If you are the one hurting on Mother’s Day, just know that, even if it feels like no one else sees you, God does. He intimately knows you and your pain, and He loves you.
Read MoreThis Christmas, my husband and I have decided to forgo giving our kids Christmas presents. This is by no means a prescriptive for all families, but more of an exhortation for parents to be more attentive to the values we inadvertently pass on to our children. In a conversation with my friend and movie producer, Alyssa Plock, I answer the questions:
During this season of transitioning from three to four kids I’ve felt like Philip: annoyed, maybe even angry at God that He would expect me to do something so impossible.
Read More“Papa,” my four-year-old Jeremiah interrupts as he hops into his bed, “we can’t go to bed yet, we haven’t done Advent and listened to the ‘French Horn song’.” Exhausted from a day's work, I was hoping to get by tonight without doing our typical family routine during the few weeks leading up to Christmas. However, Jeremiah has already associated this time of year with the hymn “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”, otherwise known as the French Horn song in my household.
Read MoreIt’s currently two days before my due date for Baby #4. This pregnancy has definitely been more of a whirlwind than all my past pregnancies, what, with three preschoolers and with a new hat I put on this fall: homeschooling mom.
Here are three important lessons that I learned during the course of my fourth pregnancy.
Read MoreBy Moses Sanchez
We stood silently on our bed. The silence was a mere facade, concealing the war of emotions weighing on my spirit. I fumbled through my wording, trying my best to catch them before they left my lips, but it was too late. Only three weeks into my marriage, I had made my wife Marilette cry. With tears, she spoke, “So are you saying this is my fault?” I stood silent for a few seconds and then said, “Yes.”
Read More(WARNING: May contain plot spoilers from ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’)
Dear God,
I listened to Britt Nicole’s “Still That Girl” and I couldn’t help but break down. It’s like she wrote that song for me. I totally relate to how “dreams may change” and “plans may fail,” and how once upon a time, Britt believed she could be the girl “shining in the dark,“ the bright-eyed girl who truly believed she could change the world.
I’m thinking about ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ and its different portrayals of femininity.
Read MoreAs an adult, I’ve balanced being a full-time college student, a volunteer for a high school ministry, and a retail employee for 30+ hours. I’ve held two internships and two part-time jobs simultaneously. Yet, never have I felt more overwhelmed and powerless than at my most current career choice. My current job? Being a mommy of two.
Read More
Last month, Brooklyn middle-school girls were allegedly required to participate in a role play of a lesbian date, with one girl asking the other for a kiss. Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook held the “anti-bullying" workshop, led by Bard College students. The thirteen- and fourteen-year-old students were separated by gender, then were taught about homosexuality and gender identity.
According to Fox News, the young girls were told that it was perfectly normal for fourteen-year-old girls to have sex and there was nothing their parents could do to intervene.
“I am furious,” parent Mandy Coon told Fox News, whose daughter was in the class.
“I am her parent. Where does anyone get the right to tell her that it’s okay for her to have sex?” Coon says parents were given no advance warning about the presentation and were not given the opportunity to opt-out.
Coon says her daughter was upset and confused. “She told me, ‘Mom, we all get teased and picked on enough – now I’m going to be called a lesbian because I had to ask another girl if I could kiss her.“
Superintendent Paul Finch told the Poughkeepsie Journal that the workshop focused on “improving culture, relationships, communication and self-perceptions.”
Finch told the newspaper that New York State’s Dignity for All Students Act required the school to hold the workshops. The bill was passed by the New York State Assembly on May 17, 2010, the State Senate on June 22, 2010, signed by Governor David Paterson on September 8, and went into effect on July 1, 2012. Under the Act, schools are required to create a safe and supportive environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment and bullying.
You can find a copy of the exact bill HERE.
Soon after the Fox News article was posted, the Red Hook School District released an ”Important Facts” document refuting claims made by the article. The District insisted that “no female student was forced to engage in any lesbian kissing,” “male students were not told to carry condoms,” and “sexual activity between students was not condoned in any way.”
Whatever the content of the school workshops, as a parent and a youth minister to New York City middle and high school students, I’m haunted by the messages being taught to our youth.
Growing up, I remember shows like Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, Arthur, and Recess teaching me to play, have friendships and use my imagination. These days, Disney and Nickelodeon shows are no longer about having a carefree childhood. Modern television shows targeting elementary and middle-school pre-teens (Miley Cyrus’s Hannah Montana, Jamie Lynn Spears’ Zoey 101) are instead portraying first dates and first kisses. All the while, primetime shows like Gossip Girls showcase high school students "hooking-up” left and right, with no consequences.
Putting aside any LGBTQ agendas, I believe middle-schoolers should not be condoned–even encouraged–by the public education and the media to practice sexuality at such a young age. For goodness sake, many students in that age group have not even fully undergone puberty yet. Is it too much to ask to keep their innocence childhood intact for just a little bit longer?
Are public school educators and “children’s” media pressuring our children to grow up prematurely?
Welcome! I’m Marilette, a New Yorker passionate about finding the connections between God, relationships, and pop culture. I’m wife to Moses, a homeschooling mom to five young children, and a full-time missionary with FamilyLife. Since I was diagnosed with Bipolar 1 in 2020, I have shared openly about my mental health journey.
I believe there is more to the Christian life than hypocrisy and more to pop culture than shallow art. I frequently contribute to ThinkChristian, an online magazine publishing pop culture commentary from a Christian worldview.
I co-founded an online apparel company to raise awareness for mental health issues in the church and communities of color.
Follow my parenting and homeschooling journey on Instagram at @bigcitybigfamily.
