Some of the good reads found this week:

The Power of a Courageous Word. “Sometimes it is the simplest of matters that bear the greatest fruit. A simple deed, a simple gift, a simple word can make all the difference. They can even begin a cascade that changes lives and changes the world.”

The Preacher’s Trust, HT to Challies. This article focuses on preachers, but I have found its principles true for writing and ministering for God in any way. Instead of being crushed by our inadequacies or inflated with self-reliance, we put our trust in God, who works through His Word and Spirit.

Protesting Well. This is the fourth in a series on protest, dealing particularly with what to do when you disagree with the authorities in your life.

Lessons from Nathan’s Rebuke: Effective Strategies for Christian Confrontation, HT to Challies. It’s not pleasant, but sometimes rebuke is called for when a professing Christian sins. This article draws principles for what to say based on Nathan’s rebuke of King David.

Please, Don’t Say These Things to Women Who Have Miscarried, HT to Challies. “When a couple experiences a miscarriage, there are tons of responses like these flung in their direction like darts. Those who say them don’t mean for their words to attack, but they often do. They bring into question not only the grief of the mother and father, but also the value of the baby who was lost.”

Explain Up, Don’t Dumb Down. “I’m a big advocate of using big words with little kids. Our tendency, of course, is to use very simple terminology with children. It seems to me like we do this out of two desires.”

Just and Gentle Parenting. “Dear dads and moms, don’t we long to embody Scripture’s perfect balance — to parent between the poles, to divinely blend grace and law, and so to image God and the gospel to our children? Gentle parenting is not one of only two options. Neither is it the best, most biblical option.”

Just Diagnosed: Questions Parents of Neurodivergent Kids Should Ask Next, HT to the Story Warren. “For years, we focused on ‘fixing’ his social skills, handwriting, and attention deficits so he’d be successful in school. We’re thankful these early interventions continue to bear fruit. Still, the best gift we gave our son came when we stopped emphasizing what was wrong and began to focus instead on God’s good purpose.”

If your path had been smooth, you would have depended upon your own surefootedness; but God roughened the path, so you have to take hold of His hand. T. D. Talmage