I should be a little more open-minded to other Christians

I’ve had some good food for thought today.

I took the kids to a drop-in Kindergarten class for homeschoolers (which they loved, btw) and while I was sitting there I started browsing through their lending library.  I saw that they had Teri Maxwell’s Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit, so I decided to grab it and check it out.

When I was a new mom, I had looked at the Maxwell’s site.  I was really turned off by their forums.  I’m pretty sure they either took their forums down or made them non-public.  Whatever they did, they’re not there anymore.  The advice that I saw on the forums was very punitive and certainly deep on the end of wife-only submission.  They link to the Pearls and suggest their books, which is enough to make me run away screaming any day.  Some of their articles, including one entitled “A Trip to the Woodshed” make me uncomfortable enough that I decided that I didn’t want to support their ministry by buying books.

On the other hand, there have been quite a few discussions on GCM about their other book, Managers of Their Homes (AKA “MOTH”), and a lot of moms have been blessed by it.  They have another book called Managers of Their Chores (“MOTC”) which has also blessed several women on GCM.  I highly respect these women, and they said that they found it relatively easy to eat the meat and throw out the bones.

Because of the latter position, I decided to skim Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit, and I’m really glad that I did.  Did I agree with all of it?  Absolutely not.  However, several of the sections were wonderful reminders and fit in well with my grace-based and gentle style of teaching and disciplining my children.  I particularly liked some of the things that Mrs. Maxwell had to say about organization and time management, which is clearly one of her strengths.  I’m assuming that’s why she’s known for MOTH and MOTC.  I can see how some of the moms at GCM were blessed by her ministry.

This has led me to think a lot today about the ministries that I choose not to support.  I still don’t think I want to support the Maxwell’s ministry, because I don’t believe in at least half of it.  Despite that, I gained some knowledge today and God has already used some of it to stretch me as a wife and a mother.  I’m wondering where the balance is though.  I have a feeling that I’ll be pondering it for the next few days.

Let me also say, and say clearly, that I have read books by the Pearls and Ezzo just so that I could be educated on what I’m against, and they icked me out to no end.  I gained nothing from those books, except frustration and a wish that I could write the authors back to point out all of their logical flaws.  Those books were all bones – bones and gristle.  I am certainly NOT trying to say that any book written by a Christian is worth putting into your mind.  I do think that there are probably some more people on the fringe who could teach me a thing or two.

….still thinking…