Worship Him

"Honor the Lord for the glory of His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness."
Psalm 29:2, NLT

Studying...Created to be His Help Meet

We are studying the book by Debi Pearl, Created to be His Help Meet. Through our study of this book, we are going to learn what it means to be a help meet and actually living the role that God created us as women to fill. I've read this book once before and applied many of the things that Mrs. Pearl spoke of, and it has transformed an already good marriage into nothing short of awesome!! I encourage you to purchase this book and follow along or at the very least, check out the Pearl's website at http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/ Any text taken directly from Mrs. Pearl's book will be highlighted in blue.

I realize that in studying Created to be His Help Meet at the rate of one chapter per week, we will be doing this study for approximately 24 weeks. We could go at this at a much faster rate, but I believe that if we truly want to change and fill our God given rolls as help meet to our husbands, then we need to take things slower and put into practice what we are learning. I hope you agree and stay the course with me as we become better help meets together.

Part 2: Titus 2

Chapter 15: To Be Sober

This week begins Part 2 of our study, Created to be His Help Meet. We will begin studying Titus 2, which, in my opinion, is the model for us women as wives.

This chapter is titled, To Be Sober. What does it mean to be sober? Webster's gives a couple of definitions. The most obvious is to not be drunk. However, taking into context what we are talking about, this is the definition Webster's gives: 1)Quiet in demeanor 2)Free from excess 3) Showing self control 4) Rational.

Wow.

That alone give us cause to stop and reflect on ourselves while thinking about Titus 2:4a, "That they may teach the young women to be sober." KJV

So, according to the definition of sober, a sober wife ceases to be loud and boisterous, extravagant, indulgent and irrational. No longer single, a sober wife will consider the needs of her husband.

Instead of spending wildly (which I've been guilty of in the past) she will show self control by some rational thinking and spend the income wisely buying what's needed and respecting her husband's decisions concerning that.

I love the way Mrs. Pearl words the wife's job, "She becomes the acting CEO of a great enterprise of which her husband is the owner." (page 147)

Mrs. Pearl shares a letter from a woman whose husband came home from work one day and instead of asking his wife how she was or how her day went (she'd been sick and many household chores didn't get done) he began asking why this wasn't done or when supper would be ready. He was selfish and insensitive to his wife. She asked Mrs. Pearl what was she suppose to do, reward this insensitive man??

Well, I have to agree that in my flesh, it would have been on. Mrs. Pearl pointed out though that we, as wives, are still required to do what God has called us to do...honor our husbands. Two wrongs don't make a right and an argument can't survive unless it is being fed.

It is very important for wives to plan. We truly need to simplify and plan out our days so that when those unexpected things come up, we are prepared. We are reminded on page 148 that if our husbands failed to plan on their jobs, they would soon be unemployed.

We are encouraged to use our crock pots. This, to me, is one of the greatest inventions ever. Get that meal going in the morning and supper is one less worry in the evening. Most men don't need 7 course meals. They are happy with some homemade chicken soup and fresh bread. Life doesn't have to be extravagant to be wonderful, but less stress..that's a must.

On page 155 is a list of things titled:

How to be a Good Wife Today

* Have dinner ready--I can't think of any man that isn't grateful for that meal waiting on him when he walks in the door

* Prepare yourself--Taking just a few minutes to touch up your makeup and comb your hair will make you feel better..and believe me, your man will notice!!!

* Clear away the clutter--Right before your hubby gets home, go through the main part of the house and pick up those things that are laying around. Again, less stress.

* Prepare the children and minimize the noise--When it was time for my hubby to get home, the kids were allowed to greet Daddy with hugs and kisses, but then they were to go to their room for 30 minutes and play quietly while Daddy rested and unwound and I finished our meal. Dad was then more than ready to enjoy those babies!!!

I try very hard to work my schedule around my husband's. I am home when he is home and run any errands or do deep cleaning when he's at work. If he wants to go out, he brings it up....even if I'm dying to try the new restaurant in town..he works hard to support our family and my schedule is flexible to his needs.

Mrs. Pearl encourages us to think of a time that our husband hurt our feelings or made us angry and we responded wrongly. She asks us to write the story down the way it happened and then to rewrite it with the alternate ending with the way we should have responded to our man. Hopefully in seeing it on paper, this will encourage us to think before we react in the future.

Next week: To Love Their Husbands

Thankful Thursday

It's Thursday and time to join up with Sonya over at Truth 4 the Journey for Thankful Thursday. It's a time we set aside to list five things that we are truly thankful for.

It is such a blessing to be able to share what I am thankful for and rejoice with you in how God has blessed you as well.

Click here to join us in sharing the faithfulness of God!!!

Here are my thankfuls for this week......

1) I am thankful for a warm house!!! This week has been one of the coldest we've had in Alabama in a very long time and they're predicting it's going to get colder still!!! We are blessed with plenty of heat and the ability to afford it..along with blankets, warm soups and hot cocoa!!

2) I am thankful that DS's car is running better. He's had quite a time and he and DH have been playing a game of "Could it be this?"---a most frustrating game at best!

3) I am thankful that DD loves her new job at the hospital. Only 4 days in, but she said the atmosphere is so much better than the place she left. God is SO faithful!!

4) I am thankful that my Mom is excited about our trip in a little more than a week!! Sometimes Mom gets so wound up in what "might happen" that she doesn't enjoy the here and now.

5) I am thankful that DD's new boss is fine with her taking the time off for our trip. Most new employers frown on that. Again, God is SO faithful!!!

"All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen One who never dies; He alone is God. Amen."
1 Timothy 1:17, NLT

Random Dozen

Time to share a bit about myself by linking up with Linda over at 2nd Cup of Coffee for Random Dozen. I really love participating in this meme. The questions are fun (although sometimes the answers can be tough) and it's great to read how others think about the same things.

Click here to join us!!

1. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a cranky-baby-hissy-fitter, how much of a complainer are you?

Normally....a 3 or 4. I'm not a big complainer, mostly because 'whiners' (what I call them) totally get on my nerves!!

2. When someone else is talking, do you listen, or are you thinking about what you're going to say in response?

I tend to veer back and forth. I tend to listen for a while then my mind says, "Oh! When they get done with that comment, say ____________" Then before I know it, I usually have to say, "What was that??" Something I surely need to work on!

3. I just deleted 1062 messages from my email account. Do you have any plans for a clean sweep this month--of anything?

Not really. I usually stay on top of most things like that. I hate clutter of any kind. (DH has rubbed off on me in 26 years!)

4. Tell us about your perfume. Was it a gift? What does it remind you of? Do you have a signature scent?

I wear Sand & Sable. I have worn Sand & Sable since I was 18 years old. My boss at the 2nd job I had out of high school wore it and I fell in love with the scent and that's how I found it and began wearing it. My kids don't call it Sand & Sable, they've dubbed it "Mom's Scent"....I like that...

5. What is your best organizing tip for the new year?

Don't allow clutter. Don't allow anything to pile up. When you come home, put away everything as you bring it in. It actually takes less time to put things straight-away than to come back to them later--usually when you have something else going on...

6. What is your favorite comic strip?

I have two actually...Baby Blues and Zits. They seem to portray real life to me!

7. Do you sleep with a fluffy or flat pillow?

Hmmm....my pillow is big, but firmer. Flat pillows give me a headache and fluffy pillows make me feel like the pillow is trying to snuff the life out of me.

8. What color is your kitchen? Why did you choose that color?

Of course....the one room in our old house we haven't remodeled yet....Let me say I haven't chosen any color in my kitchen. When we do remodel it will be be red and white with hints of black and stainless steel. Right now I have paneling on the bottoms of the wall with veggie wallpaper on the top. My cabinets are a pine color with one counter being pale yellow and my island being red. My floor is a stained white linoleum that does the wave in places....yes it's a mess, but I love my mess!

9. What’s the most interesting bumper sticker you’ve seen?

Total blank....nothing coming to mind...

10. Do you prefer an expensive writing tool or whatever is lying around? (Are you a Montblanc or a Papermate?)

I'm just happy to find a pen that writes!! If I'm buying though, it's a Bic..

11. What chore doesn’t feel like a chore – you just enjoy it (at least most of the time)?

Okay...most will probably think I'm nuts, but....washing dishes. I really don't mind because once the dishes are washed and put away, then I can clean the counters off and everything looks so neat and tidy!!

12. If your parents often repeated themselves, what is something one of them said more than once?

"Did you give everything water?" When I was growing up, my dad had 12-15 hunting dogs at any given time and literally hundreds of chickens. My job was to water everything in the morning and evening and without fail I would always be asked if I gave everything water---may explain why I'm anal about it with the 2 dogs and 1 cat we have now.....

Silence Can Be Golden

I spent the entire day yesterday catching up from the weekend. I don't know about your home, but mine tends to take on a life of it's own on Saturday and Sunday. I try to keep it straightened so that come Monday morning I'm not wondering when the bomb went off and why I'm still around to take in the aftermath, but it just seems that I cannot get ahead of the fallout.

All day long I found this thought going around and around in my head, "You need to post something on your blog. You haven't posted anything since Friday. You didn't even post a Worship Him for Sunday!!!" How I prayed and prayed, asking God was there something that He wanted me to do and the answer I got...silence.

In times past, I thought that silence from God meant one of a few things: He was upset with me, I had sin in my life or I was so far gone I couldn't even hear God anymore. Can you believe the bondage satan had me in????

Thankfully, though, I'm learning that silence from God isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Have you ever noticed that when you are really trying to focus in on something you need total silence? When there is an important weather report interrupting our favorite program I want it silent so I don't miss a word the weatherman says. When we are traveling and we enter a busy city that we've never been in before, DH wants total silence in the car so he can clearly hear the directions I'm giving him.

If we get a phone call from someone we haven't talked to in a long time, we want it silent so we can clearly hear the other person because it's important we don't miss a word.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Still reflecting on 2009, I see that in many areas, satan kept me so busy that hearing God was an impossibility. Slowing down to enjoy the blessings He gave could not happen. I've seen my busy, crazy lifestyle has had a negative effect on my teens and this bothers me.

When I think back to the time I was 17 and 19 (the ages they are now) I don't remember my life being so nuts!! Seems they are always stressed about something, there is always drama about something and they don't have a minute to spare at all!! I've been a stay at home mom who homeschooled her kids and somehow I failed to show them that running at full speed 24/7 will eventually take a toll.

So....I'm having little chats with them as God allows. Sharing what I'm learning about slowing down and saying "no" when people ask me to do things that I haven't had the time to run by God first to get His approval. I'm pointing out, in love, that their phones are always attached to them and they can't even go to the bathroom without them! (seriously...they take their phones to the bathroom). I'm trying to show them, by example, that it's not healthy to fill up every moment of their lives with something to do.

I didn't stress because I ran out of homemade laundry soap. Instead I pulled the store bought stuff out that I have in reserve for just such an emergency.

Even Jesus got away to pray and rest.

So......I never did do a post for yesterday. God never gave me anything specific He wanted me to share. I ended up making a loaf of fresh bread, helping DS with some Economics and cooking lunch with him, mopping the bathroom and catching up on laundry.

Yes, sometimes silence is golden...even when it's from God.

The More (Most?) Important Thing

I find that I'm quickly getting to put into practice the fact that I'm trying to allow God to direct my steps and to take this blog where He wants it to go.

If you follow along, you know on Friday's we've been studying Created to be His Help Meet. We're a little more than half way through the book and I had wanted to pick back up today. But with the course of the week, I didn't have the time to sit aside to read and study the chapter we are on and form a post so.......God willing, we are going to be picking up next week and continuing our study.

Why wasn't I ready for that post? Well, I found myself reflecting that this morning because I want to be able to see God's hand guiding and directing and for me, that's going to mean taking a few moments and looking back to see what things changed the course of my day or week.
Here's what I found:

Normally I take the Christmas decorations down the day after Christmas. This year both kids had to work the day after Christmas and on the days they work, I try to spend a little extra time with them. Also, DH's side of the family was able to get together to celebrate Christmas on that day. DH comes from a big family and to synchronize all of those schedules can be quite overwhelming, but this year it just all fell into place.

Time with kids and family or taking down decorations? No contest.

Then of course came Sunday and I don't plan any kind of work on Sunday. I don't even make my bed!!!

With Monday came a trip to the grocery store. No, we weren't in need of food, I still have a shelf full of leftovers that are going in the freezer today but it was those things like toilet paper and dish soap that were calling my name added to the fact that the dogs really wanted to eat that day!

So Tuesday began the exodus of the Christmas decorations and because I tend to have several (approximately 9 or so) boxes (BIG boxes) of decorations, this is a very time consuming job. Add to that the fact that I have a very claustrophobic hubby who hates clutter...well you can see how this could quickly get out of hand.

Now, in the midst of having a totally destroyed house, we learn that DS needs a thermostat put on his car. He rode with his sister to work that night so that dear ole' dad could put the thermostat on, however we soon learned that under the hood of DS's car is a very tight spot to work in...add that to my claustrophobic hubby..yeah, he needed my help to hold things and hand him tools. After finishing DS's car, we were frozen, but my sweet man climbed into the attic and put up my 9 or so very heavy boxes of Christmas deco's. By this time it's late evening and we heat up some leftovers and call it a night.

Wednesday brings a couple of unexpected errands that couldn't be put off and church. Now mind you my dining room is still begging me to clean it up as I still have things laying all over the place in a sad effort to take my house out of Christmas mode and put it in winter mode.

Thursday I manage to finally get the house totally back in order...it literally takes all day to accomplish this and catch up on the laundry. Then a very dear friend of mine called to catch me up on what was going on in her life. Safely put, she and her family are under an incredible attack of satan and God is not being allowed to come in and work His wonderful power. Anyway, I talked to her for about an hour, or rather listened because I cannot physically help or change her situation. I truly would if I could. Then last night we took my Dad out to dinner to celebrate his 68th birthday.

So...here we are at today. Looking back over the week, here's what I think I've discovered...The entire week was filled with interruptions and frustrations of not being able to 'get done' what I wanted to. But, I was able to spend time with my family, immediate and extended, help my son, be there for a friend and celebrate with my Dad. When God directed my steps and I refused to fight Him on it, I was able to bless and be a blessing, and wasn't that the most important thing??