Off to Indiana

Okay, I’m off to Indiana. I don’t think I’ll have time to post again before I leave. I’m sure I’ll have lots to share when I get back on Tuesday – both good and bad.

I just got a call from my mother and she said she planned to have the – "what’s your intention?" talk with Brian. I told her to back off and to call off the Spanish inquisition, we’ll see if she listens. I might have to pull out the big guns

Filed under: Travelling

Marry Your Baby Daddy Day

A single writer in New York decided that if she can’t get married then those cohabitating with kids should not have any barriers to prevent them from being able to and Marry Your Baby Daddy Day was born.

She organized a ten-couple wedding in a Brooklyn church financed by donations of everything from the wedding dresses to the cake. This eight-month process included dress fittings and counseling for the couples.

Imagine if your church decided to do something like this?!! Can you even imagine it? It is definitely a different approach than just preaching against living together.

I think it could help those who are living together due to financial reasons and trying to save up for a wedding. These people are sure about their relationship and have a confidence in their long-term desire to get married. It might also help those who fell into living together, unsure of where to go next in their relationships, realize how they feel about each other and make appropriate decisions for their future.

I wholeheartedly believe that the church should be involved in these types of activities and provide realitic, practical help for those who want to get married and to help provide relationship skills and awareness necessary to make those decisions.

Filed under: Spiritual Formation

Ridiculous Church Reponse to teenage blogs

When I read stories like this I shake my head in disbelief, yet I’m not shocked. Then as it sinks it I just get angry.

A NJ Catholic High School is ordering all students to remove blogs for fear they’ll be seduced by adults into inappropriate relationships.

While I don’t deny the fear of adults trying to lure young children on the internet, I don’t think a ban is the answer. Instead we should teach them about the dangers, signs to be aware of and other ways to protect themselves and their friends. This is the perfect teaching opportunity. There is also a little concept of learning to integrate your faith.

And then they wonder why children grow up to abandon their faith and have no affiliation with the church.

Aren’t there a ton of public service announcements about the importance of talking to your kids about drugs – add this to the list. Don’t just ban it. Haven’t we learned in history that anything banned just draws more attention. We need to demystify it and open it up to discussion instead of just slam down our fist of authority and require that they blindly obey, which we know will not happen.

It’s amazing that in thousands of years of authority and parenting we haven’t learned how to deal with or talk to teenagers yet. Especially now in a postmodern world that shuns authority, institutions and conventionality why in the world are they going to listen to something or someone that just so blindly dismisses them and labels it – for your own good.

This definitely hits my buttons. It’s so ridiculous.

Filed under: Ranting and Raving, Spiritual Formation