the HOUSE DESPOT

Neat Freaks

2011-12-28T20:59:00.002-05:00

I have read several articles lately on home management that imply that "messes" are fun and flexible, and neat people are "neat freaks". Humm--is orderliness and discipline freaky? It almost seems that messiness is considered to be a virtue, and neatness is a character flaw these days. However I believe we reflect the Creator in our creatureliness best by doing things "decently and in order". Perhaps that is why people are always "needing" to get away to a retreat so often. A home that is disheveled and messy does not give us a peaceful spirit, or make hospitality spontaneous. Orderly surroundings reflect an orderly spirit. Yes, I work at keeping our home neat and inviting, but I do not think that is freaky, do you?

THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION

2008-12-24T14:14:00.001-05:00

That the Great Angel-blinding Light should shrink His blaze to shine in a poor shepherd's eye;
That the unmeasured God so low should sink, as prisoner in a few poor rags to lie;
That from His mother's breast He milk should drink, who feeds with nectar heaven's fair family;
That a vile manger His low bed should prove, who in a Throne of stars thunders above;
That He whom the SUN serves, should faintly peep through clouds of Infant flesh!
That He, the old Eternal Word should be a child, and weep;
That He who made the fire should fear the cold
That Heaven's high majesty His court should keep in a clay cottage;
That Glories' Self should serve our griefs and fears, and free Eternity submit to years,
Let our overwhelming wonder be! by Richard Crashaw

Have a blessed Chrismas, and take time to marvel at the Incarnation!

PIED BEAUTY

2008-11-17T13:45:00.002-05:00

Today is sunny and breezy, actually cold, but beautiful after a few days of grayness. I read this poem as I looked out our den window and watched the sun and wind play with the fallen leaves:

Glory be to God for dappled things--
For skies of couple-color as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnur-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced--fold, fallow, and plow;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, frecked (who know how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He Fathers-forth whose beauty is past change;
PRAISE HIM. (italics mine)

--Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

THE WILD WHITE ROSE

2008-10-28T19:38:00.003-04:00

I realize this is not a wild, white rose, but I did not grow any of those! But this is a heavenly blue morning glory that greeted me one morning outside our dining room french doors.

I found a book of poetry compiled by Dr. Bob Jones, Jr. at a salvage store and gave it to my husband. He frequently reads me a poem from it before we go to sleep at night. This is one of those that spoke to me:

It was peeping through the brambles, that little wild white rose,
Where the hawthorn hedge was planted, my garden to enclose.
All beyond was fern and heather, on the breezy, open moor;
All within was sun and shelter, and the wealth of beauty's store.
But I did not heed the fragrance of flower or of tree;
For my eyes were on that rosebud, and it grew too high for me.
In vain I strove to reach it through the tangled mass of green,
It only smiled and nodded behind its thorny screen.
Yet through that summer morning I lingered near the spot;

Oh, WHY DO THINGS SEEM SWEETER IF WE POSSESS THEM NOT?
My garden beds were blooming, but all that I could see
Was that little mocking wild rose hanging just too high for me.

So in life's wider garden there are buds of promise, too,
Beyond our reach to gather, but not beyond our view;
And like the little charmer that tempted me astray,
They steal out half the brightness of many a summer's day.

Oh, hearts that fail with longing for some forbidden tree,
Look up and learn a lesson from my white rose and me.
"Tis wiser far to number the blessings at my feet
Than ever to be sighing for just one bud more sweet.
My sunbeams and my shadows fall from a pierced hand,
I can surely trust His wisdom since His heart I understand;
And maybe in the morning, when His blessed face I see,
He will tell me why my white rose grew just too high for me.

--Ellen H. Willis

May I learn to bloom where I am planted!!

AND TWO SHALL BECOME ONE

2008-09-27T22:27:00.003-04:00

Gracen Elizabeth Greene became Mrs. Michael George Collins on July 18th, 2008, just one day before her parents 33rd wedding anniversary. The wedding was beautiful and very God-honoring. Aaron and Caleb took the pictures, and I love this one of Aaron showing Gracen a shot.

OLIVIA MAE MAKES SEVEN!

2008-07-10T18:56:00.004-04:00

Little Gwendolyn Daisy does not look so little anymore--she is the proud "big sister"!

Olivia Mae was born on June 19th to Josh and Nichole. She weighed a tiny 5 lb. 3oz. She is a perfectly beautiful baby, as you can see! It is hard to believe that Josh and Nicky have 4 children. We praise God for all of our precious grands!

"Children are an heritage from the LORD. The fruit of the womb is His reward."

PALACE OR DUNGEON

2008-03-28T09:28:00.002-04:00

When she was in her fifties, Elizabeth Prentiss learned that her husband would be taking a new pastorate in Chicago. The move from New York meant leaving all their friends and familiar things. In a letter to a friend, she wrote:

We want to know no will but God's in this question. . . . The experience of the past winter would impress upon me the fact that place and position have next to nothing to do with happiness; that we can be wretched in a palace, radiant in a dungeon. . . . Perhaps this heartbreaking is exactly what we need to remind us. . . that we are pilgrims and strangers on the earth."

HE IS RISEN!

2008-03-23T20:40:00.002-04:00

Hallelujah! Christ is risen!

Hallelujah! He is risen, indeed!

Every year we make a "tomb cake": it is angel food cake baked in a metal mixing bowl, and the stone for the doorway is baked in the smallest-sized mixing bowl. Then the kids decorate it anyway they want. We make strawberry short cake out of it for Easter dessert.

AND WEDDING BELLS SHALL CHIME

2008-02-17T22:08:00.004-05:00

Michael Collins asked Gracen to be his wife at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville on February 5th. As you can see from the picture, she obviously said "yes". We are planning a July 18th wedding in the War Memorial Chapel at Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC. We are thrilled that Michael is joining our family, and we are joining his!

THE LITANY OF EVERYDAY LIFE

2007-11-22T22:44:00.000-05:00

"Litanies tend to be both repetitive and comprehensive, and in both of these characteristics there is a certain analogy to housework. . . .My own house and my housekeeping are works in progress, and sometimes it seems that very little progress is actually being made. But I can only imagine the chaos into which my household would long ago have descended if I were less intentional about making time to keep house and if I were less convinced of the inherent value of doing so. We all need the patterns of our lives to echo and emulate the patterns of the larger story that we, as Christians, believe is the true story of the world. Daily involvement in the work of housekeep[ing, the litany of everyday life, is one way of participating in and living out that story." p.21 in Keeping House by Margaret Kim Peterson

I highly recommend this book--very thought provoking. I just finished it this week, and decided that I need to turn around and read it right again!

LISTENING

2007-10-23T16:49:00.000-04:00

There is a grace of kind listening, as well as a grace of kind speaking. Some listen with an abstracted air, which shows that their thoughts are elsewhere. Or they seem to listen, but by wide answers and irrelevant questions show that they have been occupied with their own thoughts, as being more interesting, at least in their own estimation, than what you have been saying. Some interrupt, and will not hear you to the end. Some hear you to the end, and then forthwith begin to talk to you about a similar experience which has befallen themselves, making your case only an illustration of their own. Some, meaning to be kind, listen with such a determined, lively, violent attention, that you are at once made uncomfortable, and the charm of conversation is at an end.

Many persons, whose manners will stand the test of speaking, break down under the trial of listening. But all these things should be brought under the sweet influences of religion.
--Frederick W. Faber (author of the hymn "There's A Wideness In God's Mercy)

A NEW LIFE!

2007-10-23T09:32:00.000-04:00

Today our 6th grand is 2 weeks old! What a gift for my birthday on Oct 9th--a beautiful baby girl named Viola Grace was born into Aaron and Mollie's family! It was a double gift, because Karen, Mollie's mom, and I share the same birthday! She was 8' 3" and 20 inches long. From the pictures I think she looks a lot like her mommy. I do not have any to post, but you can go to Aaron's site, and see lots of them. They are calling her Lola. Isn't that sweet?

NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU DON'T!

2007-09-28T22:35:00.001-04:00

Joshua Jude had fun playing hide and seek with Grandpa and his camera at the park! What a cutey pie!! He is going to be a big brother in just a few weeks!

LOVE ME ALWAYS, BOY

2007-09-24T22:25:00.000-04:00

Love me always, boy, whatever I do or leave undone. And--God help me--whatever you do or leave undone, I'll love you. There shall never be a cloud between us for a day; no, sir, not for an hour. We're imperfect enough, all of us, we needn't be so bitter; and life is uncertain enough at its safest, we needn't waste its opportunities.
--Juliana Horatia Ewing

WHERE DID THE SUMMER GO?

2007-09-21T17:44:00.000-04:00

We enjoyed having 3 boys in the house so much! Now we are getting used to a smaller family again (and a smaller grocery bill!). We took a weekend jaunt to Philly with Caleb before he went back to school--saw an organ concert on the Wanamaker organ, IMAX on King Tut, the N. C. Wyeth House, Brandywine Museum, and Longwood Gardens. We had a great time together.

TITUS 2 CLASS--THE VIRTUE OF HOME-WORKING and THE VIRTUE OF KINDNESS

2007-09-03T11:28:00.000-04:00

Yes, our Sunday School class is over, and I have not kept up with my notes. . . but here are 2 virtues in capsule form, We spent several weeks on each of these.

The Virtue of Home-Working:
"Workers at home" is a compound word, literally, "houseworker" Oikos--house; ergos--working. Similar words in the NT are ampel (vine) ergos (worker) and geo (earth) ergos (worker), or vinedresser and farmer.
Where does a vine dresser work? Where does an earthworker work? Where does a houseworker work?
The Bible does not expressly forbid working outside the home, but neither does it encourage it. But it does command us to work at home, to have a love for homeworking.

Christian women are under attack. We are encouraged to make a name for ourselves, to choose a college major that will prepare you to pursue a lucrative career.
The Proverbs 31 woman pursued many endeavors beyond her house--the poor & needy, land, vineyards, sewing and selling her sashes--but these were all done out of her home.

Our job description is given in I Timothy 5:10-14:
1. Bringing up children
2. Showing hospitality.
3. Washing the feet of the saints (ministering to fellow Christians with meals, etc.)
4. Helping those in trouble (i.e., volunteering at a Crisis Pregnancy Center).
5. Devoting oneself to good deeds.
All of these center around the home.
What a joy to realize that during the seasons of life when we have little ones to care for, we can "fill full" (my way of thinking of fulfilling) God's purpose for us. Our home can be our sphere of ministry! Little is much when God is in it!

The Virtue of Kindness:
No less than the other virtues, this quality is essential for us to commend the gospel and not blaspheme the Word of God. To tease out the full meaning of kindness, we must also address doing good, for goodness is implicit in this Greek word for "kind".
Jerry Bridges says "Kindness and goodness can often be used interchangeablyh, but it is helpful to distinguish between the 2 traits: kindness is a sincere desire for the happiness of others (that includes our family); goodness is the activity calculated to advance that happiness." Usually good deeds do not happen unless we plan for them.

Proverbs 21:5--"The plans of the diligent lead to abundance." Planning is necessary for heading off danger, and for initiating good. What are some dangers for you? Problem: Are you always frantic and sharp with the family because you are running out the door late every Sunday morning? Plan: Set the alarm 15 minutes earlier. Intentions do not turn into reality unless you plan your work, and work your plan. Wriite down your goals for helping others, hospitality, in your journal. It feels great to write in the date when you have fulfilled them!

Proverbs 3: 3,4: Do not let kindness and truth leave you. Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man. Let us be reminded as wives and mothers that the ones God has given us to care for are the ones He has given us to show kindness toward! May our children see and hear kindness modeled in us! When my children were little, they talked about "my telephone voice"--the one that was kind to strangers. What a rebuke! I want to use "my telephone voice" with those that I love the most! May God work that in me!

TITUS 2 CLASS--THE VIRTUE OF PURITY

2007-06-18T17:56:00.000-04:00

Wouldn't it be great if we could all be Ivory girls--99% pure? there used to be a commercial for Ivory soap that said it was so pure that it could float.

The definition for pure is: free from dirt or taint; free from harshness or roughness; free from what weakens or pollutes; free from moral fault or guilt
What a great definition! Notice the word "free"--not chained, but FREE! I counsel at a pregnancy resource center, and every client that I talk to is bound by sinful choices and difficult situations, but doing things in God's way makes us FREE.

Let's take inventory of our thoughts, our words, our attitudes, our homes--are they free from taint? free from harshness? free from what weakens or pollutes? Would I be uncomfortable if Jesus walked in while I was watching_________, talking about_________? Guess what? He IS here!

"Christ is the Head of this home
The unseen Guest at our table, and
The Silent Listener to every conversation."

As women, we are to be "house despots" (I Timothy 5:14). That includes watching what comes through the door, even in newspapers ads. Look over them and get rid of things that would be a stumbling block to your teen boys! What used to be pornography is now printed in the newspaper.

Our dress should point toward our faces--our character is seen there. I learned this diddy a few years ago and it makes a good check for our adornment: If it is too low, too light, too short, too tight, then change into another outfit!

Our speech must be pure--free from taint. Pure speech is not:
1. slander--lying about another's character
2. gossip--unnecessary bearing of information
3. flattery--insincere complements for personal gain
4. exaggeration
5. carelessness--"chronically inaccurate"
6. insinuation--and at times even
7. silence! Silence could be construed as consent

Proverbs 21:23--He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.

The main idea of the word "pure" in our Titus text is sexual propriety, avoiding immorality in thought, word, or action.

God is not embarrassed about our sexual natures--it was His idea!! However, He has put definite restrictions on it. These boundaries are for our good and our pleasure. "Don't be in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person" is advice that will save a lot of heartache.

Proverbs 4:23--"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life."

TITUS 2--THE VIRTUE OF SELF-CONTROL

2007-05-31T20:53:00.000-04:00

TITUS 2 CLASS—THE VIRTUE OF SELF-CONTROL

Paul commands the older women to teach the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, to exercise self-control. Self-control is one of the virtues that is required of every group Paul addresses in Titus 2.
Self-control is just what it sounds like: controlling self, with all of its impulses, thoughts, feelings, behavior. That sounds like a full time job! Praise God that whenever He gives us a command, He also provides the grace to obey it! However, it is not “let go and let God”. It requires effort and co-operation with the Holy Spirit. Col. 1:29 gives us that wonderful balance of our striving and His doing the work: “For this I toil, struggling with all this energy that HE powerfully works in me.”

We need to build walls of self-control. Proverbs 25:28
We face enemies on 3 fronts: the world (John 15:19, the devil (I Peter 5:8, and the hardest one of all—our own flesh (I Peter 2:11). Who said, “We have discovered the enemy, and it is US!”?

Sinful thoughts become sinful feelings, and sinful feelings lead to sinful behavior.
1. Thoughts—over 10,000 thoughts pass through our minds in 1 day
II Cor. 10:5—taking EVERY thought captive to the obedience of Christ
“Most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself.” –Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Talk to yourself with Scripture.

2. Feelings register what is happening in our thoughts. We see an example of change in feelings, or attitude in the story of Hannah in I Samuel. She was sad and bitter because she was barren. After she took it to God, the Bible says she “went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.” She experienced joy prior to God’s answering her request. Hannah had attitude change. We live life between the ears. Madame Guyon said we can be radiant in a dungeon; dismal in a palace.

3. Behavior involves eating, sleeping, speaking, time, finances, work, lovelife—behavior is life! All of life must be lived under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There is one behavior that will promote self-control in every area of life: meeting with God daily to read the Owner’s Manual for life, and communing with him. How often do we face pressures and problems? How often do we need guidance and power? How often do we need encouragement? DAILY
Do you struggle with self-control in a particular area in your life?
We cannot do this “all by myself”. Don’t take a deep breath and muster resolve. John 15:5 reminds us: “Apart from Me you can do nothing—I like to read that as no thing.”

TITUS 2 CLASS--"TO LOVE YOUR CHILDREN"

2007-05-27T16:03:00.000-04:00

Even if you don't have children, biblical principles serve in any relationship with children.
As in the command to love our husbands, Paul uses the word "phileo" in the command to love our children. We are to enjoy them, love them, encourage them, nurture them.

"No job on earth takes more physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual strength than being a good wife and mother. If a woman is looking for the easy life, she might try teaching tennis, cutting diamonds, or joining a roller derby team! There is nothing easy about good mothering. It can be back breadking, heart wrenching, and anxiety producing. And that's just the morning."--How To Be A Good Mom by Steve & Janet Bly

The very nature of mothering requires constant sacrifice. We have a choice: resent the challenges and demands, or draw from God's grace and cheerfully lay down our lives for our children.

What if you have lost your enjoyment? How do you find renewed joy to serve? Our only genuine refreshment comes from God. In Luke 5:15, 16 cowds came to Jesus to be healed, but Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed (Note: NOT crowded places and shopped) If you are wearing, if your vision for motherhood is waving, get alone with God.
Phileo love for our children is not indulgence--set firm guidelines and limits.

"Far better children cry under healthful correction, than that parents cry later under the bitter fruit of neglected discipline."--Charles Bridges in 1846

In loving our children, our ultimate purpose, our goal, is the salvation of their eternal souls, and their reflecting the glory of God and the gospel to the world.
"This is the thought that should be uppermost on your mind in all you do for your children. In every step, every plan and scheme, and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that might question: "How will it affect their souls?""
--J. C. Ryle
Two things in this world are eternal: God's Word and people. Our children are eternal beings! What a heavy responsibility we carry as moms and mentors to little ones! How will what you are doing this week affect your children's souls?

TITUS 2 CLASS--WEEK 2 "TO LOVE THEIR HUSBANDS"

2007-04-30T22:04:00.000-04:00

God does not leave us to flounder and figure out what to do as women. Titus 2:3-5 gives us a plumbline. It is interesting that this passage begins and ends with our relationship to husbands.

It is interesting that this word for "love" is not the agape kind--the love that has the benefit of another at heart, but it is the "phileo" love--brotherly, friendly, encouraging, harmonious, sympathetic, kind-hearted--we are to be our husband's friend!
This love, this brotherly love, is based upon our relationship, not upon our hormones.
It is based on God's will for us, not on our husband's worthiness or deservedness!

"You marry a sinner; there isn't anyone else to marry!" --Elisabeth Elliot in Let Me Be A Women

Several guidelines in fulfilling this command:
1. Remember God has placed your husband over you as your head, your authority. Look to him, not others, for leadership and counsel.
2. Watch your expectations. "You may, if very generous, allow that your husband lives up to perhaps 80% of your expectations. But there is always that other 20%. You may chip away at that 20% for your whole life, or you may choose to enjoy the 80%--and you BOTH will be much happier." --E. Elliot in Love Has A Price Tag
3. Pray daily for him. Temptation is great!! (Remember there is probably someone else who would be glad to pick up your husband's dirty socks every morning.)
4. Never correct him in public.
5. If (I should say when) you see a fault, go to the Lord first, then your husband second, not your friend.
6. Remember you are the help that is meet (suitable). We should try to fit our plans, etc., to his, not vice versa.
7. Ask God to help you cherish your husband--to hold him dear, to care for, to cling fondly to, to treat as precious.

How about writing a note to your husband that begins with: "One thing I love about you is. . . . ." You will brighten his day!

TITUS 2 CLASS--WEEK ONE

2007-04-16T12:14:00.000-04:00

We began a Ladies Titus 2 Sunday School class at church yesterday that will run for 8-10 weeks. We will study the 7 feminine virtues mentioned in Titus 2:-3--5: that the older women encourage (teach, train) the younger women:
1) to love their husbands,
2) to love their children,
3) to be sensible,
4) to be pure,
5) to be workers at home,
6) to be kind,
7) to be subject to their own husbands----
that the WORD OF GOD be not blasphemed, or dishonored, or reproached!

If we question what is important for us as women to invest our lives in, Scripture gives us these virtues as God's guidelines, or the plumbline, for us. What a heavy responsibility we bear; if we do not exhibit these virtues, we are blaspheming God's sure WORD!

Older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers (a word used 34 times in the NT to describe Satan), not enslaved to wine, teachers of good things, and these good things are the 7 Feminine Virtues listed above. I do not think the Apostle Paul was commanding older women to organize seminars, although they can be beneficial. I believe he was thinking more about day to day living--investing your life in another, being willing to take time to show and teach by example, We have a mentoring mandate. (Mentor was the name of the man Odysseus chose to train Telemachus in Homer's Odyssey.)

This passage addresses older and younger women, so it applies, no matter your age. How wonderful that God gave us clear instructions, and did not leave us to flounder! May we fulfill (I like to say " fill full") our role as Godly women!

JUDSON ON OUR LONG AND WINDING ROAD

2007-04-07T13:00:00.001-04:00

ALL FIVE OF OUR GRANDS!

2007-04-07T12:32:00.000-04:00

And soon we will have six, Lord willing. YIPPEE!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

2007-02-14T16:01:00.000-05:00

"Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting LOVE; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you." Jeremiah xxxi.3

How shall we become lovely? By loving Him who is altogether lovely. ---Augustine

The soul that gives itself wholly and without reserve to God is filled with God's peace; and the closer we draw to our God, so much the more steadfast and tranquil shall we become. ---F. B. Meyer

THIS HOUSE

2007-02-10T03:24:00.000-05:00

This house we'd like to dedicate to the Lord,
And thank Him that this house we could afford.
Many blessings on us He has poured,
And we dedicate it of our own accord.

We'd like to have it for His use while we live in it,
And may for many missionaries it seem fit.
And use it for God, yes, every bit.
And may joy be in this house, if God permits.

So we dedicate this house to the Lord,
And ask Him to protect it with His mighty Sword.
We don't know what Christ for us has stored,
But we will press on for His heavenly reward.

--written by Judson Greene
--prayed by me

4 GENERATIONS WELCOME 2007 AT THE GREENEHOUSE

2007-02-03T20:52:00.002-05:00

It was exciting to have 4 generations here to welcome in the new year. We banged pots and pans at midnight (Caleb broke my favorite wooden spoon), and let the new year in the front door, and let the old one out the back door. We enjoyed a Cuban meal together, played games, listened to music, talked, did a puzzle, watched football--all the ingredients for a good relaxing day.

INCARNATION

2006-12-28T11:50:00.000-05:00

This season I have been reflecting a lot on Christ's Incarnation--The Word made flesh! What a heavy thought! Why would He do that for me? I found this poem by Richard Crashaw that captures the essence of His being made flesh so well:

The Mystery of the Incarnation

That the Great Angel-blinding Light should shrink
His blaze, to shine in a poor shepherd's eye;
That the unmeasured God so low should sink,
As Prisoner in a few poor rags to lie;
That from His Mother's breast he milk should drink,
Who feeds with Nectar Heaven's fair family;
That a vile manger His low bed should prove,
Who in a throne of stars thunders above;
That He whom the Sun serves, should faintly peep
Through clouds of Infant Flesh!
That He, the old Eternal Word should be a child, and weep;
That He who made the fire should fear the cold,
That Heaven's high Majesty His court should keep
In a clay cottage, by each blast controlled;
That Glories self should serve our griefs and fears,
And free Eternity submit to years,
Let our overwhelming wonder be.

In this coming year, it is my prayer that I will never get over the overwhelming wonder of God becoming man for me.

SHAKEABLE THINGS

2006-10-16T09:21:00.000-04:00

God has given our family a gift: the person from whom we bought our house 11 years ago approached us and asked to "redeem" her house--and for a nice sum! We are moving to 1 and a 1/2 acres with woods, and a place to make into a Missionary Apartment, which has always been a desire of my heart! As we have been immersed in packing up our precious books, thinking about new flooring in our new home, trying to figure out how we will arrange the furniture, I was challenged by a message on Hebrews 12 yesterday. Verses 26 &27 say:

"Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven." This expression "yet once more" denotes the removing of things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

My shakeable things are my books, my good coffee, my sewing machine, my garden, my house, and perhaps my computer (not sure about that one)--these are all good gifts from the Father of lights, but am I banking on them? or holding tightly to them? May I hold them all up to HIM on open palms, so if He chooses to take them, I will tightly cling to "the kingdom that cannot be shaken." "For things that are seen are temporal--they will crumble, but things that are unseen are eternal.

May God help me, and you, to look beyond the seen things today, and gaze upon the unseen, the ETERNAL. Let us richly enjoy all the benefits God has loaded upon us, but not let them twine themselves around our hearts and strangle our true Source of Joy!

PRAYING FOR OUR CHILDREN

2006-08-14T11:45:00.000-04:00

We use a "Child for the Day" system that has allowed us to concentrate our prayer time on that one child at least one day a week (that works for us because we have 6 children. . .) That child leads in praying at meals, in our Bible time, and we concentrate on that child (and his family if married) in our prayer time, to pray for that child in depth.

Using Scripture to pray for people has helped my prayers be so much more concrete--I have to do it with my eyes open, but it really keeps my mind and heart more focused on the task!

This morning I prayed for Monday's child and his family according to I Timothy 4:12. That _______________will be an example of the believer in:
1. WORD--speech and written words "The tongue is a little member and boasts great things." James 3:8
2. CONDUCT--right living: in relationships with family, friends, co-workers, authorities
3. SPIRIT--submissive, respectful, teachable, humble
4. LOVE--a self-sacrificing love, laying down life for others; "my life for yours"
5. FAITHFULNESS--committed to keeping commitments; a good worker; integrity
6. PURITY--in thoughts, in actions, sexually

Francis Ridley Havergal frequently prayed: "Prepare them for whatever YOU are preparing for them." We often pray that for our children.

IT'S ALL ABOUT PRESENTATION

2006-08-07T14:39:00.000-04:00

Gracen has been cooking on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday while she has been home this summer. This is one of the beautiful dishes that she has served us. It was beautiful, and delicious! We licked the platter clean! She leaves for BJ on Friday, and we will miss having her around. She is sunshine and sweetness, and quite a good cook!

PRAYING FOR YOUR HUSBAND USING SCRIPTURE

2006-07-26T15:56:00.000-04:00

I found a good passage to pray through for my husband. It is I Timothy 3:2-7. This passage contains many of the things that we should be asking God about on behalf of our love. It is listing qualifications for elders, so we know that these are character traits that are esteemed by God. That he be:
1. blameless-no one can point a finger at him concerning any issue
2. temperate--watchful, vigilant, clear-headed at home, work, and church
3. sober-minded--knowing how to properly order his priorities
4. good behavior (Greek--orderly behavior)
5. hospitable--an open home, a "lover of strangers" (sometimes that may be strange ones :} )
6. able to teach--in his Sunday School class, in our home
7. not to be given to wine
8. gentle--considerable of family, colleagues, church family
9. not quarrelsome--"reluctant to fight"
10. not covetous--not motivated by money
11 .good ruler at home--takes authority; handles discipline when he is here
12 .good testimony among outsiders

Praying through different Scriptures has really helped me focus my prayer time. I am thankful that I have such a model husband. He is a treasure!

MEMORIAL DAY PICNIC

2006-05-31T14:40:00.000-04:00

Caleb took this shot of our family strolling at the park--it looks like Sunshine and Shadow. He is enjoying his new camera!

PRAYER IS WORK

2006-05-31T10:28:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you, but it is easier for me to clean my house from top to bottom than to spend time in earnest prayer! I am reading Listening To God by Marilyn Hontz on prayer, and it has renewed my intent and vigor to learn to work hard in prayer. Some of the challenges facing us in "prayer work" are distractions. As soon I start to pray, an item for the grocery list comes to mind, and then I am off in coupon-land, etc. To remedy this I keep a To Do/Grocery list with my Bible and notebook. When something comes to mind, I jot it down for LATER. Then I can let it go and get back to business. I like to intertwine my prayer time with my Bible reading--as I come across a verse that is apropos, I rephrase it and pray it to God. (For example, when reading I Timothy 4:7, 8 pray for godly discipline; when reading I Timothy 6:9 pray for financial wisdom.) I also have found that writing out my prayers in a journal keeps my mind and heart more focused, and I can also look back at them and see how God has ansswered, or where I was struggling a few months ago.

". . .Oh, what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer."
--Joseph Medlicott Scriven, 1820-86

SELF-WILL

2006-05-26T09:02:00.000-04:00

The one misery of man is self-will; the one secret of blessedness is the conquest over our own wills. To yield them up to God is rest and peace. If we 'stand before God', then that means that our wills are brought into harmony with His. And that means that the one poison drop is squeezed out of our lives, and that sweetness and joy are infused into them. For what disturbs us in this world is not 'trouble', but our opposition to trouble. The true source of all that frets and irritates, and wears away our lives, is not in external things, but in the resistance of our wills to the will of God expressed by external things.
--Alexander Maclaren

HITHER AND THITHER

2006-05-17T09:58:00.000-04:00

When I am in one of those "dry times" in my communion with God, I find it helpful to write out a prayer from a book of prayers that I have in my devotion basket, and pray those back to God, word for word, but saying them as from me. Today this one really ministered to my heart--it hits my struggles on the head. It was written by Johann Arndt, who was a German Pietist that lived from 1555-1621, and taught at Wittenburg where Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the church:

Ah, LORD, unto whom all hearts are open, Thou canst govern the vessel of my soul far better than I can. Arise, O LORD, and command the stormy wind and the troubled sea of my heart to be still, and at peace with Thee, that I may look up to Thee undisturbed, and abide in union with Thee, my LORD. Let me not be carried hither and thither by wandering thoughts; but forgetting all else, let me hear and see Thee.

OUR GUIDE

2006-04-25T08:28:00.000-04:00

O LORD, our Guide even unto death, grant us, I pray Thee, grace to follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. In little daily duties to which Thou callest us, bow down our wills to simple obedience, patience under pain or provocation, strict truthfulness of word and manner, humility, kindness: in great acts of duty, if Thou shouldst call us to them, uplift us to self-sacrifice, heroic courage, laying down of life for Thy Truth's sake or for a brother. Amen. ---Christina G. Rosetti

THE SAFE PLACE

2006-04-21T09:24:00.000-04:00

I went to Jesus with a prayer
Upon a suppliant's knee;
Low at His Cross I laid me down,
Nor asked His face to see,
Yet whispered in His ear the tale
No mortal ear could bear;
the story of a faithless heart,
And of its self-despair.

I told Him how my feet had slipped
How often gone astray;
How oft my heart refused to love,
My lips refused to pray.
In stammering words that noen but He
Hearing could understand,
I made compliant of careless work
Done by a careless hand.

Of wasted hours, of idle words,
Of love oft waxing dim,
Of silence when a warmer heart
Had testified of Him.
I owned my weak and selfish ways;
How often all day long,
Moanings and signs had filled His ears
To whom I owed a song.

And what said He? What whispered words
Responded unto mine?
Did he reproach me? Did His love
On me refuse to shine?
Nay, thus He spake, and bent Hi8m low
To reach my anxious ear,
"My child, thou doest well to lie
As thou art lying here;

I knew thy human weakness, knew
Each lurking bosom-sin,
Knew it, and yet in loving grace
Thy heart I stooped to win.
"I knew that thou would often fall,
Poor work for Me would do,
Would give me only half thy love,
Give praises faint and few.

And yet I chose thee. Be content;
And since thou canst not fly
To heights by dearer souls attained,
Let it suffice to lie.
Here at My feet; it is a plce
To which My loved ones flee;
They find it sweet, and so shalt thou;
"Tis a safe place for thee."

Yes, it is sweet, and it is safe!
And here will I abide;
Sinful, and yet forgiven, sad,
And yet so satisfied!

--Elizabeth Prentiss

This is from a recently reprinted book Golden Hours, Heart Hymns of the Christian Life, that my husband gave me for my birthday. It has ministered to me greatly! Thank you, sweetheart.

THE HOME MANAGER

2006-04-01T19:36:00.000-05:00

I am speaking to a MOPS group this week, and thought I would share my notes:

In I Timothy 5:10-14 wives are instructed to be, among other things, "house despots", or, as translated, "home managers."
I. What have we been given to manage?
A. Children
B. Hospitality
C. Service to the needy

II. What is a manager?
"One who conducts affairs with economy and care; a person who directs a team." (Webster) I love that definition. It gives focus to my management. Just because you are a "stay at home" mom does not necessarily mean you are fulfilling God's command of being a "keeper at home." As home managers, we have a long range goal in view. Homemaking is not merely maid work. A maid goes down a list and gets the job done. A manager is concerned about the big picture. For instance, a maid will match and fold the socks to get it done. A home manager may do that same task, but include her children, and teach them matching and colors while they get the job done.

III. How can we manage our homes efficiently, with economy and care?
A. Determine the right goal, or standard for your home. Every home is different. What is your husband comfortable with? Are you comfortable if someone just drops by for a visit? Or are you scrambling around, picking up clutter while they ring the doorbell? Is the neatness level in your home pretty constant? Or do the children come in one day when you are in a cleaning frenzy and ask who is coming over for dinner?
***However, we must remember that people do not live in the rooms that a photographed for LIVING or Good Housekeeping!

B. Organize with your goals in view.
1. Eliminate and Concentrate. Eliminate clutter. Concentrate on the things you love (especially the people!!)
2. Teach yourself and the children, "A place for everything, and everything in its place."
"Dirty clothes must go in the hamper just as fast as dirty thoughts in our minds must be done away with. Both are unworthy of lying around, untended to, in the life of a child of God."--Ann Ortlund in Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman (this book helped me immensely)
3. Go through your wardrobe--eliminate and concentrate. Eliminate the things you "just might wear someday" and concentrate on a few things you feel good in (those are the only things you wear, anyway)
4. Watch the way you spend your time for a week. Are you being a good steward of the time God has given you? Being a stay at home mom does not give us liberty to squander our time on trivial pursuits. We will give an account of the way we managed our time.
5. Plan out meals for at least a week at a time--even better, a month! Unless the Lord comes back, one thing is inevitable--we will need to have supper on the table! So why wait until 3 pm to decide what to fix? Always know before you go to bed at night what you will be serving for the next day's dinner. Better planning means better economy. When supper is already organized in the morning, you avoid much stress when the toddler's are not having a good day.
6. Establish a routine for your children--meals, bedtime, reading time

IV. Make plans, but always commit them to God. Ask Him to interrupt your plans if that is His purpose for you that day.
Proverbs 16:9--The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps."

STARTING AT HOME

2006-03-27T09:09:00.000-05:00

"Let us try in all simplicity and honesty, STARTING AT HOME, to translate the language of high faith and heavenly enthusiasm into the plain prose of daily conduct, so that all men can understand it: Let our temper be under the rule of the love of Jesus. . . .Let the love that seeks not its own, but is ever ready to wash others' feet, or even to give its life for them, be our aim as we abide in Jesus. . . . By His grace, the most commonplace life can be transfigured with the brightness of a heavenly beauty as the infinite love of the divine nature shines out through our frail humanity. Fellow-Christian, let us praise God! We are called to love as Jesus loves, as God loves."
--Andrew Murray in Abide In Christ

THE DISCIPLINE OF PLACE

2006-03-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

A couple about to be married asked me if there was one word I would want to give them that would help them build a happy marriage. And I gave them the word "honor". When I forget that my husband is God's gift to me and that even though he is a sinner who fails from time to time, I'm to honor him because he holds the office of a husband, then we're in trouble. And I must confess that I don't always treat my husband honorably.

Some women ask, "How can I honor my husband when he doesn't deserve it? If he's an alcoholic or if he's an abusive husband, does he deserve respect?" No, he doesn't deserve it, but he is to be honored because he is the husband.

But we also need to realize that not everybody has a right to everything. To honor a child is not to allow him to get away with murder; it is to discipline him, perhaps to spank him. A child has a right to be taken care of and to be taught. But he does not have a right to vote, marry, be taxed--or to run the household!

We must not confuse superiority of position with superiority of worth. A father and mother are not worth more in God's sight than their little child. But they have been given a position above that of the child. They are in charge; they are responsible; they are obligated to discharge their duties for God's sake.

By the same token, an employer honors his employees by being fair and just, by paying them fair wages, by treating them kindly, by remembering that he has God as his master. . . .

Jesus said in Luke 6, "Just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. . . .But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Highest."
Let us ask the Lord to help us give honor where honor is due.
---Elisabeth Elliot in Discovering Joy Through Discipline

AND NOW WE HAVE FIVE

2006-03-07T13:58:00.000-05:00

Today Gwendolyn Daisy Greene is two weeks old. She is so sweet! Sorren, her older brother, was quite disappointed that it was not a boy. When I took Sorren and Chloe to the hospital to meet Gwendolyn the afternoon that she was born, Sorren said, "You all go ahead in--I will wait in the car." And when we got back to Grammy's house, he made a sign for his room that said, "No Girls Allowed." However, Gwen is winning his heart. He now rubs her head gently and says she is precious. . . .and she is! As are ALL of our five grandchildren!!!!!

THE DAILY ROUND

2006-02-27T21:49:00.001-05:00

The daily round of duty is full of probation =(critical examination and evaluation) and of discipline; it trains the will, heart, and conscience. We need not to be prophets or apostles. The commonest life may be full of perfection. The duties of home are a discipline for the ministries of heaven. H. E. Manning
That is a vigorous thought to me--my normal duties are a "discipline for the ministries of heaven"! May we do our "common" work as an offering to God today.

DAY BY DAY

2006-02-27T14:12:00.000-05:00

"And the people will gather the portion of manna for a day by the day." Ex. 16:4
"How great the value which this truth teaches us to attach to each single day! We are so easily led to look at life as a great whole and to neglect the little "today"; to forget that the single days do indeed make up the whole, and that the value of each single day depends upon its influence on the whole. One day lost is a link broken in the chain, which often takes more than another day to mend. One day lost influences the next and makes its keeping more difficult. One day lost may be the loss of what months or years of careful labor had secured. . . .If you desire to abide in Jesus, let it be day by day. . . .Accustom yourself to look upon this as one of the reasons for day and night. God thought of our weakness and sought to provide for it. Let each new day derive its value from your calling to abide in Christ. . . .As the Father asks, "Can you trust me just for this one day to keep you abiding in Jesus, and Jesus to keep you fruitful?" you cannot but give the joyful response: "I will trust and not be afraid." --Andrew Murray in Abide In Christ
Carpe Deum!

PEACE

2006-02-20T09:14:00.000-05:00

There can be no real prosperity or progress in a nation, A HOME (emphasis mine), or a soul unless there be peace. As not even a machine can do its work unless it be in rest--secured on a good foundation--quietness and assurance are indispensable to mankind's moral and spiritual well-being. Sin has disturbed all our relations; we are out of harmony with ourselves, with men, and with God. . . .Peace can only come with right. Where everything is as God would have it, in God's order and in harmony with His will, there alone peace can reign.
--Andrew Murray in Abide In Christ

May we experience peace and harmony in our homes, we as seek to follow our Creator's order for our families. "It is HE that has made us, and not we ourselves." (Psalm 100) Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife. Proverbs 17:1

A GENTLEMAN, A SCHOLAR, AND A BALLER

2006-02-15T10:21:00.000-05:00

Last night Caleb scored his 2000th point in basketball--the first time anyone in our area has scored that many in more than 8 years! CONGRATULATIONS, CALEB!

HAPPY HEART DAY

2006-02-14T08:12:00.000-05:00

Trust me, I have not earned your dear rebuke,---
I love, as you would have me, God the most;
Would lose not Him, but you, must one be lost.
Nor with Lot's wife cast back a faithless look,
Unready to forego what I forsook;
This say I, having counted up the cost,
This, though I be the feeblest of God's host,
The sorriest sheep Christ shepherds with His crook.
Yet while I love my God the most, I deem
That I can never love you over-much;
I love Him more, so let me love you too;
Yea, as I apprehend it, love is such
I cannot love you if I love not Him,
I cannot love Him, if I love not you.

---Christina Rossetti

APPRAISAL

2006-02-11T15:04:00.000-05:00

Never think she loves him wholly,
Never believe her love is blind,
All his faults are locked securely
In a closet of her mind;
All his indecisions folded
Like old flags that time has faded,
Limp and streaked with rain,
And his cautiousness like garments
Frayed and thin, with many a stain--
Let them be, oh let them be,
There is treasure to outweigh them,
His proud will that sharply stirred,
Climbs as surely as the tide.
Senses strained too taut to sleep,
Gentleness to beast and bird,
Humor flickering hushed and wide,
As the moon on moving water,
And a tenderness too deep
To be gathered in a word.

--Sara Teasdale

"Who is it you marry? You marry a sinner. There is nobody else to marry!" --Elisabeth Elliot

ON EDUCATION

2006-02-08T07:36:00.000-05:00

It is a great mistake to think they (children) should understand all they learn; for God has ordered that in youth the memory should act vigorously, independent of the understanding--whereas a man cannot usually recollect a thing unless he understands it. --Arnold of Rugby

Let us be diligent to have our young ones memorize Scripture--even if they do not understand it!

PRAYER FOR CHILDREN

2006-02-07T07:56:00.000-05:00

Father, hear us, we are praying
Hear the words our hearts are saying,
We are praying for our children.

Keep them from the powers of evil,
From the secret, hidden peril,
From the whirlpool that would suck them,
From the treacherous quicksand pluck them.

From the worldling's hollow gladness,
From the sting of faithless sadness,
Holy Father, save our children.

Through life's troubled waters steer them,
Through life's bitter battle cheer them,
Father, Father, be Thou near them.
Read the language of our longing,
Read the wordless pleadings thronging,
Holy Father, for our children

And wherever they may bide,
Lead them Home at eventide.

Written by Amy Carmichael
Prayed by me.

BOOKS

2006-02-03T15:47:00.000-05:00

A home without books is like a room without windows. . . . A little library, growing every year, is an honorable part of a man's history. It is a man's duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessities of life. --Henry Ward Beecher

Books are the quietest and most constant friends; they are the most accessible counselors, and the most patient teachers. --Charles Eliot

Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are books that other folks have lent me.
--Anatole France

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. ---Chinese proverb

There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us to Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry--
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll--
How Frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human Soul.
--Emily Dickinson

BODY AND SOUL

2006-01-30T14:13:00.000-05:00

It is a good reminder that "soul" work also involves bodies--feeding them, clothing them, caring for them and about them. "When you do it unto the least of these, my brethren, you do it unto Me," said Jesus.

A prospective donor for Åmy Carmichael's work in India ( saving temple children used for immoral "services"), sent a stipulation with his money--he wanted it used only " for evangelistic work, not buildings." Amy wrote to the gentleman: "Well, one can't save and then pitchfork souls into heaven. There are times when I heartily wish we could. And as for buildings, souls (in India, at least) are more or less securely fastened into bodies. Bodies can't be left to lie about in the open, and as you can't get the souls out and deal with them separately, you have to take them both together. What then is to be done?" (from A Chance to Die by E. Elliot)

In the calling of motherhood, we can sometimes feel like we are only doing mundane "body" work. As we do our duties today, let us remember that every body God has given us to care for houses an eternal soul!

"Learn to commend thy daily acts to God, so shall the dry every-day duties of common life be steps to heaven, and lift thy heart thither.--E. B. Pusey

DAILY TASKS

2006-01-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

Learn to commend thy daily acts to God. So shall the dry, every-day duties of common life be steps to heaven, and lift thy heart thither.
--E. B. Pusey

EFFICIENCY

2006-01-19T13:56:00.000-05:00

Multi-tasking is not new. A Dutch woman in the long ago darned her husband's socks while she read from a book propped upon the windowsill. Her foot rocked the sleeping baby's cradle. And all the while, she sat upon a cheese, pressing it for market.

My First Post

2006-01-12T21:10:00.000-05:00

The Lord opened my heart at The Wilds Camp in NC in 1971. I'm an MK and grew up in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. I had an exciting childhood in a godly home. There was nothing better than motorcyling around bustling Chittagong, clinging to my dad for dear life, and throwing out tracts to passersby!
My husband of 30 years is a man who seeks hard after God, and is the prophet, priest and king of our home, and my best friend! He is an ENT surgeon. We have 6 children on earth, 1 in heaven, and have homeschooled for 16 years. Our 2 oldest boys are married to wonderful ladies, and we have been blessed with 4 "grands" so far! (No. 5 due out at the end of February.) Our only daughter is a senior at BJU, and I continue to homeschool our last 3 boys. I revel in my calling as wife and mother, and want to share that passion with others.