The Kingdom-Driven Family

The Rescuers

Andrea Schwartz

January 22, 2015

Recently, while negotiating a service with a salesman, I commented that his physical features didn’t match his last name. He was obviously Asian, but his last name was Irish. He informed me that he had been adopted from Korea as a child as a result of being born to an unwed mother whose boyfriend’s family forbade their marriage. Through an intermediary, he was adopted by a Korean/American couple, and thus the last name of Sullivan. This resulted in a conversation about how grateful he must be to both his adopted mother and his biological mother who chose not to pursue the easy route of abortion. He agreed, and shared with me that he is the father of two boys.

Today is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. While it is appropriate to mourn the deaths of the millions killed by the barbaric and selfish practice of abortion, there are countless stories of people who beat the odds and who were brought into the world in spite of the ease by which their lives could have been snuffed out. Here is one account written by a friend of mine. Continue reading

Equipping the Called

Andrea Schwartz

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January 20, 2015

There are people who do amazing things, things I find it hard to imagine doing myself. These people inspire me. Missionaries who give up living in Western style comfort for the third-world mission field, doctors and midwives who pursue practices to under-served populations, and couples who bring foster children into their homes to raise as their own are just a few examples. I used to think it took a special kind of person to undertake such things. I’ve now come to understand that these people are responding to a special call from Almighty God. As the expression goes, “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.”

Back in 2001, shortly after the World Trade Center tragedy, my then nine-year-old daughter and I decided to visit local fire stations so that she could sing for the firemen on duty. God had gifted her with a beautiful voice, and I wanted to give her opportunities to share her talent with others. In all, she performed for four different stations. In all cases, the men on duty were very gracious, while being very impressed. Continue reading

Home Economics—Not So Silly After All

Andrea Schwartz

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January 15, 2015

When I was in high school, I prided myself (as did my parents) that I was enrolled in “honors” classes. When the class rankings came out, I was usually in the top ten percent. I can vividly remember thinking and commenting negatively about the girls (in my all girls school) who took home economics. To me that was a class for students who couldn’t handle a challenging academic schedule. Well, it has taken decades for me to eat my words, and I realize now that among all the subjects covered in school, home economics may be the one with lasting value.

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines an economist as, “One who manages domestic or other concerns with frugality; one who expends money, time or labor judiciously, and without waste.” Had I made a point of really learning how to sew, garden, make repairs, and cook when I was younger, the job of running and managing a household would have been smoother. This is not to disparage the other traits and skills that I possess. However, in looking back over my child-rearing years, having a firmer foundation in these more basic, fundamental areas would have enhanced the effective use of my talents. Because I had to “farm-out” many of the things I now know how to accomplish, my choices didn’t always reflect frugality without waste. Continue reading

Got Sleep?

Andrea Schwartz

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January 12, 2015

Psalm 127 tells us that sleep is a gift of God. Ask any mother of a baby how welcomed it is when the little one finally goes to sleep. In fact, it is common wisdom that a new mom should sleep when her baby sleeps to ensure that she is well-prepared to address all the needs of the new addition to the family. Nothing can make those first few weeks and months more challenging than a woman getting insufficient sleep.

Why we fight sleep would make for an interesting study. I know that I now relish naps that I resisted as a child. That said, I paid little attention as I was raising and educating my children to my need for ample sleep. I would convince myself that I was doing important things as I stayed up late. But Psalm127:2 tells us that it is vain to burn the candle at both ends. Whereas the effects are not always immediate, I now know that the weight gain I experienced over the course of twenty years had much to do with not getting enough sleep. Continue reading

Stewardship not Ownership

Andrea Schwartz

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January 8, 2015

I well remember the first moments of holding my son in my arms after he was born. It was the perfect intersection of terror and ultimate joy. Within my arms lay a child who, while no longer dependent upon me for oxygen, still would require my constant care when it came to feeding, clothing, and sheltering him. Firstborns have a greater challenge in life, because they have rookie parents who are thrust into the roles of mother and father, learning as they go. Additionally, for those born to yet to be converted parents, they sometimes have the added hurdle of living through some significant worldview alterations of those who are in authority over them.

My son was just over three years old when I came to faith in Jesus Christ. My husband’s conversion was about four months after mine. It wasn’t until years later, after my second child was born, that we had a major worldview shift. We went from looking to the Scripture as a series of guidelines that would “help” us approach life to embracing the concept that learning and applying God’s law was the way believers in Christ demonstrated their faith. As a result, our family orientation shifted from what we thought was best to what God required of us. Continue reading

Transmitting Hope

Andrea Schwartz

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January 6, 2015

One gains perspective with age. It’s not that younger people don’t have valid perspectives; it’s just that they don’t always have enough experience to interpret circumstances in their lives and determine how to best maneuver through them. This became clear to me as I was going through some old photographs of me recently. As I saw pictures of myself in my younger days, I smiled knowing that the woman in those photos could have benefited greatly from the understanding I have today.

It is for this reason that Scripture instructs older men and women to be available to younger ones and to make it a priority (Titus 2). Sure, we all have the Word of God available to us to read, and we can listen to sermons and read commentaries; but there is a blessing that comes when there is someone who can honestly say, “I know what you are talking about. I experienced that in my own life. This is where the Word of God applies.” Thus, having graying hair and more candles on one’s birthday cake is a benefit to the Body of Christ, not a detriment. And for those of us who have years of being a spouse, a parent, a friend, a co-worker, and a brother or sister in the Lord, we not only have something to offer, we are commanded to share what we know and invest in those younger ones around us. Continue reading

Health Webinar Now Available in Video

Andrea Schwartz

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January 3, 2015

After presenting my health webinar three to four times, I decided I would put the entire webinar into a 60 minute presentation for people to view at their leisure, rather than try to work their schedules to coincide with a live presentation. Time zones have a way of getting in the way of perfectly good plans! 🙂

So, here is a link to the hour-long presentation– To Your Health: Prevention Before a Crisis. If you were among those who attended one of the live webinars, I have both refined and edited this presentation to come in under an hour. It is also free of the technical difficulties we encountered. I invite you to share the link with others, as the information included will be of use to men and women of all ages, and in our day, to children, too. Continue reading

Power on Her Head: The Home Field Advantage

Andrea Schwartz

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December 31, 2014

Most of what passes for “restoring male leadership in the church” these days is in fact suppressing female initiative and decreasing areas of legitimate action and involvement by women. It’s not difficult to predict that this won’t lead to more men leaders and more obedient wives but to more complacent and tyrannical men and more frustrated wives. You can’t make a leader out of a man by telling his wife what she shouldn’t do.¹ ~
Bojidar Marinov

Throughout history, philosophical ideas have had negative effects on family life. The Enlightenment, by demeaning woman’s role, set the stage for the reactionary feminist movement and the recent so-called patriarchy movement appears to be a hyper-reaction to feminism. Each movement skewed, exaggerated, undermined, and often ignored the Biblical perspective on the woman’s role as wife and mother. In fact, what is taught from the pulpit and in Bible studies contributes to the frustration women experience in our day. There needs to be a lot of work to recover a clear understanding on marriage and the role of marriage in reclaiming the culture.

Proverbs 31 talks about a wife looking well to the ways of her household. Thus, women are the managers of their homes. Some take exception to this assertion because they consider it a usurpation of the role of husbands as head of the household. However, the Scripture says that the man is the head of the wife (Eph. 5:23); it does not instruct him to be the manager of the household. The real usurpation actually occurs when the wife is robbed of her area of dominion, thereby disregarding her co-vicegerency alongside her husband within her sphere—the home. If a woman is nothing more than her husband’s stand-in, rather than his full partner in all matters, not only is the dominion mandate lessened in the home, but the surrounding culture is affected, as well.

This Past 1/2 Year

Andrea Schwartz

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December 30, 2014

Six months ago I was told that I had experienced a heart attack. To be honest, it was one of the last things I ever expected to hear. Beginning with my night in the Intensive Care Unit, to my ambulance ride to another hospital to have a catherization procedure, God gave me plenty of opportunities to take inventory on my life. From that point, I began an ongoing quest to understand more about health, nutrition, and what it means to really have a godly lifestyle. I also discovered things about myself that needed some improvement. In the process, there have been some significant changes in my daily life.

Here they are in no particular order:

1. I manage to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night.
2. I’ve stopped eating all processed foods and sugary desserts. Continue reading

You Get What You Expect

Andrea Schwartz

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December 22, 2014

Oh that children would stay little! That is the lament I used to hear over and over as relatives or friends who hadn’t seen my children for some time commented on how much they had grown. The “enjoy them now” perspective indicated that there would be a time when I wouldn’t be enjoying them all that much.

Is this a 20th – 21st century cultural thing, or is it something that the Scripture tells us to expect? Is the normal and expected condition realized by parents and their older children (say 15 and up) one of conflict over what is right and what is wrong? Should we gear up for these stressful battles the way we anticipate the removal of wisdom teeth? Is it a given that children will reject the teachings of their parents? Continue reading