This shows why Ruth Institute’s work is so important, and our mission is so needed! We give students the intellectual tools they need, so we are dealing with reasons 8, 7 and 6, quite directly. And we are also dealing with 2 and 3 b/c we get beyond the “rules” and give the reasons. We also focus on what we are positively for, instead of what we are against. -JRM
by Jim Daly
Of all the hats I wear in life, the one I enjoy most may be that of “dad.”
As much fun as Trent, Troy, and I have together, whether it’s camping or just throwing the ball around, not a day goes by that I don’t give serious thought to how my wife, Jean, and I are leading them spiritually. In the grand scheme of things, we only a have a short window to help them build a solid biblical foundation before they launch out on their own.
If you’re a parent, I’m guessing you’re well aware of how challenging that can be. Even the statistics bear out the struggle we face. The exact percentages are up for debate, but we know that a significant number of kids walk out the church doors after high school graduation and never return.
Why? Read more…
February 19th, 2013
Betsy
The Chief Rabbi of France says what we often forget to say.
Gilles Bernheim
A great many of our fellow citizens see demands for homosexual marriage as just one more step in the democratic struggle against injustice and discrimination, a continuation of the fight against racism. It is in the name of equality, of open-mindedness, of being progressive and right-thinking that we are asked to accept this challenge to the foundations of our society. It seems, moreover, on the basis of public opinion polls, that this challenge is already accepted by a majority of our fellow citizens and thus the question of its establishment as a matter of law has not provoked a debate worthy of the momentous issues at stake. Read more…
As I was thinking and praying about the people in Newtown, I recalled that I had written something about the Virginia Tech massacre, when it happened back in 2007. Much of it is still relevant to this current mass killing. We still don’t have all the facts about the Newtown killer. As you read this piece from 5 years ago, think about the fact that the Newtown killer shot his own mother.
Perhaps you’ve imagined, over the last few days, what it would have been like if a child of yours were a student at Virginia Tech. Let me take that imagining in a direction you may not have followed.
In those fear-filled hours after you heard the news of the gunman opening fire and killing undetermined numbers of people, your tremble with fear, worrying about your child. You try to assure yourself, “Everything will be fine” — yet it does nothing to rid your heart of the thought that everything is not fine.
You try to call Virginia Tech, but the line is jammed. You call the Virginia State Police, but they can’t tell you anything. You cling to the news, but they aren’t giving any names. You call your spouse. You speak only a few words to each other, but stay one the phone, grasping for some sort of reassurance. Finally, one of you says, “We’d better get off the phone in Read more…
December 10th, 2012
Betsy
by William West
Parents concerned about losing touch with their children as the teen years approach may take some encouragement from a new study indicating that young teens can spend more time with their parents.
The study at Pennsylvania State University tracked nearly 200 families and found that kids in early adolescence spent increasing amounts of one-on-one time with parents and that this only began to change from the age of 15.
The study also found that the period during which teens spent extra time with the fathers can be very productive, particularly in boosting self-esteem and social skills.
Director of the Social Science Research Institute at Penn State, Susan McHale told CNN:
“The stereotype that teenagers spend all their time holed up in their rooms or hanging out with friends is, indeed, just a stereotype. Our research shows that, well into the adolescent years, teens continue to spend time with their parents and that this shared time, especially shared time with fathers, has important implications for adolescents’ psychological and social adjustment.”
The research was carried out over a period of seven years and looked at families with at least two children.
by Mary Cooney
Putting a price on the head of your potential child is applying the wrong set of values altogether.
My husband and I are millionaires. Or at least we ought to be. According to a recent New York Times article The Cost, in Dollars, of Raising a Child “would run close to $2 million by the time it was all over.” So, with five children in the nest, we must either be extravagantly wealthy or utterly broke. That’s according to the Times. Read more…
November 26th, 2012
Betsy
by William West
Parents of six children Brett and Kate McKay have drawn up what they call “The Awesome Dad Cheat Sheet“, offering “18 Fatherhood Tips They Should’ve Handed Out at the Delivery Room”.
Even for fathers (and mums) who think they already know it all, the list could prove to be a good refresher. I was certainly reminded of a few flagging resolutions. Read more…
November 26th, 2012
Betsy
by Carolyn Moynihan
Researchers never stop studying the effects of out-of-home care on very young children, and that is just as well, since governments in many countries are encouraging mothers to farm out their little ones while they go to work. Research results are mixed; some find a link between daycare and better knowledge and language skills (though not always); others find increased levels of stress in young children, and a tendency to aggressive behaviour as the children get older. Read more…
November 15th, 2012
Betsy
by Bryce J. Christensen
A couple of weeks ago we noted some Swedish research that showed the adverse mental and physical effects on mothers with dependent children of working outside the home. Here is another report from The Family in America journal about the mental health benefits — or otherwise — on adolescent girls and boys of parents who hew to the gender equality model of domestic and working life. Read more…
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