Safety Saturdays #21 - Going to and from School Safely

This week features more Back to School safety tips from The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC).

Their online publication Know the Rules ... For Going To/From School Safely offers tips to help parents and guardians prepare their children for a safer journey to and from school. You can also download the publication in English or Spanish.

If you missed it, check out last week's Safety Saturdays post for information on NetSmartz® Workshop's back-to-school campaign to raise awareness of the importance of Internet and real-world safety.

Did you learn any new safety tips from this information? Do you have any additional back to school safety tips to share?

Next week, Safety Saturdays will feature a NetSmartz® video, "Beat the Tricks," to help teach kids about tricks adults may use to get them into dangerous situations. If you have any specific questions about this topic, let me know through a comment or email. This will help me provide more information in the post.

I appreciate your feedback. Please feel free to leave a comment anytime, not just Saturdays. If you are not familiar with blogging, you can still leave a comment below. Just click the anonymous button and type your comment in the text box provided.

Check out all the Safety Saturdays posts for more safety tips.

Yes to God Tuesdays - Renewal

As we near the end of the study of the book by Lysa TerKeurst, What Happens When Women Walk in Faith, I could write more about What Happens When a Woman Does Not Walk in Faith. Anxiety, tension, and anger resulted from my focusing more on our situation than on God over the past several weeks.

As I reawaken my trust in God and revive my blog writing, how appropriate to rejoin this study online in the resurrection stage of faith in the book.

Lysa writes, "He [God] may not resurrect all of the circumstances in your life, but He will resurrect a deeper and more secure trust of Him if you will let Him."

I looked closer at two words from Lysa's sentence - if and will. If implies a condition on which something depends. Will means choose or desire and implies intention.

I applied Lysa's words to my current situation:

Although God has not yet resurrected my family from the struggles of unemployment, He desires to renew a profound and immovable trust in Him whenever I choose to step aside and allow it.

I stand in God's way by attempting to assert my will over His. Ironically, the word will stems from the Greek word for hope.

"So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in Him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

This is my prayer for my family and for anyone reading this. May God bless you abundantly.

I invite you to click on the "Yes to God Tuesdays" picture above to visit Lelia's blog to learn about the next book we'll be studying. I hope you will join us, even if you are not a blogger.

Safety Saturdays #20 Back-2-School

After an extended summer break, I am reintroducing Safety Saturdays with back to school safety information and a request for feedback.

NetSmartz® Workshop, an Internet safety program of the The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC), has launched a back-to-school campaign to raise awareness of the importance of Internet and real-world safety.

Visit their website to download a free NetSmartz® Back-2-School Kit, including animated videos (see below for an example), hands on activities, and lesson plans for intermediate and primary age children. The material is worth the time it takes to download.

NCMEC's online publication Know the Rules...After-School Safety for Children Who Are Home Alone provides tips for parents and guardians to consider when allowing their child to be unsupervised at home. You can also download the publication in English or Spanish.

Would you be interested in Safety Saturdays being more interactive? For example, questions posed to stimulate conversation on a topic or a preview of the next week's topic with the opportunity to ask questions to be addressed in the post?

Check out all the Safety Saturdays posts for more safety tips. I appreciate your comments and feedback on any posts. If you are not familiar with blogging, you can still leave a comment below. Just click the anonymous button and type your comment in the text box provided.