Wednesday, April 28, 2010

An Update

Praise the Lord we finally have our computer back! I have decided to take this week to accomplish all those projects that just can't wait and I hope to be back blogging next week. I can't wait!

God bless you all as you continue to seek Him and His will!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

An Unexpected Break

Shortly after posting the last blog, our family computer decided to succumb to a volley of viruses. So until we have it back, I will have to postpone our devotional on Titus 2. I'm not sure if this is the Lord telling me I need to wait or our enemy trying to keep me from talking, but I will take the time I have to search that out and I hope to be back with you all very soon!

In the meantime, God's blessings on you all and keep reading His word and seeking to apply all that He will teach you!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Spring Cleaning Has Sprung!

In addition to caring for my two little girls, being pregnant with the third child and my husband being busy with tax season, it is spring cleaning time here.

In a way, I am very excited, since this is my first year of spring cleaning. This is the first time we have not moved more than once in the previous year, thereby cleaning and weeding through junk more than once. But I must admit that spring cleaning can be daunting. So, even though it is recommended that you commit the few days in a row to getting it all done at once, I find it impossible to do that with where I am in life. But after two weeks of working at it bit by bit, here's is what I have done:

~Mopped the kitchen and dining room floor by hand
~Clean all the fronts and bottoms of the kitchen cabinets
~Wiped down the stove, including underneath the burners and stove top. I still have to clean the oven...which in my opinion is the worst spring cleaning chore.
~Cleaned out the coat closet and the linen closet
~Wiped down the washer and dryer to clean up all the lint and spills that happen when washing laundry in a hurry!
~Cleaned our my 2 year old's drawers and replaced the size 3's with size 4's. Hopefully she will slow down soon so we can make it through a season with just one size!

And currently I am working my way through our boxes of books, weeding out books I didn't like, haven't read and probably won't read, or books that we have more than one copy of. And of course the inevitable stash of old college textbooks you keep thinking that you may need again someday...as if they weren't already obsolete before you graduated!

My most dreaded chore, besides the aforementioned oven cleaning, is washing the outside windows, which I will be tackling just as soon as we have a nice day... on a weekend... where my husband is home to help watch the little ones. No, I'm not stalling! :D

I had planned to post pictures of my adventures but I forgot to take the before pictures so you can't see what great progress I've made. Bummer... Oh, well. I have plenty of chores left to photograph!

The aged women likewise...

“The aged women likewise…”

I thought I would be good to give us a running start on our study by talking about what the likewise means.

Likewise simply means in the same way or the same manner, so just as the old men were charged with being sober (to stay away from wine or at least the excessive use of it), grave (honorable or venerated for character), temperate (curbing one's desires and impulses, self-controlled, temperate), sound in faith (solid in their belief in the Word), in charity (God’s love), in patience (a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings), so the women are to be likewise, or in the same manner.

As we read that list and think of just what it means to be all those things, it’s a long and daunting one, for sure. But I am also sure that is why God makes it clear that these things are expected of the old men and women. These are the ones who have had a lifetime to learn self-control and patience and are now charged with showing us how it’s done. We will see that that does not get us young women off the hook, but it does put a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of the older women.

The hard part in the times in which we live, is that there are very few older women we can turn to. Some of us grew up with Godly mothers who modeled this for us, most did not. And for those of us who did, most of our mothers did not have Godly mothers. So we are in a sense all still learning. That doesn’t erase their responsibility; it just makes it more important for each of them to make the time needed to teach and to train us younger women to follow in God's footsteps.

This is the very reason I find it so sad that so many older women go to work once they have raised their own children. They often feel like they have served their purpose in their homes and since their children no long need them, they should start being "productive". How horribly wrong we are! Yes, their children may be fine, though I would argue that even those of us who grow up with Godly mothers still need their encouragement and wisdom at least on occasion. But what about the other young wives and mothers in the church who didn’t have Godly mothers or grandmothers to turn to growing up? Now they are caring for their own homes and children without any “motherly” guidance. This is a vital and necessary area of service that only an older woman can do with the wisdom and grace needed to help these young ones succeed as homemakers. I can give advice from my very limited experience but I can’t give the kind of lifetime scope that my mom or mother-in-law can. I can guide the young unmarried girls in pursuing a Godly use of their time, talents and energy, because I have lived those lessons, sometimes the hard way. Since I have been a wife and mother for such a little time, I can only tell other mothers what I have learned and commiserate with them, I can't train them with what I have lived. As an older woman, there is a store of knowledge that comes from experience which someone with my limited experience can’t draw from.

So I would encourage those of you who are “old women”; don’t look for ways to be young again or for worldly "productivity". Find ways to help us benefit from your experience and knowledge of the word in a practical way. We don’t need more women in the workforce, fighting for our rights and higher wages; we need you in the trenches with us, helping us to raise our sons to be strong and courageous warriors and daughters to be loving and patient mothers for the next generation. I urge you to find young wives and mothers who want Godly encouragement and mentor and disciple them in the word. And on their behalf, thank you!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Titus 2: Day 1

"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." Titus 2:3-5

Starting today, we are going to be working our way through Titus 2:3-5. My plan as it stands now is to post Monday, Wednesday and Friday. How long it takes us to get through the devotions depends on how much God gives me to say!

I thought I would start our devotions by asking all of you to read the verses we will be covering and see what God will show you. I know He has plenty of things to show each of us just with a simple reading.

So enjoy and see you back here on Wednesday!

Monday, April 5, 2010

More Details

I had planned to start a devotion taking us through Titus 2 this week but due to a death in the family, I will be postponing it until next week. Sorry to all, but I'm sure you will understand.

If you think of our family this week, we would appreciate your prayers.

God bless you all!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Just Details

Yesterday we finished Proverbs 31 here. If any one wants or needs to catch up on old posts, they are linked on the side bar. Thanks to all of you who blessed me with their comments and encouragment and to all who read the devotions. I was truly blessed by the study and I even made some new friends in the process.

I have a few fun posts planned for the rest of this week. I finally finished my first granny square blanket so I will be posting pictures of that. And I made birthday dresses for both my girls that I want to share pictures of those too. Then next week, according to my plans, I'd like to start a weekly devotion on Titus 2:3-5. The format will be a bit different, there probably won't a devotion every day but we can talk more about that later.

So, in preparation for that, I'll leave you with 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."

God bless you all!

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