The Blessed Homemaker

Q & A Session with Mrs. Jacks

2010-02-28T01:54:00.000-08:00

Q: "Which translation of the Bible do you use, and why?"

A: I prefer the King James Version of the Bible, as I believe it is the preserved Word of God for English speaking people. Please understand that I am not KJVO, a Ruckmanite, nor do I believe people who speak a language other than English are somehow missing out on God's preserved Word. I believe that the Textus Receptus (or The Received Text) was the preserved text and that modern-day translations contain some differences that not only alter the flow of text, but cut out core doctrine altogether.

Q: "Since you are anti-feminism, do you hate women?"

A: Good question. No, I don't hate women. To hate women would call into dispute my Heavenly Father's creation, especially the creation of myself. I feel that feminism has cheapened womanhood and now that women are no longer under any sort of protection or male headship our women are plagued with abortion, STDs and STIs (some of which can lead to cancer), unwed motherhood, poverty, lack of education, sexual harassment in the workplace, rape, sexual assault, the molestation of their children, domestic violence, substance abuse and depression.

Does this mean I feel these issues never hurt women fifty, a hundred, even five-hundred years ago? Of course not. Rape, wife abuse, pedophilia, poverty - all have existed since Old Testament times because of the fall of man into sin. Because sin entered the world it was inevitable these things would occur in society; however, when we remove the protection of a man and encourage women to fend for themselves, we expose them to a great many dangers that once upon a time a much smaller number of women faced.

Q: "Why do you rail against the emergent church?"

A: Because I believe it is apostasy and leading people straight to hell. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 says that there will come a day in which people will not endure sound doctrine. In pursuit of their selfish lusts, to have their "itching ears tickled" they will surround themselves with false teachers and believe fables. I'm paraphrasing, of course. That day is here and it's been here for years, only it was subtle. Satan is always subtle. If he was blatant in his attempts to confound minds people would see it for what it is - godless perversion of the truth.

When we completely ignore the Scriptures, or we try and twist Bible verses or the image of God to suit our agenda, rather than it being the other way around, there is a problem. That is what emergent churches do. They forgo preaching sound doctrine in favor of tickling the ears of the seeker. They use terms like "cultural relevance" to describe their aim. The Bible is relevant to every culture, every creed, every ethnicity, every time period in history. We cannot bend the Word or claim it's irrelevant.

Q: "Do you have a favorite pastor/evangelist?"

A: As a matter of fact, I do. I really enjoy listening to Brother Marty Tate, pastor of the Peaceful Valley Baptist Church here in Georgia. He is an IFB preacher and you can find his sermons available for listening and downloading at www.sermonaudio.com.

Q: "Are you dresses only/headcovering?"

A: I am not dresses only. I do wear pants around the house, because I figure when it's just me at home and my son it's okay if I'm wearing my baggy PJ pants to clean. I do dress modestly both at home and in public. If I must wear pants in public I make sure I wear a tunic top that covers my backside, upper thighs and crotch area. I only head cover for church. I do wear my hair long, which the Bible says is a woman's covering, as is her husband. I believe this is a matter of personal conviction and not a salvation issue.

Q: "Were you raised to be a fundamentalist Christian?"

A: Surprisingly enough, no. I was raised in a home where we were taught that God was real and so long as we didn't kill anybody we would go to heaven when we die. I did attend a Southern Baptist church in my teens and left after my divorce at the age of nineteen. After that I dabbled in various areas of the Occult, including LaVeyan Satanism. Over the years I also studied Wicca, practical magic, green witchcraft, atheistic paganism, and i-ching. I remember one day I was going through my wealth of books on various occult subjects and my father asked me, "does any of this bring you peace?" I said, "well, not yet, but I'm just looking for the right path". He said, "that's funny, because Christianity offers the most peace and there's only one Book". I rolled my eyes and kept going through my library of pagan writings.

It wasn't until my precious mother-in-law died suddenly in October of 2009 that I began to question everything I had felt about Christianity. Her funeral service was held in her home church. The tiny, foot washin' Baptist church house her father preached at when she was a child. I hadn't set foot in a church building, not even for a wedding, in about seven years. As the old Baptist hymns were sung, as I wept through "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder" I realized in that church building I was no longer able to hide from God. I had run away from Him for years and it ended there. I felt a stab of shame when the pastor presiding over the service mentioned that Joyce was able to go in peace knowing her children and their spouses were all saved and would join her in eternity.

I began privately reading Bible verses online and my conversion was gradual. My husband had always reveled in the "fundie jokes" and "hahahaha hail Satan!" remarks our entire relationship, despite being raised in a fundamentalist Christian home. For years I embraced radical feminism. And I don't mean rights to vote, pro-choice in cases of rape/incest/life of mother, equal pay for equal work feminism. No. I mean queer liberation, gender neutrality, reclaiming vile four-letter euphemisms for a woman's genitals, "Vagina Monologues" performance art loving, mandatory abortions for the impoverished to control population, being offended if a commercial depicting a woman baking a cake or scrubbing a toilet came on, not shaving my legs or underarms, etc. radical feminism. Andrea Dworkin feminism. Radical socialist feminism. "Why should you care if a woman wants to have a partial-birth abortion even if it isn't for a medical reason?" feminism. I wear Army fatigues and wife beater tank tops and Doc Marten combat boots feminism. It's a miracle my husband wanted to get anywhere near me, let alone marry me.

I was also very liberal. I believed in free health care, amnesty for illegals, Muslim tolerance, reparations for the blacks, death penalty abolition, anti-war, Code Pink, ACLU, Freedom From Religion Foundation, labor unions, the whole works. I wasn't raised with these views, but I embraced them as part and parcel of my newfound feminist ideology. These views had shaped my early adult years and I was afraid to part with them. Slowly, but surely, God began with softening my heart. He began a work in me that can only be described as breathtakingly miraculous. He changed and shaped my views on things. Not because some televangelist said I should. Not because I read a Christian self-help book that said I should. Not because a preacher, deacon, family member or someone on the internet said I should, but because God knew my heart was wicked and in dire need of regeneration.

So here I am today. While my husband's Facebook page still says "Agnostic" under religion, I know God is working on his heart as well. Just this morning he told me that he prays for me every day. And while he may never be as "fundie" as I am, I'd be thrilled with just having the assurance that when that roll is called up yonder, my entire family will be there.

Modern-Day Heresy

2010-02-26T20:42:00.000-08:00

2 Timothy 4:2-4(KJV)

"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

Well if that doesn't describe our current state of Christianity in Western culture I don't know what does. I was reading a review on Amazon for the book Passionate Housewives Desperate for God. I was disheartened to see that one review generated a chorus of "amens!" from the white-washed feminists. Most of the reviews were positive; however, one negative one attracted much attention (perhaps it was the featured negative review?) and there were over a hundred responses to that one review. Most of them were about how "Vision Forum is a cult".

One response that really struck a chord with me was one lady said something to the tune of, "this book is bad because it presents a one-size-fits-all approach. Hello! The Bible is one-size-fits-all! Hebrews chapter 13 verses 8 and 9a say the following:

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. 9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines."

The Bible doesn't mean something different today than it did in those days just because society has gone completely amoral around us. Just because society has sold its collective soul to the devil doesn't mean the Bible is no longer relevant to our lives. Instead we have a bunch of emergent church apostates running around claiming, "now, I'm a conservative Christian and all, but I think we have to remember that the Bible was written during a certain time and we have to be culturally relevant." No! That is heresy and it robs people of the fullness of living a holy life for the Christ of the Bible! Not the Christ man has fashioned in his image to fit today's society. The mamby pamby Anglo-Saxon hippie pacifist Jesus with the milky white skin and long, wavy brown hair like He just came back from spreading the good word at Woodstock. I hate it when people say, "Jesus was a liberal". No! Jesus was holy as we should strive to be holy.

Speaking the Bible and calling for repentance and holiness does not make someone legalistic. Legalism is creating doctrine that cannot be found in the Scriptures. Being "extra-Biblical". Too bad most people today think fundamentalism is tantamount to legalism. In today's "if it feels good do it" and "well, I got saved so I'm going to heaven anyway, so I'll just repent later" society this whole "fundamentalism=legalism" mantra goes a long way. Oh how we need revival in America!

Praise God for Paul Washer!

2010-02-22T02:42:00.000-08:00

I've been spending quite a good bit of time lately downloading sermons from Sermon Audio. One of my personal favorite preachers is Paul Washer. Now, Paul Washer is a preacher that receives hit or miss reviews. He's the preacher people either love or hate with no in between. Some of the most common arguments against him are rather superficial or based on downright misunderstanding. We need more preachers like Paul Washer who are bold enough to rightly divide the word of truth! Here are some things you need to understand about brother Washer and his sermons:

1. If you're looking for twenty-minute sound bites you won't like him. Most of Washer's sermons are an hour in length or longer. Thank God Washer doesn't water down the Gospel message in order to fit people's schedules. Back in the day, church services didn't consist of a forty-five minute rock concert with laser light show and thirty minutes of preaching.

2. If you're looking for a sermon that will make you walk away feeling all fuzzy and happy inside then don't bother downloading any of Paul Washer's sermons. I can assure you that you will walk away feel extremely, extremely convicted.

3. If you are not striving for holiness and you're leaning on your salvation like a crutch while living a carnal life you will be chastened by Paul Washer preaching the Word of God!

In summary - Paul Washer does not preach what anyone wants to hear, but he preaches precisely what everyone needs to hear.

Just a Quick Entry

2010-02-04T01:20:00.000-08:00

Since I have been rather busy (I promise to wrap up part 2 of the emerging church entry by the end of this week!), I don't have much time to blog. I did, however, want to post a video for you all. I love Machosauce on YouTube. He is a brother in Christ and a conservative. I enjoyed his newest video and I hope you do as well.

Dream Interpretation & the Emerging Church (Part 1)

2010-01-24T02:40:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting topic of discussion that came up over on The Prairie Homemaker site (love that forum!). Back when I was attending a Southern Baptist Church, we did a ladies' study on "A Heart Like His", which was a study guide by Beth Moore. This was probably back in 2000. Yes, it had to have been. I was pregnant with my son at the time. In the past few years Beth Moore has, sadly, started leaning toward the emergent path with focus on contemplative spirituality and dream interpretation. The question that arose was in regards to whether or not dream interpretation is bad thing, since God spoke to His people through dreams in the Bible. God communicated many times with Joseph through dreams and visions. In fact, prophecies were oftentimes relayed through dreams or visions (daydreams, if you will).

It is interesting to note, however, that after Christ's sacrifice on the cross the Bible no longer mentions God speaking to people through their dreams. While I am no Bible scholar and certainly cannot know the ways of our Heavenly Father, I personally believe since we have His word in complete form (the Bible) and all prophecies have been revealed, God no longer uses dreams to reveal Himself to us. In fact, the most recent concept of holy visions during dreams is considered relatively New Age and is heavily influenced by mysticism. The only time dreams and visions are mentioned after Christ's atonement for our sins was in Acts chapter two, when Peter tells the people of Judea that in the last days their old men shall dream dreams and their daughters will prophesy and there will be signs and wonders.

Ecclesiastes 5:6-7 (NKJV) says:
" Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse[a] and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.?

Verse seven is, essentially, saying that most of the time our dreams are relatively meaningless. Our dreams are a manifestation of what our brain cannot process throughout the day. All day long we are bombarded with stimuli - sounds, smells, tastes, sights. When we enter R.E.M. sleep, our brain tries to break down and process all we have taken in throughout the day. Ever notice when you go to bed stressed or filled with anxiety you may have unsettling dreams, or even full-blown nightmares? When you go to bed with a peaceful mind you may not recall your dreams at all.

Does this mean God will never speak to anyone during a dream state? I don't have the answer to that. I cannot be so bold as to speak on behalf of God or place limitations on His means of communicating with us. With that said, I think many people want to rely on tangible proof of His existence rather than looking to Him with the utmost faith in the Unseen. Certainly a dream of something you want coming to fruition is more comforting than feeling as if your prayers are going no further than the ceiling, correct? How many people pray about something and then see a billboard or hear a song on the radio mere minutes or hours later and they're convinced it's a "sign from God"? God may very well speak to someone through a billboard or song, but usually it is our way of trying to see the signs in everything, rather than waiting on the Holy Spirit moving in our heart. We're impatient people who don't want to rely on the measure of faith God has given each of us.

So, where did this dream interpretation stuff come from, anyway? It came from the emergent church movement. What do we need to know about the emergent church?

It's a modern branch of theology that prides itself on being "seeker-friendly" and "worship for the post-modern world". Many of the buzz phrases you'll hear from emergent leaders are "worship experience", "generous orthodoxy", "centering prayer", "contemplative spirituality", "moral relativism", "all-inclusive", "relevant", "deconstruction(ism)/(ist)", "organic/fluid", "relational", and "missional". The services are comprised of a lot of bells and whistles (tons of Christian themed rock music, Hi-Def projection equipment, energetic leaders, etc.) and very little of the Gospel message of sin and salvation.

Emergent churches, from the surface, are cool. They have skate boarding ministries. They don't preach all of that scary "hellfire and damnation stuff". They love gays and polyamorists and abortionists. The "worship experience" is just like a rock concert. No boring preachy junk. The problem is that it is spiritually void. Isaiah 55:11 says:

"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

God's Word will not return void. Empty, fuzzy feel-good messages with no hope of salvation presented, no Gospel message presented, returns void. Please do not misunderstand me. There is room in every church for the homosexual, the adulterer, the abortion doctor - if they are seeking repentance. A person cannot blatantly violate God's crystal clear standards and sit in church congregation with an unrepentant heart and a reprobate mind. Our churches should be open to those seeking His will. A church that plays cool music and puts on a laser light show every Sunday morning (or afternoon. People don't want to wake up early for "churchy stuff" anyway), but refuses to preach the Gospel, is an emergent church and participating in a great deception that (tragically) will lead many people straight from the gates of heaven.

Amazingly enough, the Bible spoke against the emergent church movement long before it ever came into existence! 2 Timothy 4:3-4 says:

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables."

This is the truth:

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

Amen and amen! Emergent churches do not preach that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and that the only way to God is through HIM. Emergent churches teach you have your god, I have mine, he has his, we're all right and we're all going to heaven just by different paths. Emergent churches oftentimes will also teach that Jesus was a liberal hippie. These teachings are patently false, unscriptural and potentially dangerous.

I will cover the dream interpretation and how Beth Moore ties into this in Part 2.

Dishwashing

2010-01-19T22:36:00.000-08:00

Many Christian homemakers are attempting to go off the grid with some of their house work. Some line hang their laundry instead of using an electric or gas dryer. Some use a wood burning cooktop instead of an oven. One of the ways my family has decided to try and be good stewards of our money is by hand washing our dishes. This is a subject that has come under much study and scrutiny among green living circles. Unfortunately, most of the studies have been conducted by companies like Whirlpool and Electrolux, who manufacture some of the most costly electric dishwashers on the market. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume they may have a tiny little agenda to push people toward their products. Let me share a story from my personal life.

When our decade and a half old dishwasher finally bit the dust we decided to purchase an energy efficient dishwasher. Well, actually, you're pretty much forced into buying HE appliances. It's virtually impossible to find cheap dishwashers, agitator washing machines and tube television sets new these days. Since Kenmore is a name we trust, we went through Sears and purchased the Elite dishwasher. The nice technician from Sears sang the praises of this dishwasher as he installed it. According to the sales pitch we should be able to leave baked on cheese in a casserole dish for a month, throw it in the dishwasher, run it and it will come out sparking clean. Let's talk about what happened with my new dishwasher:

~It runs in two and a half to three hour cycles on normal wash.
~It recycles the water from the first spray for the rinse, which leaves bits of food from some dishes on others.
~Because we have hard water we have to use costly liquid detergents and a rinse agent.
~It did not rinse all food particles off of dishes. In fact, I was having to scrub my dishes clean prior to loading them.
~The drying cycle runs for about thirty minutes on my washer, and yet I still have to towel dry some dishes (particularly food storage containers and mugs).
~It leaves coffee and tea stains in mugs.
~Food gets trapped in the bottom and it smells like a landfill when you open it.
~It has stripped the finish off a few of my quality saucepans.

Sadly, the pros still have cons attached to them - mainly the fact that it is a large capacity dishwasher; however, it may take two or three days to fill to capacity that would necessitate a load. Meanwhile, dishes that I need frequently are sitting dirty in the machine waiting to be run. I saw no difference in my water bill and my light bill went up slightly, as I have to run this machine through the drying cycle, otherwise it doesn't drain completely.

One day, after countless times needing the cheese grater, a measuring cup or the mixing bowl, I decided to hand wash the few dishes I had in the sink instead of loading them in the dishwasher. I came to realize that for me hand washing was quicker. If I am having to scrub the dishes clean before loading in the dishwasher then it isn't worth it. Basically, my dishwasher exists for no purpose other than peace of mind that my dishes are sanitized. I'm still having to wash them by hand before loading them. I decided to challenge myself - wash dishes by hand and see if I didn't notice a difference in my light and water bills. I encourage you ladies to do the same. Here are some tips to make it easier on you:

1. If you have a two-basin sink, reserve one basin as your "sanitizing" side. Keep that side free of dishes that have been used to prepare raw meat, chicken, fish or eggs and kindly ask your family members to not wash their hands over that side of the sink when full. Use sanitizing wipes, peroxide or bleach to sanitize that basin every morning before filling with soap and hot water. Set your hot water heater to no lower than 140 degrees. Fill the other side with straight cold water when it comes time to rinse.

2. Use reusable dish cloths (try knitting or crocheting you own using 100% cotton yarn such as Lily Sugar 'n Cream or Pisgah's Peaches 'n Cream. I'll post links at the bottom of my post) rather than sponges or scrub brushes. Sponges and brushes harbor germs and bacteria. Use a fresh dish rag every day. If you use a towel to dry, use a clean one every day that is dedicated to this purpose. Try not to use that towel to wipe off hands or counter tops.

3. Use a low-residue dishwashing soap (not an electric dishwasher detergent!). Palmolive makes a Free & Clear dish soap. It's a bit more costly than generic or regular line soaps, but you use less per load and it doesn't suds up as much which makes it easier to use only one sinkful of cold water for rinsing, rather than having to run the water to rinse.

4. Try and scrape as much of your scraps off your plates and give the dishes a quick rinse before sanitizing. This keeps bits of food from lingering around on your dishes.

5. If anyone in your home has been ill, use a cap full of non-chlorine bleach in the sanitizing basin and wash dishes used by the sick separately. This is also good for washing dishes that have been used to prepare raw meats, fish or poultry products. It is crucial you use non-chlorine bleach if you are also using dish soap, as using chlorinated bleach and concentrated dish soap can cause a potentially dangerous chemical reaction. If you only have chlorinated bleach on-hand use the bleach in your rinse basin rather than the wash basin.

If you follow these steps it should make hand washing dishes both efficient and cost-effective.

Crochet Dishcloth Patterns
Knit Dishcloth Patterns (the Ballband Dishcloth is my personal favorite)

Submission to the Unbelieving Husband

2010-01-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

This is a subject very near and dear to my heart. You could say my beloved husband and I are not on the same level when it comes to faith. He was raised more deeply in Christianity than I was. In fact, I wasn't raised in it at all. His mother was a foot washin' Baptist preacher's daughger - no alcohol, no music, no dancing, no pants, no jewelry, no makeup, no cutting your hair and no playing cards. That was pretty much how my husband was raised and it pretty much soured him on Christianity by the time he was old enough to choose whether or not he wanted to attend church.

A lot of women struggle with the concept of submission in general. There are plenty of women who want to use the unsaved spouse "loophole". I put that in quotation marks because this loophole is a myth, it does not exist in the Scriptures. The Bible is clear in Ephesians 5:22-24:

"22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing."

Dear sisters, please take note that God does not make exceptions for those with unbelieving husbands. It does not specify that only wives of Christian husbands are to submit. The Bible says this about the unbelieving spouse:

1 Peter 3:1-2:
"1Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

2While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear."

1 Corinthians 7:13-14 says the following:
"13And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy."

Praise God we can be an example to our unbelieving husbands while still submitting to their headship! God did not make exceptions. If our husbands want to remain married to us knowing of our faith, then we are to set the example.

When are some times in which it's not okay to submit to your husband? This applies to both believing and unbelieving husbands - when they ask something of us that is unbiblical. For example, if he asks to bring an extra partner into the marriage bed or wants his wife to have an abortion. Any time a husband asks something of his wife that is completely contradictory to the expectations God has for us that is the exception to rule.

I am a Housewife!

2010-01-17T21:42:00.000-08:00

Gosh, ladies, I'm sorry I haven't written since the week before Christmas! Things have been so hectic. I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and New Years.

To get back on track I want to post an entry that has been weighing heavily on my heart - the disdain of housewives. What I do (and what many of you may do) is constantly under scrutiny and contempt. We're accused of not having a "real job". We're accused of not being "productive members of society". One word feminists like to use to describe us is "parasite". Sad, huh? About fifty years ago what we do was considered the norm. Young women worked in offices or as nurses until they married and had children. Most families were single-income where the husband worked and the wife stayed home. Here are some quotes I found while searching online.

The first comes from the UK Yahoo Answers board:
"If you choose not to be a member of society - ie. you don't pay taxes or have a job, out of choice, should you therefore also lose your entitlement to tax payers benefits such as the NHS and education?

No cooking cleaning chilcare of your own children is not a "job" - it is a lifestyle choice that other people manage to do as well as working fo rthe community and paying taxes.

Housewives always seem to feel the need to point out all the "important" work they do - yet fail to realise that other people do that anyway - as well as holding down a proper job. Why not just admit that you don't want to work and are content to let other people support you?

Now parasites - yes, I like that word. All housewives are parasites - living off my taxes. They have no right to use any services that we pay for unless they give something back to the society on the otehr side of their doorstep. Charity work? Voluntary work? Oh no, painting toe nails and wearing sparlkly fip flops for the school run is so much more important!!"

From The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan:
"Housewives are mindless and thing-hungry...not people."

Gloria Steinem:
"[Housewives] are dependent creatures who are still children...parasites."

The first one was simply a working mother's diatribe against stay-at-home mothers and how they don't contribute to society, therefore, should not reap the benefits of society. I can excuse the bitter rantings of the discontent. Steinem and Friedan, however, are (in Friedan's case, "were", as she passed in 2006), very well educated and influential women. An interesting thing to note is that Friedan was very active in Marxist circles (and had friends who were investigated by the F.B.I.) as was Steinem. Karl Marx in "The Communist Manifesto" made a huge to-do about how a communist society cannot work if women are living under their husband's leadership, authority and financial gain. Marx also believed women had the potential to be the most effective political agitators. In other words - a woman at home was useless to the communist agenda.

Do not let feminists fool you. Most women who slap the "feminist" label on themselves talk about job equity, glass ceilings, freedom from sexual harassment, reproductive freedom, choices and the right to vote. They are not, however, quite as in-tune with what their second-wave radical feminist icons strove for - a communistic society - as they should be. Their brand of feminism has nothing to do with equality, and everything to do with using women as political pawns. If you brow-beat women enough into thinking they are worthless for having (or even wanting!) marriage and a family as your top goal and priority they are more easily persuaded to busy themselves with radical political activism.

Women who do have children are convinced staying home with them stifles them. Women should not be identified by their children and their children should not be their top priority. This falls into the "it takes a village to raise a child" mentality, which was an African proverb that has been perverted by those who seek a Marxist society. Children being raised, not by their parents, but by the public school system are even more impressionable, thus making it easier to indoctrinate them into harboring disdain for traditional family and gender roles.

Let us praise God daily for our unique femininity. We're the ones who bring life into the world from our womb. We're the nurturers, the educators, the helpers. Let us not be dismayed by how modern society views our role. We are exceptionally important to society when we are raising godly children for His purpose.

Revelation 3:18

2009-12-18T17:14:00.000-08:00

I have been listening to a great podcast by Nancy Leigh DeMoss (founder of the Revive our Hearts women's ministry and creator of the 30 Day Challenges) about overcoming. One of the episodes focused on Jesus addressing the lukewarm church at Laodecia. After chastening them for their pride and level of comfort in their material wealth He says:

"I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eyesalve, that you may see (NKJV)"

What a beautiful verse! Jesus says they are nothing, despite their material wealth and fine garments, because they lack being on fire for God. Their eyes are closed. Jesus implores the people of the church of Laodecia to find their riches in His promises. He wants to clothe them in His righteousness. He wants them to understand His ways and that they will allow Him to open their eyes to the truth.

We should want to take the riches that are given only by Christ, clothe ourselves in His garments of white and apply His holy salve to our blinded eyes so that we may see.

A Collection of Links

2009-12-17T15:07:00.000-08:00

I am so sorry to have not posted in a few days. With Christmas a week away things have been quite busy in our home. There have been recipes to test, presents to make and wrap, last-minute grocery store trips to stock up on food items so we won't be lost in the pre-holiday pandemonium next week. I've mostly been focusing on those tasks and God's Word.

I have, however, come up with a few great websites for you dear ladies to visit. These are blogs and websites I have read carefully to insure they are in line with the Scriptures and do not use certain advertisements that contain suggestive pictures and/or phrases. I hope you will be as blessed by them as I have.

"A Wise Woman Builds Her Home" blog.

Mrs. Fuentes is a godly wife and mother to ten precious blessings. She covers a wide range of topics and her posts are biblically sound.

Above Rubies

A website offering encouragement to women seeking God's high calling as wife and mother.

"Domestic Felicity" blog

Mrs. Anna T is a beautiful Jewish wife, mother and homemaker living in Israel.

Young Ladies Christian Fellowship

Featuring articles on purposeful singleness, biblical femininity, modesty, marriage, motherhood and homemaking.

Frugal Abundance

Great articles on modesty, cooking, marriage and motherhood.

Prairie Homemaker

My favorite Christian ladies' forum.

Your Sacred Calling

Another wonderful blog with entries covering a wide range of topics pertaining to Christian wife and motherhood.

It's Almost Christmas!

2009-12-09T23:08:00.000-08:00

In just about two weeks it will be Christmas day. I am thrilled to say I am almost finished! I have made a roll-up crochet hook case and packed some yarn in a box to send to a dear friend in Washington state. I am still knitting a hat for her. It's not quite halfway complete. I finished the crocheted octopus for my son's stocking. All I need to do is get something for my husband and purchase some little trinkets at the Dollar Tree to fill the battery operated grabber machine we got for the Little Guy.

A Cheerful Heart

2009-12-06T15:49:00.001-08:00

Today we took our family Christmas pictures. It was a lot of fun, but trying to wrangle eleven people (two of which are small children) and get everyone dressed and looking their best is no simple task. Today some things got pushed to the back burner in preparation for taking the photos. One of those tasks was the dishes. In a house this big even one meal can load the sink with dirty dishes. I ran a load in the dishwasher last night which needed to be unloaded before we could load the dirty dishes in.

As I faced the mountain of dishes there was a part of me that wished someone else would do them for me, or if I ignored them long enough they'd just go away on their own. And then I was reminded of Proverbs 15:13 (KJV) which says:

"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.:

I felt the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit telling me to be glad that I have a faithful husband who works hard outside of the home so that I can stay at home and tend to the family. I smiled and grabbed the scrubbing brush and dish soap with a sense of gladness in my heart. It's amazing how quickly our mundane tasks go by when we have a merry heart as we do them.

Don't get me wrong - I am a fallen human being and I have normal human emotions. I am not a Stepford Wife who smiles every time a crisis arises and says, "oh, happy day! I'm so glad things are falling apart around me!" With that said, if I let everything I do around here get me down I would have a broken spirit, which is completely contrary to what the Lord wants for us. He says in Matthew 11:28-30:

"Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

God's intent is for us to have a merry heart and be free from our burdens, for Christ bore that burden for us on the cross. The other day I observed something quite disheartening, and I shared this with my mother. I said, "have you ever noticed when you're out in public how many people just look angry, frustrated and sad?" People don't smile any more. They grit their teeth as they yank their children around the grocery store and load their carts up with unhealthy convenience foods, for the prospect of cooking frustrates them even further. They are short with the cashiers because they are in a hurry and don't want to be doing what they are doing. Maybe they are women working a job in which they are degraded by their employers and wish they could be at home with their children. Perhaps it is a husband who is upset that he knows when he gets home he will be greeted with a messy, disorganized home and a wife with a nagging spirit.

What sort of testimony could we be for the Lord if we went out in public with a spirit of gladness, a merry heart and a cheerful countenance? How much would we bless our families if we approached life knowing that Jesus has asked us to take His yoke, for it is easy and light?

The Fruit of Her Hands

2009-12-05T17:40:00.000-08:00

Proverbs 31:31 (NKJV)

"Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates."

What are the fruit of our hands? As wives and mothers are our hands spent doing things that bless our families and honor Christ? Our hands serve many purposes throughout the average day. In fact, anyone who has ever broken or otherwise injured their hand, they know just much we take our hands for granted.

How have your blessed your family with your hands today? Did you make your family a hot, nutritious breakfast? Did you sew that button on your husband's dress shirt? Did you braid a young daughter's hair? Did you sign Christmas cards? There are so many ways we can use our hands to be a ministry to others. There are, likewise, ways we can use our hands in a manner that does not bless our family.

How many women spend more time on the internet talking about their marriage and children and tell their husband, "give me just one more minute!" when he needs to talk with her? How often do the children get shushed and shooed out of the room when Mom is busy sending e-mails, blogging or chatting? Perhaps you don't have issues in regards to time management and internet usage, but are you putting your family in debt by unwisely using the convenience of click and ship online shopping?

If you find your hands are idle throughout the day, perhaps it is time to take up a hobby that will be both enjoyable and useful to yourself and your family. Knitting, crocheting, sewing, embroidery, loom weaving, gardening - all wonderful ways for us to busy our hands in a manner that will bless our families.

Blessing our Family

2009-12-05T00:47:00.000-08:00

Proverbs 31:10-12 (NKJV)

"Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband safely trusts her;

So he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good, and not evil, all the days of her life."

I must admit, I am fascinated by the Duggar family. I watch their series on TLC whenever I get the chance. It saddens me to read a lot of the harsh criticism they receive. If people would actually watch the show they would see a godly, loving family. You see a husband who adores and treasures his wife. You see a wife who respects and honors her husband. You see two people who are raising up godly children and work together in this enormous task. Their eldest son, John, and his wife also have a precious marriage and have started a family of their own.

People take issue with the Duggars, yet practically foam at the mouth over the Gosselins. Why is that? I, personally, could not bring myself to watch more than one episode of "Jon & Kate Plus 8". I found the amount of negative tension toward the children and utter disrespect between Jon and Kate disheartening. The difference between Michelle Duggar and Kate Gosselin is simple - Michelle Duggar is a Proverbs 31 wife who shows her husband respect and adoration and exercises patience with her children.

How often do we bless our families? Do we use our mouths to speak negatively toward our husbands? Do we use more time cursing our husband's name to friends and relatives than we do uplifting him? Do we fuss at our children when they spill or mess up their chest of drawers while teaching them independence? Or do we praise them for making the effort?

On Day 12 of the 30 Day Encouragement Challenge it says this:

"How sad that we give more grace to others than to those in our own homes. Today, try
to look at your husband through eyes of grace. Verbally thank your husband for what he
is already doing."

Hoo boy! That one right there really convicted my spirit. How often do I look for fault in my husband and yet gently encourage my mother or sister to not speak ill of strangers and mere acquaintances? How many times have I been swift to criticize my husband over trivial things and yet restrained myself when thinking about others in an attempt to be non-judgmental?

Every day we should be a blessing to our husband and our children. Pray for God's help in this area. Ask Him to help soften your heart and give you a patient spirit. I think we will find when we bless our families that God will enrich our lives in ways we'd never imagine.