Woman observing a pottery maker noted that he had a small mallet beside his wheel. "Whatever do you have that for?" she queried. "Watch," he replied, and as the wheel turned with the partly formed clay jar on it, he began to hammer firmly on its sides... before she knew it, bubbles began to form toward the top of the jar - air bubbles that were trapped within the forming clay that needed to be "jarred loose" so that they could be removed.

QUOTE: Chinese proverb: "Give a pig and boy all they want, and you will have a good pig and a bad boy."

YOU TAKE THE BUGGY HOME The Sword of The Lord 11/1/96 p. 4

Several years ago, an Amish man caught his two boys in the local tavern having a beer. The disappointed father promptly disciplined his sons. "I'll take the horse home boys,' he told them, "and you bring the buggy."

DRASTIC DISCIPLINE OF A KISS Patricia Yirrell of Reading, Penn. in Reminisce 3/92

I taught 6th grade Sunday School for many years, and found each week to be a challenge. One day was particularly so. A boy was acting up, being very disturbing to both his classmates and myself.

Finally, I walked over to him, put my arm around his shoulder and whispered in his ear. He recoiled, looked up at me fearfully, then sat up straight. He was a model student for the rest of the day.

What had I whispered to him? "If you don't be quiet I'll kiss you!"

DAD ATE MY WORM by Paul Nichols, Lynn Church of Christ Newsletter 1/22/96

A young mother tried in vain to get her spoiled boy to eat his meal. As he asked him what it would take to get him to eat.

The boy responded by saying, "I want a worm to eat!" The mother had read in her Dr. Spock book that children should be given exactly what they want; so, she instructed the dad to go to the garden and get their son a worm.

Upon returning, the dad found out the son was still upset. he complained that the worm wasn't cooked. So the mom cooked the worm and placed it in front of the boy. Again, it was the same story of defiant refusal. "Now what?" the mother asked. The boy said he wanted his dad to eat half the worm first.

Still holding to the conviction that kids should have their wishes, the dad dutifully ate half the worm. But no sooner had this been done than the boy let out a howl saying, "Daddy ate the half that I wanted."

The newspapers once carried the story of a father & mother who, finding that their child had taken and eaten something from the cupboard, began to shake and slap the child. When the child became drowsy, they did not let up, but continued their shaking and slapping for four hours. What cruel punishment for such a little offense!

No, it was compelled by love. The child had swallowed 10 sleeping tablets, and the doctor said the only hope of saving the child's life was in keeping her awake. We do not always understand the path through which God leads us, but we may be certain His chastisement is always born of love. God does not choose to stop the harshness of the winds, but He rather directs us through them.

AEOLIAN HARP (Music when the wind blows) Paul R. Van Gorder; Our Daily

Bread, Dec. 10th 1988 A German baron stretched several wires side by side between two towers of his castle. In doing this he hoped to create a huge aeolian harp - a musical instrument that makes a beautiful sound when air blows across its strings.

At first he heard nothing, because the air was still and calm. Soon, however, gentle breezes began to blow, and he caught the faint music of the harp. But the most harmonic strains didn't come until the strong, raging winds of winter whipped across the wires. Then glorious music swept between the towers and into the valley below. The most pleasing sounds came during the stormiest times.

Something similar can happen in our lives. We often find that when the tempests of trouble and adversity blow their hardest, we experience God's mercy and grace to the greatest degree.

WITHOUT THE TEMPESTT – NO CALM Poem

If we did not know the tempest, we would never know the calm

That our precious Savior gives us with His comfort and His balm. -

Roberts

CREATIVITY Harry Emerson Fosdick

No steam or gas ever drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.

EVERY PRIZE HAS ITS PRICE by Sybil Stanton "The 25 Hour Woman"

Discipline means choices. Everytime you say yes to a goal or objective, you say no to many more. Every prize has its price. The prize is the yes; the price is the no. Igor Gorin, the noted Ukrainian American baritone, told of his early days studying voice. He loved to smoke a pipe, but one day his professor said, "Igor, you will have to make up your mind whether you are going to be a great singer, or a great pipe smoker. You cannot be both." So the pipe went.

Charley Boswell, a former U of Alabama football star with hopes of a professional baseball career, lost his eyesight in WW II - but did that stop him? He went on to become the National Blind Golf Champion 17 times. He was quoted as saying "I never count what I have lost. I only count what I have left." That is self-development - that is discipline.

BILL COSBY TEACHES ABOUT LYING R.Digest 2/92 p.95

Bill Cosby relates how he taught just such a lesson to his 12 year old son, who "had taken up a new hobby - lying - and he was doing it so well that he was raising it to a fine art." There finally came a time when Cosby informed his son by phone that "I'm going to kick your butt." Once home, Cosby and the boy had "a little talk." It was consummated with the promised punishment carefully administered resulting in copious tears.« "Do you understand my point about never lying?" Cosby asked. The son said yes through his tears. "Fine. Now you can go," Cosby said. But as his son turned leave, Cosby hit him again. He turned back to his father with a look of one betrayed. Cosby said, "I'm sorry; I lied. Do you ever want me to lie to you again?"

"No, Dad," the boy replied.

Cosby says that to this day, his son has not lied again to him or his wife. Reflecting on the incident, Cosby wrote: "I know that many distinguished psychologists feel "kicking butt" is a reversion to the Stone Age. But kids may have paid more attention in the Stone Age."

CONFRONTATION OVER PREACHER Basic Youth Seminar, Bill Gothard

There were difficulties in the church that led some to form a "Committee of the Concerned" intent on removing the preacher from the pulpit. It happened that Gothard was available for a talk that night and was asked to talk to a few members of the committee to see if he could help them. Arriving at the room where they were to meet, Gothard was met by an entire room of angry people who had gathered to prove their case to him. (They had formed as a result of one person sharing his or her discontent with a short coming of the preacher with another member until the had all gotten angry beyond a normal state).

Gothard looked out over the assembled group and asked "who is the leader of this group." "I am," replied a man toward the back. Gothard observed, "I expect

that you have gathered because you are a group of spiritual people who are concerned about your preacher's many faults?" In response the group began to list off a series of rather small complaints, that taken together mounted up to an almost insurmountable challenge.

"Well then," Gothard noted, "since you are spiritual people, then the scripture from Galatians 6 should be your guide "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself lest thou also be tempted."

The leader practically sprang out of his chair "I'm not about to restore that preacher!"

"Well then," Gothard responded, "by this you are indicating that you are either unspiritual or rebellious... which is it?" To which the man stormed out of the room.

A woman was in tears and said "But so many are leaving..."

Gothard responded "The Bible calls us a BODY. My body loses cells all the time. It's only when cells get together in an unauthorized group that

it is becomes a cancer and that can lead to weakness and death." He continued by noting that if they continued in their action that their rebellion against the preacher would lead to their teenagers rebelling against Christianity.

TURNING IT OFF AND ON R.Digest 6/78 p.206 by Ann Landers

1. If you open it, close it

2. If you turn it on, turn it off.

3. If you unlock, lock it.

4. If you break it, repair it.

5. If you can't fix it, call in someone who can.

6. If you borrow it, return it.

7. If you use it, take care of it.

8. If you make a mess, clean it up.

9. If you move it, put it back.

10. If it belongs to somebody else and you want to use it, get permission.

11. If you don't know how to operate it, leave it alone.

12. If it doesn't concern you, don't mess with it.

TO SPANK OR NOT TO SPANK Pulpit Helps June 93, p.14

A major push to do away with all spanking is gaining momentum through the efforts of the children's rights movement. The idea is that if you as parents hit your children, they learn to do the same. However, young children do know the difference between discipline and parental abuse.

In the textbook Social Development from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Perry & Bussey quote Braumrind (1973) who says, "Competent preschoolers (children who show a combination of friendliness, assertiveness with aggression, self-control, and goal-directedness) have parents who make a habit of strictly enforcing their request for mature behavior and are willing to use force when necessary. In other words, when they ask their children to change their ongoing behavior, these parents follow through on their requests, making sure that the children comply. Even the use of physical punishment was found to be associated with children competence, as long as it was no more than necessary to gain compliance, was accompanied with reasoning, and was given by a parent who was generally affectionate and encouraging of the child's display of initiative"

Children need tough but loving authorities for parents, as every community needs a friendly but tough police force. All agree that police abuse must be checked; yet an intimidated, paranoid, and weakened police department does not make a community safer. Just the opposite occurs. No one feels safe or secure. Still parents must not spank to vent their frustrations, uncontrolled anger, or desire for power. Parents with a problem of rage and temper should either abstain from such discipline altogether or have an objective person present to monitor the discipline. Some helpful hints from James Dobson are as follows:

1. Physical punishment should only be for willful defiance.

2. Do not spank with your hand. A parent's hand should be an object of love. God suggests using a "rod" or paddle. (However, some specialists recommend using the hand as a protection from hitting too hard. If a parent is prone to misjudge his/her power when using a paddle, spanking with the hand is recommended).

3. Do not spank in public. A child does not need to be humiliated.

4. Do not spank while angry. Uncontrolled anger is always harmful.

5. Spank only as hard as necessary to do the job. Do not under or over punish.

6. Have a beginning and an ending to your punishment.

7. Always love and affirm your child before and after spanking.

Breaking a moral law is quite different from breaking a physical law. If you jump off the Empire State Building, you will face physical law in a matter of seconds. The results of breaking a moral law, however, are much slower. Moral law follows the farmer's "sow and harvest" principle. The consequences may be weeks, months, even years away. So, what does God use to bring an immediate (physical law) affect upon moral wrong? Answer: parental discipline. Other methods may be used first, but when willful defiance goes unchecked with children, spanking may be in order.

SPANKING Parade Magazine April 17, 1994 p.12-14

Dr. Murray A. Straus, head of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire believes "Spanking is no more effective than other methods of discipline, and it puts the child at risk of serious, harmful side effects." He believes that children who are spanked a lot are from 2 to 5 times more likely to be physically aggressive as children, to become juvenile delinquents as adolescents and, as adults to suffer from depression.

A Dr. Den A. Trumball, Montgomery, Ala. pediatrician who lectures on parental discipline believes "the average child, in my opinion, will need some corporal punishment in the preschool years, although no child needs all corporal punishment and no positive parenting. That is abusive and yields an aggressive, angry child. In my practice, I see many children, and some children only respond to firmer control."

Researchers like Dr. David B. Larson and Dr. John S. Lyons of the National Institute for Healthcare Research, a think tank in Rockville, Md., say most studies conducted on corporal punishment provide more heat than light. The research generally is loaded with more editorial comment than original data and more study is needed.

EXPERTS ON DISCIPLINE SMARTER THAN PARENTS? John Rosemond psychologist

"My generation was persuaded that people with fancy degrees knew more about rearing children than did our parents and grandparents. We were told that it was not sufficient to simply supervise children, set a good example and discipline them well; we had to pay them a lot of attention, praise them and get involved with them, all in the cause of infusing them with ample amounts of self esteem.

"Experts" like psychologist Thomas Gordon, author of "Parent Effectiveness Training (P.E.T.), said that commanding respect of children was authoritarian, demeaning, and engendering of all manner of psychological and social dysfunctions. Respect, said the "experts," was a 2 way street: In order for parents to earn it from their children, they had to bestow it upon their children in abundance.

Every previous generation understood the importance of commanding the attention and respect of the child. Children are inclined toward self-centeredness; therefore, command (along with consequences and consistency) was necessary to draw them out of self absorption. It is a universal, scriptural (if you will) truth that one does not develop genuine respect for oneself until sufficient amount of respect has been given away to others; that what goes around, comes around. A child who gives honor to his parents honors not just them but the Creator and all of creation, including himself.

HOW ABOUT A NICE TATTOO? R.Digest 1/95 p. 21

Recently, my son, a student at Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Fla., and I had the following conversation:
"You know, Mom, an earring isn't such a big deal.

"Honey, I'm going to miss you."

"Everyone in school has one."

"The last 15 years have been lots of fun. No one can ever take your place."

Pause....

"Did I miss something, Mom? Who's going where?"

"Your earring and I can't live in the same house."

"You'd kick me out?"

"I'd miss you, honey."

Pause....

"Okay, Mom, I get the message. How about a nice tattoo?"