Memory Problems

 

Grumbling is one of the fastest ways to distort your vision and let in crippling discouragement. Complaining is blaming someone else for what we don’t like about our own life. Instead of looking for what we appreciate, we focus on what we despise. Grumbling will sabotage a workplace, a church, a family, or a community because it is deadly and destructive.

When Moses led the people of Israel through the wilderness on their journey to the Promised Land, they had a terrible habit of grumbling. If they were hungry or thirsty or tired or wanted something different to eat, they would complain. In Numbers chapter 11, the people began to crave other food than what they had to eat. They said, “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost — also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” (Numbers 11:5-6). It is incredible how selective their memory was of Egypt. They remember the abundance of fish at no cost, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic! One wonders if Egypt was so fantastic; why did they ever leave it in the first place. Do they even remember the slavery, the harsh taskmasters, the endless brick-making, and the construction of pharaoh’s slave cities? Their memory of the past was
faulty.

Grumbling is contagious and quickly passed on to others. Their distorted view of the past prevented them from seeing and appreciating the present. It also completely robbed their future. This habit of being discontented with what God has given to us is a bad habit.  It is a refusal to recognize God’s gifts.  Moses was so overcome with hearing the people’s grumbling; he began to grumble to God about the grumbling.  What he had done before in this instance was to pray for the people. As an intercessor, God responded to his prayers and intervened on behalf of the people.

The antidote for grumbling is found in seeing our God-given purpose. Only then will we appreciate our present circumstances, the people around us, and, yes, even our present challenges. Only then will we keep moving toward our God-given destiny. Instead of grumbling, let’s try praying for people and things we don’t like and allow God to help us see things their way, and most important, God’s way.

  (Parenting with a Long View) https://bovdbrooks.com/

Israel

  

We are witnessing a horrifying attack against Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. This tiny nation is surrounded by countries that hate her, but against all odds, she continues to survive. We who love Israel stand with her and pray for her peace.

Israel has always been proof of the existence of God, with the many biblical prophesies about Israel and its fulfillment. They continue to be fulfilled even to this day. The very fact that Israel has survived as a nation and is thriving while surrounded by enemies on every side is amazing proof that God has allowed this to be.

Israel is a testimony to God’s promise of the land to Abraham (Gen 15:17-21). The land was taken from the Jews through the many invasions of foreign powers. None of those invasions escaped the sovereignty of God. After World War I, there arose a steady movement for the re-establishment of Israel on its land. Many offers were made to help establish a Jewish state on African land or in South America, but Israel always held out for this land—the biblical land.

On Saturday, November 29, 1947, the vote to allow Israel to become a nation took place in the United Nations. It was a historical moment that moved many Israelis to tears. The United States exercised a significant influence in making this happen. Then on May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry Truman recognized the new nation on the same day. The U.S. State Department and many other countries were against the creation of the Jewish State for fear that it would generate aggression by the Arab States.

Their fears were valid. Sure enough, in 1948, the same year of Israel’s birth, Israel fought for its survival. Neighboring nations on every side attacked the tiny nation of Israel to deny its foundation, but the newly formed IDF was victorious in The War of Indepen

dence. Then again, Israel’s enemies attacked in 1967 and 1973, but Israel was victorious over its enemies each time. In each of those wars, Israel was vastly outnumbered but not defeated. We are seeing God’s promise to Israel fulfilled before our very eyes.

The fact that that little strip of land belongs to Israel today with all of the forces in the world that have fought to keep the Jewish State from forming is amazing. God continues to astonish us with his sovereign power as he fulfills his promises. From 1948 and even before, Jews have migrated by the millions back to Israel. The gathering from all the nations is a fulfillment of prophecies by Jeremiah and Isaiah. The borders of Israel are not so far from what God promised Abraham in the book of Genesis. Israel is indeed proof of the existence of God.

  (Parenting with a Long View) https://bovdbrooks.com/

The Maternal Bond

 

God made the bonding that happens between a mother and her child. The impact of that mother-child bonding is incredible. She lovingly meets the child’s needs and soothes and calms the baby in a way no other person can do (ask Dad). During this infant stage, the child learns the mother’s voice and responds to it significantly. This bond that gives security and love becomes the foundation for stable adult life for that child. Her influence is of the utmost importance to the child’s normal and healthy development. Her love accomplishes what no father or any other substitute could do. Research shows that the first few years of a child’s life contribute to the personality, intelligence, and emotional stability of the person’s entire life. The child’s brain develops faster and becomes more active with the maternal interactions, causing the child’s personality to blossom. The children who are denied this incredible experience suffer adverse effects throughout their life.

You mothers shape the child before he or she ever sits under a teacher. You are there when the child needs you the most. When those little children need answers to the fundamental questions of life, they naturally go to you. God meant it to be that way. You are the one that sets the tone for that home when the children are young and impressionable like soft clay. When the kids are down or facing a problem, you are the one they pour out their hearts. It’s a mother’s love that encourages each child to be who they were meant to be.

I realize that my love for people, my boldness, and my desire to help people came from my mother. She may have had her imperfections, but loving her family and putting them first wasn’t one of them. She was compassionate with her family and to others.

My mother also knew when to let her kids go and encourage them to follow their dreams. When I was seventeen, my mother took me to catch a bus bound for Los Angeles, California, where I would leave for Guyana, South America, for two months. As the bus pulled away, I could see her in the car fighting her tears. That two months changed my life, and I am grateful for a mother who let me go and prayed for God’s will in my life.

My mother is now with Jesus, but her legacy lives in my life and my children. I am thankful to God for a wonderful mother and that my wife has been that same kind of mother to our children. If we ever needed mothers, it is today. Your role in our society and our culture is essential.

  (Parenting with a Long View) https://bovdbrooks.com/

Moments of Clarity

 

We were made for connection—connection with God and with people we love and who love us. This is why God created marriage and family. Being surrounded by family gives us the emotional energy to live life with purpose and meaning. It also allows us to have mutually gratifying relationships that enrich our lives.

This past month I had a birthday, and my family celebrated the occasion with me. After a great meal (Argentine stakes) together, we sat down, and I read all their cards out loud. What a moment of clarity! My wife and kids, and grandkids shared some of their most beautiful moving words with me. After reading the cards, I looked around the room and saw all those beautiful faces (five of which are in California) but there in spirit, and I realized how lucky I am. God has blessed my life most remarkably.

I realized that I have what some people try to find their entire lives—that connection to the people who mean the most to you. It has been there for a long time—the respect of my wife, my daughter, and my two sons and daughters-in-law and a son-in-law and now seven grandchildren. The connection to these loved ones is so rewarding. It has taken nearly half a century to grow this family, but now the fruits are so enjoyable. Since I see dozens of couples and families regularly in counseling trying to work on their connection, I know how valuable connection is. Though I do everything I can to help, some never achieve it. My fortune of having this family is purely by God’s grace.

I look at these people (my family) that occupy such an essential part of my heart, and I say to myself, “How fortunate you are. My heart is full of gratitude to God for what he has given me. At the same time, I realize what a great responsibility I have to set an example of what it means to be a good man who loves God and loves his family.

I have said on occasions that the greatest compliment that will ever be said to me after I am gone from this earth will be, “He was a man who loved God and loved his family.” That, for me, is a moment of clarity. No matter how great the accomplishments or how large the acquisitions, they don’t mean anything if you don’t have the love and respect of your family.

 (Parenting with a Long View) https://bovdbrooks.com/