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Living The Solution – Online Newsletter |
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DECEMBER 19, 2003 ISSUE |
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Opening Thoughts:
This time of year people speak about the Christmas Spirit. Do you ponder just what that
is? Do you feel like you have the Christmas Spirit?
I think the Christmas Spirit is the Holy Spirit making
His presence known to us through the Christmas season.
Christ came to us as a little baby, born of the Virgin
Mary. She conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, there it is: the Christmas Spirit and the Holy Spirit.
But, there’s more to it. This Spirit of Christmas
is expressed through joy, gratitude, compassion, forgiveness,
enthusiasm, wonder and love.
Catch the Spirit!
Tom Gilbert
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IN THIS ISSUE
Feature
Article: Honey, I Blew Up at the Kids
In The Spotlight: Talking Tolkien
What's New & Coming Soon: Reviews, Links, etc.
Daily Thoughts & Reflections: And a Child Will
Lead Them
Prayer & Sharing Requests
Quotable: Ice Breaker
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| FEATURED
ARTICLE |
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Honey,
I Blew Up at the Kids
by Erin Brown Conroy, M.A.
“I blew it. I’m sorry.” These
words are some of the hardest words in the English language to say.
Mistakes. Failure. Unhealthy responses. Poor behavior.
Most of the time, our hearts know what is “right,” and
our inmost desire is to respond to our child in loving,
kind ways. Unfortunately, as parents – and human
beings – we’ll never be perfect. Even though
we’d like to act and say all of the wonderful “parent
things” that we know are the “best,” we
just won’t. We’re prone to fail.
So what happens when we do “blow it”?
When we’ve said something unkind, yelled in anger,
turned our back and ignored a situation where we should
have intervened, or just plain said the hurtful thing – What
do we do?
Read the entire article here
Discover more thought provoking articles
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| IN THE SPOTLIGHT |
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Talking Tolkien
With the just released third and final
film installment of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy
the world is again buzzing about all things Tolkien.
The story is rich with subject matter that concerns us
all, including what Gandalf states so profoundly: “All
you have to do is figure out what to do with the time
you have left”.
Some of that time can be spent exploring more about
J.R.R. Tolkien and the “Lord of the Rings”.
Christianity Today has created a special section worth
exploring.
There is also the very extensive Tolkien
Society web site. Their aim is to encourage
and further interest in the life and works of J.R.R.
Tolkien.
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Visit our online
store. There's something for everyone. Many great
Christmas gift ideas!
When you shop with us, you support our ministry – thank you!
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| WHAT'S
NEW & COMING SOON |
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The first
of the year is always a good time to look ahead and
look back. What are your dreams and goals? How have
you grown? God is the constant creator and is making
all things new – even you! January we will examine
this subject more.
Some of the new articles on our site include:
Will I Stay or
Will I Go? by Ray Stark
Gift Exchange
Timely articles:
The Perfect Gift
The Gift We Can Give to God
A Shepherd's Tale
See all our articles here.
We have many reviews -books,
movies, music - currently on site at Reviews.
Be sure to check out the newest review of Max
Lucado’s “Next
Door Savior”
New link:
Holy Spirit Interactive – dedicated
to discovering the joy of the Holy Spirit and inviting
the Spirit
into every aspect of our lives.
See more at our links page
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DAILY THOUGHTS & REFLECTIONS |
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And a Child Will Lead Them
Let the little ones come to me; do not try to stop
them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
I tell you whoever does not accept the kingdom of God
like a little child will never enter. (Luke 18:16-17)
You hear many people this time of year, “Christmas
is for the kids”. Many people view the Christmas
season as only a time for gift giving and feel that
the children get the most joy out of it. While you may understand that what we really are celebrating
is God’s gift to us there is some truth to the idea that Christmas, God’s gift of Jesus, is
for the children.
Luke recorded for us these comments of Jesus to make it clear that we must accept the
kingdom of God like a child does. But what does that mean? We live in a
society, culture, and time that want to question, analyze,
and categorize everything. Anything that it can’t
understand or explain based on its current and limited
knowledge it will choose to dismiss as not real or irrelevant.
What Jesus meant was, if we are to have an intimate personal relationship with Him we must trust Him and
we demonstrate that trust by believing Him in the things and areas we do not understand. We are not capable
of understanding all of what God created and why He does what He does, and it is only our arrogance that
we feel we should or can; it is only our arrogance that says we will not believe unless we are told or
made to understand. A child who loves and trust someone does not make these demands.
So don’t insist on trying to understand everything, trust the one who is in
control and loves you more than anything.
Live it Fierce
Pete Reinbold
Get daily inspiration with a Scripture verse and commentary
at
Daily Thought
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PRAYER REQUESTS & RESULTS |
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Prayer works. It really does. Only those who've never truly tried
it with the proper intentions would say otherwise. We
want to pray for you and your needs. If you have a specific
request let us know at prayer requests.
Of course, we keep you information confidential.
We also like to share testimonies of answered prayers
at prayer results.
You can send us your testimony by
email. Use our form
at contact us.
If you do not want your name to be listed simply let
us know.
By sharing God's love and how He helps us you encourage
others in a powerful way.
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SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND ENCOURAGEMENT
We welcome and appreciate your feedback. If you would like
to submit an article please see our writer's
guidelines.
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If you have questions or comments send an email
Quotable: Ice Breaker
“A smile is a powerful weapon; you can even
break ice with it.”
— Author Unknown
Copyright 2003 Living the Solution, all rights reserved.
Tom Gilbert
Editor/Web-servant
Living The Solution
www.livingthesolution.com
Toll free 1-800-399-2564 ext 105
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