guide me.

So, perhaps just an hour of our time could shape and guide a leader of tomorrow. As for me, I have a debt to pay — not to Dr Narramore — but to those who stand today where I stood those many years ago.


From TODAY, Voices - Friday, 06-Aug-2010
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Kids are like cockleburs

From Focus on the Family

Have you ever had the experience of walking through an open field and feeling the sting of small cockleburs — those annoying thin brown weeds, armed with spines — in your shoes and around your ankles?

But there is something interesting about cockleburs. Inside those seed pods are several seeds, and they germinate in different years. If the first seed fails to sprout one year, the second is still waiting in the ground.

But if the second one doesn’t take root, there is still a third seed waiting for the year after that. They are the original “time release” capsules.

How do these cockleburs relate to children? We, as parents work so hard to teach certain concepts to our kids in the hopes some of them are going to take root and grow. But many of those seeds fail to germinate and the effort seems in vain.

The good news is that this instruction can be like a time release capsule. It may lie dormant for a decade or more, and then suddenly break through the ground and sprout. The key is to remain faithful to the cause — continue planting seeds and not get discouraged. The harvest may be long, but it’s worth the wait.


From TODAY, Voices - Thursday, 05-Aug-2010
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Home-based business

From Focus on the Family

For many families an appealing way to bring extra income into the home is by building a home-based business. It is possible to run a business out of home while juggling other duties.

Many businesses can run out of a home. Such as catering, desktop publishing, pet grooming, sewing, consulting, transcribing legal documents and even mail order sales.

Choosing which business is right for you is the first of three practical steps suggested by Ms Donna Partow, the author of Homemade Business. Take a personal skill and interest inventory to find out what your particular abilities are. The second step is to do your homework. Begin your research by looking up books, magazines and newspaper articles. Talk to other people who are doing what you’d like to do. The third step is to marshal as much support as you can. Get your children, your spouse and friends on your side.

If you’ve been torn between family and finances, having a home-based business may turn out to be the best of both worlds.


From TODAY, Voices - Wednesday, 04-Aug-2010
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Discipline is like a battery

By Focus on the Family

It’s the balance between the positive and the negative that provides the benefit. To illustrate, if you place the cable on the positive  pole of a car battery, nothing happens.

Then take that cable off the positive and put it on the negative pole. There’s still no electricity. But what happens when you hook up both the positive and the negative poles? It’ll curl your hair, if you have any left.

Understanding the interaction between these two forces is very useful to the task of raising children. There’s a time for affirmation, closeness, tenderness and love.

That’s what nourishes the spirits of our kids. But there’s also a time for correction and discipline and even occasional punishment. Mums and dads who try to be eternally positive, ignoring irresponsibility, defiance or selfishness in their kids, will deprive their kids of the benefits of correction. But those who are oppressive and accusatory can also create serious behavioral problems.

So what is our goal as parents? It’s to balance the positive and the negative, making sure that the cable is hooked to both poles of the battery.


From TODAY, Voices - Tuesday, 03-Aug-2010
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The game of life

When my daughter Danae was a teenager, she came home one day and said: “Hey, Dad! There’s a great new game out. I think you’re going to enjoy it. It’s called ‘Monopoly’.” I just smiled.

The family gathered and set up the board. Well, it didn’t take the kids long to figure out that old dad had played this game before. I soon owned all the best properties. My kids were squirming and I loved every minute of it. About midnight, I foreclosed on the last property and did a little victory dance, but my family wasn’t impressed. They went to bed and made me put the game away.

As I began putting all of my money back in the box, a very empty feeling came over me. Everything that I had accumulated was gone. The excitement over riches was just an illusion. And then it occurred to me, “Hey, this isn’t just a game of Monopoly, this is life. You sweat and strain to get ahead, but then one day, after a little chest pain or a wrong move on the expressway, the game ends. It all goes back in the box.”

I once saw a bumper sticker: “He who dies with the most toys wins.” That’s wrong. It should say: “He who dies with the most toys dies anyway.”


From TODAY, Voices - Monday, 02-Aug-2010
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