By Father DavidDFO 990Compiled 12/4/80

[HomeARC note (10/98): The Charter states the Family's current principles, policies and attitudes regarding marriage, parents and raising children, discipline, etc.]

1. CHILDREN ARE THE BIGGEST JOB THERE IS & the most difficult. If you can teach a child, you can teach anybody!

2. ISN'T THAT SOMETHING HOW THAT DAMNED MICKEY MOUSE HAS MADE MICE HEROES & the cat the villain? Even the watchdog is a villain! They've got all their values reversed in those crazy comics! They teach the kids that mice & rats are good & that dogs & cats are bad! That's the trouble when you use the World's stuff, they're so perverted! (3-2–79.)

3. KIDS CAN BE CRUEL‚ THAT'S FOR SURE!—I hope ours are never cruel. I read an article in Reader's Digest about "The Little Savages" about the cruelty of children to each other. Well, I don't think that's necessarily got to be so, I don't think our own children should ever have to be cruel to each other if they're trained the right way.

4. IT JUST SHOWS YOU WHAT KIND OF KIDS THOSE SAVAGE AMERICANS HAVE! I mean if they have child savages it's because they're such violent savages themselves! I don't think children have to be cruel to each other, I think it's a lot in the way they're trained & whether they're God's children or not. If they're taught to be kind & thoughtful & considerate & polite & loving‚ I think they will be. I think it's just because those little savages have parents like that! (3–2–79)

5. I USED TO WONDER AS A LITTLE BOY WHY THERE WAS SO MUCH GRAPE JUICE LEFT in all those little glasses when the Lord said to "drink ye all of it"! (Mt.26:27.) But then the dear preacher explained to me one time, well‚ it meant for all of you to drink it, it didn't necessarily mean you had to drink it all!

6. (TO DAVIDA:) HONEY, HAVEN'T YOU RECEIVED JESUS? Huh? You've received Jesus so you should take a little sip, just a little tiny sip. She's received Jesus, hasn't she? (Sara: She just doesn't like wine.) Well, just one little sip, OK? A tiny, tiny bit.

7. IT'S TO SHOW THAT YOU LOVE JESUS! Well, if she doesn't want to understand, don't force it. Just a little tiny tiny sip. OK, all right, let it go‚ don't push it. If they don't understand, then don't push it. It's a pretty deep subject for a two-year-old.

8. AMEN DAVID, YOU KNOW YOU'VE RECEIVED JESUS, haven't you, so you know He's in your heart & that's why you can drink the wine. Davida's still a baby & she doesn't understand, so she doesn't know she should drink it. (1-10-78.)

9. MY DAD USED TO SAY, "SON, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO LEARN TO WORK WITH YOUR BRAIN & NOT YOUR BRAWN!"—I was a little skinny weakling like David. So he insisted I had to go to college & get a good education if I was going to work with my brain instead of my brawn. Well, I don't think there was very much I learned either in high school or college that necessarily has been very much of a help to you or me! About all I can say for it is I found out where it ain't & what it wasn't! Like the old lady who said,

10. "I MAY NOT KNOW WHAT UNCTION IS, BUT I KNOW WHEN IT AIN'T!"—meaning the anointing of the Spirit of God on a preacher, when he wasn't inspired & when he was inspired. Well, at least through what education I got I discovered where what I was looking for was not at!—Just what a lot of other young people discovered & came out with the same opinion! The hippies & the modern young generation in the U.S. of that day became soured on modern education & the System & got sick of it & quit it, God bless 'em!—You!

11. THEY'VE GOT A NEW GENERATION GROWING UP IN THE U.S. NOW WHO ARE MORE DEDICATED TO THE SYSTEM than any generation was ever dedicated before! The dropouts have dropped out & left, & what's left is the cream of the crop of the Systemites, the red, white & blue flag-wavers, Systemites of the Systemites! How many rebels, revolutionaries & dropouts have you heard of from this subsequent generation since you left?—They're now mostly robots!

12. THEY'RE HAVING A FEW PITIFUL LITTLE DEMONSTRATIONS against nuclear plants, but that's about all. They're not even smart enough to demonstrate against Israel's expansionist and cruel policies in Israel. Well, the very very few I've heard of have had a little sympathy for the Palestinians, but very few. They're too well brainwashed by the System & propagandised by the Americans. (31-8-78.)

13. YOU DON'T HAVE TO GIVE CHILDREN A LOT OF ATTENTION IF YOU'RE BUSY OR TALKING, but just recognise them, just say "hello" or "hi" or "bye" or something so they know you still know they exist! I'm used to having kids playing around my feet when I'm teaching, & it looks like the Lord must have had an awful lot playing around Him when He was teaching. Even though they tried to keep them away from Him‚ He said bring them here! (Mt.19:14.)

14. IT MUST BE A CHILDHOOD PHOBIA, but I am still scared to death to swallow pills & fish with possible bones!

15. DO YOU THINK IT'S GOING TO BE TOO BIG A SHOCK TO OUR CHILDREN TO FIND OUT I'M NOT A LION? I think if the World lasts much longer probably one of these days they'll say‚ "Oh, the Children of God?—You mean that bunch that worships that lion!" I wouldn't be surprised! Well, I just got sick of looking at it & I thought about our kids & Davidito growing up thinking I'm a lion! (To Davidito: ) I am not really a lion, am I?—I just look like one! I've got a mane like a lion, & sometimes I can roar like one too!—Ha!

16. … We don't [teach our children to] think sex is dirty & nasty & bad & evil & the parts of their body are wrong. Little kids must really get a funny idea & look at it & wonder why God made it if it was so bad, when you tell them God made everything! …

17. I STOMPED OUT OF EIGHT DIFFERENT UNIVERSITIES IN MY LIFE, including three Bible colleges. It was a waste of time on confused theories‚ because everything you need to know is in the Bible, even current events! After years of evangelistic work I didn't want to go back to high school or college‚ but my family insisted. (Ps.119:99.)

18. TEACH & EXPLAIN THIS TO CHILDREN: If you find money‚ then keep it. If you find a wallet, keep it too, but leave your name & phone number with the clerk & have the person who supposedly lost the wallet call you & describe it to you before you return it—or you'll never see it again!

19. ONE GOOD PART ABOUT THE MONTESSORI METHOD is that children learn at an earlier age & learn to work.

20. CONCERNING EDUCATION: Choose the good & eschew the evil!

21. WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY IN SUNDAY SCHOOL WE USED TO KID EACH OTHER ABOUT OUR PRETTY SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER. We'd come up & get hard just looking at her, & we'd kid each other, "You got a flashlight in your pocket?" My, the things that go on in Sunday School!—The things that are going through those little boys' heads while they're looking so saintly at that pretty girl! Now I realise it wasn't all evil, just perfectly normal & natural. Thank the Lord! Thank God! Praise God!

22. "WHAT THE LORD HAS CLEANSED, CALL THOU NOT UNCLEAN!" (Ac.10:15.)—The things that God has made. "Every creature of God is good & nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving!" That was one of my father's favourite verses, especially at the table. "Eat what's set before you giving thanks, for every creature of God is good & nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the Word of God & prayer." (Lk.10:8; 1Ti.4:4,5.)—Especially if one of us kids looked at it & made a face or something! He had a Scriptural answer for everything, thank God he knew the Bible!—That's why I'm here!

23. KIDS LEARN FASTER FROM OTHER KIDS THAN ANY OTHER WAY! That's why I've been worried about Sara taking Davidito up to see all the village children. Sometimes I'm not too sure that that's a good influence. I know he likes to go & all that & they all love him, but still he's always in danger of catching their diseases or catching their spirits or catching their bad habits. So I don't like you to take him downtown too long. Cities are a bad influence. Their spirits have a bad influence. I feel all those things when I go down there, so I don't even like to go to town if I don't have to, nor take kids!

24. I SAID IN ONE LETTER THAT IF YOU HAVE A CHILD‚ THEN GOD HAS CHOSEN YOU TO BE THE PARENTS. Well, that's still my ideal. But it has held a lot of people back because they didn't want to marry that person or get stuck with them in case they got pregnant. Well, that is not a hard & fast rule. I don't think I even made it a hard & fast rule in that Letter. I made it pretty clear, that's the ideal, that's what I think would probably happen. I don't know, maybe some of you old bachelors need to get stuck with her, or maybe you girls need to get stuck with or by him!

25. SOME PEOPLE JUST DON'T LIKE RESPONSIBILITY, THEY'RE TOO SELFISH TO HAVE A CHILD or too selfish to even have a mate! Well‚ we're going to kind of loosen up on that a little bit. Under certain conditions, if you do have a child, that doesn't necessarily mean you've got to marry them. We can especially do that in our kind of Family, as long as the Family takes the proper attitude toward the child. We've especially been having this happening now in FFing: Jesus' Babies!

26. ALL THE FAMILY SHOULD RECEIVE THEM & TREAT THEM AS THEIR OWN CHILDREN, all of them. Even now some of our children go around calling everybody Mommy & Daddy. It doesn't matter to them, everybody's a mommy and daddy to them!—That's the way our children ought to feel.

27. NOW WHEN ARE YOU SELFISH PEOPLE GOING TO GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEADS? Have you been so selfish you've been keeping your [young people of legal age] apart when they wanted to get together because you didn't want any more babies born in the Home?—Or you couples yourselves didn't want to have a baby, so you held back?

28. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE WISDOM OF SOME OF THESE CHILDREN! (Maria: It's like the Lord has made the children in our Family the way that those four Hebrew children were, more beautiful & more intelligent than all the others! He's really made them that way!—Not only good training that we give them, but He's just blessed us with beautiful & smart children!) (Deb: More people should recognise that!) (Maria: The World sure does when they see our kids, & probably our own people should recognise it more! We're so close to them we think they're rascals sometimes, but compared to the World's kids, they're angelic!)

29. CHILDREN ARE REALLY SOMETHING, THEY'RE SO SMART! You can usually tell how smart they are the way they can out-smart their parents. I can even outsmart my parent once in a while! (Maria: Oh, you are really something sometimes!) See, I told you, now she's being honest! The "Green Shirt" Letter was lying there last night & I said, "Look David, do you know who that is? That's you when you get big, that's what you're going to be like!"—And he studied it & studied it & studied it & he looked at me & gave me that long searching look that really looks right through you! (Madrid, 22-11-77.)

30. (SARA: WHEN DO YOU START TELLING CHILDREN ABOUT THE DEVIL?) I told him the other day, "That's not of Jesus, Jesus wouldn't act like that, that's from the Devil!" I said, "You're acting like the Devil, you're not acting like Jesus!"—And it really sobered him up right away & he kind of sweetened up a little bit. He was really scared of being like the Devil!

31. I THINK YOU OUGHT TO TELL THEM RIGHT AWAY, I'm surprised you haven't told him more about the Devil already! He understands about bad people & mean people. I've often turned the TV on a moment to see what's on & punch the button & there were these cowboy shoot'm-ups having a big fight & I'd turn it off right away & say, "They were bad men, mean men‚ they're fighting!"—& you could tell he was absorbing it.

32. HE KNOWS ABOUT GOOD ANGELS; JUST TELL HIM THERE ARE ALSO EVIL SPIRITS & DEVILS.—Not to make him scared, but just to know that there are bad things in the World! I mean you teach him a lot of other things are bad. Especially when he's acting naughty & acting like the Devil‚ why then tell him so, it might shake him up & wake him up!

33. IT REALLY PAYS TO BE HONEST WITH THEM & TELL THEM THE TRUTH, because they are ready for it! He sobered up right away when I told him acting naughty was acting like the Devil. You're always presenting plenty of positive, so you have to present some negative or they can't appreciate the difference. By this time they know there's bad things & evil in the World, & bad people. It's amazing how a little child like that can begin to understand the simple things of the Lord & prayer. So I wouldn't hesitate to tell him when the occasion warrants. (22-11-77.)

34. I LIKE TO READ HISTORY, it's fact!

35. HISTORY WAS MY FAVOURITE SUBJECT because I guess maybe you needed it!—But I didn't believe it all. Thank God for a few teachers who opened my eyes & said things that weren't in the books—especially my last year in high school. My History & Economics teacher was the secretary of the local Communist Party & head of the Teacher's Union in the days when California was pretty radical before the hard Right took over.

36. THAT WAS JUST BEFORE THE WAR IN THE LATE '30s. Then we won the war & they were worried about the Communists & Russia, so they began attacking all the radicals, the days of the "witch hunts." But the days just before World War II I was in High School & all this raging controversy was going on about Communism.

37. I MUST SAY, THAT GUY REALLY KNEW THE COMMIE SIDE, & of course he propagandised pretty strong. I took a lot of it with a grain of salt because I knew he was a Communist, but at the same time the Communists have oodles of truth for ammunition‚ they don't even have to cook up lies, except against us. They had all kinds of good ammunition from the facts of history & economics. So he had plenty of tales to tell! (8–8–77.)

38. POINTERS ON SPANKING: My mother used to go out in the garden & pick a switch‚ a long thin one that really hurt when you got spanked with it! I used to use a belt or a fly swatter sometimes on my own kids when they were older. But never use a hairbrush or something that's going to actually break the skin & hurt them.—Or never hit in a place that's going to possibly injure them‚ such as across the knuckles or on the head near the ear, eyes, nose or mouth.

39. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE THEM FEEL REALLY SAD & REPENTANT, DO WHAT MY MOTHER DID & SIT THERE & CRY & WEEP ABOUT IT before you have to actually give the spanking! Oh, I hated that! That was the worst part to see her weep & cry & say, "Now son, this hurts me more than it hurts you!" Oh, how I dreaded that! I'd always much rather that she'd just go ahead & get the spanking over with. The spanking wouldn't have hurt as much as the tears.

40. I DON'T EXACTLY UNDERSTAND THIS 1–2-3 METHOD OF DISCIPLINE, but if it works & gives the child plenty of warning & follows through with punishing the offending member, then great! The child needs to know that you really mean business, but you need to operate in the Spirit when disciplining a child.

41. ALL I HAD TO DO WAS JUST GIVE MY CHILD A FIRM LOOK WITH A GOOD WARNING & sometimes slap my hands together right in front of their face to let them know that I was really going to give them a hard spank if they did it one more time, & they usually never gave me any problem. The children need to learn your authority in the Spirit. There's no need to reprimand them for those little squeals of delight & happiness, but screaming is a different thing, unless really hurt.

42. DR. SPOCK BASED HIS PHILOSOPHIES & HIS CHILD PSYCHOLOGY ON GUYS LIKE FREUD, & now, sad to say, after he has wrecked one entire generation & God knows how many more of American young people & children, he comes out & apologises & says, "I'm so sorry! I've had kids of my own now & I was wrong!"—After he's sent untold millions of other people's kids to Hell! (31-8-78.)

43. I LOVED MY STUDIES AT SCHOOL, BUT SCHOOL WAS HELL, I was so persecuted! The big tough bullies were always picking on good little boys, of which there weren't many! Sometimes I was the only one, the preacher's kid, little angel, teacher's pet, always got good grades.—And of course they didn't.

44. DID YOU KNOW THE DEVIL'S KIDS HATE THE LORD'S KIDS EVEN AS CHILDREN? I used to be sitting on the bus studying away & lost in another world when all of a sudden some guy would grab my book right out of my hand & throw it the full length of the bus! Then the driver would pick it up & find my name in it & he thought it was me! Whew! What I went through when I was a kid in school!

45. THE TROUBLE IS, I DIDN'T ALWAYS TAKE IT! Sometimes it really made me mad & I'd light into them & fight back & I always got the worst of it because they were husky & tough. It reminds me of some of these magazine articles—now I have a way to get back at them! When it comes to a war of words, I have some chance, especially with the help of the Spirit! (8-8–77.)

46. PROPHECY FOR DAVIDITO: "And his name shall be great amongst the children of men! O behold the child thou hast begotten!" He's a great man, so beautiful! I think everybody knows he is something very special when they see him. He's anointed of the Lord with great wisdom—begotten of the Lord!

47. HOW'S PAPA MARCOS? Why don't they come see him? They'll never have another child till they recognise Davidito. A curse be unto that house until they give honour unto whom honour is due! But God bless Papa Marcos, I think he really loves him. Somebody ought to tell them God has cursed them because they won't recognise David! They can tell them I said so, the Prophet of God! (1-3-77) (They still have no children!—20/4/81.)

48. THE BIBLE SAYS, "HONOUR THY FATHER & MOTHER IN THE LORD." (Eph.6:1‚2) This means honour the parents who prove to be your parents & who are worthy to be called your parents in the Lord, not ungodly parents. The System only recognises physical relatives of course.

49. WHEN I WAS A TEACHER I made sure that every question on the final exam had been gone over in the classroom, each point at least seven times, through reading‚ questions & being quizzed.

50. (TO HO'S NENE:) YOU'RE SO SWEET & PRETTY‚ YOU'RE PRETTY ENOUGH TO BE A GIRL! That's what they used to tell me when I was a little boy‚ & I didn't like it! My brother had the nerve when I was a poor little innocent victim about 8 or 10 years old to dress me up like a girl with lipstick, rouge, the works! I can remember this yet, I think I could have crawled under the floor!

51. I WAS THE INNOCENT VICTIM OF MY BROTHER'S MACHINATIONS & he paraded me out on the stage of the big Capitol Theatre of Miami‚ Florida amongst contestants for costumes at Halloween!—And I got the booby prize! That's the first time I ever knew what a booby prize was when my brother gave it to me & told me it was the booby prize. I wanted to know what it was & he said, "It goes to the boobs!" Boobs in those days were not what boobs are today! A boob was a kind of baboon or a nut or dunce or dummy!

52. I WAS MADE UP TO LOOK LIKE A GIRL WITH A KERCHIEF AROUND MY HEAD so they couldn't tell I didn't have long hair, & I guess they really did think I was a girl about 8 or 9, because you don't have much boobs at that age—I was the boob! The announcer came along & stuck the mike in my face & said‚ "What is your name dear?"—with no pleasant intonation about it whatsoever. I didn't like his "dear" attitude!—Real sarcastic!

53. I TOLD HIM MY NAME & THE AUDIENCE JUST ROARED! I had a pretty good voice even in those days, & my brother thought it was great sport! I almost never forgave him for that, & the only way he persuaded me was that if we did it we could make lots of money & he could pay back all the money he owed me!

54. I ALWAYS HAD MONEY, but he never had money & always had to borrow from me. He never did anything but run around with girls most of the time, but I was always out peddling something—magazines, Boy's Life subscriptions‚ Cloverine salve, perfume, Watkin's Products, selling them on the street & going door-to-door. So I was always making money & doing something, & he was always borrowing it, & I hardly ever remember getting paid back. So he said, "If you just do this for me we'll be able to make enough money between us for me to pay you back all the money I owe you!"

55. WELL, I NEVER GOT ANYTHING OUT OF IT! The booby prize was one of those poppers that you jerk & it makes a pop. So anyway, they used to accuse me when I was little of being as pretty as a girl, which I didn't consider a very nice compliment! I remember even a girl who used to like to kiss me because she said, "You've got a mouth just like a girl's!" Maybe she had a streak of lesbian in her or something, but I didn't think that was very nice either!—I was a boy!

56. SO I WAS ALWAYS TRYING TO DRESS UP LIKE DRACULA OR FRANKENSTEIN or some kind of a monster or villain to destroy the little girl image! I'll never forget one Valentine's Day a girl looked through my mask & said, "Oh, I know who you are! I'd recognise that mouth anywhere, just like a girl's!" (5-6–75.)

57. THE HEIGHT OF MY AMBITION once upon a time was to be a gardener‚ grow flowers!

58. STICKS & SHARP-POINTED OBJECTS like pens & paintbrushes, or strings & rope or anything a child could hang himself on, are definitely not safe for a baby to play with. If he is allowed to use something of this nature‚ he should always be sitting down & taught not to stand up or walk with things like this in his hands.

59. COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES ARE FULL OF PEOPLE WHO COULDN'T MAKE IT OUTSIDE THE WORLD OF EDUCATION. College says, "If you don't know how to do it, teach someone else to do it!" The purpose of modern education is to educate yourself clear out of most folk's understanding!

60. I WALKED OUT OF WESTMOUNT COLLEGE because the only course that still had room for me was in the Egyptian antiquities! I had to memorise all the names of the Pharaohs & all their dynasties & all their kings & all that junk‚ & I thought, "My God‚ what good is that!" I got so sick & fed up with it I walked out! I said, "This stuff isn't going to do me any good! Who the hell cares who they were! It's all done & past & gone, forget it!" "Forget the things that are behind, press forward to the things that are before!" (Ph.3:13.) (31-8-78.)

61. DAVIDITO REALLY IS FASCINATED BY ANYTHING MECHANICAL! He likes to see how things work. He's a typical Aquarian, he's got to analyse everything & figure everything out! (14–3-76.)

62. I HAVE LIVED MY LIFE IN REVERSE, that's my problem! When I was a little boy I was an old man—straight-laced, narrow-minded‚ so sober & serious. But now Maria says I'm a teenager.—And I guess I'm going to die a baby!

63. ANY CHILD WHO BAWLS AT THE TABLE like that should be taken out 'til quiet.

64. THE LAST TIME I EVER WET THE BED I WAS 9 YEARS OLD. I remember, because I was dreaming I was going pee-pee somewhere, & I wet the bed in my sleep. Even though a child may be potty-trained early, you must still allow for accidents now & then. I was so embarrassed, because we were guests!

65. IF CHILDREN AREN'T TIRED ENOUGH TO GO TO BED, then I don't see why they should be made to go to bed. There's a way to get out of having to discipline them: "Oh, you aren't sleepy? Well, I thought you were. But if you aren't, you can wait awhile. "But be careful not to do this too often. It's a shame to make a child suffer for our mistakes. If he's not ready to go to sleep then why should we force it? But these special times are exceptions.

66. WE CAN'T LET A CHILD MAKE A BIG FUSS & ALWAYS GET AWAY WITH IT, but remember that God changed His mind when Moses pled for the children of Israel. In enforcing rules, you can get the child so upset as to "lose" the child. Many times I've given orders to a child & regretted them later—I knew I was wrong & the child knew it too. Then it is wise to apologise. Children have a sense of right & wrong even at his age. (16–11-76.)

67. CHILDREN SHOULD NEVER PUT MATCHES IN THEIR MOUTHS because the phosphorous head is very poisonous & could make them very sick.

68. IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO PREPARE CHILDREN FOR NEW EXPERIENCES they're going to have & even possible disappointments, like Davidito & the bicycle. (Maria: Well, that's what we were trying to do the other day by trying to explain to him that on Sunday the shop might be closed, but you told us no, anticipation was better.) It's better to say "if" & so on. (Maria: What you said was good,

69. ("IF THE DOORS ARE OPEN, WE'LL GET IT"—even though you knew they weren't going to be, that was good!) That prepared him for the possibility that they might not be, but to totally dash his hopes was a little too much. If you just say, "Well, it's Sunday & it's going to be closed, it's no use"—then it's all dashed! You have to give him a little ray of hope, or he wouldn't be interested in going. (Portugal, 1977.)

70. THE MAIN THING TO REMEMBER IN CHILDCARE LIT IS TO ENCOURAGE THE FAITH OF THE MOTHER. A mother's own freedom from fear is important. Her best assurance is peace of mind, & it's very very important to a baby's health. Babies can sense when you're afraid.

71. NEVER STICK DIRTY FINGERS in eyes, ears or your mouth!

72. BOTH ME & MY MOTHER were nursed by a coloured nanny!

73. DON'T GO BY ANYONE'S HISTORY DATES but the Bible itself.

74. GOD MADE YOU ABLE TO PROCREATE AT THE AGE OF 12, & this is even according to Jewish custom. This is when they have their Bar Mitzvah, the boy has become a man. But still they don't consider he's out of the jurisdiction of his parents until he's 30!—Although he supposedly has become a man when he's 12! He can procreate, & a girl at that age can have children. …

75. … In the U.S. it used to be called "child brides" & I can remember when I was very young it was still quite legal—especially up in the hills with the mountaineers! They married child brides all the time—12, 13 years of age. But then they began passing laws against it like mad!

76. WASN'T IT PANDITA RAMABAI'S MOTHER WHO WAS MARRIED AT THE AGE OF SEVEN? Pandita Ramabai the famous Indian missionary. Her mother was married at the age of 7 & her father took her mother out into the jungle & was her teacher. He taught her Sanskrit & all kinds of interesting things & really trained her just like a little child, just brought her up from childhood like he was her father.

77. THIS WAS THE BACKGROUND THAT PANDITA RAMABAI HAD, TO REALLY TEACH HER. … [S]he was largely instrumentals in having the anti-child bride laws passed—in spite of the fact that she got a very good training from that very kind of bride! …

78. THE GRADES I REMEMBER MOST CLEARLY IN SCHOOL ARE THE BAD ONES! Mistakes are how we learn our biggest lessons. It's not past mistakes that bother me, but it's how you can so quickly forget what you've been told, & make the same one again!

79. IF YOU HAVE NORMAL PERIODS ON A REGULAR SCHEDULE & THEN HAVE A LATE ONE, it could be that you were a little bit pregnant. A delayed period could be from a little impregnation. But you should never be convinced & sure that you're fully pregnant until after the fourth month.

80. A MISCARRIAGE SHOULD NOT BE RECORDED AS A DEATH ON MONTHLY HOME REPORTS. It's not really until after the 4 1/2-month mark that the fetus is well formed & grown enough & strong to go through birth. I doubt that the Lord calls it a human fetus before it is 6 months.

81. THE CATHOLICS TRIED TO FIND OUT JUST WHEN A BABY RECEIVES ITS SOUL, but the answer is right in the Bible in Genesis 2:7—"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground & breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; & man became a living soul." Man had nostrils & God breathed into him, an already formed body. Neuma is the Greek word for spirit & in Hebrew the word raka means the spirit of life. So apparently Adam received his spirit after his body was fully formed, nostrils & all. A soul is a living human being with body & spirit made from dust turned to body & then given spirit.

82. THERE'RE EVEN VERSES IN THE BIBLE ON MISCARRIAGE. God says in Mal.3:11 He will not allow your vine to cast forth her fruit before the time. Romans 1:26 speaks of men forsaking the natural use & doing that which is against nature: contraception & abortion is what interferes with nature, & foeticide is murder of children. God does not make any mistakes about making babies any more than any part of His creation. God ordained you to give birth if He gave you a baby, & if He wants to take it away, He will by His own means.

83. I WOULD SAY ACTUALLY ABOUT THE 4 1/2-MONTH POINT, the midst of the pregnancy, the foetus has been fully formed & developed & then begins to grow. I'm convinced that when your body is fully formed, then it receives the soul‚ because John the Baptist was possessed of the Holy Spirit in his mother's womb. He must have already had his own spirit before, so you can receive the Holy Spirit in the womb. So you must be fully developed when you receive the spirit, at about 4 1/2 months.

84. AFTER 4 1/2 MONTHS, LET'S CALL IT A MISCARRIAGE IF YOU LOSE THE BABY. Before that time don't even record it. The baby must die after it is already born in order for it to be called a death‚ & premature babies of five months old have lived! Mom lost a child when she was five months pregnant after Faithy. She was out Christmas shopping all day long!—It's that Christmas spirit, I tell you!—She came home & pushed all the furniture around & tried to make room for the Christmas tree, strained herself & miscarried!

85. LATER ON WHEN WE WERE IN TEXAS she checked when she was pregnant & the fetus was dead in the womb at 6 months! The doctor said the fetus had been dead for 2 weeks. She said that she had stopped feeling motion in her tummy. So she aborted the baby in the hospital. Well, that was about the time that she was becoming a bit rebellious & disobedient to me & hanging around with Mary & Isaac & refused to let me bring the Indian girl Rosa home with me. (TSC, 1963.)

86. THERE WAS A STORY THAT USED TO ALWAYS MAKE ME CRY.—It's about a little boy who got his hand cut off by the doctor in order to save the rest of his arm. When they were about to take his hand away he said, "Wait, I want to see it again!" So he uncovered it & kissed it & said, "I'll see you in Heaven!"

87. HOW COME VITAMINS SO OFTEN SEEM TO BE GREEN? When my little nephew was small his mother was always telling him, "Eat your greens—vitamins‚ vitamins!" So he was about Davidito's age out on the front porch & yelled, "Mama, mama come quick‚ look at this vitamin!"—A great big green katydid! He was in the bathtub one day & his mother had to go to the phone & she got to talking & almost forgot him! Pretty soon he started yelling, "Mama‚ come quick! Take me out of the water before I rust!" (Warning—never leave a child unattended in a bathtub!)

88. WHEN RIDING ON THE SCHOOLBUS THE VIBRATIONS FELT SO GOOD that I used to "go off" right on the bus & have to walk home holding my book satchel in front of me!

89. I STARTED SELLING THINGS AT 7 OR 8 YEARS OLD. I sold salves & shoe polish & household goods‚ & who could turn me down? I used to carry a 20–pound suitcase door-to-door! I worked for a prize & was the top salesman & won a movie projector. I showed the films to my little friends. But the projector was actually dangerous & it once burnt up when I loaned it out to a friend!

90. I SOLD MY THINGS AFTER SCHOOL & I would make a route in an area about 4 to 5 blocks from my house. I also sold magazines & the Saturday Evening Post at 8 or 9 years old. I worked during the Depression when you did well if you earned $10 a week, so I had to make my own. We had about 12 people living with us then.

91. WHEN I WAS A SUBTEEN, 8 to 10 years old, I was always falling in love with teenage girls I admired from afar.

92. THE THING ABOUT MY INFANCY was that it was difficult for me to distinguish between the real & what some would call the "imaginary." I lived in a world of fantasy & I think sometimes that reality sort of annoyed me.

93. I REMEMBER ONE TIME WHEN I HAD CHICKENPOX in San Jose with a high fever. My nurse was taking me to the bathroom & I saw these shadows on the wall & I said, "Look Nurse! Little men going up & down on elevators!" And she said, " No, David, you're delirious. That's just the shadow if the leaves—the sun shining through the leaves on the wall & the trees moving." I said, "No, it's not, I know! I can see little men going up & down on the elevator!"

94. IT MADE ME SO MAD THEY COULDN'T SEE WHAT THAT REALLY WAS! Because to me they were there, but to adults they were just shadows of the leaves shining through the window. But it made me feel good anyway! It was like I had all kinds of playmates‚ little men to entertain me on the wall, even if other people didn't believe it. I know I must have dreamed that I lived with those talking cockatoos in the forest in that fairy tale, but I could swear I went & lived with them!

(About Davidito when 18 months old:)

95. WHEN DAVIDITO'S BAD HE USUALLY DOESN'T DO IT OUT OF THE WRONG MOTIVE. It's almost justifiable when he does something wrong. You have to ask yourself, why? When he doo-dooed in his pants the other day while in our room, it was because he treasured every moment that he spent with us. He was afraid he was going to lose some of them if he let us know he had to go doo-doo. We would have taken him out to potty & he would have not been able to spend so much time with us. He really does try to be pleasing, he struggles hard for approval.

96. IN SOME WAYS HE'S ALMOST A TEENAGER. They're like little judges.—They judge their parents as to whether they're right or wrong, & they're really, really high in their ideals! If their parents don't live up to them, they're really offended.

97. YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO WEIGH THEIR MOTIVES. Why did he do it? If he really had a good motive even though it seemed wrong, you always have to forgive him. If he doo-doos in his pants because he wants to spend more time with us, you can forgive him for that. If he's not sleepy, he doesn't want to take a nap, he figures it's a waste of time, why should he?

98. IF HE'S NOT HUNGRY, WHY SHOULD HE EAT? Do you always have an appetite? And if he pockets some money you leave lying around, you shouldn't have left it there anyway, so if you've taught him to be saving he figures he's doing the right thing!

99. January 15, 1976, Dad prophesies about Davidito: "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, a prince of peace, a child of peace!"—Amen. Hallelujah! GBH!

100. CHILDCARE WORKERS & FFers should keep fingernails short & trimmed & clean!

101. THE FIRST TIME A CHILD DOES SOMETHING NAUGHTY IT'S USUALLY IN IGNORANCE. So you explain it to him, reason with him. But then if he does it over & over again after warnings, you need to punish him.

102. I DON'T HAVE MUCH FAITH IN VITAMINS. How could all that much be in one little pill? I seem to do OK without'm! TTL!

103. THE FOODS YOU ARE CRAVING—EGGS, BACON, CHEESE & PEANUT BUTTER, "STICK" TO A PREGNANT WOMAN MORE THAN CEREAL in the morning for breakfast. My mother always said‚ "You need a stick-to–your–ribs type breakfast every morning!"—Amen!

104. IT'S WORTH PAYING THE PRICE OF A LITTLE SICKNESS & WEAKNESS DURING PREGNANCY, God is using you to create an immortal soul—the biggest miracle in life‚ the Creation of Man! It's worth it!

105. DON'T LET DAVIDITO OUTSMART YOU! He's pretty smart. If you ask him a stupid question, he'll give you a stupid answer! He'll try to test you out. Use a little reasoning & persuasion to get him to do what you want him to do. He's a tease like his mother! He's testing your resolution!

106. IF YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE THE CREDIT TO VITAMIN C FOR HELPING YOU TO BE HEALTHY, then make sure you thank the Lord that He gave it!—Not just the pill!

107. GOD USES HUMBLE LITTLE FUNNY WOMEN TO DO ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT JOBS there is next to soul-winning—having babies! New eternal souls for God's Kingdom! Wow!

108. I STILL FEEL RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CHILDREN that I have brought into the world. I still don't believe in divorce‚ particularly when children are involved.

109. Children are in perpetual motion! You just can't always stop'm!

110. WE SHOULD TEACH THE CHILDREN TO ANSWER, "Yes, Sir" & "Yes, Ma'am" in respect for their elders, such as when they are addressing you or other adults.

111. AT ONE OF MY MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY PARTIES a very shy boy was invited & nearly died of embarrassment when he knocked over his glass of milk. When my Grandmother saw what happened she quickly bumped over a glass of milk herself too & exclaimed, "Oh see? Everyone makes mistakes!" The dear boy laughed relievedly!

112. I ALWAYS LIKED FAMILY DINNER TOGETHER. My family used to eat together every night & we would each share testimonies of what happened in the day. I would ask each little child to share some kind of testimony of what the Lord did that day. In this way we all learned how the Lord provided, & they learned from the witnessing testimonies that the others had.

113. IF YOU WANT TO USE THE TODDLERS in witnessing & litnessing, even tiny tots can pass the hat or tin cup!

114. TEACH THE CHILDREN TO CHEW ALL OF THEIR FOOD REAL WELL. The saliva mixes well with the food & it takes care of the first digestion process before it hits the stomach.

115. ALWAYS CARRY A WRAP & USE IT if you need it! That's especially important for the children during seasonal changes.

116. I LOVE CATS! WHEN I WAS A BOY I ONCE HAD 5 KITTENS in my bedroom, & when I came home from school‚ oh what a mess my bedroom would be! But they're not too hard to train if you just take them from the beginning‚ even just one time to their little sandbox. Puppies are a lot messier to clean up after & harder to train.

117. POOR DAVID! I NEVER HAD MUCH PERSONAL TIME WITH MY PARENTS WHEN I WAS SMALL EITHER. My Mommy & Daddy were gone a lot, & even when they were home they were very busy with guests & dinner discussion. I didn't have much personal attention from my parents either, but that's what a family is for!—So you can all help raise our children!—Does yours lend a hand?

118. KIDS JUST LOVE TO LEARN & to work & be constructive. It's good that you taught Davidito a little about gardening & pruning dead leaves off of flowers.

119. I'VE REACHED YOUR GENERATION, now you all have to reach the next one!

120. NEVER TELL A CHILD A LIE, because he trusts you. Don't ever give him a promise when you cannot keep your word, so keep your promises within reason. It's a form of love that the child believes you & trusts & obeys when you explain things to him. It pleases him too, but if the child is rebellious he needs to be dealt with. The Lord loves faith because it shows your love. Faith is a form of love.

121. If you can't change the world‚ maybe your children will!—Train'm to!

122. I ONCE READ A BOOK ON TOILET TRAINING. It was funny how the author portrayed the child's idea. Here the child presents a part of his body to the parent & finally puts it in the potty where they've been encouraging him to do it all along, & his mother accepts it gratefully—then suddenly flushes it down the toilet, so the child just can't figure that out!

123. IT'S NATURAL THAT WHEN GIRLS HAVE BABIES OF THEIR OWN they usually want to get back closer to their mothers for expert help!

124. HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU TRAVEL IN YOUR PREGNANCY?—It depends on how strong the girl is & what she's used to. Severe jolting can bring on fruit early. (Mal.3:11.) She should get lots of exercise, plenty of walking or dancing & not be overeating & not overdo it, over-exert, but get normal mild exercise. A healthy pregnant girl should be able to do almost anything a normal girl does to the very end!

125. I don't like people dragging their child to an adult & insisting they kiss the adult unless they want to!

126. SYSTEM PARENTS TELL THEIR CHILDREN THE LIE ABOUT SANTA CLAUS, then confess later it was just a big falsehood, not true at all. They tell them in the same way about Jesus, so the kids have no reason to believe He's real either!

127. DON'T BLAME THE GIRLS THAT CARE FOR THE BABY; it's your job to correct those childcare helpers. Don't blame the workers—it's your job to oversee them & make sure they're doing the faithful work they should with your baby.—Keep checking!

128. IF YOU HAVE A CHILD THAT'S SICK & NOT BEEN HEALED, keep on that parent's case & make sure that child is properly taken care of, & expect immediate results. It's the parents' fault if the child becomes sick & not healed, even if they themselves are not caring for the child, because it's a result of neglect. It's your fault for not getting someone who can do the job & take care of it!

129. Remember, babies eat less in hot weather than in cold.—Adults should too!

130. I USED TO INSIST THAT THE CHILDREN LEARN TO USE TERMS OF RESPECT, & that's an important thing. Maybe it's an old-fashioned habit, but I don't believe in them just calling you mothers & fathers by your first names. I believe in the good old-fashioned terms of Mom & Dad, Mother, Father‚ Papa, Mama. When it comes to their older brothers & sisters in the Lord, I think a good custom is to respect them also. I always used to teach my kids to call them Auntie So–and-so‚ Uncle So–and-so. Those make good terms! In other words the older brothers & sisters in the Family are like the aunts & uncles to them. Teach them to respect adults.

131. THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT A GRANDMOTHER, I ALWAYS LOVED THEM! I always loved old women, they're so sweet. The joy of an old man is his children's children, the Bible says—& a grandmother! (Pr.17:6.)

132. DAD TO DAVIDITO: You've got something I haven't!—Many more years! That's why our children are called the Hope of the Future! Shepherds of Kingdom Come!

133. A CHILD CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO RUN WITH THINGS IN HIS MOUTH OR HAND! He can easily fall & hurt himself very badly. Long sticks are not even as dangerous as short sticks, pencils, pens‚ spoons‚ etc.

134. AMERICAN KIDS LOVE GORE & VIOLENCE & are brought up seeing that stuff on TV everyday! But our children should like the New Testament stories. They are much sweeter & there are plenty of them, so you don't have to teach them the war stories & stories of killing until they have had plenty of the basics of the stories about Jesus. Leave O.T. gore till later!

135. YOU SHOULDN'T DEFINITELY CONSIDER YOURSELF PREGNANT BEFORE 3 MONTHS, it's almost foolishness! The Lord could easily reject it. Wait till you've missed 3 or 4 periods before you buy your clothes & start preparing for the baby. I wouldn't even suggest you start making final preparations until you're beginning to bulge in front.—Then see a doctor!

136. BRITISH DOCTORS HAVE SAID IT'S NORMAL THAT WOMEN REJECT 70% OF THEIR PREGNANCIES—God rejects it if it's not normal & good. Women have miscarriages very easily & some don't even know it. Even when you have a late period it may be a slight miscarriage. The Lord gives & He takes away. If you're bleeding heavier than usual, just rest a little more‚ wear a thick baby diaper instead of a Kotex, as you may be having a slight miscarriage.—Just take it a bit easier.

137. IF YOU FUCK DURING THE TIME YOU USUALLY HAVE YOUR PERIOD, that can possibly cause a miscarriage or heavy bleeding. I believe in a strict hard law to wait to make love until the 8th complete day after the first day of your period. That's what the Bible says, & if you don't obey it you're going to invite trouble.

138. "PUT IT ON BEFORE YOU TURN IT ON!"—Make that your guide in deciding whether or not to turn up the heat. You can always dress warmer by putting a sweater & thicker socks on plus robe or coat. Then if still too cold, turn it on!

139. TO HOLD KIDS' ATTENTION, YOU'VE REALLY GOT TO GIVE THEM ACTION! I didn't have a puppet show, but I was the show when I used to read my kids the Bible! I illustrated it & I jumped around & went through the motions! When the whale swallowed Jonah I threw myself on the floor & wrapped myself in a rug!—And the kids just really loved it! Dear little two–year-old Faithy really got a bang out of Daddy's antics! But you've got to give them action! You can't just sit there & read them some dry story, no matter how interesting you might think it's supposed to be! You've got to put a little expression & action & animation into it, or it gets a little boring for kids.

140. I TRIED A NEW THING ONE NIGHT I'D NEVER TRIED BEFORE with Davidito just for fun, just to hold his attention. We were reading this story & I think it was getting a little boring & he seemed to be getting distracted, so all of a sudden I began to read real fast, just as fast as I could read! He was just absolutely fascinated! He loved it! And when we got done with that story—it got done pretty quick—he said, "I want another fast one!"

141. CHILDREN OF YOUNG PARENTS are the strongest physically, but children of older parents are the strongest mentally.

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143. EVEN WITH YOUR NATURAL-BORN CHILDREN, you can't help but love some more than others. Just like the Lord is with us: The Lord loves most those obedient children who love Him in return & please Him most.

144. Where do people get this idea that kids have to read only such spiritual books? They need a full education!

145. GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU WHO TAKE CARE OF THE CHILDREN, probably the most important job there is, molding a little life & teaching it everyday. You learn 80% of what you're going to learn in your whole life before you're 5 years old, so think what you're teaching them! It's going to be 80% of everything they're ever going to learn!—Pretty important to teach them well & teach them right!

146. SO NO WONDER IF YOU TRAIN THE CHILD THE WAY IT SHOULD GO, WHEN HE IS OLD HE SHALL NOT DEPART THEREFROM! How could he? That's 80% of all he knows! (Pr.22:6.) He might stray a little now & then just to see what the rest is like or how the other half lives‚ but they'll always come back to the Father's house. PTL! GBY! Happy parenting!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family