Whenever someone gets married, we say they are "taking the plunge," or making a "leap of faith."  Everyone recognizes that going into marriage, you can't possibly know everything about the person that you are committing to spend your life with, and yet, we do it anyway.  We admit we don't know it all, but that what we do know is enough.

In the Bible, in the letter to the Hebrews, the 11th chapter and 1st verse, we read that "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," and in the sixth verse of the same chapter we learn that "Without faith, it is impossible to please God."  As a parent, this makes complete sense to me: without my son having faith in me, he will never please me.  Never.  His faith in me is the evidence that we have a good relationship, that he acknowledges my love for him and my good intentions toward him.  If he continually questions me and never trustfully relaxes in my presence, how could I ever be pleased with that relationship?  It is the same in our relationship with God, our Father, and rightfully so.  

Similar to marriage, if we have committed to spend our lives with Him, what we do know about Him should be enough.  That doesn't mean we stop getting to know Him after that commitment is made - most married couples learn far more about each other after the wedding day than they do  before - but it does mean that we live out our days in both knowledge AND faith - growing in both, but not swerving from what we originally held to when we made that "leap of faith" to begin with.

This reflection on faith, led me to look up places in the Bible that shed more light on the word.  Here is what I learned:

1. Faith is more precious than gold. (1 Peter 1:7)
2. Faith results in the salvation of our souls. (1 Peter 1:9, Ephesians 2:8)
3. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. (1 John 5:4)
4. Faith is required for miraculous healing. (Mark 10:52, Luke 8:48, Matthew 9:2, 22, 29, Matthew 8:5-13, Acts 6:8)
5. It doesn't take much faith (relatively speaking) to be able to live out life to the fullest (the size of a mustard seed would suffice). (Matthew 17:20)
6. Faith purifies and sanctifies hearts. (Acts 15:9, 26:18)
7. Local churches are established by faith. (Acts 16:5)
8. Faith brings comfort. (Romans 1:12)
9. Faith is counted as righteousness by God, which is good news because there is no one who actually IS righteous, not even one. (Romans 4:5-20)
10. Faith is the key that grants us access to God's grace. (Romans 5:2)
11. Things that don't come by faith, are often sinful. (Romans 14:23)
12. Faith exercised apart from love is worthless. (1 Corinthians 13:2)
13. There is only one true faith. (Ephesians 4:5)
14. Faith brings unity. (Ephesians 4:13)
15. Faith is a shield against the devil. (Ephesians 6:16)
16. God's promises are inherited through faith and patience. (Hebrews 6:12)
17. When faith is tested (and it WILL be tested), the believer acquires perseverance. (James 1:3)
18. Faith is a required prerequisite when asking God for wisdom. Faith that God is all-wise and that He willingly imparts wisdom to His children. (James 1:6)

I also learned through studying the scriptures about faith that we have internal and external responsibilities once we have invested faith in God:


Internally we are to:

• Pray and continually ask God to help us have more faith in Him. The Bible tells us that the apostles (those who walked most closely with Jesus) asked him to increase their faith, so should we (Luke 17:5).  
• Hold on to the faith that we do have.  Kind of like dating your spouse, we are to nourish our first love and not let it be torn down by emotions, circumstances or others' opinions.  In 1 Timothy 1, Paul tells Timothy not to reject the promises made by God concerning his future.  He says others have done so and their faith has been shipwrecked as a result.  We are to remember our vows and God's vows to us and to lean on them.
• Examine our hearts and lives for authenticity. In 2 Corinthians 13, Paul instructs the Corinthian believers that they should examine themselves to be sure they are in the faith. Insinuating that some can walk a path, convincing themselves that they have faith, but when tested it is revealed that their faith was pretending.

Externally we are to:

• Obey Him by faith. If we have faith we not only agree inwardly, we must act outwardly, demonstrating that faith in how we live our lives.  Scriptures are rampant with this (Romans 1:5 & 17, Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 5:7, 1 Timothy 5:8, Acts 6:7, James 2:17-22).
• Speak up and talk about our faith. We should share about our experiences with God and His Word boldly and without showing partiality (James 2:1-5, Philemon 1:6, Jude 1:3).
• Build up the church with our faith.  Use our gifts to build up others, and help those whose faith is waning, as well as correct those who are wandering (Romans 12:6, 14:1, 1 Thessalonians 3:10, Titus 1:13).

It is a beautiful cycle - attending to our faith internally leads to a stronger desire to demonstrate our faith externally, and those experiences of acting on our faith in God fan the flame of our internal faith-walk even more, until 10-25-50 years later we celebrate anniversaries of faith in Christ and marvel at how much more precious He is to us now than he was when we first believed, and tell the world how glad we are that we took that leap of faith!

Today I read an article on CNN.com entitled, "To Spank or Not to Spank, Where Do You Draw the Line?"  Talk about a controversial topic that will not go away!  The article was written to draw attention to another CNN.com article summarizing a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics about the effects of physical punishment on mental health.  Whenever and where ever this topic is brought up it sparks strong opinions and heated debate.  

In the past, I have worked in social work settings, public schools, and for nonprofit agencies that work with young children.  As such, I have been a mandated reporter of child abuse for many years out of my life.  One social work program I worked for had a sign on the wall of their building that said, "You have entered a NO SPANKING zone."  In many people's minds, spanking (of all manners) is equated with physical abuse of a child, and witnessing it would be a reason to call Child Protective Services.  I remember once when my son was close to 3 years old and I took him to see our family practitioner for a rash that he had developed suddenly.  He had never had a problem at the doctor's office before, and I had no reason to expect that he would COMPLETELY FREAK OUT on this particular visit... but he did.  He didn't want anyone touching him, talking to him, or even looking at him.  He went so far as to kick (hard) and scream.  I was flabbergasted and distressed.  I had NEVER seen him react this way and I was more than a little bit stunned by his uncharacteristic behavior.  In the middle of my son's kicking and screaming fit, the doctor calmly said to me, "How do you discipline him at home?"  "EXCUSE ME?!?"  I said, over my son's shrieks.  "When he misbehaves at home, what do you do?" the doctor persisted, calmly.  Completely taken aback, I mumbled something about time outs, while inwardly, I was reminding myself that this doctor was a mandated reporter, and that I needed to be very careful about how I answered him.  His next question floored me, "Do you ever use force to correct him?" he asked in an elevated voice to be heard over the wails.  "I think we are done here," I said emphatically, "We are leaving!" and I picked my son up and took him outside.  At this point I was shaking inwardly and outwardly.  I was shocked at my son's behavior and more than a little concerned about him, and I was also shocked at the doctor's words.  What was he implying?!?!  I didn't want to strap my son into his car seat while he was still making such a fuss, so I stood outside the doctor's office talking calmly, but firmly, to him about both the doctor's office visit, AND his inappropriate behavior.  As he was calming down, the nurse came out, apologizing and joined us to look at my son's rash (as he started screaming again), and she quickly gave me some basic medical advice and I thanked her and got the heck outta there.  I got home from that visit and put my son down for a nap.  I called my husband at work in hysterics and anger, and described to him the doctor's visit.  He said he would handle it and we hung up the phone.  Later that night, around 6pm, well after the doctor's office had closed, I got a phone call from our physician.  He said that my husband had called him and then the doctor surprised me by profusely apologizing for the incident.  He explained to me that in that moment, while my child was kicking and screaming, he felt that a good swift spanking would have worked wonders, and while he couldn't recommend as much, he was trying to subtly give me the option to be able to say, "Yes, I occasionally discipline him by spanking and if you'll just give us a moment alone, I think we can handle this and get on with this visit."  What a miscommunication!  I was convinced the doctor felt like I was probably physically abusive at home and that my son wouldn't be reacting that way if I didn't have a history of beating him.  Meanwhile the doctor was thinking nothing of the sort, rather he felt that at my son's age and with the way he was behaving, a swift physical reprimand would be best.

Let's just clear the air:

As a child, I was spanked on more than one occasion, both by my parents and by a teacher at my public elementary school when I misbehaved.  It wasn't the only method of correction I experienced, but it was one of them.

As a mother, I have spanked my son.  it isn't the only method of correction I have used, but it is one of them.

There, the cat is out of the bag.  You know my spanking history and my opinions about the topic - OR DO YOU?  The word "spanking" means different things to different people.  It conjures different images based on people's past experiences.  Is spanking wrong?  Well, what do you consider spanking?  If you believe that flying off the handle and hitting a child in anger over their frustratingly bad behavior is spanking, then I will tell you that by your definition, spanking is abusive.  That is NOT, however, how I define spanking, nor is it how I have ever treated my child.  Spanking, in my vocabulary, is a swat (one or more) on the backside that a child knows is coming and knows why it is coming, followed by an embrace and sincere reassurance of love.  It is not done in anger, and it is not done without careful control on the part of the parent.  It is not done without first discussing the willful disobedience thoroughly with the child.  Just like any other negative consequence for bad behavior, spanking is to be carefully thought out and used as a tool to correct and restore a child - not to shame or berate them or harm them in any way.  If that is how you define spanking as well, then I will tell you that spanking is not abusive in the slightest.


The study published by the Journal of Pediatrics relates things like slapping, hitting, grabbing, pushing and shoving of a child (by a parent, as a form of discipline) to a 2-7% greater likelihood of  mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse and personality disorders later in life.  This description has nothing to do with spanking as I know it and define it.  

Bottom line, the study had nothing to do with spanking as I know it and everything to do with out of control parenting.  Parenting is hard work.  No. Doubt. About. It.  If the world is going to go the way of CNN, then I hope the Christian church does NOT.  Let's focus on supporting parents and giving them tools to better shepherd their children's hearts, and stop throwing around poorly defined, controversial topics in an effort to garner a reaction.

Galatians 5:22-23 NIV "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things THERE IS NO LAW."

The feeling of tears of frustration and fatigue running down my cheeks is an uncommon sensation for me... not entirely unheard of, but uncommon.  I am known more for my loud, boisterous laughter than for outbursts of tears. Today, however, was a day when playing the "waiting game" felt like a bit too much to ask of me, and the tears flowed freely.  Do you ever feel that way?  Like what life is requiring of you in the moment seems a bit too much to take?  Like what GOD is requiring of you is taking a bit too long and hurting a bit too much with not enough of an explanation of the "why" behind it all or the "when" of its eventual ending?  I'm right there with you.

In my heart I know the Truth: 

• God will work all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28. 
• His ways are not our ways. Isaiah 55:8. 
• Who am I to question God anyway? Romans 9:20. 
• Waiting on God will eventually lead to a renewal of my strength. Psalm 27:14.
• He comforts us in our sufferings so we can one day comfort others with the same comfort that we've experienced from Him.  2 Corinthians 1:4
• God promises that endurance will produce maturity in me, so I can and should consider the stages of life that require endurance as PURE JOY.  James 1:2-4

I get it.  I know it is true and I will stand by these truths until the day I die and beyond, but every once in awhile, the intensity of the emotions involved in the living-out of these Truths pushes me to the brink and the tears fall and it is then that I am most grateful for the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  It is truly an all-knowing and all-loving God who not only gives us the Truth to frame our worldview, but also provides relief for our human weakness when living out the Truth is hard and frankly, makes us cry  - "In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." Romans 8:26.


Thank you, Father.  You are good.  All the time.