Neighbors

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by Janet Scouten

My family and I have been in Italy for less than a week now, and this place has already captured my heart. We’re staying in Siena, a beautiful city in the heart of Tuscany, where my husband will be studying for six weeks. It’s been a wonderful opportunity for our family on so many levels, but the most amazing thing we’ve encountered so far is the incredible community spirit of this place.

Let me just say, this is one of the most exciting times of year to be in Siena. A centuries old horse race—called the Palio—is run every July in the town square, which, in fact, is not a square at all, but instead a large shell-shaped public area in center of town.

This Palio is no simple horse race, as I’m quickly beginning to discover. The race dates back over 800 years and, in recent memory, has been run pretty much every year except during World War II. (Quite understandably, I must say.) The race is between ten of Siena’s contrada (pronounced “con-TRAH-dah”), or neighborhoods, and the winner of the race receives a flag (or “palio”) to commemorate the victory.

I have never seen a place with more neighborhood pride than Siena. Over the past couple of days, as the town gears up for the big race, we have been treated to the sounds of song rising up to our window from the streets below—groups of fresh-faced young men and women, their middle aged parents, and even their school-aged little brothers and sisters, walking through town and singing their hearts out. And they are singing about their neighborhood—or contrada. Read more »

A Goodly Heritage

marliana kitchen 

by Janet Scouten

Once upon a time—long enough ago that no living person still remembers, but not so far back that we cannot imagine it—there was a young woman living in a small Italian village. This woman was preparing for a long journey—not just for herself, but for her three-year old boy as well.

    The little boy was excited. He ran around underfoot as his mama gathered their few belongings, saying, “Papa! Papa!”

    His mama sat down on the bed in the small room they shared, and stroked the dark hair from his forehead.

    “Yes, baby. We are going to see your Papa. But we have a very long journey before us. Do you remember where we’re going?”

   “Oka-la-homa!”

  “Yes, baby. Oklahoma. In America. And that’s where your Papa is waiting for us.”

Read more »

Thank You

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Budapest: Our Family, 2003

by Janet Scouten

In case anyone is wondering, I’m feeling particularly thankful these days. School is out—hooray!—and I’m getting to spend some good, lazy time with my boys instead of rushing them to get eat, rushing them to get dressed, and rushing them out the door to school.

I’m also thankful because our family has a very special summer planned. –I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but my husband is a teacher, and a very smart one at that. And part of his job involves teaching international studies, and sometimes he goes to international places to study. 

In recent years, he’s been to Ireland, Turkey, Italy, France, and I don’t even remember where else. Truth be told, I’m a bit more of a homebody than he is, so he usually travels alone.

Only once before have we traveled abroad as an entire family, and that was five years ago— the year we moved to Hungary.

Looking back, it seems utterly unreal. My older son was a toddling two-and-a-half year old, and my younger son was an infant—not quite three months old. And, more than once, I’ve looked back to that time and asked myself, “What in the world were we thinking?”

But, amazingly enough, that year turned out to be one of the best we’ve ever had. It was an adventure we’ll never forget, and lessons we learned there have made a lasting impact on who we are as a family. Read more »

Expectation

simeon and jesus

Editor’s Note: This is the second part in a series by Jan Kaneft on becoming a new grandmother. To read the first installment, “On the Other Side of Grace: A Grandson,” click HERE.

by Jan Kaneft

 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout.  He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. (Luke 2:25)

     Simeon, a lover of God, had longed for the coming of the Messiah, the consolation of Israel.  Empowered by the Holy Spirit, he had waited expectantly, believing the Scriptures that One would come to bring salvation, exhortation, encouragement, comfort and strength to a Jewish nation that, for centuries, had floundered in religiosity. 

     Waiting for my first grandchild, I identified with Simeon’s desire for consolation, not for a nation but for a family.  A new life resurrects hope: possibilities that seem out of reach.  A large task for one so small, and yet, I envisioned my grandson stirring up love, forgiveness, and truth, cementing the time-worn cracks visible in our family’s foundation.

It had been revealed to him (Simeon) by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. (Luke 2:26)

     What a blessing Simeon must have experienced when the Holy Spirit confirmed that he would see the Lord; his lifelong desire fulfilled! 

     To see my sons reach maturity was my first lifelong desire.  When they approached marrying age, I thanked God and quickly reinserted grandchildren into my prayer for longevity.  Constantly, I daydreamed about the first time I would hold him in my arms. 

    Would he know how much his Ganny loved him sight unseen…how many prayers were whispered to heaven on his behalf…how many purchases for him were wrapped in tears of joy…how cobwebbed lullabies slowly re-emerged ushering in new rhythms…would my grandson ever know that his grandmother’s heart was smitten at the mere thought of him? Read more »

The Way Things Were

Mother and daughter outdoors holding flower smiling

by Deena C. Bouknight

My 14-year-old son came to me recently and asked me to share my thoughts about the newest “F” word – Facebook. I cringed. I felt my recent birthday shoulder massage losing is effect. My body stiffened.

I’m just not what you might call a “high-tech” sort of person. I know how to use my computer to write and research. I can attach a document to an email. I can print out a photo. That’s about it. I don’t need to do anymore and I don’t want to do anymore. I’m not that old, but I still remember beginning my writing career in college still writing copy out by hand, then typing on an electric typewriter and then transferring the edited copy to a teletype machine that printed out articles on glossy paper that could be glued down onto layout sheets by hand.

I like to hold books and newspapers in my hand, and I like to either look a person in the eyes or hear their voice on a telephone. Call me old fashioned. All this Twitter, Facebook, My Space is happening too fast for me!

My 9-year-old daughter and I recently read “Anne of Green Gables” together. (I highly recommend this as a precious, memorable mother-daughter activity.) When we finished, she said to me one day, while dressed in her Little House on the Prairie dress that my friend made her last year for her birthday, “Momma, I think I was born at the wrong time.” Without her saying another word, I completely understood. “I wish I was alive back then when things were the way they were then,” she added. Read more »

Rebels with a Cause

james dean

In our American culture, it’s pretty much expected that teenagers will rebel.

Since the days of James Dean’s most famous role in the 1955 film Rebel without a Cause, popular media has celebrated the teenage rebel. Over fifty years later, our movies, TV shows, magazines and websites are still glorifying the idea of teen rebellion, while at the same time telling teens exactly how to act, think, and talk. –Not only that, but they also tell them what to wear, what to buy, and where to buy it. They even tell them what to dream, what to believe, and what to hate.

In an encouraging turn of events, however, it seems that a growing number of teens are turning the idea of rebellion on its head. Two teens in particular–twin brothers Alex and Brett Harris of Portland, Oregon–have taken a commanding role in what they call the “rebelution,” or a teenage rebellion against the low expectations of an ungodly culture.

These inspiring young men have written a book called Do Hard Things, in which they lead the charge of a growing movement of Christian young people who are rebelling against the low expectations of their culture by choosing to “do hard things” for the glory of God. (They also have a wildly popular blog called TheRebelution.com with over 16 million hits.)

In their blog, they write: “The word ‘rebelution’ is a combination of the words “rebellion” and “revolution.” So it carries a sense of an uprising against social norms. But in this case, it’s not a rebellion against God-established authority, but against the low expectations of our society. It’s a refusal to be defined by our ungodly, rebellious, and apathetic culture. Actually, we like to think of it as rebelling against rebellion.” Read more »

Why BTrue?

Rebel with a Cause

To hear first-hand why young people like Danny Morales have made the decision to stand up for abstinence in South Carolina, please watch this short video.

To learn more about BTrue, visit WhyBeTrue.com.

Stand with Danny today,
and show your support for Palmetto Family’s BTrue Project.
Thank you.

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Yes, You Can!

deena

by Deena C. Bouknight

Well into the throes of teaching writing and literature at Excelsior one day, a parent walked in between classes and asked me if I would be a guest speaker at the upcoming FACE (Forest Acres Christian Educators) meeting. “Uh … yeah … sure, I guess.” (Something like that came out of my mouth.) The topic of the evening was to be, “What About Me?” She said I was selected because I not only homeschool, but I teach and I write as well.     

After the day and the week settled down (which it never really did, or does – but it’s a nice thought) I began to question why I agreed to be a speaker. Certainly, I do juggle a lot of balls; but don’t we all, as mothers, perform daily feats that, if we really stopped to consider all that we accomplished we would marvel at ourselves? I think we’re kept sprinting from the minute our feet touch the ground in the morning to the moment we drop onto our mattresses in the evening so that we won’t consider all that we complete in a single day and thus, lead us into self adulation and, ultimately, pride.

I only do what God has put on my plate to do and what I feel led to do. I always say that if the Lord isn’t giving me the time and the skill to do it, I won’t take it on. However, for some reason He feels that I can. (“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded.”) Because He has given me much more than I deserve, all I can say is, “Thank you Lord. Yes, I can!” –What else am I to say to Him? Read more »

A Snappy New Day

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by Janet Scouten

It’s that time of year again, ladies and gentlemen…Turn-Off the TV Week is upon us.

Shhhh…If you listen very carefully, you can hear the agonized groans of children from all across the land. And if you listen even more carefully, I believe you might just hear the barely suppressed sighs of their parents.

Let’s face it…all of us know that watching TV is not the noblest of human pursuits, yet the overwhelming majority of us indulge in it now and again. And we all know that TV rots children’s brains, but maybe just a little won’t hurt, right? (We hope!)

Well, I’m certainly no expert. –I began this adventure in motherhood saying that my children would never, ever, ever watch TV. And then somehow, I changed my mind a little. I think it was the gentle tones of dear Mister Rogers that first lured me in. I remember snuggling on the couch with my firstborn when he was about three, clicking the remote, and then catching a glimpse of that familiar red trolley on the screen. I kid you not—actual tears came to my eyes when my old friend Fred started singing: It’s such a good feeling to know you’re alive. It’s such a happy feeling—You’re growing inside. And when you wake up ready to say, “I think I’ll make a snappy new day.”

That’s all it took. Suddenly, I realized that there were things about TV from my childhood that I wanted to share with my son. For instance, I really liked talking with him about how old King Friday was not so good at sharing, and how Lady Aberlin sure was nice, and how X the Owl was awfully cranky today.

That’s when I realized that limited TV wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but it probably wasn’t the best thing either. Yes, I could finally grab a shower, knowing that my transfixed boy wouldn’t move an inch while the beloved Mister Rogers was on. But it also meant that maybe I’d let him watch a little longer than I should so I could check my email in peace. –Oh…it was a slippery slope, and I won’t claim not to have slid down it headfirst on a number of occasions. Parenting is hard work! And when something like TV allows you a much-needed break, the temptation can be strong to lean upon it.

That’s where something like Turn-Off the TV Week comes in handy. Turning off that screen—even for a week—really does shake things up in a household. Suddenly, you realize how much you’ve been relying on screen time to make your day a little smoother. But after a few days of twitching and crying (mostly from the children, but a little from the grownups, too), you realize that your family is actually pretty creative. You realize that you like the members of your family. Whether it is playing board games together or just horsing around in the backyard, turning off the TV demands that you come up with something else to do. And, usually, it’s pretty fun.

Read more »

A Mother Stands Up

 

sad-woman

 

by Janet Scouten

I have a confession to make: For about five years when my boys were very little, I didn’t watch the news once, nor did I read beyond the headlines of a single newspaper. I was simply caught up in the day-to-day, slogging-it-out reality that is motherhood. And I just had to trust that the world at-large would keep spinning without my help.

Now, I do remember being vaguely aware of elections and wars and natural disasters, but if they weren’t running through my living room wearing a dirty diaper, I’m afraid I didn’t pay much attention to the details. But then–one day–I woke up to a reality in which both of my boys were weaned, potty-trained, and capable of getting dressed on their own (so long as I didn’t mind them putting their shirts on backwards or wearing a superhero cape every day).

It was a whole new world. And it’s not that I wasn’t needed in this new world, but it did mean that—for the first time in years—I actually had a moment to myself.

That’s when I started noticing the world outside my door. That’s when I realized it was time to start expanding the boundaries of my life. At first, those boundaries only shifted slightly. At first, it just meant tending more to the needs of our family friends and participating more in the work of my church. But, finally, it meant getting into the political realm, and realizing that the decisions made in the halls of power actually do impact families. Families like mine. Families like yours. And families like Melanie Moulder’s.

Who is Melanie Moulder?, you ask. Well, up until last week she was a woman I’d never heard of. And probably no one outside of her family and friends had ever heard of her either. She was just a wife and mother, living her life as best she could, just like you and me.

But this week, Melanie Moulder expanded the boundaries of her life in a way that will have a real impact on this state. And, unlike many of us who will slowly ease our way back from the (relatively) quiet life of motherhood into the world at-large, step-by-step, Melanie Moulder took one giant leap. Read more »