Journal of Faith: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling Philippians 2:12

Grace under fire is not an easy thing, but I decided to trust God and not worry about my issues with my son's father. When he wanted a paternity test and I cooperated. When he called I allowed him to come over and see the baby. When he asked me questions I was honest with him even to the point of telling him uncomfortable but necessary things. I just did what I thought would be pleasing to the Lord and let what was going to happen, happen. The most recent event was a court order to determine child support. I knew that he was going to want to talk about custody, and that was hard for me. I decided to trust God because I knew that he loved my son and would work everything out for his good. Sure enough after the paperwork was filled out for the child support he asked about visitation. I was already relieved because he didn't say custody. We were then directed to another office in the building in which the mediator explained that for him to file for a hearing to determine visitati...

When I was in grade school everyone acted as if I was crazy because I couldn't stand to see injustice, and I would stand up to bullies who were torturing students. I was a girl, but I was a tough girl who would fight , sometimes literally, for what I thought was right. The boys were afraid of me and the girls thought I was odd, but most people respected me. I was mostly a really nice girl, but if my temper flared up I was dangerous to the one who caused it. I didn't go along with the culture's rules of being cool and accepted. I wanted to do what was right, and I wanted the bad kids to pay. I had momentary lapses of this, but I was mostly an outcast by choice. On top of this I was an overachiever and adventurer. I got good grades, played the violin well, sang well, and played sports well. Unlike most black families in my school, my family travelled the country and Canada on vacations every couple of years. I didn't dance, I didn't listen to the same music as other...

Babies often cause embarrassing situations. Because they aren't bound by rules of conduct they do whatever they want without conviction. Last week my son was hanging out with grandpa and did something that most older people would be horrified to do. He saw that grandpa didn't have a shirt on, and used his new pinching skill to grab and hold on to grandpa's nipple. What made this situation really odd is that when he grabs something he makes the "K" sound. He accompanied his experience of the man nipple with the corresponding "K" sound, and sent everyone into a roaring laughter. It got even more embarrassing when he did it to grandma a few days later once again with the "k" sound. Now, I was embarrassed, but I also noticed that my little boy had developed the ability to identify similar body parts on different people. My baby is learning! Boy can learning be embarrassing , and this is just one example of how my son has embarrassed me. The funny ...

Have you ever been so afraid of making the wrong move that you didn't move at all? It doesn't ensure that anything will be alright and sometimes it gets in the way of good things to come. Life moves on whether we want it to or not. It is like the ocean, you either exert force to go where you want to or you are forced to go with the movement of the water. The feeling of being washed away by life is not a good one. For the past year I feel like I have been holding my breath while life washed over me. I got stuck because I found myself living a life that I hadn't expected to live and had not prepared for. I was single, I was a mom, and I was not a college graduate! In an effort to push myself forward I took classes this summer. Now I need a next step. I thought about forgoing college and just finding a job, but I did three quarters of my degree already. If I worked outside of home and went to school I wouldn't see my son, and I would be placing more pressure on my family ...

I got my first marriage proposal when I was 15 years old. I said no, and I thought he was joking. I got my second proposal when I was 17, and he was not joking. I said yes at first and then no because I wanted to get my education first. My ex-boyfriend tried everything to get me to marry him from the time I was 17 until I was 21. I broke up with him several times over the four years of our relationship, but he always convinced me to try again. I loved him more than I loved myself. Finally he decided that enough was enough, and he agreed that we shouldn't be together. I wanted to be friends and he went along with the idea even though he hated it. One year later I was pregnant with his baby. Where did I go wrong? I tried to be friends with someone who I loved, and he wanted to be more than friends. The worst part is that I was trying to be abstinent! I was in a mess, and once again the idea of marriage was placed on the table. I am not going to say that it was a trap, but what do yo...

To all single parent homes: are you worried about your children not having a good male example? Do you wonder how your son is going to learn to be a man or how your daughter will develop skills to interact appropriately within her relationships? Are you struggling to discipline to your child? God is the answer to all of your daddy issues! God is a father to the fatherless (psalms 68:5) and he said that he would preserve them alive.(Jeremiah 49:11) The best part about God being your child's father is that God's love is perfect. He shows love when disciplining his children by giving grace and mercy. God sees people's hearts and judges perfectly. His word gives numerous examples of how a man should live to teach his children. (Noah, Moses, Issac, Abraham, Jacob, etc .) The Bible is an excellent parenting guide and education tool. Educate your children about God through the Bible; pray for them and then put them in the care of the one who loves them best. Not only will God b...

Two things that I should have gotten as baby gifts were a balance book and a death certificate. The balance book to show me how much a baby costs financially and a death certificate to show the cost physically, emotionally, mentally, socially, pretty much every way besides financially. I knew that my life would be hard when I found out I was pregnant unexpectedly. First of all it meant that my actions against my body had produced undeniable evidence that I would be judged on, secondly as a junior in college it meant that my degree was put in danger along with my future, and thirdly it meant that my life as I knew it was over. I knew I was in for one of the biggest changes of my life. I read books, checked with doctors and mediators, asked other family members, watched the videos, and hung out with other pregnant people. I thought I knew what to expect, after all I had the book, but nothing could have prepared me fully for what I was about to experience. When my son was born he wanted ...