Christian Home & Family Life
If you haven't already done so, pray together. In one voice, invite Jesus Christ be the Shepherd of your Household Flock. On a daily basis, join with your family to thank Jesus for protecting and guiding you through all your activities. Your family mission is to love and bless one another as Jesus loves and blesses you. Make yourself knowledgable about the wholesome resources available and use them as needed. This page has four categories:
Counseling, Crisis & Community Service
Homemaking, Parenting & Nutrition
Christians & Children's Television
To a child, a TV is like a refrigerator. They open the door and eat. Children trust that Mommy and Daddy are aware of what's available in the house. Since public standards have deteriorated, even afternoon shows feature explicit violence and immorality. Children return from school, put on the TV and are offered a toxic "menu." You wouldn't give your children rotten food; why would you give them rotten TV? We are lucky in Central Florida to have two public television stations, each with educational programming. Click to visit their web sites and see what's on!
Children require your protection and guidance. Keep them safe from images that will disturb or haunt them. Ask them questions so you can understand their point of view.
Be like Jesus and respect children, because His Kingdom belongs to them.
Entertainment: Movies, Video Games & Music
Entertainment is a powerful tool for both sides: Godly and demonic. Unfortunately a great deal of popular media is loveless. Shield your children from media that glorifies sinfulness. Arm yourself with knowlege. These secular sites below grade Movies, Video Games and Music.
Take advantage of Central Florida's Public Radio and Christian Radio Stations.
Internet
The internet offers both sacred and profane content. For every Christian or Educational web site, there are several immoral web sites. You may choose to enroll with services that monitor your computer's exposure to immoral content, but even the most sophisticated cyber-shield cannot fully protect your children. These services can't always recognize the new sites which appear every day -- sites that are often disguised as harmless. Email is another area that is often susceptible to unwholesome infiltration. Be vigilant.
Puppets & Puppet Theater
Orlando's Pinocchio Marionette Theater offers very affordable family- friendly theater performed by internationally reknown artists. This cultural jewel also features a venue to celebrate children's parties, a remarkable museum, and a gift shop featuring Family Puppets of all colors. Visit their web site by clicking below.
Puppets are a wonderful way for even the shyest child to speak their mind. Using Puppets, switch roles and play the "child", and let your child play the "parent". You will be amazed at how much you will learn about your child's perspective. Even more, you will give your child a way to create their very own stories! Media at its finest.
SillyPuppets.com make puppets for ministry, therapy, school, or just for fun at home: over 200 puppets including finger puppets, hand size glove puppets, performance size full body puppets, and new marionettes. Have them delivered to your home!
One2Believe offers Biblical Action Figures for exciting, educational, wholesome play!
Counseling, Crisis & Community Outreach
Grief and loss leave marks on everyone. Even in the happiest and most graced of families, our short time here on Earth is punctuated with discomfort and suffering.
The statistics are sobering: violence, hunger, poverty, abuse, addiction. People all over the world, of all ages and colors, are being terrorized and exploited at this very moment. Knowlege of this widespread suffering inspires us to renew our commitment to our families and cherish them all the more. Children, especially, need more than we as human parents could ever provide. This is why every family needs Jesus to bridge the gap.
Jesus gives us our families so that we may learn to love better than we did yesterday. When in prayer, ask Jesus to inspire your most loving self in the midst of your most stressful situation. He will reveal new ways to respond to old problems.
The very grief that bring us down to our knees coincides with Jesus's merciful agenda. Jesus's plan is to wipe away the tears and raise our families up for His Glory. Turn to your Pastor and to wise Christians you trust. It is a virtue to seek sufficient counsel.
Where there is no counseling, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
Proverbs 11:14
Jesus calls dedicated people to serve His purposes through the Counseling Profession. Fortunately, there are many Christian Counseling Organizations in Orlando & Central Florida. Specialties include Couples, Families, Addictions, and Financial. Below are a few: explore their sites by clicking on the links. When you know what's available, you can help other families as well as your own.
Margaret "Joyce" McCloskey, M.A.
Christian Care Counseling Center (Bilingual)
Local help for Domestic Violence:
If you think your child might have a speech, mouth, language, coordination or hearing problem, or even a social problem, Small Steps Pediatric Therapy might have the answers you need to help your child prosper.
INDIRA AYALA, MA, CCC/SLP
Community Outreach
One of the most sacred ways to bond your family together is through service. Explore the charitable activities in your church, or use the links below to investigate other avenues.
Homemaking, Parenting & Nutrition
Homemaking and Parenting are overwhelming sometimes. Begin by reaching out to your fellow parishoners. If you need further support, or if you just want to explore new ideas, visit these Christian and secular web sites.
More people than ever are homeschooling. Furthermore, 40% of children have difficulty learning how to read and write. We recommend the best reading system available, Dr. Marion Blank's Phonics Plus Five. "Phonics" systems ignore the other five skills required for literacy: sequencing, motor skills, meaning, grammar and text. Dr. Blank has 40 years of experience in the field, earned her Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in England, and is the co-director of the Developmental Neuropsychiatry Department at Columbia University in New York.
Many cleaning and house & lawn care products contain harmful chemicals. Illnesses are made worse with exposure to common items found in thousands of homes. Be an educated consumer.
North Americans are overfed and undernourished, which is one reason why obesity and eating disorders are such widespread problems. The food God created for us is healthy and healing: the food man creates cannot compare. If you haven't done so already, consider adding more wholesome, natural foods to your family's diet, and eliminating processed foods. Click to read an article about CHRISTIANS & HEALTH.
The following Christian and secular web sites offer a great deal of useful information.
Christian Clubs for Children, Teens and Adults
Join other Christians with similar interests for fun and fellowship. If the type of Christian Club you want to attend doesn't yet exist, then start one through your church.
Last Wave Nightclub provides a state-of-the-art alternative to Rave parties in Central Florida. Last Wave seeks to mentor, develop and counsel teens to turn from lives of apathy and degradation to lives of hope and promise.
Most churches have youth fellowships. Additionally, Campus Crusade for Christ International is located here in Orlando!
Disclaimer: Moving with Jesus offers this web site as an information tool only.