It is very rare today to meet someone who is not concerned over finances, even if their own personal ones are in order, this country and other countries are seeing hard economic times. We all know that eventually this comes home to roost. We have our own current familial financial crisis and I can tell you from here in the trenches, it is not fun, it is not easy and you will always wish you had done more to prepare. So here are my admittedly random thoughts on the subject:
1) Regardless of your current financial situation, do as much as you can to stock up on food and necessities. Everything, like buy some socks and unders for your kids one size up, get extra sneakers one size up for them and pack them in a nice little storage box. Eventually you'll need them anyway and be glad they are there. Buy an extra tube of toothpaste and bottle of mouthwash. 5.00 today may seem like little, but when things get hard 5.00 makes you think twice. Keep plenty of coffee, tea, powdered creamers, flour, sugar, yeast, salt and other necessary pantry supplies in good stock. More than just an extra in reserve too, just think of trying to live off of what you have in the house, and work form there. If your current financial situation has you pinching each penny till it screams, then simply prioritize what you buy. For instance, I detest eating chicken with bones in it, unless it's Kentucky Fried. However, if I have to choose between the more costly boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or the less expensive bony ones, I'll just de-bone them myself. Icky and so not fun, but it's feeding my family and I'll suck it up and behave like a big girl.
2) Don't panic! Try not to let it get you down. God provides and I have just had to learn to rely on Him in ways I never have before. But God provides. We have a roof over our heads, food in our tummies and I'm still here blogging, so the situation is not so dire as to have us homeless eating a can of baked beans under a bridge. Resist the urge to make a mountain out of a mole hill, or Everest out of a small mountain, such as the case may be.
3) Don't be afraid to ask for prayer, take hand me downs, or ask for help. It's a hard thing to have to ask for help, be it from family and friends or to apply for assistance, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Just use the provisions as wisely as you can and plan them to stretch out for as long as possible. That will help.
4) Quit watching the news. Stop reading the financial blurbs and pray. God is the one orchestrating it all for His plans and His purposes, so go to the source rather than looking at political leaders to fix things. There is not a politician that ever was or ever will be that can restore, regain or create a godly nation, but we as Christians can by acting like Christians should and caring for the poor, practicing hospitality and looking out for one another, for starters. Giving the Gospel over a much needed hot meal, vacuumed floor or folded laundry will speak more to the Love of Christ than you can imagine.
5) Spend more time in the Word and in prayer. Trust me, you'll need it when the hard times come. It amazes me at how God has been preparing me for this for a long time and I didn't realize it. I should have paid closer attention and worked harder at the things He was prodding me to do. Now I have no place to go but to God and His Word and it is becoming even more precious than you can imagine.
Well, those are my thoughts on the situation, random and discombobulated as they are, but I think I have made a few good points, if you can wade through the caffeine withdrawl babbling to find them.
It's finally feeling like fall here too, the weather is cool and mornings are downright crisp, the leaves are bursting forth in their glorious fall splendor and time is here for our family to gather together indoors more. I love fall - love everything about it from the chill in the air to the leaves crunching under my feet and everything in between. I have been in a sort of perpetual celebration mode since October 1st, which is almost a holiday in our home! LOL I got my front all decked out for the season, scarecrows, leaves, pumpkins and pinecones and mums, gotta love those fall colored mums! The inside is decorated a bit as well and the air is filled with the scent of apples, pumpkin, cinnamon and I'm saving the last of my Autumn Lodge candle for mid-month when we bake a pumpkin bundt cake, enjoy some tea and watch Christy all afternoon. I will be sharing some great fall recipes here too. So far I have made pumpkin dip, pumpkin pancakes, and autumn potato chowder. I hope to make some chicken, apple and onion pot pies this week as well as apple crisp, tomato soup cake and roasted fall veggies with roast chicken.
I have plenty of pictures to share too, I will upload them tonight hopefully and start sharing recipes soon.
It sounded like fun, so I decided to consider myself tagged by my wonderful and *in real life* friend Toni over at Amazing Grace. I also won't be tagging anyone, if you want to play too, just go for it and link back here so all your friends can see where you got the exceptionally marvellous idea from.
Ok, so here are the rules:
1.link the person that tagged you
2.tag 6 others
3.tell 6 "unspectacular" quirks about yourself
6 Unspectacular Quirks About Me
1. Water on the sink annoys me. I just *have* to wipe off any and all water from the faucet or around the sink. In the sink is ok, but on it anywhere drives me up a wall!
2. When making a sandwich I must, must place the cheese between slices of meat, not touching any condiments, because that makes it slimy.
3. I don't like my nose touched, but if it is it must be touched in an upward direction. Pushing it down makes me crazy, in fact then I have to push it up (think making a pig face here) because it bothers me so much.
4. The sound of someone whisteling irritates me, a lot.
5. If I lost the cap to a pen, I throw away the entire pen, because it needs to have a cap. I'm getting better abou it though..now it becomes a "junk pen" that I give to the kids to doodle with since they loose all my caps anyway.
6. When I'm getting all comfy and snuggled in bed at night I wiggle my feet for a while. Still haven't figured out why...
Well, that was fun and now all my skeletons are out of the closet. So now you know, yes, I really am weird. Not that I have ever denied it!
This week I decided to show my cozy morning spot for devotions - when I'm not tired. If I'm tired I'll sit at the kitchen table, otherwise I curl up with my cup of coffee on the couch and soak in the Word for a while. Peace, rest, bliss all in the pages of the Bible!
You can see my prayer journal that I use, it's also my Monday morning Bible study notebook, I put the prayer requests in there for the week and use that. On the bottom shelf is my book basket with my books and other journals. That candle is one of my most favorite scents - Maple Sugar.
Not the most earth shattering S&T, but I wanted something warm, cozy and welcoming. You're welcome to join in with devotions anytime!
It feels good to be back, even if I am a bit behind. Seems the tummy flu has made an uninvited guest of itself here. Monday Meanderings will return to being a regular weekly meme here and I thank you for your patience as I got things at home situated.
1. Bible Study/Devotions ~ I am working my way through Romans at the moment
2. Must Do ~ Other than my doctors appointments and Jason's physical nothing else is going on.
3. Train Them Up ~ We have sadly gotten away from first time obedience, so we will be working on that for a while.
4. Special Projects ~ Cleaning and decorating my front porch for fall
5. Menu plan:
It's pretty much up in the air as we don't know how we will feel from one day to the next. Lots of chicken soup that's for sure!
I closed comments on the previous post and they will remain that way. Any comments referring back to that post will be deleted - period. The purpose of this blog is to encourage women in the spirit of Titus 2 and that is exactly what I was trying to accomplish in my previous post. Let's face it, regardless of if we like, trust, or agree with another person's blog there is no excuse as Christians to spew out hatred, gossip, bitterness or slander against someone else, neither is it appropriate to make fun of or pick apart another person.
Matthew 7:1-5 ~ Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
If you feel you have been wronged by another the Bible also gives clear direction in the matter:
Matthew 18:15-16 ~ Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
This does not give room for or permission to establish websites to point out any flaws in another person. Nor does it mean that if you are offended by the truth, that you have been wronged. Your issues with another person are between you, them and God. Dragging others into it because you share some warped sense of comradarie due to your dislike of another person or person's viewpoints are far from Biblical or godly. I am sure that I have or will step on some people's toes as I speak out against feminism, write in support of a woman's Biblical roles and callings as keeper of the home and obedient wife. Yet I am not wrong for stating the truth, if someone becomes offended they have the right to come to me about it and I have the right to tell them that I am sorry they felt hurt, but the truth is the truth any way you slice it. If Candy were bedning scripture, twisting it or misusing it that would be different form others just not liking it when she points out things that one holds dear that is wrong.
If you still believe that Candy, I or anyone else is persecuting you, here is God's word on how to handle that situation:
Matthew 5:44-46 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Now, let's close the chapter on this topic, I will not revisit it, nor will I associate with those who continue in such activities. I am far from perfect, and I am a sinner saved by grace, but I cannot abide those who are so willing to cast off so much of the Bible just because they find some things on one lady's blog distasteful. Guess what? You do not have to read her blog, or any other blog or website that upsets you - I know I sure don't.
I am truly sorry that I have briught discord to this blog, I do intend for it to be a place of peace, rest and lovliness on the web and will do what I must to keep it that way. Over the course of this discussion several commenters have had their remarks deleted and been banned and should the need arise I would not hesitate to do so again.
My final thoughts are simply these:
Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
I enjoy reading over at Keeping the Home, and consider Candy a bloggy friend. Yes, we have differeing opinions on certain matters. Big shock huh? Those of you who know me in real life will find no surprise there. However, after reading the comments on a recent post at her blog I decided to link to a post I had written about this phenomena of starting up entire websites and blogs to bash, harrass and spew out bitterness against another blogger. I was expecting to catch some "flack" for it, but was appalled to find a link to one of these nasty sites. As I was asked to do, I did visit said site that claimed was not a site to bash Candy. It was filled with women posting in bitterness, anger and venom, there were links to sites far worse than the first. There was no love, grace or forgivness extended there by anyone who claimed to have been hurt or wronged by Candy. These sites are vile trash and right now I wish I could scrub out my brain with soap and hot water. Ladies, if you frequent these sites then you should be ashamed of yourselves! It is indeed petty, childish and sinful. Please, do not post any more links to these vile sites on this blog, and if you do post one or in favor of one of these sites you will be banned, as the last commenter was and the comment deleted. I will not allow gossip, slander, or venomous bitter backbiting here, be it in comments or blog posts. I am so very saddened to see how these ladies are reacting to one woman's blog. Candy makes no pretense of being perfect nor of representing the ideal Christian woman. She is simply sharing her journey and perspective on the Christian life. Please, ladies, let go of your bitterness! It will strangle your soul, it will sever your connection to Christ and darken your eyes to the truth. Let go of it and let the peace of God reign in your hearts! Rather than spewing out words of bitterness and anger, share words of thanksgiving and love for Christ. Put off these works of the flesh and put on the fruit of the Spirit! None of us will be perfect this side of eternity, but we can, no we must, war against our flesh and follow the Word of God's instructions for our lives.
This is the very end of Romans 14:23, and while it is tacked onto a discussion on food, it certainly can be applied in many other aspects of our lives. When we act out of fear, anger, self interest it is sin. When we act out of fatih in Christ, we glorify the Lord.
I have a deep desire to encourage women in their roles as homemakers. Our society devalues this God-given role to the point that even the church is denying that it is a woman's high and holy calling and her place in the world. This sadly, continues to contribute to the further breakdown of the family and the strength of the Christian's testimony. There are women who simply flat out deny that the Bible teaches us to be keepers at home and helpmeets to our husbands, and those who do not, yet say they "have" to work because of one situation or another. That brings me back to "whatsoever is not of faith is sin" do we really lack faith in God so much that we are willing to disobey His created order to make a dollar or two? Would you out of fear, abort your baby and claim that God will "use" the even to somehow bring glory to His name? No? Then why do you take a job out of fear and claim God will use that to His glory? Will God really use disobedience to His word as a means to glorify Himself? Of course not! We are taught in Romans 6:15 ~ What then? shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Romans 9:14 ~ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. Our God will not use unrighteous behavior to glorify His name, nor will He turn a blind eye to it and chalk it up to cultural differences. God's ways are universal - for all times and all people everywhere. We simply cannot disobey God and say it is not disobedience because we live under grace not law. Our salvation is grace given, we still must obey the Lord's word. Dear sisters, do not miss this!
What does the Bible tell us to do as women?
1 Timothy 5:14 ~ I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
Titus 2:3-5 ~ The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
At which point does this give room for a job or career outside the home? I want to address Proverbs 31 for a moment, as the example of the virtuous woman there is often given as an example of scripture supposrting woemn working outside the home.
Proverbs 31:16 ~ She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. Proverbs 31:24 ~ She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Obviously the woman in Proverbs 31 was wise and careful with money, trusted by her husband to make decisions and very capable to assist him. She carefully views parcels of land, buys one and uses it to plant a vineyard, which can be used to make money for the family or provide food for them to help cut costs. It is stated taht she plants the vineyard with the fruit of her hands. It can be reasonably extrapolated that this fruit is the money she received from selling fine linen and girdles to the local merchants. So she used the proceeds from her home based industry (unless you somehow believe she worked in a textile mill) to get the supplies necessary to plant a vineyard for her family. No wonder her husband trusted her so deeply. She organized her days so that she had the time to do these things, which as you read this chapter in Proverbs were all done by hand, in her home. She was at home so she could looketh well to it's ways. She provided for her families needs (they were clothed in scarlet) by the diligence of her work. This freed her husband to be able to sit among the elders at the gates. In other words, since her husband was free of worry over the affairs of his home and family he could devote himself to matters of the nation and business.
This is not a call to go out and find a career, but to work carefully, diligently and wisely in our homes. It allows for us as women to use the talents God has gifted us with to help increase our families income within our sphere - the home. This is an example of God's grace. He knew that there would be many tough times in the lives of families and he made a way for women to help bring in an income without haveing to abandon her extremely important role to do so. The cottage industry. For instance, a friend of mine is an excellent cook. She sold cheesecakes from time to time to bring a bit extra in, I babysit in our home when needs be and am praying about writing a book for some time now. There are so many opportunities for the homemaker to bring in an extra income without leaving her home and family to do so.
I cannot tell you how it grieves my heart to see women who at one time professed that a woman's role was that of a homemaker, act out of fear and go looking for a job. It states taht there is a lack of faith and trust in their hearts that the Lord either can't or won't meet their needs. It is not soemthing that is easy for me to say because I haven't been there. My husband is currently making 7.00/hr less than he did at his previous job. That is very significant. Yet, the Lord provides. We have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and clothing on our back. Sure, there are more things I would like to have or get and certainly there are some bills, credit card debts that have had to fall by the wayside to be able to pay for the important things, but that does not give me license to disobey the Lord and get a job to pay for credit cards. That is my husband's responsibility and perhaps God brought us here as a means of disciplining us for getting into that debt to begin with. Evenutally it will get paid, but you have to think of your families needs first. If getting a second job is not something that your husband can or will do then you have to be content with such as you have and do the absolute best you can with it. Sometimes that means putting certain things on the back burner for a time and accepting the situations that God brings to us. Not all of life is guaranteed to be easy or financially prosperous. We all make mistakes and can act irresponsibily. God will discipline us for our own good. Who are we to interfere with that? We complain that our husbands need to grow, see their need for the Lord, be saved, take the lead and many numerous other things, yet we are all too quick to jump in and take over when the Lord brings hardship into our lives that had we stayed out of it would have brought fruit unto repentance.
What can we do then if times are tough, money is low and we are to stay home?
We can pray. Not just for relief, although that is certainly proper to look to the Lord for our provision, but for a lesson quickly learned and completely understood lest we have to learn it again. Pray for our children and husbands and our selves to become creative, grateful and content.
Look for ways to cut costs. As homemakers we have many ways to do so. We can cook more from scratch, avoid cold cereals, boxed meals, premade snacks and luncheon meats. We can look for good off-brand alternatives to our usual products. For example - I love my Swiffer dusters. Love, love love them! they are so much better than feather dusters. But they are pricey. I found a version of them at the Dollar Tree and decided to take a chance. They work just as well, for a tiny fraction of the price of the name brand. I dislike the handles they come with, so I use the swiffer handles I already have. We also use flushable wet wipes for the children. Again at the Dollar Tree I found some acceptable substitutions for the name brand ones I was buying. Rather than buying a package of cookies, bake a batch with your children. You'll not only have cookies, but precious memories that opening a bag of Chips Ahoy just can't compete with! We can take time to go thrifting for clothing and happily accept hand me downs in good condition in many other items. We can turn off the television and computer to cut down on electricity useage. We can, if need be, without a word or hint of complaint cut off our satellite and internet connections and trust that the Lord will work it all out for our good and His glory. God's goodness and glory is not only seen in times of plenty - in fact it is in the difficulties of life that we see God's power all the more. 2 Corinthians 12:9 ~ And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Ladies, be strong, be fearless and trust in God to meet your each and every need. Do not listen to the foolish wisdom of this world whihc tells us that if money is tight we simply must get a job. The one and only thing we must do is obey God and trust in Him.
Proverbs 3:5-7 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
This week I thought I would share what we've been up to so far this month. We've had quite a fun September, and the month isn't over yet!
It was still quite summery the first week of the month, so Jason decided it was time to have that lemondae stand Tina had been wanting. They painted up two signs and loaded everything onto our wagon and headed to the end of the block. Turns out we had better business in front of the house. All in all it was surprisingly proftiable - they made almost 10.00. Pretty tidy for a 5 and 7 year old!
We also took one last trip to the lake. It was warm, still in the 80's so we called it gym class and packed off to read, relax and swim for a few hours. Well, Jason and I read and relaxed, the kids swam.
It is a beautiful area, look at this amazing view. This is just a teeny bit to the left of the swimming area.
I have plans to go back once the leaves really start to turn for an afternoon picnic and reading. It will be too cold to swim, but lovely to have lunch.
Of course, Spetember bring the beginning of another year of co-op. Jason got to attend this year and he was soooo excited about it! The way the co-ops were scheduled, he was able to be in Tina's class which is very nice. March brings my turn to lead a few classes. I still have to come up with a solid topic. Insects keep popping up.... we will see. Our co-ops are held at our church, so it's close and familiar. I like that!
In this next pic you can see this unit's teacher, Mrs. Rabbitz. Tina drew her a picture at home and told me it was for "Mrs. Bunny" - I said "Whose Mrs. Bunny?", she stopped and said "Oh, I mean Mrs. Rabbitz!" Too cute!
Since I last had time to blog or do much of anything really. As you know my dear friend, R, moved in with our family recently with her three children. We are more like family, I have no siblings of my own and our friendship has become more of a familial relationship than simply friends over the years. We get along well and so do the children, but having a house with five children in full time is, well..busy! But, I enjoy it very much. I love having my home filled with children and enjoying their various personalities. I wanted to let you all know that we have managed a rythm now and as of Monday, Monday Meanderings will be back and I will hopefully tomorrow evening be able to get the last of the book study up on the blog here. I will also be participating in Friday Show and Tell again and hopefully running my first ever give away as well!
If your still checking in here I really appreciate your bearing with me as we took the necessary time to adjust. i want to reward you if you've stayed around, so if you leave a comment to this post you will be automatically entered for the give away - TWICE.
This is a repost of an article I wrote back in March. I thought the topic very timely and decided to post it again. Comments are open, however debate is not welcome on this blog, please use good manners when replying.
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Do you have a vision for your life, or do you simply flounder around and follow the world's trends hoping to find joy and fulfillment? Without a clear, Biblical vision for your life you are groping around in the dark, searching, but never finding. As women we are bombarded by the world's messages of what happiness is and how it is attained, but what does the Bible have to say about it?
Titus 2:3-5 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
1 Timothy 5:14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
What does the world tell us we "need" in order to have joy, happiness and fulfillment as women? Consider the messages that our society and media give us, money, power, a career, material things, a relationship and possibly a child if we can squeeze it in between pedicures. In fact, some of these things are seen as essential, so many books, movies, television shows, music and even children's book are written to "empower" women to be strong and independent. This is the vision of feminism, and the Bible certainly does not support these claims! What the Bible teaches us is that as 1 Timothy says, we should marry, have children and guide the house or as Titus 2 says love our husbands and children, be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good and obedient to our husbands. But why, why should we be all of these things. Look at the verses again...to give the adversary no occasion to speak reproachfully and to prevent the Word of God from being blasphemed. That is very weighty, and as you can see, God places great importance on our roles as women. This is far from the cries of the feminist that says these views "rob women of their power" because God Himself says that women are so powerful that by us doing what we are supposed to do we can help prevent the devil's railing accusations and blasphemy. We need to take this very seriously and prayerfully to the throne that we might be able to fulfill these commands and walk in the great power we as women have with humility.
Let's look a bit more closely at exactly what we are to be growing in as women as laid out for us in Titus two. To be sober, love our husbands and children, discreet, chaste, Keepers at home, good and obedient to our own husbands. First we will define what these words mean to deepen our understanding of the verses. (All definitions will be taken from the Webster's 1828 dictionary)
Sober - Regular; calm; not under the influence of passion; as sober judgment; a man in his sober senses (of course, the definition also includes the state of not being drunken, but we all already know that!)
Love - Benevolence; good will.
Discreet - [L., Gr. It is sometimes written discrete; the distinction between discreet and discrete are arbitrary, but perhaps not entirely useless. The literal sense is, separate, reserved, wary, hence discerning.]
1. Prudent; wise in avoiding errors or evil, and in selecting the best means to accomplish a purpose; circumspect; cautious; wary; not rash.
Chaste - 1. Pure from all unlawful commerce of sexes. Applied to persons before marriage, it signifies pure from all sexual commerce, undefiled; applied to married persons, true to the marriage bed.
2. Free from obscenity.
While they behold your chaste conversation. 1 Peter 3.
3. In language, pure; genuine; uncorrupt; free from barbarous words and phrases, and from quaint, affected, extravagant expressions.
Keepers at home - yes, this means a homemaker, a woman who remains at home, but what exactly does the word keeper mean?
Keeper - 3. One who has the care, custody or superintendence of any thing
Good - 5. Conformable to the moral law; virtuous; applied to actions.
In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works. Tit.2.
Obedient - Submissive to authority; yielding compliance with commands, orders or injunctions; performing what is required, or abstaining from what is forbid.
Ladies, this is quite a vision for our lives, and it is not the world's vision, it is the Lord's vision. The final portions of the verses in Titus 2 have a great deal of gravity - that the word of God be not blasphemed. Just as I spoke about above, we can prevent the blasphemy of our God by obeying Him in our role as women. What a grave responsibility, yet what an awesome opportunity!
First on the list is sobriety. What does that mean and how do we apply it? Well, firstly the scriptures are full of warnings against drunkenness, and that is certainly part of the meaning, however the definition that is most appropriate to this scripture is that of being regular, calm, not under the influence of our passions. Most of us know that we can get impassioned about many things and that makes it very difficult to make good choices and speak with the law of kindness (Prov 31:26) So we are to exercise ourselves to be calm and deal with situations that tend to impassion us in such a way as to regain our composure before acting. Think of how many times a woman impassioned over something has caused embarrassment to herself and her husband and even her God! I know that I have probably been guilty of this more than I would care to admit. We don't have it in ourselves to overcome this, it is something we must turn over to Christ and trust Him to work in us. We also need to realize that it is a command to be sober and so keep conscious of our own proclivities towards not being even-tempered and calm. This means paying attention to ourselves and praying for the Lord to give us the wisdom to recognize when we are in danger of losing our composure.
Next is to love our husbands and children. Of course, you will have those soft, sweet, warm feelings of love towards them; true, Biblical love is so much more than our emotions. Acting out of love for another is not about how we feel, but what we do. Tending to their needs, putting their well-being before our own and doing what is best for them is loving them. Loving children requires more than just ministering and kindness, it requires disciplining them. Here is another place that our sobriety comes in really handy! Letting our emotions take control of us would cause more harm than good in the realm of discipline. We need to remain composed and calm and keep our hearts right before the Lord. Proper discipline is always concerned with what is best for the child, for their well-being, not our own convenience. Many women homeschool and that also requires a great deal of sobriety, calm, regularity of temper to accomplish. We must remember that while it is hard to discipline them, it is a necessary component of our love for them! Also, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 gives a very clear picture of Biblical love. Most of the qualities listed there are choices made and not the warm fuzzies that our culture has deemed to be the entirety of love. We have to learn how to walk in true, Biblical love, not wait for some fleeting feeling to lead us. Our society may tell us to "follow your heart", but the Bible reveals this to be foolishness in Jeremiah 17:9 which states "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" To follow our hearts would be to follow something that is deceitful and desperately wicked and that will not lead us into the righteousness of God. We need to follow Christ and the examples we have in the Word of God reveal what true, Biblical love is. As we strive to be godly wives and mothers it is so essential that we stay firmly rooted in the word and away from vain, ungodly philosophies so popular in the world today.
Discretion, Prudent; wise in avoiding errors or evil, and in selecting the best means to accomplish a purpose; circumspect; cautious; wary; not rash. We are to be wise in avoiding errors or evil. Think of all the choices that we make daily as mothers in our homes. What tv and movies do we allow to fill our children's minds? Do we allow the stench of feminism to invade our homes? What about the evil and rampant immorality on the television and internet? Are we being prudent in monitoring what we put before our children's minds as well as ours? We are to select the best means to accomplish a purpose, cautious, wary, and not rash. Think how many times not acting in this manner has gotten you in hot water. Ugh, I know how many times I have done it, Lord forgive me! Think how easily you will bless your husband as he seeks to fulfill his biblical obligations which are not light by any means, by exercising discretion in your daily life.
Then we get to chastity. For married persons it is to be true to the marriage bed, in other words, faithful to our husbands. Faithfulness encompasses much more than simple physical fidelity. I found a statistic on the internet that women are quickly falling prey to pornography at astounding rates. Being faithful means keeping our bodies, our minds, our eyes and our hearts only for him. Avoid romance novels and soap operas; they are not appropriate for women professing Christ, married or otherwise. Then it goes on the describe chastity as being free from obscenity, this would mean that we are not to view anything obscene, speak in an obscene manner, dress in such a way as to appear an obscene person. Our words should be pure, genuine, not affected, full of quaint expressions. We should be plain of speech, to let our "yea be yea and our nay, nay" (James 5:12).
Now, we have arrived at the most controversial portion, that of being a keeper of the home. What does it mean to be a keeper of our homes? Well, it means that we are the superintendents of our homes; we care for them and have custody of them. Our job is to as Proverbs 31:27 say, to look well to the ways of our households. In order to do this properly it requires that we actually be at home and have our hearts invested there.
The words of this passage also tell us to be good, conformable to moral law, where do we find this moral law that we are to conform to? In the Bible, this is why it is so very crucial that we are in the Word each and every single day.
Lastly we tie it all together with our obedience to our own husbands. This is another controversial portion of scripture, yet it need not be. Feminism is seeking to erase portions of scripture that does not fit its vision for womanhood which is contrary to God's vision for womanhood. God instructs us to submit to our own husbands and that is a beautiful thing. It grants us protection, guidance, wisdom and provides direction for us. In fact, the only authority greater in our lives is that of God's. That means that we cannot over-rule our husband's directions because we don't like them. We are to submit to him as we submit to the Lord, to do what is fit in the Lord. (Eph 5:22 and Col3:18) This provides protection for the wife of the saved man as well as the wife of the unbeliever because we cannot be forced to submit into sin. We must "obey God rather than man" (Acts 5:29) but please, do so only with a meek and humble spirit. Do not gloat in being more spiritual than him, no, if you must refuse something, you can do so with confidence that you have the Word of God on your side, but always, always do so with a genuinely meek spirit, for your husband is your head and you must recognize this at all times.
What else does the Bible tell us about being a woman?
1 Timothy 2:9-12 ~ In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
1 Peter 3:3-6 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be] the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
As women we are to adorn ourselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety. To adorn ourselves means to make ourselves beautiful, and we are to make ourselves beautiful by wearing modest clothing and accompanying it with bashfulness and sobriety. That is stark contrast from the bold, brash confident career woman feminists have portrayed as the ideal woman for so long. Now, being bashful does not mean that we need to become shy, but not to be very forward. We need not put on the "gold, pearls and costly array" of the feminist, but because we profess godliness, good works. As we have seen our good works are in our homes, caring for our families and then reaching out from there to those in need around us, as did the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31. As it is fitting, a woman who has a meek and quiet spirit and possesses modesty, sobriety and shamefacedness we need not seek positions of authority, or to become pastors (teach, is used in 1 Timothy) but to be silent, letting the men do their God-given work.
This is the beautiful vision of godly womanhood that we are blessed to claim as our own.
I've been sick with strep throat all this week, so I haven't done much reading. Kim, you're more than welcome to post away and I will get mine up as soon as I can. As you can imagine I have alot to do after being sick for days at a time. Thankfully R, my friend who is staying here really helped pick up the slack and I don't have too much to do - just my deep cleaning. I hope to get my chapters read over the weekend and post Monday afternoon. I would appreciate prayer because I'm still dealing with not feeling all that great and almost feel a re-lapse coming on or a secondary infection. Time to dose up on those vitamins I suppose!
I know that I am not alone when I say that I have a great many things that I struggle with and many sins that I need to frequently confess and repent of. These are sometimes called "besetting sins".Just this past week I was struggling with two of my most besetting sins, tangled up in them again and feeling a million miles from God. I prayed, I felt lost, alone and like giving up. I have felt alot like that recently. Why bother struggling against my flesh when nobody else does? Why should I walk the difficult path when I can take the easy way and follow the herd? Why should I humble my heart and confess to the Lord my sins that I am continually struggling and often, losing the battle against because He should just write me off? Yet me heart cried out like a baby crying for her father to come and make it all better. The Bible tells us in the gospel of John ~ " And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." (John 10:28-30)
Nobody, not even me, can take me away from the Lord. I am His and He is mine. Forever. Eternally, I am loved, wanted and persued. Eternally I am chosen to be a child of God and have a home awaiting me in heaven. This very truth alone should give me sufficient reason to keep on keeping on, to keep pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) Sure, it would be easier to follow the herd, but exactly where would I be following them to? The Bible tells us this: "for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat" (Matthew 7:13) I would be follwing a herd to destruction. Now, because I am saved it would not be my eternal destruction, but it would be destruction none the less. Destruction of my testimony, destruction of my life that is built upon the blessings God has freely given me. Destruction of everything important or dear to me because by choosing the borad way I would be rejecting God and His blessings. I must continue in the uphill battle because "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." and what is that narrow way exactly? Repentance of our sin and faith in Christ alone. Everything brings be back to the cross. To Christ and His great love for me, to His precious shed blood that atones for all my sins, even those I still get entangled with. It is because of the blood that I have hope, it is because of the blood I have peace, it is because of Christ that I have anything.
Repentance means to turn from something, from sin. Then what am I facing if not sin? God. I turn from sin to God. What could be sweeter to the soul that is cut and bleeding from sin than the healing balm of repentance and reconciliation with Jesus?
My sins, though they are great, God's grace and love is greater. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace taht is greater than all my sin!
Ladies, I need one more week to get things settled here. My friend R and her children are all moved in and we are working on adjusting to the new rythm of having three adults and five children in the house, as well as organizing all the stuff and homeschool as well. As you can imagine, it is crazy busy and my back and neck can attest to that! Thankfully I have an appointnent with the chiropractor tonight, hopefull the traction helps because I'm getting tired of the pain being so consistant.
This Friday we will finish up the last three chapters in Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit.
There is so much going on in our home this week, and I have had my hands so busy that I have barely any time to stop and think. My dear friend and her children are going to be staying with our family for a month or two until she finds them a place to live. We are blessed in that we all get along, but she and her children are unsaved, so this is also an awesome ministry opportunity for us. Not all that long ago I prayed and asked God to use our home for His glory. It my fervent prayer that souls would be won under our roof.
This, of course, takes alot of work. I had to clean out all my dresser drawers, two closets, a storage room and move all of my children's clothing so that there is room for the other children's clothes. This afternoon I will be putting them away as best as I can and awaiting the arrival of the truck with the furniture and other items. The Lord is good and gracious and although I am tired and sore, my back hasn't frozen up yet or became too crampy so I can continue through. It is getting stiffer as time passes, so I know that I best get moving and warmed back up before the evening's work begins. I am ever so grateful that tomorrow is the Lord's day and I can rest and just take care of my back. I see the chriopractor Monday afternoon and will begin traction therapy. I am nervous about it, but I trust the doctor and if it will help in the long run, then it's worth the current discomfort.
Well, back to work! I hope that you all are having a blessed weekend as you, like the woman of Proverbs 31, looketh well to the ways for your households. Ladies, let us not forget how high and holy a calling it is to be a wife and mother, how belssed we are to have our homes and families to look after and train up in the ways of the Lord. Let us not be dazzled by the world and the glitter that it sprinkles over sinful ideas and ways. Be focused rather on the role that God gave to us, that of a woman, a wife, a mother. There is no more powerful, glamorous, important or fulfilling position in the world. God gave us this special honor, this special blessing. Let's cherish it, speak of it with joy and work at it with a single minded determination to glorify the Lord.
Tomorrow we're going to the lake for the day! The plan is to start the day as usual and then when it is time to break for lunch, tell the kids to get their swimsuits on and pack up the van for an afternoon of fun before the weather cools off. I love the autumn and am eagerly anticipating the cooler weather, but right now an afternoon at the lake soaking in the peacful quiet there, watching the kids swim with daddy and reading under a shade tree sounds perfect. I have many photos to share, and if I have time, I will get them uploaded tomorrow. I think I will just share a bunch in my Friday Show and Tell post. Have a great night and blessed day tomorrow. Philippians 4:4 ~ Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
This week our assignment is to write about our daily routine for school. I must tell you that this has been one of the most challenging aspects of homeschooling for me. I like to have all my time accounted for and in a nice, neat little box. I have never successfully managed that with school. I have had to learn to become more flexable, to look at time in a different way than I used to. My goal this year is for our school days to flow naturally and not have any forced feel to them. Needless to say I'm still working on that!
In general I like to get the most challenging subjects completed first, although if we are having a bad day to start with I may start out with something easier. Our days currently look like this:
Gather at the table for prayer, to sing our hymn (music) and the pledge to the flag. Depending on the day I may read from our Bible reader at this time. Then I will get Tina going with her review of her spelling words while I start phonics with Jason. While he is practicing his penmanship, I will also give Tina some writing practice. We will all sing the letter songs together for Jay's lessons and when he is done he gets to go take a "brain break" while I dig into something with Tina. Right now Language Arts seems to be the most challenging for her, so we will do that. Then she gets her break while Jason comes in and we will work on Math. Once he is completed his work it's her turn for Math. Then we break for a snack or lunch, depending on what time we started and how the day has been going. This week it is a lunch break because we are still working towards getting up early enough to get started when I like to. The first "official" week is usually a scheduling mess for me, LOL. We're getting there, though. The first week we also only do our core subjects because it is still very summery and I want to enjoy it and let the kids enjy it before the cold weather comes. Tomorrow we are taking off at noon for the lake. We can just call it gym and science. After lunch then I will have our reading time. I try to choose books that work with the letter of the week for Jason and the subjects we are learning about in other subjects. I will read one of the choices for Jay, such as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and one for Tina, such as Millions of Cats. Although these are both perpetual favorites around here! How we expand on them is what the key is. After read alouds Jason gets a nap and Tina and I have our tea time. We will sip tea, eat cinnamon toast that I cut into pretty shapes with a cookie cutter and work through our Princess and the Kiss devotional or read from a book of poetry. After tea, we work on Reading. By then Jay is usually up and Tina gets a break while we work on his science lessons. Sometimes she joins in because it is fun. Then it's her turn for science and history. We do science and history two or three times a week, depending. On the days when we do not have science or history scheduled we will read more and work on projects for art or other little fun things like word searches, connect the dots, or little crafts that go with certain lessons. If it's a particularly nice day we may go to the park with some books and drawing paper.
I try to work things together so that everything feels very natural. For instance, in science Tina is going to learn about the sea, so we will make an aquarium craft and use that to reinforce the lesson we learned and include art in as well. We will do this for other subjects too, it just depends on what we are learning and where we can take the lessons.
1 Timothy 5:13-14 ~ And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
It is very easy in our day and age to become one. All it takes is the click of a mouse. We can wander from house to house being idle, being a tattler, being a busybody without ever leaving our homes. I love to read and I love to visit and for me, the internet is definitly a two-edged sword. I could spend much time each day reading thorugh my blog list. Some blogs have so much great information on homeschooling, others talk current events, others are sources for encouragment as a homemaker, Christian and/or mother. Some just cause me to replan my menu for the week when I visit. All good things, all lovely things. All very tempting things. That means I have to plan my computer time, and right now I have more time than I otherwise would, so I am able to keep up with my blogs and message board. I still have to economize my time, and if I am commenting alot on my message board, I am not commenting much on the blogs I read and vice versa.
However, I have found that our freedoms in cyberspace have given rise to a new breed of idle busybodies. The vicious internet gossip. These ladies will go so far as to start up entire website dedicated to backbiting another woman at times. Often though what you see is a sort of cyber stalking where you will get ugly comments on your blog, gossiped about on various sites and followed around to your favorite places on the internet. The saddest thing is that these sorts of activities are common among Christians! If you claim the name of Christ and spend your valuble time as a wife, mother and homemaker trolling around the internet backbiting and harrassing another sister in Christ for any reason it is not only rediculous, but disgusting. Consider these scriptures:
Titus 1:16 ~ They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Titus 2:1-4 ~ But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
Galatians 5:19-21 ~ Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Variance ~ In a state of dissension or controversy; in a state of enmity.
Emulation ~ Contest; contention; strife; competition; rivalry accompanied with a desire of depressing another.
Strife ~ Contention in anger or enmity; contest; struggle for victory; quarrel or war.
Would not these very words defined above aptly describe the actions of a woman who was stalking, harrassing and gossiping about a sister in Christ?
Think about this, if you knew a me in real life and I just rubbed you the wrong way for whatever reason, would it be acceptable to form an "I don't like Tracy" club and follow me around trying to harrass and annoy me? Would it be appropriate to leave me nasty nessages on my answering machine day in and day out or to send hateful letters to my home or just get together with the other members of your club to enjoy talking about me behind my back on everything from my clothing to what I may have said at some point? No, it would not. It would be petty, immature and illegal. Then why some women feel it is perfectly fine to do so online completely escapes me.
No, I have not yet been a target of such behavior, but a fellow bloggy friend of mine has and continues to be. I have just spent more time than I should have on the computer to look through and be as sure as I can that I have no ties to persons who engage in this type of behavior. The ones I found were deleted from friend lists, blog rolls and any links that I may have had. I refuse to be associated with ladies who profane the name of Christ with such behavior.
If you are one of these unfortunate busybodies, there is good news, great news in fact! you can be forgiven, your heart can be changed and reconciliation can be had. Simply turn to Christ and repent of your sins. You will be forgiven and reconciled to our Lord. There is nothing to great for the Lord! Please, stop this nonsense and focus on your family, your homes, you Lord and your soul. Repent of gossip, slander, strife, wrath...and be reconciled to Christ, let the Holy Spirit work the fruit of the Spirit in you and leave behind the flesh. Time is short, don't waste it!
I am a simple, down to earth, homeschooling momma. I love the Lord and dedicate this blog to Him. I strive to live in obedience to Titus 2, and my writings here will reflect that.
I believe in giving credit where it is due, however there are a few graphics that I have no banners for. If you recognize your work, or just know to whom I can give credit, please let me know! Thank you.
