Danette > Recent Status Updates

Jesus Christ is no security against storms, but He is perfect security IN storms, He has never promised you an easy passage, only a safe landing.

Since 90 percent of your serotonin is made in the gut, a damaged intestinal tract can also mean descending into an inexplicable fog of depression or feeling as if your life is being run by a humming undercurrent of anxiety.

So when I proclaim, “Let them be kids!” it is mostly NOT passive. It is NOT an exhausted resigning of duties, a last-gasp, fizzling at the end of day, free-range, unsupervised, “Oh, what the heck…” free-for-all. To let them be kids, we must be adults. When we let them be kids, we are the gardeners working faithfully so childhood can grow. And our work is worth it.

But the fact is grief doesn’t know we invented time. Grief has its own tide and comes and goes in waves.

Women carry on. They endure the way old ships do, breasting into outrageous waters, ache and creak, hull holed and decks awash, yet find anchorage in the ordinary, in tables to be wiped down, pots to scrub, and endless ashes to be put out.

There is an important connection between your delight in God and your usefulness to the people around you - or between your delight in God and living out your purpose. As you delight in God, you will find delight in serving others. As you find joy in him, you will most joyfully bless others.

His rifle is wavering, they haven’t really explained this bit, that running and shooting is quite different to standing and shooting and that running and shooting while being shot at is for obvious reasons, chaps, not taught at all. It’ll come to you; don’t worry, men.

Irish people will read anything as long as it’s about them. That’s what I think. We are our own greatest subject and though we’ve gone and looked elsewhere about the world we have found that there are just no people, no subject as fascinating as We Ourselves. We are simply amazing.

From that moment on, I understood that the Lord didn’t save me just to sit in a church pew and listen all my life - but, rather, to serve.
Ivan - Chile

There are unhealthy movements that grow out of a need to show that others are mistaken, and there are healthy movements that grow out of a joyful discovery that powerful and precious realities about God and his ways have been obscured, and need to be recovered for the full fruitfulness and joy of God’s people.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Luke 1:76-79

But, there were some faithful Israelites who knew that the Savior would fulfill what the Promised Land symbolized: a place in eternity with God. Jesus Christ was this Savior. Though many believed Him to lead a revolution against the Roman government’s oppression, Jesus actually led a rebellion against sin’s oppression.

“When she heard the news, it seemed to him that Emma was her old self again - not that it was any improvement.

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel:you shall say to them,
The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:22-26

That’s what (expositional) preaching does - it makes people realize that what is being taught comes from the Bible and that the Bible should be our authority for everything we say and everything we believe and everything we do. So, when you preach expositionally to people who do not know how to read, it gives them the desire to learn to read and own a Bible.

The gospel must be preached to this generation, and then passed like a torch to the next generation - and the next - because Christians are not born but are born again by the grace of God.

There’s always more we can do in ministry, but God is not asking “Can you do more?”, He is asking “Do you love me? Some of those extras are not always as vital as we think them to be.

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does its successive journeys run;
His kingdom spread from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Isaac Watts, “Jesus Shall Reign,” 1719

The best kinds of ministry are, more often than not, long term and low key. I have tried to prepare them for a marathon, not a short, energetic sprint. In other words, to help them have a lifetime of sustainable sacrifice, rather than an energetic but brief ministry that quickly fades in exhaustion.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me - practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:31-32

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace, Eph 1:3-6a

Nature, as has been pointed out, had equipped Hildebrand Spencer Poyns de Burgh with one of those cheap-substitute minds. What passed for brain in him was to genuine grey matter what just-as-good imitation coffee is to real Mocha. In moments of emotion and mental distress, consequently, his reasoning was apt to be in a class of its own.

God is in every tomorrow,
Therefore I live for today,
Certain of finding at sunrise,
Guidance and strength for the way;
Power for each moment of weakness,
Hope for each moment of pain,
Comfort for every sorrow,
Sunshine and joy after rain.

Trying to keep up will never work. We must purposefully choose to slow down, to watch the clouds go by and listen to the birds sing. To read novels of daring adventure and make messes in the kitchen. It takes a long time for us to become who we are, and homeschooling gives all of us, parents included, the time to do so.

The goal of education is not some slip of paper that announces you are educated; rather, it is a lifestyle of continued learning for the sake of growth and enjoyment, both of which contribute to a rich and fulfilling life.

Adults must use the skills they have where children can see them…Children need to get some sense of the processes by which good work is done.
John Holt

Kids need several hours of unstructured physical play daily to adequately stimulate and integrate sensory pathways; they need secure attachment to caregivers, plenty of touch, and varying levels of environmental stimulation that support calm alertness during the day and restful sleep at night. They also need conversation with adults, contact with nature, and creative outlets, such as music, art, or dance.

The question is not - ‘how much does the youth know?’ when he has finished his education - but how much does he care? And about how many things does he care?

I find myself worrying most that when we hand our children phones, we steal their boredom from them. As a result, we are raising a generation of writers who will never start writing, artists who will never start doodling, chefs who will never make a mess of the kitchen, athletes who will never kick a ball against the wall, musicians who will never pick up their aunt’s guitar and start strumming.