Snow Day!

After no school for almost 2 weeks because of snow, we finally got a "big one" that is beautiful, too!

Olaf!

The Good Wife, part 2

This is a continuation of a previous post, found here

We are reading from Proverbs 31, beginning in verse 13.  All quotations are from the NKJV.

13 She seeks wool and flax,

And willingly works with her hands.

14 She is like the merchant ships,

She brings her food from afar.

15 She also rises while it is yet night,

And provides food for her household,

And a portion for her maidservants.

Here we read about her willingness to work hard to help her family.   She is busy and not idle.  Her goal is to provide what is good for her family. 

16 She considers a field and buys it;

From 5her profits she plants a vineyard.

17 She girds herself with strength,

And strengthens her arms.

18 She perceives that her merchandise is good,

And her lamp does not go out by night.

19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,

And her hand holds the spindle.

20 mShe extends her hand to the poor,

Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,

For all her household is clothed with scarlet.

22 She makes tapestry for herself;

Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Again, she is industrious.  She carefully considers decisions before she makes them.   She reaches out to others and is compassionate.  She is prepared for her family, so she does not fear the future.   I wonder how often our worry and stress occurs simply because we have not taken measures to be prepared? 

23 Her husband is known in the gates,

When he sits among the elders of the land.

24 She makes linen garments and sells them,

And supplies sashes for the merchants.

25 Strength and honor are her clothing;

She shall rejoice in time to come.

26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,

And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

27 She watches over the ways of her household,

And does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;

Her husband also, and he praises her:

29 “Many daughters have done well,

But you excel them all.”

Here I see that her family can live in calmness and peace, knowing that she is watching out for them and supporting them.  Her husband is unafraid to fulfill his role, knowing that she stands behind him with strength, honor, wisdom, and kindness.  His reputation is safe because of hers.  

30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,

And let her own works praise her in the gates.

So much of what the world values is deceitful and passes away.   Sometimes I feel worthless when comparing myself to the world's standard of beauty, charm, etc.   When that happens, I try hard to remind myself of the beauty that matters to GOD.   Fear of the Lord is what He desires and appreciates.  Last week my kindergarten class learned about David being a man after God’s own heart, and in 1 Sam 16:7, we read:

 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees;[a]for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

We would do well to remember this as we look at ourselves in light of God's word.   Take heart, sweet wives and moms.   Don’t be discouraged because of the worldly standards of what makes a “good” wife or mom.  Remember that God did not want your husband to be alone because it was “not good.”   You are his completion.  His help MEET for him.   His reason for leaving father and mother, and his companion in his sojourn on this earth as he prepares for his eternal life in heaven.   Take courage.  Be the one he finds solace in after facing the world all day long.  Be the one he can trust with his heart and reputation.  Remember that our goal is compassion, love, dedication, and faithfulness, not perfection.   God did not put us here to be the best gourmet cook to hit Pinterest this year.   He is unconcerned about how many perfect crafts we complete and post on our pages.  He would rather we craft a godly life and teach that to our children. (Deut 6) To Him, a spotless house that results from spending no time with our families –in our homes and in the church- or in God’s word is like the Pharisees, who were whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones (Matthew 23:27).  I am certainly not saying we should not keep our homes and make efforts on that front, but I think sometimes we get caught up in how things look more than in how we live.  Our perfection comes from our obedience to God, not from ourselves.   He will perfect us when we follow Him.   

1 John 2:5-6  ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. ⁶ He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Part 3, The Good Mom, to follow later...

The Good Wife, Part 1

The “Good” Wife  (Part 1)

Forgive the formatting...something weird is going on with my editor!  :) 

It occurred to me this week that we, as women, are awfully hard on ourselves as wives and moms.  I heard (or read) several moms commenting that they wished they could be “good” wives or “good” moms instead of the failures they saw in themselves.  I, too, am guilty often of degrading myself for flaws I see in my roles as wife and mother.  Often, I feel totally defeated by the fact that my house is constantly messy or that exhaustion means I caved to frozen chicken nuggets (again) and a “dinner-nic” in front of a favorite show instead of our family seated around the kitchen table.  When I see the pile of laundry we call Mount Wash-more, sometimes I think my kids would be better off with another mother who could handle this whole “housekeeper” role.  On the rare occasion that my husband treks off to work with a can of ravioli instead of a healthy lunch, sometimes I cringe at what his co-workers must think of me.  However, this week, I have been thinking more about what GOD thinks of me, and less of what “others” think.  (Who are these “others,” anyway? What right do they have to compare me to some arbitrary ideal?  And, are they even watching me as closely as I think?)

First, let’s start at the very beginning…a very good place to start, don’t you think?  ;)

Genesis 2:19-23

¹⁸ And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ¹⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

²¹ And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²² Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

²³ And Adam said:

“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

What is our purpose as wives?   I think Scripture plainly teaches that we were created to be a helper comparable to our husbands.  Some translations say an help meet for him.  What does this mean?  My understanding from studying this term is that it means someone suitable, comparable, or one who completes another.  It is no coincidence that God mentions this after Adam has laboriously named all the animals of Creation.  Adam was, no doubt, relieved when Woman was brought forth for his consideration.  I don’t know about you, but MY husband is not perfect.  He is not flawless, sinless, or without blemish.   And I, according to Scripture, am a help MEET for him.  Comparable.  Suitable.  Therefore, why do I put such expectations on myself to be perfect, flawless, sinless, or without blemish?  Our strengths and weaknesses complement each other, complete each other, and make for an exciting and challenging and rewarding life together.   While there are consequences for times in which we make mistakes, sin, or have difficulties (if you doubt this, read about what happened after Eve ate and shared the fruit!), God does not expect total perfection in our role as wives.   Neither should we.

Let’s move to another passage that I cherish.  My goal in life (in addition to going to heaven and taking as many as I can with me!) is, at my death, to have lived in such a way that the preacher could read Proverbs 31 at my funeral and those gathering would not laugh him out of the building.   I used to read Proverbs 31 and feel like it was unattainable, unrealistic, and beyond my reach.  However, as I have studied it more, I see that the underlying message is one of virtue, industriousness, and dedication.  It is more a message of what is in the heart of a woman/wife than what she produces.  Let’s consider a few pieces.

The Virtuous Wife

^{10 j}Who ³can find a ⁴virtuous wife?

For her worth is far above rubies.

¹¹ The heart of her husband safely trusts her;

So he will have no lack of gain.

¹² She does him good and not evil

All the days of her life.

Virtuous, according to our current use of the word means “morally good, having or showing virtue, righteous, chaste” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/virtuous).  A study of “virtue” yields additional depth to the word, including “potency, a capacity to act, and a commendable quality or trait” (same reference as above).   

Even more importantly, the original word listed means, "Literally, a wife of valor, in the sense of all forms of excellence."   It also includes the meanings of strength, power, might, or capacity.   This implies a deep strength of character found in this godly woman.  (WordSearch7).  Some interpreters even assert that the verse could more accurately be translated, "Who can find a strong wife?"   This is quite a different view of what the world sees in women who are living a submissive, godly wife.  This woman's strength is made evident through her gentle yet hardworking nature.  She is someone to whom others look for strength, encouragement, capability, and godliness.  

Notice that none of these definitions imply perfection, which is what we usually impose upon ourselves with this Scripture.  With this woman, her husband can trust that she will be kind and loving to him, and not seek to do him evil.  While this does not mean we make no mistakes in loving our husbands, it does mean that we will strive to always do him good.   We will value and cherish the separate roles that God has our husbands and ourselves.  Sometimes we downgrade our status as being “just” a wife, but Scripture teaches that our worth exceeds that of valuable gems.   While we certainly need to be humble and see our unworthiness in comparison to the glory of God, we also need to realize that God has, in many ways, exalted our position as wives to one of honor and respect.   Remember that in Genesis 1, it was "not good" for man to be alone.  It was only after the creation of woman that God decided His work was "very good" (Genesis 1:31)  We are neither inferior nor superior to men, but rather we are equal heirs of the promise if we consistently strive to follow the Lord.  Without either of our roles, our marriages, the home, and even the church cannot function as God intends.

THE Box

Years ago (Mother's Day 1993), my family started a tradition with "THE" box.  At the time, we had no clue the journey this box would take, but this Christmas we thought to take a picture of it.  Here it is:

Since that time, we have made sure that every family holiday, birthday, or gift-giving occasion has included a gift wrapped in THE Box.   For some reason, we started documenting each gift received in the inside flaps of the box.  

This Christmas, Dad went through and read all the gifts inscribed on the flaps, and it was so much fun to tell our memories from them as he read.   In the bottom picture you see my thumb next to BRAVES TICKETS.  That was my first set of major league baseball tickets EVER.   Everyone didn't have video cameras on their phones back then, but we could still all picture my crazy-excited reaction to opening those almost 20 years ago, just from simple words marked in a box.  It may seem silly to keep recycling the same old box year after year, but for us, it's much more than saving a dollar on wrapping paper.  It's fun to see that, no matter how many things have changed, our family has remained throughout it all.  While the three kids have now all gone our separate ways, there are pieces of our lives that tie us back together and bring us back to THE box.   I am so thankful for each time one of us took a few seconds to record a memory on paper so that it would remain forever in our hearts.

Bible Quiet Books, 2nd edition

I have posted before about a Bible quiet book I have made for several friends at our congregation.  They are a lot of work, but I love how they turn out.  Here are some pictures of one of my most recent attempts.  I know they are sideways, and I'm sorry, but my computer is having issues and not allowing me to turn them. Just turn your head or screen sideways. ;)

Here is a link to the first post about the quiet books:

And here are some instructions....I am going to try to take step by step pictures when I make the next one.  I am a little behind, as our congregation tends to have a yearly baby boom!  Ha!

The cover pages are 13 1/2 X 21 inches, and they work best if they are a little bit heavier fabric, rather than lightweight cotton. Something like canvas is a good fit.

The inside pages are 13 X 20 1/2 inches.  I use a cream colored muslin-type fabric that I can find for a decent price at Wal-Mart.

I put interfacing on all pages on the back, the fusible midweight kind.  Cut the interfacing 1/2 inch smaller than pages (so, 13 X 20 1/2 for covers and 12 1/2 X 20 for the inside pages). 

I did 3 sets of inside pages (for a total of 12 pictures), and each set needed 2 pages cut out. 
After you cut the "inside" pages, make sure to lightly mark a 1 inch border around the page and measure one inch on either side of the center crease so that your images don't end up in the seams. 

Here is a pretty good tutorial for the assembly:  http://www.nancysnotions.com/text/pdf/quiet_book.pdf

Here is the armor of God page I used for inspiration and templates, although I don't endorse her theology at ALL!:  http://laurathoughts81.blogspot.com/2011/06/quiet-book-week-put-on-armour-of-god.html  

And the Noah page inspiration (with animal patterns)  http://laurathoughts81.blogspot.com/2011/06/quiet-book-week-noahs-ark-template.html

The coat of many colors I just free-handed and then sewed the ribbons on. 

Jonah was a little tough...you have to get the fish the right size and then cut the zipper to fit, etc.  The fish is fabric (not felt) and has interfacing on the back of him to make him a little thicker.

The family pictures are scrapbook page covers cut into the right size and sewed onto the page.   They can add their own pictures as desired.