Parents: get help from your heavenly parent! - CFN Newsletter Week 140

CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK NEWSLETTER 140

> God is like a father and mother to us - excerpt from a current Lent Course

> News:
> Working to live - or living to work?
> Web policing move is 'historic' says charity
> New suggestions for tackling credit crisis

> Sites:
> Retro games - Pacman, golf and air hockey!
> Practical money advice for families
> Traidcraft school assembly resources

> Marriage MOT: Avoiding the argument rut
> You've got to laugh: Memorable car stickers
> Members' Zone latest

> OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS WEEK

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> FROM THE EDITOR

One of the most moving moments for me this week came in Trafalgar Square at the launch of the Make Poverty History campaign.

Nelson Mandela had just spoken and handed over the campaign's symbolic white wristband to a young schoolgirl, which she will present to the G8 leaders meeting this year at Gleneagles in Scotland.

It was a reminder of the responsibility we have not only to nurture and inspire our children, but to allow them to grow and eventually fly and take responsibility for their own world. It was a sobering moment - but also one filled with hope.

We hope this week's update helps you in the most difficult job in the world - and the most fulfilling.

God bless

Russ Bravo
Christian Family Network
info@cfnetwork.co.uk
http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk

PS Christian Family Network is here to direct you to the best in parenting, marriage and family resources; to link you up with other Christian families up and down the UK; and to help you make the most of life as a follower of Christ - at home, at work, at school and college, at play and online.

Your feedback, positive and negative, enables us to develop CFN in the way that is most useful for you - so please tell us if we're off the rails or on the button!

And don't forget - if we can pass on material (sample copies of Families Together, leaflets) which will help you tell your friends and your church about CFN, just mail Lyn Bedford at marketing@christianmedia.org.uk and she'll be glad to help you out.

> SPIRITUAL GROWTH

The God who feeds my soul

with MAX LUCADO

Bread is eaten daily.

Some fruits are available only in season. Some drinks are made only at holidays. Not so with bread.

And not so with Jesus. He should be brought to our table every day. We let him nourish our hearts, not just in certain months or on special events, but daily.

Bread can meet many needs. So can Jesus. He has a word for the lonely, as well as for the popular. He has help for the physically ill and the emotionally ill. If your vision is clear, he can help you. If your vision is cloudy, he can help you. Jesus can meet each need.

Can you see why Jesus called himself the Bread of Life?

I can think of one other similarity. Consider how bread is made. Think about the process. Wheat grows in the field, then it is cut down, winnowed, and ground into flour. It passes through the fire of the oven and is then distributed around the world. Only by this process does bread become bread. Each step is essential.

Jesus grew up as a "small plant before the Lord" (Isaiah 53:2). One of thousands in Israel. Indistinguishable from the person down the street or the child in the next chair. Had you seen him as a youngster, you wouldn't have thought he was the Son of God. He was just a boy. One of hundreds. Like a staff of wheat in the wheat field.

But like wheat, he was cut down. Like chaff he was pounded and beaten. "He was wounded for the wrong we did; he was crushed for the evil we did" (Isaiah 53:5). And like bread he passed through the fire. On the cross he passed though the fire of God's anger, not because of his sin, but because of ours. "The Lord has put on him the punishment for all the evil we have done" (Isaiah 53:6).

Jesus experienced each part of the process of making bread: the growing, the pounding, the firing. And just as each is necessary for bread, each was also necessary for Christ to become the bread of life. "The Christ must suffer these things before he enters his glory" (Luke 24:26).

The next part of the process, the distribution, Christ leaves with us. We are the distributors. We can't force people to eat the bread, but we can make sure they have it.

"I am the bread that gives life." John 6:35

• From A Gentle Thunder, Copyright 1995 Max Lucado

> THIS WEEK'S NEWS

> Working to live - or living to work?

National charity Care for the Family is organising a series of events for all those interested in balancing their work time with the other aspects of life.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> Web policing move is 'historic' says charity

National children's charity NCH has said the launch of web policing measures to fight paedophiles is an “historic day”.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> New suggestions for tackling credit crisis

Credit Action, the money education charity, is urging creditors to share minimum payment information on credit cards in order to limit the growing trend in extreme debt, which causes great distress to individuals and their families.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> MARRIAGE MOT

Here we go again ...

An argument, a sullen silence, sulking for a few days, then everything "pushed under the carpet" again. He comes in from work, switches on the TV and ignores you, so you go off and do your own thing. How often we fall into unhelpful patterns of behaviour, so predictable - you just know what's going to happen next.

Researchers have found out that to improve a marriage it takes more than learning new skills. You have to unlearn the destructive behaviours. Are there key words and phrases that trigger an argument or result in you withdrawing into yourself? Do your disagreements follow a similar pattern each time?

Are there "no go" areas that you avoid because you fear facing them or have learnt to avoid the pain you bring? Do you fear and avoid conflict? Have you found ways of getting your own way with your loved one? Do you keep things like your credit card bills hidden so you don't have to admit you can't help over-spending?

Why not ask yourself: "Could I try to do things differently?" Why am I behaving this way? Do I need to? What would happen if I dared to respond differently - more positively? If I changed, would the whole situation change? If I dared to share my fears with my spouse instead of pushing him away, would things be different? Could I ask him or her for help to cope with what's bothering me?

It takes two to tango, so is it time to stop trying to do the waltz and see if you can move in step with one another?

> Check out our archived marriage tips in the Members' Zone, plus stacks more marriage resources at http://www.2-in-2-1.co.uk

> EVENTS

> YOU'VE GOT TO LAUGH ...

Memorable car stickers

• Save the whales. Collect the whole set.
  
• A day without sunshine is like, night.
  
• On the other hand, you have different fingers.
  
• I just got lost in thought. It wasn't familiar territory.
  
• 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
  
• 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
  
• I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
  
• Honk if you love peace and quiet.
  
• Remember, half the people you know are below average.
  
• He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
  
• Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
  
• The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.
  
• I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.
  
• Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.
  
• Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7 of your week.
  
• A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
  
• Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
  
• Get a new car for your spouse. It'll be a great trade!
  
• Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.
  

Head for www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/resources.asp for more!

> CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK THIS WEEK
(MEMBERS' ZONE) - http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/default.asp

> Advice

> Kate's Marriage advice - avoiding the argument rut
> Eric Spellmann on the best educational websites
> Bob Rieth's 2-minute devotional
> The best parents are students

> Resources

> Your family can be a team!
> Help from our heavely parent
> Memorable car stickers
> Unlikely excuses ... if you fall asleep at work

> News:

> Working to live - or living to work?
> Web policing move is 'historic' says charity
> New suggestions for tackling credit crisis

> Sites:

> Retro games - Pacman, golf and air hockey!
> Practical money advice for families
> Traidcraft school assembly resources

> Events: What's on near you

> Webwatch index: more than 700 sites categorised at your fingertips

> Site Search Engine: the easy way to trawl our 1,000-page plus archives

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