1990 January/February issue Part 1

Homeschooling

A reader asks me, as grandmother and outside observer of homeschooled children, to answer her questions. Is any school out of the question for Christians?

1989 September/October issue Part 1

The Effectual Fervent Prayer of a Mother

"Thou sentest Thine hand from above, and drewest my soul out of that profound darkness- my mother, that faithful one, weeping to Thee for me, more than mothers weep the bodily deaths of their children. For she, by that faith and spirit which she had from Thee, discerned the death wherein i lay, and Thou heardest her, O Lord; Thou heardest her, and despisedst not her tears, when streaming down, they watered the ground under her eyes [he alludes here to that devout manner of the Eastern ancients, who used to lie flat on their faces in prayer] in every place where she prayed; yea Thou heardest her... Thine ears were towards her heart. O Thou God omnipotent, who so caredst for every one of us, as if Thou carest for him only; and so for all, as if they were but one!"

(Confessions of St.Augustine)

1989 Spetember/October issue Part 3

Do not forecast grief

Sitting one still and sunny afternoon in a tiny chapel on an island in the South i thought i heard someone enter. A young woman was weeping quietly. After a little time i asked if i could help. She confided her fears for the future- what if her husband should die? Or one fo her children? What if money ran out?

1989 September/October issue Part 2

A call to older women.

In 1948 when i had been in Prairie Bible Institute (a very stark set of wooden buildings on a very bleak prairie in Alberta) for only a few weeks, i was feeling a bit displaced and lonely one afternoon when there came a knock on my door. I opened it to find a beautiful rosy-cheeked face framed by white hair. She spoke with a Scottish burr:
"You don't know me, but i know you. Iv'e been prraying forr you, Betty dearr. I'm Miss Cunningham. If everr you'd like a cup of tea and a scottish scone, just pop down to my little aparrtment."

1989 September/October issue Part 1

The Solace

Kathleen R. Lewis

I am waiting, Lord, on Thee,

Show me what you want from me.

I am resting; Thou art doing.

I am listening; Thou are wooing.

In the beauty of Thy will,

Draw me close, my being still.

I am trusting, Lord, in Thee,

Show me the path I cannot see.

I am foll'wing; Thou art leading.

I am hung'ring; Thou art feeding.

While I yield, though through my tears,

Pour Your comfort, calm my fears.

I am resting, Lord, in Thee,

Keep my eyes on Calvary.

I am praying; Thou art giving.

I am dying; Thou are living.

Not my will, but Thine instead,

Pured-out wine, and broken bread.

1989 July/August issue Part 3

But i have a graduate degree

A woman was asked to speak to the women students of a seminary about job opportunities for those with seminary degrees. She writes, "I talked to them first principally about being, doing and going as God wills (not who i am but whose am i). Then i listed both traditional and creative ways to fulfill needs in the Kingdom of God. Three feminists were offended especially that i should mention a nanny among the 70+ jobs. But Aristolte was a 'nanny' to Alexander the Great! These women had bought into the values of the world and were ready to figth for their ten years of executive computer programming. They said my talk had 'put the down more than any man's.'"