A woman who fears the Lord. . .

It used to be that the men would go and study in the synagogues and come home and teach their wives and children–a woman didn’t get to read the Scriptures for herself during the week.  Then on Sundays (for the Christians) she would listen during the meeting and could ask her husband questions at home.  A woman could pray, and was expected to, but she couldn’t have what we now call a quiet time which includes Bible study.  She certainly would not lead a Bible study.  She would meditate on the Scriptures she had hidden in her heart during meetings and family worship times.

I am thankful that we as women have access to God’s word, but in some ways I think we are at a disadvantage when it comes to respecting and honoring our husbands.  I want my husband to lead me and teach me, but because I have been immersed in God’s word since I was a small girl he sometimes feels that he has nothing he can teach me, and I am tempted to try to teach him instead. . .because many of us work at home taking care of our families, we often have more time to study than our husbands do and that can make us feel spiritually superior to them. 

I am not saying that we should stop reading and studying our Bibles–I am so thankful I can read it, and have it available for teaching my children during the day when my husband is at work.  Proverbs makes it pretty clear that wives play a role alongside their husbands in the teaching of their children.  But it is so important for us to remember that a spiritual woman is not one who spends her day reading the Bible and praying to the neglect of her husband and children, and who then lords her spirituality over her husband.  I confess to being tempted by this throughout my marriage, and it is sin.  God is not pleased with my arrogance.  A spiritual woman obeys the word as she loves her husband and children, is self-controlled, pure, a worker in her home, kind, submissive to her own husband, is modest, has a gentle and quiet spirit, respects her husband, raises her children with faith, love and holiness, is faithful to do good works, is diligent instead of lazy, speaks only well of her husband and is trustworthy,  can guard her tongue, is hospitable and helps those in affliction. . .

Psalm 86:11 asks the Lord, “Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; UNITE my heart to FEAR Your name.” My prayer for all of us is that our times of Bible study and meditation on truth will renew our minds so that we can serve our families the way God intends for us to. In this way we will defeat Satan’s intentions for our family, and this is spiritual indeed!  Proverbs says the virtuous woman is one who fears the Lord and her description in chapter 31 is of a hard working, loving wife who honors her husband in all her words and actions, doing him good all the days of her life, caring for the needs of her family and the poor, teaching with wisdom and kindness–she supports her husband, with no thought for herself or her own glory, so he can succeed in the role God has given him as an elder in the land.

Father, unite my heart to fear You so that I will obey Your command to respect, honor and submit to my husband.  Make me the helper he needs so he can devote himself to the calling you’ve placed on his life.  Thank you that it is spiritual to serve in my home and in my church family and that when I do this I give no opportunity to Satan for slander.  Please keep me from being deceived by Satan’s lies.  Help me to believe Your word and obey and love You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.

Give me an undivided heart

Lord, give me an undivided heart, completely in awe of You.  I confess that I am pulled in every direction, distracted from You.  I want to love You with my whole heart.  Cut away the things that do not please You.  Cause me to walk in all Your ways and not be drawn to worthless things.

I don’t want to be a schizophrenic Christian, one foot in the world and one in Your kingdom.  Make me hungry for You and only You.  Pour out Your Spirit on me; I need Your strength to walk wisely here. 

Give us one heart and one way, that we may fear You–it is for our own good and the good of our children.

You have delivered my soul from hell!  Your love surrounds me and fills my heart; it compells me to follow hard after You.  May my life sound forth a song of praise.  Let it ring long and loud–My God is great, and He is holy, He is not to be taken lightly–He cares what we do and wants us to be holy;  He is good, and His mercies are new every morning; His word is true–hold fast and obey Him; there is no greater joy than walking with the Lord; He is coming and His reward is with Him. 

—-

 

“There is none like You

Among the Gods, O Lord,

Nor are there any works like yours.

 

All the nations you have made

Shall come and worship before You,

O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.

 

For You are great

And do wondrous things;

You alone are God.

 

Teach me Your ways, O Lord,

That I may walk in Your truth;

Unite my heart to fear Your name.

 

I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God,

With my whole heart,

And I will glorify Your name forever.

 

For great is Your steadfast love toward me;

You have delivered my soul

from the depths of hell” Psalm 86:8-13.

Whate’re My God Ordains is Right

Whate’er My God Ordains is Right by Samuel Rodigast(This song was written for a friend who was sick. His friend recovered and later wrote the tune. It is beautiful. I spent some time with this one this morning and thought I’d share it with you. You can listen to the tune at http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/w/h/a/whateerm.htm).
Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His holy will abideth;
I will be still whate’er He doth;
And follow where He guideth;
He is my God; though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path:
I know He will not leave me.
I take, content, what He hath sent;
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait His day.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His loving thought attends me;
No poison can be in the cup
That my Physician sends me.
My God is true; each morn anew
I’ll trust His grace unending,
My life to Him commending.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He is my Friend and Father;
He suffers naught to do me harm,
Though many storms may gather,
Now I may know both joy and woe,
Some day I shall see clearly
That He hath loved me dearly.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.

The way to live

I just saw this quote and had to share:

“Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says, ‘Oh no, she’s awake.’”

Preparing for Hard Times

As gas and food prices rise, and paying bills becomes harder and harder for many people in our country (praise the Lord we don’t have to look for food in garbage dumps like many people in Guatamala for example), it seems wise to prepare for the economic hard times that lie ahead.  There are many Christians who think we ought to prepare to care for our families and also have enough to share with our neighbors  just as Joseph did for the time of famine. 

Our family has started stocking up on grains and beans again so that we can stay healthy even if we can’t afford food at the store or it isn’t available.  You can look up emergency preparedness info on the internet to get lists of recommended storage items.  I think that rice and beans are essential.  If you have a grain mill or can afford to get one, then storing other bread grains would be good too.  I encourage anyone who relies heavily on prepared foods to simplify your diet and learn or remind yourself how to cook some basic, from scratch foods.  You can stock up on a lot of dry and canned goods too, but that is much more expensive and not as healthy as foods you make yourself.

You can purchase grains and beans from Breadbeckers.com (ask about local co-ops in your area to save money) and other buying clubs such as United Natural Foods (www.unitedbuyingclubs.com) or Azure Standard (www.azurestandard.com/).  You don’t have to panic and buy a houseful of buckets.  Even one pail of rice and one of beans would last a fair amount of time.  Actually, panic buying is a bad idea and Breadbeckers has said they won’t allow it.  They encourage people to buy their normal amount plus a bit more each time, and that seems like a good rule to follow for any food shopping. 

Plant a vegetable garden.

Get chickens for meat and eggs.  Maybe a goat.  The cost of animal feed is rising too, so I wouldn’t do too much–just enough to make it worth it.

Live simply.  Cut out unnecessary expenses and get out of debt and or/save. 

Not all these ideas will work for everyone, but if we each do something, and share, we’ll be able to help each other through the difficult season which is upon us.  If Christians do this, we could have a huge opportunity to share the gospel with hurting people. 

If you are local and in the market for a smaller vehicle or even if you just want a used car, our pastor has a used car dealership (the church doesn’t pay his salary) called All Star Auto Source.  They have scooters that get 80mpg that would be good for commuting.  This is an honest dealer who needs the business to support his family.  They will give you a great deal.  If you are already in the market, please support them.  http://www.allstarautosource.com/about

Serving?

Rob was away recently for work.  The day he returned I thought a lot about serving and honoring him-an area I really want to grow in.

I thought, as I went about the day, that serving him was being diligent to clean the house, doing extra things I don’t normally get to.  I thought it was making myself presentable and putting on a dress I know he likes.  Serving was preparing a nice dinner, and starting it in plenty of time so it would be ready when he walked in the door.  I thought it was to welcome him with hugs and kisses and let him know how glad I was to have him home. 

But, when he came home, while happy to see us and thankful for all that we had done to get ready for him, he had food poisoning, couldn’t eat the meal and went to bed shortly after he walked in.  I learned how selfishly-motivated my serving had been because when I did not receive the benefits I had imagined would result from my serving I was very disappointed. 

Serving became lovingly tending him in his intense pain, denying myself the pleasure of his company and allowing him to leave the table while I fought to maintain an uncomplaining cheerful attitude and enjoy the meal with my children.  I learned that while all the other things I did could be considered serving, the real goal is to do the right thing with a joyful heart even when it costs me or I don’t get what I want.

How to get important things done

Our friend David just posted this helpful blog on getting important things done.  I appreciated this because I have just been dealing with the Lord (or is it the other way around) about my constant struggle to not get distracted from what is most important.  David has some wonderful refocusing reminders that are well worth reading.  Go here to read it.  Thanks, David!

Letters From the South Seas

My mom enjoys biographies so I am always on the lookout for good birthday and Christmas books.  Last year I bought Margaret Paton: Letters From the South Seas, which was republished by Banner of Truth Trust.  She loved it and gave it back to me to read.  I am enjoying it so much that I think I’d like to add a copy to our library to read again and share in the future. 

Margaret, or Maggie, was the second wife of John G. Paton who was a well-known missionary to the New Hebrides in the 1800s.  They lived on a remote island and would go a whole year without letters from home.  Maggie regularly wrote letters to friends and family to have ready to send with the missionary vessel the Dayspring.  These letters are collected in the book in chronological order.

One is struck first off by how long and detailed her writing was.  I have always thought my letters were long-not compared with hers!  She did not have the convenience of e-mail and I think that was a blessing as far as depth goes.  The letters are fascinating glimpses into the joys and difficulties of living among the natives and, because they were written to close aquaintances, one is able to truly know the Patons.

She was both witty and insightful.  Many times I have been moved to laughter and challenged by her observations in the same letter.  She was not afraid to speak her mind, but she could also write in a way that got her point across through example rather than preaching.  I personally do not mind being preached at if it is the truth that is being spoken, but it is good to be able to do both in our communication. 

One of my favorite descriptions is of the nightly worship they had with the natives.  On Sundays they had regular services and Sunday school, and then the family would go to their home for an afternoon of family time.  The rest of the week was spent with the natives coming and going in their home.  In the evenings the old chief would gather all the people to come for worship and get the big Bible out for John.  They would read, sing and pray and then, because they enjoyed singing so much, they would sing all the hymns over again, enjoying the cool night breezes together.  Our family has nightly worship, and I thought when I read that how wonderful it would be to gather extended family, friends and neighbors for this special time each day.

A concern I have had with many missionaries (and pastors) is the tendency to sacrifice their own families on the alter of evangelism.  I believe this is a deception of Satan and something not required by God.  Ministry ought to flow out of family life.  Maggie says something similar on page 86 (and I did say she knew how to speak her mind), “Fools, who have had no experience of the many-sided influences of Christianity in saving and in civilizing the Heathen, may chatter against missionaries marrying, and shake their heads about the distractions of a family.  We who are in the thick of the work, and know all sides to the question, feel overwhelmingly thankful that God has given us these children, not only for our own happiness, but even for our work’s sake.  How often are those wonderful words suggested to us, ‘A little child shall lead them!’  Our bairns are little missionaries, every one.  They have called forth in the Natives a softened feeling towards us, and in us towards the Natives and their children. . . .The life of the Christian home is the best treatise on Christianity - a daily object lesson, which all can understand, can ‘read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest’; in fact, it is the only Bible which many of them shall ever read!” 

Isaiah 8:18 says, “Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me!  We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion.”  Titus 2 also confirms how important godly family life is to the spread of the gospel.  For example, young women are told to love their husbands, love their children, be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands-so that the word of God will not be blasphemed.  Maggie is an example of a woman who knew her main role was as wife and mother, and who skillfully opened up her home to include others in the daily things of life.  She didn’t consider her children distractions or go running off to do ministry away from them.  This is something our family desires to move towards. 

An interesting quote on page 99, “We manage to keep our bairns, in large measure, separate from the Native children, for weighty reasons, but it requires a little engineering to prevent them from feeling it.  The front of our house is quite fenced off, and the side gates are locked, so that they play about by themselves or with their nurses; and on Sundays we are entirely free of visitors.”  They knew that the children were not ready to be missionaries on their own yet, but needed sheltered and trained throughout childhood, just as plants are started in a greenhouse, so that they would be strong witnesses when they grew up.  And this bore much fruit.  Their children grew up to be godly men and women who raised many grandchildren.  (The Patons did, as the children got older, send them home to school–but still they were guarded from ungodly influences; and there were times that John traveled away from his family.  I do not mean to paint an unrealistic picture.  Their pattern as a whole was to minister together.)

The book closes with this tribute, “Her influence over her children was deep and permanent.  There was in her nature a rare combination of saintliness and humanness, that made the Christian life very real and winsome to all with whom she came into touch.  Beneath all the naturalness and the sparkling humour there was an intense devotion to Christ, and a heroism that nothing could daunt.  And with it all, her life was, in her own words, ‘a pure-white heat of love for her children’.  No wonder they loved her passionately, and with deep reverence sought to follow in her steps.”

Sitting Still

I had another miscarriage on Saturday, but I was so busy working Saturday, and then getting ready for church Sunday morning that I did not have time to stop to pray.  I did pray as I went about my tasks,  but my spirit was longing to just sit with the Lord.  The verse, “Be still and know that I am God. . .” kept going through my mind (Psalm 46:10a).  Shortly before we left for church I was able to pull myself away from everything and sit alone in the bathroom (where else?).  We have a good size one with a chair in it. 

There I was able to pour out my heart to the Lord, confess that He is sovereign and good, and cry the tears that were hiding beneath the surface.  When the tears let loose, God sent Rob in to give me a hug, which was very precious to me. 

God invites you to sit with Him today, and then rise up again renewed in His strength. 

 I Heard The Voice of Jesus Say by Horatius Bonar

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down Thy head upon My breast.”

I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one, stoop down, and drink, and live.”

I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.”

I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk, till all my days are done.

 

Funny

When anyone tells Laura something she likes, she says, “That smells good.”  I’ve started correcting her so she’ll say, “That sounds good.”  But I love it.  Two-year olds say the cutest things.

Florida Wildflowers, animals and butterflies

We’ve been blackberry picking and flower gathering today (Tammy was right about there being more adventures this summer).  We took a ziplock bag to put the flowers in to keep them moist till we could put them in vases.  We didn’t dig up any plants, just took some stems so we could see the flowers and leaves at home for identification. 

I’ve been able to find a lot of the flowers in our wildflower and edible plants books, but some that we’ve seen just aren’t in there.  So I came online and found these wildlife info sites specific to Florida.  Great for anyone, but wonderful for fellow homeschoolers interested in local wildlife. 

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/wildflower/ 

http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/ I was having trouble identifying a plant so I e-mailed them and they told me what it was (Phlox pilosa).  There is already a lot of info on their site, but they seem very happy to give additional help if needed.

http://floridawildflowerfoundation.org/links.html 

http://www.fnai.org/index.cfm  Check out the online field guides for plants and animals.

http://plants.usda.gov/index.html  Here is a countrywide site.

We have the flowers in vases and the children have been drawing beautiful pictures of each flower, while I’ve been looking them up and reading to them about each flower. 

We also saw an Eastern Swallowtail butterfly and another one with big eyes on the wings which I think was a Common Buckeye.  We saw little tent caterpillers, and a Yucca Moth, which is snowy white.

When we move out to the country house I am going to put in a wildflower garden.  I LOVE them.  And a lot of them bloom year round, they don’t require a ton of water and butterflies are attracted to them.  There are several state sponsered programs to encourage people to plant wildflowers in their gardens, which you’ll see if you follow the links. 

I hope that these treks out into nature will instill an awe for the Creator in my children which He surely deserves.  It has been a fun day.

Now, it’s back to painting bedrooms. . .

 

 

 

Celebrations

Last week we celebrated the end of our school year by going exploring a few times.  On one trip we startled a group of armadillos hiding in the woods.  Two of them went back and forth between peeking out at us and talking with the other armadillos.  Then they had one last conference and all ran away together to a “safer” location. 

On Friday, Rob and I celebrated our 10th anniversary by taking a picnic to Bear Lake, and hiking the 4 mile lake loop trail.  It was a lovely evening.  The heat had dissipated, and the wild flowers were everywhere.  I wish I had taken the camera, but if I had I would have been stopping every few feet to take pictures–not good since we had to walk the four miles before dark, and still have time to eat our picnic.  We were very ready for our dinner when we were done with our walk!  But it was so much fun.  We ate our dinner by the lake, with a white cloth draped over our table to give a nice atmosphere–it really did!

Recently we had an argument and I did not treat Rob well.  I was the opposite of a respectful wife.  Once we got through the first emotional exchanges, we were able to repent and start over again to work through the issues.  A few days later I told Rob how thankful I was that we don’t fight like that every day or even once a month.  He agreed and said, yes, but that is what it is like for many people and that is one reason there are so many divorces.  How very sad!  But I know that if it were not for the work of God in our lives, we would be just the same.  I definitely caught a glimpse of my vile flesh, and shudder at the memory.    “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. . .”  Thank You, Jesus!

I love my husband and pray that God will make me a submissive, respectful and honoring wife.  I fail daily.  Little by little, God reveals the areas that need to change, and sl-ow-ly I respond to His refining.  I wish I could change faster, but maybe that would hurt more???  God is patient with me, and so is my husband.  I am glad they don’t leave me at the same place though.  I want to grow. 

Rob says he feels very comfortable being married to me, and I feel the same way about him–it is a good feeling.

Looking forward to the continuing journey. . .

 

Florida Nature

Yesterday we took a hike on the trail between our subdivision and I-10.  It has a wide path so it is easy to avoid things like poison ivy, but there are many shady patches from the trees.  We went last week also, but didn’t think to take the camera.  On our last trip we saw a cotton mouth in the river that marks our turnaround spot–we were glad it was on the other side.  It seemed afraid of us and hid underneath some leaves. 

We did take the camera yesterday.  As I identify the different plants I will add their names to the pictures.  You might have to put your curser over the pictures to see the captions.  There is a picture of a monarch butterfly–you can kind of see the white spots and some of the orange.  It was too fast for me to get a good shot of it.  It was beautiful!  We waited for a long time to get some pictures of the huge blue dragonflies, and it was neat watching them fly over the water. 

At home, we saw a long-tailed skipper butterfly hovering over our bean plants.  Their caterpillars eat bean plants, so I guess it felt at home there.

Enjoy the pictures–I am so fascinated with the creativity of God.  He has given us so many things to enjoy and that testify of His glory.

Water Distiller

Rob has blessed me by buying a water distiller.  I am thankful for my husband.  He has been so supportive and loving through all my health problems. 

I was having trouble with the reverse osmosis water because the RO system gets out everything except a very tiny amount of fluoride, which is free flowing because the other minerals are gone that would help bind with it and carry it out of your body.  Also, we have discovered, and since read, that the RO systems work really well in the beginning, but their efficiency drastically drops daily.  I was feeling sick again, with evidence of fluoride in my system, well before the filters were due to be changed. 

Rob researched distillers and decided against a small countertop model because it would be hard to maintain enough supply for all the water we drink and the cooking we do, and because it is made mostly of plastic.  He went with a Precision Water Distillers model PWS 12-20.  It distills 12 gallons per day and holds up to 20 gallons.  The parts are mostly stainless steel, and the water is stored in a stainless steel tank.  This distiller is very heavy duty, and we expect it to last a long time.

One word of warning though: some of the toxins are exhausted into the air so they won’t condense with the water.  My lungs have been hurting since we installed the distiller–it has been running constantly to fill up.  I think that once it finishes filling, it won’t be as much of a problem because it will be running less frequently.  However, I know we will install it where it can be well ventilated when we move.  Right now I have the hall bathroom exhaust fan running.

Remodel Update

Thank you to those who have been praying for Rob (feeling burnt out on the remodel and needing wisdom).  God has answered already.

We’ve been at this project for almost two years and it has cost our family a lot in time apart.  God has been faithful to strengthen us and teach us many things through it, and neither of us think we’ve been out of the Lord’s will.   I have been very thankful for my husband’s commitment to having family worship every night after dinner.  It has been a kind of glue which has held our family together as we’ve read God’s word, sung songs and hymns and prayed together. 

Rob has also set aside Sunday as a day of rest and worship, and family time.  He’s been reading through fun read-alouds with us and we all look forward to the next installments.  So far we’ve read Little Britches by Ralph Moody (autobiographical), Derwood Inc. by Jeri Massi,  and Bud and Me by Alta Abernathy (biographical–we bought this from VeritasPress.com.  I think they bought up the remaining copies because no one else seems to have them new, and used copies are REALLY expensive for a newish book).

We had to take out a rather expensive renovation insurance policy on the remodel at the beginning of the year, when our regular insurance company had to drop one of our houses due to hurricane expenses.  So Rob has been trying very hard to get the house done by August so we would not have to get a 6-month extension.  This is an impossible goal, and Rob was getting discouraged and worn down from the pressure. 

The other day I said it might make sense to move out to the remodel and sell our current house first, since we could have both houses ready for that by August.  And we can get better insurance on our current house than we’ve been able to get at the remodel, so even if it doesn’t sell right away it will still better.  We laughed it off at the time, but a few days later Rob came to me and asked if I was serious about moving.  So, we’re moving. 

This means that I can start painting and cleaning our house, packing, and getting rid of stuff while Rob gets the remodel ready enough for us.  Then he will work on replacing flooring here.  Then we can put it on the market.  Once we are at the remodel, we will be able to help him more and we’ll be together more, and well, we are really ready for that. 

Now that we’ve modified our direction, Rob feels remotivated and energized.  Yea!  Honestly, I don’t know how he keeps going every day.  It is the grace of God.

We plan to get some chickens for meat and eggs, and. . .we’ll see.  We’re ready for that too.  And the shade, the long driveway for bike riding, and being closer to several people from church, and even the building our church is moving into in August. 

One season is ending, another is beginning.  Change is initially difficult.  But, when it comes from God’s hand, it is good.

Once we sell a house, we plan, Lord willing, to look for land in Virginia.  We can’t see past today, but we are trusting that God will do what He sees is best with us, and whatever He wants is what we want too. 

While we are here, we are enjoying our church family, the friends we are making in the farming community, and our extended church family in the local area (we have lived here twice and have been in 4 churches and we enjoy our brothers and sisters in other churches too.  We’ve been given a taste of the larger body of Christ and God at work in many different Christians throughout the community.  We are strongly aware of the way God is blessing us right now, and even though we eagerly look forward to being closer to family and the church in Virginia, and having land–We are so thankful for today.  We are not guaranteed tomorrow, but we have so many treasures today.  We don’t want to waste them by being ungrateful.