What Would You Have Done? Part 2: What to do if Your Christian Child is Persecuted

Lisa Cherry —  May 20, 2013 — Leave a comment

king and king book coverBy Lisa Cherry

Hannah was placed in a very challenging position for a young 17 year old student. Would she stand for Christ and His standards of morality and holiness, or cave into the expectations of her teacher in order to get an A on a writing project?

As I wrote in my last post, my daughter Hannah was asked in her community college English class to write a persuasive essay, and chose to do it on a banned book called King and King. As a story designed for 5-8 year old children, the fiction work portrays a prince who was having trouble selecting a princess to marry when one of the princess' brothers comes on the scene catching his eye.

The two princes fall in love, are seen kissing one another and are named King and King of the kingdom after a royal wedding that made them a "family." Quite a story for our primary students, eh?

Hannah worked dozens of hours formulating a three point persuasive argument in favor of the ban of the book from elementary classrooms that included the ideas that it could contribute to gender confusion in children, lead to homosexual experimentation, and undermine parental leadership in sexual education.  

It became apparent almost immediately that Hannah was in deep water. Her teacher began shooting back comments that Hannah would not be able to adjust unless she altered her viewpoint significantly.

"Mom, I should never have done this paper!" she tearfully lamented. "I don't want to blow my grade point average before I even officially start college!"

So here are today's questions. What should I have done when my daughter faced persecution for her faith?

1. Should I have tried to steer Hannah away from the topic she chose before she ever started writing? Even though all the topics that the teacher offered were controversial, should I have urged her not to pick one of the ones on homosexuality since that is so volatile and "dangerous" now?

2. Should I have helped her appeal for a new topic when it became apparent her teacher was going to intensely attack her viewpoint and possibly grade her lower because of it?

3. Should I have even considered having her drop the class to avoid the problem all together?

4. Should I have called her teacher myself at the first signs of trouble?

What do you think?
What would you have done??

This series of blog posts is designed to get us thinking by using a real live example of persecution toward a Christian child. I want to hear your ideas because we MUST sharpen our leadership if we and our children are to stand strong!

In my next post I will tell you which of those options I chose and why. And then we can discuss whether I did the right thing or not!

Then we can discuss whether I did the right thing or not!

Gratefully linked to:  Loving our Children Tuesday

Here's part 1 in case you missed it.

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What to Do if Your Christian Child is Persecuted Part 1

Lisa Cherry —  May 19, 2013 — 4 Comments

hannah pic for persecutionBy Lisa Cherry

Times are changing in America. Watch the evening news and you will see stories such as the  high school track team  that was disqualified from advancing to state championship after one member pointed toward heaven. What is happening? In a word.....persecution.

All be it, the persecution or pressure we are experiencing does not in any way match the level of pressure faced by our brothers and sisters around the globe, but nevertheless it is very real.  

It is no longer considered politically correct or lovingly polite to stand on traditional Christian values. And our children must be equipped to stand if they are to make it through the cultural flood of dissipation.

Over the last month our 17 year old daughter Hannah has experienced firsthand some persecution for her faith. What started out as a simple English class at our community college, turned into an opportunity for her to stand for Jesus.

Hannah is a very diligent student who completes her assignments with great care. Her instructor was a very thoughtful and hard-working teacher who took great care to hone the students’  writing skills. All seemed to be going well for the class until the teacher made her final assignment of an eight page persuasive research paper.

The teacher asked her students to pick from a narrow list of banned or censored writing works and argue whether the online or print works should be censored in their respective domains.  Most of the teacher's topics had something to do with the issue of homosexuality. And after careful consideration, Hannah chose the bookcalled King and King, a book for 5-8 year olds which was on a banned list from many schools in America.

Knowing she would need to argue against a book depicting two homosexual princes kissing and marrying, Hannah was nervous from the start of the assignment. "Mom, what if my teacher does not like my Christian view?" she asked me.

I assured her that a clear, well-documented paper was what the teacher seemed to be asking for. I urged her to walk in confidence as I figured (wrongly) that the teacher was expecting papers on both sides of these controversial issues.

Thus began a very trying month for my high school junior.

As Hannah completed the early phases of the research, I became increasingly alarmed by the comments coming back on the teacher's notes. It became evident that her teacher was no longer just commenting on sentence structure and research citation.  She clearly was out to change Hannah's reasoning points...by a non-disguised form of criticism and intimidation.

How would my strongly opinionated, faith-filled, high achieving daughter handle the fact that her grade for her first semester of college level work was on the line? That will be the subject of this series of posts. For what I witnessed coming toward my daughter was truly astounding. No wonder we are losing so many of our kids!!

Are you and your children ready to handle the increasing wave of pressure heading our way? Tune in over the next week as I share Hannah's story and how we as parents helped her through this challenging experience!

 

Gratefully linked to:

The Modest Mom Blog

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Micah Minus One Appendix! Family Fun Friday

Lisa Cherry —  May 16, 2013 — Leave a comment

micah minus one appendixBy Lisa Cherry

Last Sunday, I was very grateful to be finished with our tour, and to have been on my regular post at home.

Micah, our 15 year old, awoke before church complaining of an odd abdominal pain. I must confess my years of mothering experience caused me to go into auto mode. Probably gas or a bug coming on. No big deal. Just wait it out.

Well....a few hours later with a right-sided, bent-over boy and I wasn't too interested in waiting it out!

Ten kids but our first appendectomy. I have to say, Micah was a champ! No complaining. No drama. Just guts. No pun intended.

Isn't modern medicine a miracle?! Another era, another part of the world......and Micah could have not been here with us!

Thank you God!

Will you join me in prayer today for the thousands and thousands of mothers and fathers who do not have access to good medical care for their children?

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Fake Heroes: 7 Ways to Replace Bad Role Models

Lisa Cherry —  May 7, 2013 — Leave a comment
fake hero

photo courtesy LaDeon

Last week the news was filled with discussions about the NBA player who came out of the closet about his gay lifestyle. Many hailed his announcement as an act of heroism. Heroism? Courage? Is this our new definition? Wow, is this what we want our kids to absorb?

Parents, over the ages heroes have been carefully sowed into kids' upbringing as we wanted to inspire them to aim for greatness. What happened to this concept???

Today, as I present to you Rear Admiral Lee's story from last week, I urge you....take back the heroes in your home!!

7 Ways to Replace Bad Role Models

1. Make a clear statement

Our kids need to hear your definition of a real hero. Such as ....."John, it is important for you to be watching out for counterfeits in our modern world. Counterfeit Heroes are all around us. I am going to be pointing out to you in the coming days examples of real heroes that are worthy of imitation in our lives."

2. Ask them to help you identify today's heroes.

"We are going to continue our family's discovery of honorable heroes. Will you please help me find them? Literature, real life, the news.....wherever we see them, let's share them with each other. This week at dinner, come with a few examples."

3. Use Psalm 12:8, Isaiah 5: 20-21, and Proverbs 10:23 as teaching standards.

As the world continues to hold up media images before our kids as the "cool ones" worthy of imitation, we will need to hold up God's principles as the image of heroism!  How do the pop stars lives compare to these scriptures?

4.  Look for movies of great Christian Heroes and have a family movie night (yes, even with teens!)

We have had family movie night tradition for over 12 years. It can work and it can allow you to sow in worthwhile flics. Suggestions:

5.  Read aloud sections of the most radical hero book of all time:  Foxe's Book of Martyrs (or get Kindle version)

6. Read aloud the classic book that has inspired mature believers for hundreds of years: Pilgrim's Progress (or get the free Kindle version here)

7. Hold up role models who are living valiantly for Jesus at a young age.

We can find teens and young adults around us who have NOT caved into the craziness of our world!
Who do you know?

For more stories of modern heroes of the faith, check out the ministry Voice of the Martyrs.

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Modesty Issues: How to Upgrade Your Family’s Strategy

Lisa Cherry —  May 1, 2013 — Leave a comment

Kalyn Cherry Waller

By: Kalyn Cherry Waller
 
 
Have you ever had a heated discussion in your home about wardrobe choices? I know in my teen years, clothing became a source of regular disagreements between my parents and me. Often times, it became a downright ugly scene, ending with misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and rebellion mixed all together.
 
Many times there is such a disconnect between a parent's wisdom and a teen's desire to fit in, that common ground is hard to find.
 
If just the word "modesty" brings tension in your home, I encourage you not to give up on the issue. It is a hard topic, filled with sensitivities. But I believe God is able to help you guide your teen through clothing choices and even have the courage to draw the lines where the lines need drawn. I am very thankful my parents did just that!
 
Here is a great resource to help you get the conversation started:
 
http://www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey/

 

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