Tag Archives: Family

An Excellent Wife

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What have we become? Overwhelmed. Worrisome. Riddled with anxiety. I had thoughts of becoming an excellent wife as a young girl. Like the descriptions in the Bible – a wife who is regarded as “more precious than jewels” and praised by her husband, who is strong, smart, generous, skilled, dignified, wise, kind, full of hope, without fear of the future, and without worry. This describes the women of long ago. These are the women we are supposed to emulate. What happened? How did we veer so far off course?

I remember watching my son focused as he worked, masterfully creating and artfully building, snapping one LEGO piece together with another. I often wondered what he was creating and how it was to be used.

What is my purpose? Why was I created? Amidst a myriad of worldly reasons, the roll of women has been battled and argued, seemingly won at times, only to find more confusion and frustration arise from within the human ranks as history speeds on. To obtain a correct view of our purpose we must take several large steps back and ask ourselves Who created us and what was the Creator’s intentions.

You would probably find it comical, if not outright frightening, if your child’s LEGO creation stood up and boldly proclaimed its autonomy with an inherent right to decide for itself its purpose. I can almost hear what my child’s respond would be as he corrects his creation and decides to change mid-play its intended use, or chooses to smash it to pieces in order to build it up as something wholly different.

Why is this any different with the Almighty Creator of the universe in regard to us? Just because we have will, conscience, and seeming autonomy, the fact of the matter is, we have a purpose that was already determined. All we need to do is understand two specific intentions as put forth by our Creator.

Why were YOU created by God?

Commit to Under Commit

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Life PyramidOne of the saddest things about life is the fact that we are the only ones to blame for how crazy our life is. I see many many of my friends overwhelmed with busy schedules so much so that they scarcely have time to spend in solid Bible study, reading, and prayer with God. There is no time to meet with friends, no ability to “pop over” for tea. No time to help out when a sister is in need. All because we have mistakenly chased after the things the world tells us we need to chase after.

I get it. We are all busy especially this time of year. Martin Luther used to say when he had a busy day he would get up an extra hour early to get in 2 hours of Bible study and prayer in but when he had an extra busy day ahead of him and he knew he was barely going to be able to fit it all in he would get up 2 hours early to spend 3 hours with The LORD.

Spending 3 hours with God in the morning may seem unrealistic but my conscience bears witness against it being unrealistic. My spirit tells me I need to do as much as I can to be in the Word. Below are some of the potential lies we have eaten hook, line, and sinker (think about that phrase for a sec.) You have swallowed EVERY BIT of the lie. While the items on the below list are not inherently bad, some are, in fact, quite good, you need to check who you are serving and what your motives are for doing them. The things the world wants you to serve or God?

God comes first, then your husband, then your kids, then your family, then your church family, then your co-workers, and on down the line. This is not about hours in your day, of course you need to work 8-9 hours a day. This is about who you are and your priorities. Click on the Green Pyramid and read the things we should focus on when we interact with different people in our lives. God and prayer should be a part of every one. Consider if you are trapped in any of the following areas and how you can lighten your load.

  • Making sure every kid is involved in a sport or even two. (What happened to playing outside with the neighbors and staying out until the street lights come on?)
  • Thinking the right thing to do to enrich your child is an after school program. (I know you could come up with something to help enrich them.)
  • Signing up to volunteer for everything you can (PTA, CHURCH, YMCA, you name it)
  • Working away from home. (I know some of you are not going to like this one, but this is straight from the Bible.)
  • Signing up for this activity or that activity to fill your time. (Quite time and hours spent alone with God are soooo important.)
  • Filling up every weekend with stuff to do. (Try making sure at least one or two weekends a month are free and clear, you never know what appointments God has for you.)

All this leads to being overwhelmed. I encourage you to ruthlessly edit your life. Stop carving out time for God and make him the largest section of your waking hours Life Pyramid. Resolve to commit to under commit.

by Jen O’Sullivan (also featured on Linked Cycling Women)

In the Dog House with God

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This may sound odd to you, but when you think about it, it actually makes sense. Before I was saved, I would sin and most of the time I would get away with it. What I mean is that no actual consequences were felt from many of my sins. To put it plainly I would lie to get a better interest rate on a new home or car purchase, I would not claim cash income, I would get mad and drop a bunch of f-bombs, I would steel an extra movie once in the theater, I would lie to get late payments removed, I would break the law by speeding or illegally parking, and on and on. I was entitled because everyone else was. I was also not a child of God. What I mean is that I was not adopted yet. I was not part of his family. Other people’s parents do not discipline you. If you have kids, you do not discipline other people’s children and you certainly hope other parents do not discipline your kids. Discussing right and wrong is one thing, but going so far as to enforce and inflict discipline is something left up to one’s parents and usually one’s dad when it is really bad.

So, here I sit, now an actual child of God, adopted into his family after believing I was saved but truly was not. For those who have not read my testimony, please check it out HERE. I know I am a child of God because he has been disciplining me. Yes, I have been forgiven for my sins, but I only grow in Messiah and am further sanctified through him through testing, trials, and sometimes discipline. I get it now. When I discipline Jacob, my 5 year old son, I do it because I love him. Here is an example: He stuck out his tongue the other day at me and we sat down for about 30 minutes discussing the ramifications of why sticking your tongue out at your mom could lead to you becoming homeless. Yes, I know, my parenting style is a bit odd, but my 5 year old is crazy logical so I must play to his logical nature. Here is the sequence.

Stick your tongue out at your mom + no disciplinary action = Jacob with a lack of respect for authority =  grown up Jacob as a man at job + disrespecting his boss because he has a lack of respect for authority = loss of job = lack of income = a homeless Jacob. Seriously… he gets it.

This is what I call logical discipline. Sometimes we need a logical reality check from God, a wake up call so to speak, while other times we need a slap on the wrist. God knows how we learn and what works best for each one of us. Just know this, if you are going along in your life and hardly ever seem to feel like you are being disciplined for your actions by God, you may want to consider if you are in fact saved. Take a look at our Fruits Audit Section to the right to test yourself against what God has to say about what it means to be truly a child of His.

Do Not Grow Weary (Hebrews 12:3-11, ESV)

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. – Hebrews 12:3-11

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