Putting Baby to Sleep

My friend Ron asked for advice on how to help their infant sleep better.  Here are a few of my thoughts.

We tried not to stress too much about making our kids sleep through the night.  Here are a few things we tried with moderate off-and-on success, and that seems to be about the best results out there.  Anyone who argues with that is probably just lucky or trying to sell something.  Every kid is different.  Our daughter slept WAY better than our son.  At two, he still gets up once about half the time now.

• Take it slow.  Go for incremental changes.  Do whatever she likes best, minus a half step that makes it easier on you.  And slowly ease back.  For example, you might try laying down with her on the floor or on a twin bed, and then getting up (and packing pillows around to protect her from rolling off if you're on the bed).  That way she gets to fall asleep with you, but you don't have to stay there all night.
• Try putting her down in a car seat or stroller.  Our son was a bear to get to sleep from about 3 months to 9 months.  Often, I would take him on late night walks in the stroller.  As a newborn, Our girl actually slept way better in her car seat.  We would just put that in her crib or on the floor in her room and strap her down.  I guess she felt secure, or maybe she didn't wake herself up by flailing around.

How to Be a Superhero

Ephesians 6:10-18

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

A few weeks ago Pastor Greg talked about how lots of movies try to destroy the world.   In most of these movies usually a hero or superhero steps up to save the day. 

What’s going on?  Why do we keep telling stories about destroying and saving the world?

Even if we don’t define it in spiritual terms, we know that there is a battle of good versus evil in our world.  We know that we are part of this battle.   Somehow, deep inside, we know that there are forces of darkness and evil in this world that are stronger than us, bigger than us. 

We know that we need help from someone bigger, someone stronger, someone more awesome than we could ever be.  We know we need a hero.  And so we have a whole genre of fiction and movies with superheroes.  

Today, as we continue our Family Movie Series in the month of August, we’re looking at the movie THE AVENGERS.  

Relearning America: 003 - Boogie Board Sledding

The skies over Indiana gifted us with 12.5 inches of snow on Tuesday, and Wednesday night prayer meeting was canceled, so the obvious response is to get the kids and go sledding.   If you can't pray together, at least play together!

Our host proved abundantly hospitable again, this time loaning us the use of two boogie boards her sons picked up on a vacation to Hawaii.  Boogie boards are actually designed as surfboard substitutes for the oceans, but somewhere along the way, people discovered that they skim across snow just as well.

Together with Greg (my new lead pastor) and his kids, we zinged up and down a nice little hill dozens of times.  We wore out the kids, and the adults were even starting to sweat.  

The best line of the day came from Greg: "Best staff meeting ever!"

100 Things I Love About Korea # 60: Pull-Out-All-The-Stops Preschool Performances

Every year Emma's preschool hosted an amazing end-of-year show.  They rented a huge hall and had act after act with rented costumes and everything.  They even hire a professional MC to get the crowd pumped up between acts.  It's way over the top, but it's one more reason why I love Korea.

Here is one presentation from Emma's annual preschool event.
The video is a little raw but we hope you enjoy the cutest peacock around.

100 Things I Love About Korea # 38: Shille Bang Bang - Trampoline Center

You know those rainy days when kids have so much energy where they are literally bouncing off the walls?  Why not send them somewhere (else) to do that?

That is the brilliant idea behind Shille Bang-Bang.  You could walk right past it without ever knowing it is there.  The entrance to this basement underworld is hidden under a small sign in a mini-alley off a main street near our local Lotte Mart.  But it is a treasure well worth discovering.

With four separate trampolines, Emma and her friends can go bounce ‘till their hearts are content.  For just 2,000 ($1.75), Emma gets an hour of exercise (plus the fifteen minute walk to get there), and we get some piece and quiet.  Just one more reason, why I love this place!

100 Things I Love About Korea # 37: Block-I Lego Cafe

I always envied my friends’ lego collections.  They always seemed to have the latest Star Wars or Ninja sets.  My only chance was to be invited over to their houses to play - or more recently to play with the kids when we go over to someone’s house.

But Emma hasn’t had this problem in Korea - thanks to Block-I, a “Lego Cafe.”  Block-I is a chain of small stores with a “library” of lego sets, puzzles, and board games.  Kids can enjoy safe, supervised, educational play for an hour or two at a time, and parents can get some super cheap babysitting.  For those who pay ahead for a package deal, the cost is only 4,000 won an hour (about $3.50).  

Rewind my life 10 years - before I had kids of my own to escape from - and I would be a regular customer myself!

Is It Acceptable to Study on the Sabbath? (Talk Back Series)

Question: Is it acceptable to study on the Sabbath?

[This question can in on a Talk Back card at our church.]

Unless we want to be really legalistic, we can’t say that studying is NEVER allowed on the Sabbath.  But let’s think about the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20: 8-11.  God says, "Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God.  On that day no one in your household may do any work.  This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy."  

This passage - along with loads of others - talks about "keeping the Sabbath holy".  God created the world and everything in it in six days, but on the seventh day, he didn't work.  He rested. 

One thing we need to consider is whether or not studying is actual work.  In our sermon series on Sabbath, we have talked a lot about making sure that we don't do anything on the Sabbath that we consider to be work.  For students, school and studying is basically their job.  They work hard at it - harder in Korea than in any other developed nation.  We all need a break sometimes, and the Sabbath is the break that God knew we would need.  If students are studying on the Sabbath, are they really getting a break?  Are they really able to take time to de-stress, not worry about grades or test scores, or just have fun with their friends and family? 

In the 10 commandments, God said that not only the parents or adults who have a job are to rest from their work, but even the children, servants, animals and foreigners should observe the Sabbath.  No one was excluded from the command to rest.