Session Notes

What Your Teens Need to Know about Sex:

“Quick ideas about setting boundariesChildren and teens need boundaries for their safety. Children should understand the consequences of breaking family rules and boundaries. Consequences should fit the severity of the rule. The following are a few boundaries to discuss with your teen:CurfewTransporting other teens: who or how many people ride in one car together Drinking alcohol or using drugsDrinking alcohol or using drugs and driving Lying to parents or adults in authorityAllowing opposite-sex company in bedrooms Having friends over while parents are absent Age at which dating can beginDating vs. courting: discuss family values and guidelines”

This is a good article of a vision for teenage relationships. However, the law-based Christianity mindset is laced through it. The piece needs to be changed to focus only on Jesus.

How to Use Your Bronchodilator Inhaler:

“Bronchodilators are prescription medications used to relax the smooth muscles of your constricted airways. This dilates or widens them, making it easier to breathe and to cough up”

Bronchitis Self-Care – Caring for Yourself During A Bronchitis Bout – Bronchitis Treatment:

“Drink a minimum of eight glasses of water or other fluids every day. This will help to keep mucus thin, making it easier to cough up. Avoid sugar and dairy products because they tend to weaken the immune system and cause excessive mucus production.

Cough Suppressants
Do not take cough suppressants. If you have a cough that brings up mucus, this means your body is eliminating the mucus. By taking a cough suppressant, you may cause mucus buildup that can lead to serious complications, such as pneumonia.”

Shovel Writings: Galatians 4:

“The issue of belonging to God is one of legitimacy. In other words, who is the rightful heir? As with Abraham’s sons, the APPEARANCE of being first in line is an illusion. The miracle child was harassed by his older brother. And it shouldn’t take a brain-surgeon to figure out the motivation – this stupid little kid was getting his inheritance! Ishmael’s taunts would have been designed to undermine Isaac’s sense of identity, which is the same questioning of your own identity as a rightful heir of God through Christ. How many times has your ”salvation“ been questioned? How many times has it been suggested that you don’t really belong to Him or have a lower standing? How many doctrines have categorized you as illegitimate – as a bastard? Haven’t you noticed that the productivity of the flesh always questions the productivity of the Spirit? It’s message is that you cannot trust freedom to produce anything of worth! But if you hear the simple lesson of Sarah and Abraham you will find that you have a reason to rejoice when you can’t see any fruit … or when it appears as if nothing is happening!


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This is a good article on the deadness of performance as opposed to the fruit of freedom.

Shovel Writings: Christ & Him Crucified:

“He then went on to throw their screwed up experiences in their faces, NOT TO SHAME THEM, but to drive home the reality of what the wisdom of the world had convinced them of and brought them to.  His major questions were, ”DON’T YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?“  … ”DON’T YOU KNOW WHAT THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD PRODUCES?“ … ”DON’T YOU KNOW THE TWO WISDOMS CANNOT MIX?“.
”AMONG YOU“ … How do you view me?  How do you view yourself?  One will demand the other.  Compare me with yourself or with your group or with your standards and you have evaluated yourself by how well you rate in comparison to me or with those standards!  Rate me by how many doctrines I agree with you on and you have automatically rated yourself as the standard by which I am to be judged in the matter.  Put me under law and eventually you will have no option but to put yourself under law.  It’s what the Corinthians were doing … and it’s what you and I also fall into.
View me in the living, risen Christ, the one who has been separated from everything to do with the world …… OR ……… view me in relation to how well I rate in comparison to your world.  There are no other options.”

An Excellent discussion that we are to only see Jesus in others and not compare them to us. May it be so.

Shovel Writings: Cold, Dead Fingers:

“Wow. I, too, had defined forgiveness by the human process I went through in attempting to ”let go of“ my hurt feelings or anger. But you’re right…in Christ, these offenses do not exist. The spiritual reality destroys the human formula. Our desire is therefore not for the ”how to,“ but rather to stay focused on Christ.
”

This is the only answer to all conflicts: STAY FOCUSED ON JESUS!!! EVEN THOUGH IT APPEARS THERE ARE OFFENCEANNOYANCES THEY DO NOT EXIST IN CHRIST. LORD do this is all of us, please!!! HE SAYS HE WILL.

Shovel Writings: Forgiveness Response:

“Your emotions are letting you know that you are viewing yourself and/or others by your yardstick … while the gospel declares that your yardstick is the thing you have been saved from … he snapped it into little bitty pieces. Chances are that if the emotions are hanging on after seeing the situation in the reality of Christ that those emotions are being stirred up by something else. I have often discovered that my hateful feelings were not really about the person who said something derogatory to me, but in the simple fact that I had been damning myself in that particular thing for years! Once I got past the bogus notion that SOMEBODY ELSE was to blame for my feelings of inferiority I was able to see the obvious fact that my anger was toward myself! But I had for the longest time transferred the blame, and therefore, the corresponding feelings to another. And so I tried and tried in vain to forgive them (or even to see them in Christ) … and I wondered why I felt these things toward them.
And, in this, I am once again presented with the reality of life vs. death. My Father has given me something tangible to behold and to declare that THIS TOO has been removed by Christ! This is His Spirit witnessing with my spirit and it is saturated with life.”

This is an excellent point about the real source of anger towards others. I pray we stop measuring one another and ourselves.

Budget Busters, Part 1:

“Few families understand how much and what kind of insurance is needed. Insurance should be used as a supplementary provision for the family, not for protection or for profit. Insurance is not designed for saving money or for retirement. So, select insurance based on God’s plan for your life, not on what someone else says you need for your life.”

Budget Busters, Part 2:

“Pay cash for a new car if possible. If not, make sure the current car is paid off before purchasing a new one.”

Motherhood Guilt:

“I want you to consider this inexplicable reality; you haven’t done everything wrong. You’ve taken many actions that are not only harmless but actually wonderful and wise. In fact, you have innumerable memories squirreled away in the quagmire of your maternal mind that are full of light and life and that are indictors of a mothering life well considered.So here we go—say them aloud or write them on a piece of paper—answer this one question: what isn’t on your guilt list—i.e. what have you done right as a mom? Nothing is off limits mentioning. Nothing is too simple or too sappy. Start with the easy stuff…here’s a couple of mine:I don’t feel guilty for picking up my babies every time they criedI don’t feel guilty for baking chocolate-chip cookies nearly once a week for the past 17 yearsI don’t feel guilty admitting I hate to play board gamesSee? Easy. Nothing earth shaking. Just simple, real, guilt-free realities of my simple, real life.”

This is an encouraging article on seeing yourself as a new creation in mothering. This is from an “It is Finished perspective.” May it be so that we focus on “WHAT IS LOVELY.”

In the Shadow of Guilt:

“motherhood is accompanied by the nagging, sometimes debilitating, emotion of guilt (with that tired trio of regret, doubt, and second guessing, thrown in for good measure.) Guilt seems bundled within our XX chromosome mothering genes. And some of that guilt is good. Really. It serves a purpose, and it can help us.”

A good synopsis of the feelings the evil one accuses mothers of harbouring.

globeandmail.com: Mumps outbreak spreads:

“the current strain of mumps originated in Britain, where there was a large outbreak in 2004. Immunization rates had drop significantly in Britain because many people believed the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine caused autism. The vaccine-autism link has since been disproved, he noted.
The disease reached Iowa last year, and Dr. Rau said it has now found its way into Canada.
”It’s global travel compounded with vaccine refusal,“ he said.”

globeandmail.com: Fruit juice not linked to obesity:

“”Children who consume 100 per cent juice had significantly better diets, higher intakes of some key nutrients,“ said Theresa Nicklas, the Baylor College of Medicine child nutritionist who led the study. Consumption of vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, folate, and B6 were higher among children who drank juice, she said.”

GOT A CLUE ABOUT YOUR GQ*?:

“ It always hurts to break up. And it reeks when you’re not the one choosing to end it. (That’s one reason many of you choose courtship over dating.) But when it’s over, it’s best to let it be over. Give it some time to let the awkwardness and pain go away before trying to be best buds with the girl. So you’re trying to take Ling at her word with b? Sounds like you’re trying to put words in her mouth—and feelings in her heart. And a? DUH! Minus 5.
9. The lesson to remember here is that when a girl says she doesn’t like you like that, she means . . . she doesn’t like you like that. Don’t take it as a total rejection. Instead, be content with the great friendship with a cool girl. You’ll still get to hang out with her and do stuff in groups. What an awesome chance to learn more about women. That’s probably even better than taking this quiz.”

This article has some good points on relating to women. Trying to make something happen is true, especially for women.

IS HOLDING HANDS ENOUGH?:

“Okay, I get the picture. But I’m not sure it applies with girls. After all, prolonged kissing won’t make you a sex addict, will it?”
No. But even this minor step gets old after a while. While your lips are busy, there’s nothing to do with your hands. Or is there?“

These are some good thoughts to consider, especially for teens. It has to do with the level of true commitment one has with each other towards marriage. Both of the partners ways may need be given to God.

WHY DO YOU WANT A GIRLFRIEND?:

“So there’s this girl. Yeah, we know: She’s fun, pretty, spiritually strong, and a good friend. You love hanging out with her, and you’ve started wondering about taking things to the next level—you know, a relationship. But why?
It sounds like you’ve got a good thing going. You know each other well. You have fun hanging out together without the awkwardness of being a couple. And you’re getting great practice in learning how to relate to the opposite sex.
So in all your deep contemplation, ask yourself these questions:
• Why do I want this girl friend to become my girlfriend?”

These are some excellent questions to ask regarding the timing of a serious relationship.

Shovel Writings: The grace of an ’A’:

“In rebuilding a system of performance relationships are severed. For we not only find ourselves at odds with one another but also with our own selves – and we also insist that GOD relates to us on the same basis. But the grace of Christ is measureless. His riches cannot be determined by any standard of man. And it has no lines by which to attach a score.
So, how are we to live in a world that is built upon such a system of measure? Simple. Live as one who has been made alive. Don’t you know that the measuring system of the world is NOT your measuring system? Don’t you know that you ALREADY have within you the life that the world only PRETENDS to achieve? If we are going to operate within the world we will often be forced to take its tests, but the world’s evaluation of you is irrelevant for your worth is in Christ. Don’t spiritualize the world’s system, instead, see it for what it is. The difference between grace and law will become increasingly obvious!!”

This is a good article on how even grace can be measurerd. However we are still operating under the world’s system, which we are not to do. The laws of the land are God administration so the world does not destroy itself.

Shovel Writings: The Word made Flesh:

“I thank the Lord when the angels said peace on earth toward men because of Jesus Christ .This year my eyes have been open to the true peace which is resting in the work of God threw Jesus Christ.Knowing He lives in me and made me one with Himself.I am so thankful that He has given me a new live to indentify with and that we have peace with God threw Jesus Christ.I thank the Lord for opening peoples eyes to this truth Love

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Shovel Writings The SHOVELETTER : Random Letters 2001
Re: The Word made Flesh



Posted: Sep-06-03 by the shovel 
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Dan, I am thrilled that you are seeing your reality in Christ – for this is true freedom!!!”

This is an excellent article stating there needs to be Peace of earth because of Jesus rising on the cross. It is what the angels proclaimed after His birth. This is our reality in Christ which is true freedom. When we let Jesus walk through us as He really is, this is our Freedom to be truly alive.

globeandmail.com: Five-point vitamin D primer:

“Dr. Cannell believes everyone should have a blood test to determine, then monitor, their vitamin D levels. He recommends going to the doctor three or four times a year and asking for a 25 Hydroxy Vitamin D level test. ”It should be between 125 and 150 nanomoles per litre,“ he said. ”It’s important that the patient not accept the doctor saying your levels are fine. They’ve got to get the number and get their levels up.“
HOLD OFF ON THE SUNSCREEN
”If you properly apply sunscreen, you might as well stay inside,“ Dr. Cannell says.”

SIX LIES ABOUT SEX:

“One day she said, ”I don’t think you love me. All you ever want to do is kiss.“ She spat the last word like poison. Her bitterness ran deep. Having thrown away the boundaries, they had ”kissed“ far more than each others lips. She almost gave him back the ring.
Dave wanted to scream, that it wasn’t his idea to kiss in the first place. But he didn’t. Dave knew that being the relationship’s leader, he’d made bad choices. He couldn’t blame her.
The couple backed off to cooler, more manageable boundaries. They stopped kissing, but the scars were there. Scars don’t go away.
When the wedding day came, technically Dave and his bride were still virgins. But as ”technical virgins“ on the most special day of their lives, they didn’t feel too special. They had acted like impatient children at Christmas. The gift of sex had been partially unwrapped. When they finished unwrapping it the night they got married, it wasn’t much of a surprise.
Years later, Dave still feels the sting of his wrong choices. With the clarity of hindsight, here are a few of the lies he believed:”

This is an excellent article that outlines the progression of physical relationships. However there is still an emphasis on the rules, even though it says there are none. The law-based legalism of the culture is what causes the guilt. The Lord just wants us to have as much happiness/surprise that anticipation elicits. The lies need to be given to God so His perspective and way can be lived out in the believers.