Keeper of the Home...What does that mean and how do I do it anyway??

photo courtesy of www.more4kids.info

This morning and for the next few Wednesdays I hope to stir up inside of each of us what it means to be a "Keeper of the Home." I would love for you to join with me and together lets determine what being a "Keeper of the Home" means to each of us individually and how we get there. Over the summer last year, I took a long hard look at Titus 2 to try to determine for myself how I can best serve my Savior and my family...and what I have come up with is what I will be sharing over the next few Wednesday mornings.

First, lets look at Titus 2:3-5. It reads,

"The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

Obviously the key words we will be studying are keepers at home, but I think it is so important to read the remainder of the verses to get a clear picture of what God's word is instructing us to do. #1 Love our husbands, #2 Love our children, #3 be discreet, #4 be chaste, #5 be keepers at home, #6 be good, #7 be obedient to their own husbands...so what???

SO THAT THE WORD OF GOD BE NOT BLASPHEMED.

What I learned about being a keeper of my home this summer is what I hope to share with you. Let's please remember as we go through this study that the word of God is not black and white regarding this issue. There is a whole lot of gray when you talk about being a keeper of the home and everyone in the Christian community seems to have a different opinion, much less the opinions of those in the lost world. I think everyone would agree that "keeping your home" is more than just living in a house and being able to "keep" it by making your monthly payments on it. I am sharing what it means to me and am hoping to encourage you to search God's word to find what He is revealing to you about this very high calling!

For this week, I challenge you to search the scripture. See what the Lord is saying to you about this calling he has on us all. Also, try to truly think about this with your heart and your head. We laugh about being a "keeper" of the home because you are able to "keep" it because you make your payments, but really have you ever thought about the possibility that your HOME is not made of sticks and bricks?? Ponder on that this week and hopefully you will be ready to share next Wednesday morning. I have learned so much about what the Lord would have me to do within the realm of my family, I hope that we can walk this journey together and truly strive to be Titus 2 women!!

So stay tuned...next week our discussion will be "What is my home? Where is it? And how much time do I spend there??" See you all next week.

I'M BACK!!

Hey Everyone!!

I cannot believe any of you even noticed I was gone. That makes me so very happy. As most of you know, I am down here in Louisiana which puts me right slap dab in the middle of MARDI GRAS MAYHEM. Now while you all should know that we don't at all participate in that big humongous dark cloud of sin and filth that takes over our state for the next week, there are certain things that are just tradition around here. For the last week, I, and another mom in my Kindergarteners class, have been working on our two little darlings' Mardi Gras float for the annual Kindergarten Mardi Gras Parade at school. SO MUCH FUN!! I really have not had time to do anything else, I tell ya!!

The parade was Friday and so...my Mardi Gras madness is over, but I am still eating the king cakes and will continue to until the last second I can!! They are so delicious!!

So here is what I have been doing for the last week...oh and not to mention work at my house is CRAZY!! We got our cabinets in this week and they are finishing them up over the holiday...I say holiday because around here life stops...we are out of school for the week and it seems that everyone except me is a drunken maniac on Bourbon Street...YIKES!! Anyway, I will post pics of the cabinets tomorrow. Its so exciting. We starting painting next week hopefully!!

I hope you enjoy the Krewe of Kindergarteners Parade pics!! I have missed yall and thanks for missing me as well!!

I told the kids that with everything we were throwing, we looked like the cart that comes around at the circus...not a Mardi Gras float!! Can you believe by the end we didn't have a single thing left??

Their float was the Krewe of Krowns and they loved every minute of it! So fun!!

Family Fun Friday

Happy Friday to Everyone!! I always seem to either have a really good idea for what my family can do over the weekend or we stay in our pj's all weekend doing absolutely nothing because I am not feeling creative! Maybe that happens to you too. If it does join us for Family Fun Friday where we can all share what we will be doing this weekend with our families or get some great ideas if we aren't feeling too creative. I hope to be inspired some weeks and inspire you others. Here is what we are doing this weekend... My hubs works shift work, so it will just be me and the girls. Saturday we will go to Michael's, coupon in tow, to get fun stuff to hand make their valentines that they will be passing out this week at school. Then we will come home to make them!! I am also hoping to get my hands on the new American Girl movie as well for Saturday night!! What are yall doing this weekend???

Recipe Swap: Lunchbox Love

Life As Mom is hosting a recipe swap for ideas on what everyone packs in their lunches. By this point in the school year, I am fresh out of ideas so I am very excited about this swap! Here is my favorite lunch item. If you are like me and need some new lunch menu items stop by Life As Mom and check out what others are packing. If you have a fave let everyone know about it!!

Tortilla Wraps

1 flour or whole wheat tortilla

mayo

shredded cheese

salt and pepper

anything you want to stuff it with like ham, turkey, bacon, chicken, tuna, etc...

Spread a little bit of mayo all over the tortilla. Then add your toppings. My favorites are ham and shredded chesse with a little bit of lettuce and tomato or grilled chicken with bacon, cheese, lettuce and tomato. Then just sprinkle with salt and pepper and roll up. You roll up by making sure that you put your toppings in the middle of the tortilla, then fold one side over, fold up the bottom, and then roll entire tortilla over onto the other side. Very easy, packs well, stays good until lunch and tastes great! Oh yeah, very low cal lunch as well!! Enjoy!!

Book of the Month Club

I will be recommending a book to you every month that I feel is a must read for today's Christian woman and mother. For February, I am so excited to recommend one of my all time favorite books, "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World" by Joanna Weaver. This book gives us practical ways to spend more time with the Lord amidst our extremely busy days. In each of us lives a Mary, who wants to spend more time with the Lord, who longs for that quiet time with our master, that hungers to know more about him. But in each of us is a Martha as well, who has clothes to fold, kids to feed, boo boos to kiss, and a job to do. How do we balance it all? That is what the books aims to teach us and Joanna Weaver does a phenomenal job helping us along the way. Sometimes for me, my studying time in God's word just seems like one more thing on my to do list and there is no better example of this tug of war than with the two sisters from Bethany Mary and Martha. I am so much of a Martha...it is scary. Jesus is coming?? Are you kidding me?? Well I have this to do and that to do and a perfect supper to cook and a house to clean and I must wash everything and plant new flowers and get new tablecloth, etc. But inside me there is a Mary that I long to be so badly. Someone who can just sit at Jesus' feet and let the rest of the world slip away. I'm a perfectionist so when I read the story in Luke, I also get aggravated the Mary won't help Martha, and I just want Jesus to compliment Martha on a job well done. She just wants a little kudos for all of her work in preparing this perfect showplace for her guests. She is the Biblical Martha Stewart, don't ya know. But that is not what she gets at all.

I encourage you to go back to Luke and read the story of this visit again while thinking about yourself. We each a little Mary and a little Martha inside of us and this book will help you balance the two!

Lets Talk Gosselin

So...you know what I want to hear.... What did everyone think of Jon and Kate plus Eight last night. Let me begin by saying that I HATE when the episodes are only 30 minutes. It drives me insane. Especially if we are moving into a new house people. I could've watched them pack all night. So how about you?? Oh and as a FYI...I see Aunt Jodi is back at it again with a video of herself bashing Kate. Makes me so sad!! Talk to me ladies...

Tips and Tidbits Tuesday

I know I skipped last week and I do apologize...very hectic week. But today's tip should well make up for it. You will love me for this...I promise!

Have you fought and fought to get that indestructible stain ring from the inside of your toilet?? I'm not talking about the one that comes once a week and you use your toilet cleaner to get right off. I'm talking about the one that is still there after you have cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. In our house, 2 weeks after we put in a brand new toilet, there that line was. It was a light gray in color but made the toilet look like it wasn't being cleaned. If you don't have these lines, you may just live in an area that doesn't have this problem. My parents' toilets are 30 years old and they have no ring, so I am pretty certain it has to do with your water.

Anywhoo...I have discovered the best product EVER to get this ring off. It is called "Drywall Screen" and you get it in the hardware/paint section of your local home improvement or hardware store. It comes in sheets and looks sort of like screen door screen, but more firm. One pack of this stuff (runs abut $4.00) will literally last you years. Cut off a small square and lightly scrub the line away in your toilet. I have been using the same little square for about 4 months. It acts as a sandpaper and will literally just wipe it right away in a matter of seconds. Trust me on this...nothing else works better. I have done sand paper, lemon juice, salt, you name it...if it has been recommended I have tried it. This is the ticket. Now be careful and don't use it on your toilet seat or the outside of your toilet because it will scratch it. Just use it on that stubborn ring and be joyful. This will change your life!!

Motivate Me Monday~The Extraordinary Mother: Sarah

Okay, ladies, Im still keeping up with my new book The Extraordinary Mother by John MacArthur and want to share Sarah with you this morning to hopefully motivate you somehow!!

Let me begin by saying that I learned so much about Sarah that I really had no clue about. She is of course most known for being Abraham's wife and being the mother of Isaac, but I think what we don't really know about her is how much she is just like all of us. We don't always understand God's ways or why He does what He does and it is sometimes so frustrating. Well, we have nothing to complain about in comparison to Sarah. What I learned most from Sarah is God's sovereignty and how I must rely on that!

What was the one thing Sarah always wanted but never had...CHILDREN. We all know that Sarah didnt give birth to her son Isaac until she was well into her 90's. But do you know that like most of us, Sarah decided that she would take matters into her own hands because "SHE KNEW BETTER"? Sound familiar? Maybe we don't intentionally take our lives into our own hands, but you know what...neither did Sarah. She truly felt like she was doing what God would have her to do, but she wasn't waiting for Him in her heart.

We learn from scripture that she spent years and years frustrated and depressed at the fact that she couldn't have children. Above anything else, she wanted to be a mother. Finally, she came to grips with the fact that she thought God would not want her to have children (Gen. 16:2). Now, while we all know her as being the one who waited on the Lord and had faith in the Lord, I say again that it is the in-between realizing that she wasn't going to have children, and actually giving birth that makes her an extraordinary mother and what convicts me. John MacArthur says, "The full spectacle of Sarah's amazing faith doesn't really become apparent until we contemplate the many seemingly insurmountable obstacles to that faith." I could not agree more!!

Think about this. Sarah and Abraham were city folk. They were very urban and all of the sudden they are wandering around in the wilderness. They left everyone behind and followed God's instruction. She believed God when he said, "I will make you a graet nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing." (Gen. 12:2). But honestly, at the age of 70, she didnt really see how in the world God could make that happen. In her eyes she was way too old to have children. But she had faith and pushed forward, believing in the promise of God. In her mind though, she knew that this just wasn't working. How could Abraham be the father of the nations if his wife couldn't have children??? Her HUMAN perspective began to eat at her and weighed on her causing her to be extremely frustrated and desparate. Have you ever felt that way? You know God is going to work and you are believing in Him to work, but He just isn't working according to your human perspective. Every time, that gets me nowhere. Just like us, Sarah didn't understand what God was doing. She didnt get that God wanted her to be so old that there it would be completely impossible for her to give birth so that He would be glorified. She didnt see that!! So, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Boy, I have done that a time or two! She had completely convinced herself that she was keeping God from working. That Abraham should have a baby with someone else because Sarah was not going to be able to bear children. She convinced Abraham to conceive a child with their maid Hagar. Sarah was losing heart, her faith was beginning to wane and she was desparate for God to do His will, so she thought she would do it for him. Can you imagine sending your husband to conceive a child with someone else and convincing yourself that it is what must be done. Sarah had obviously gone off the deep end in desparation and frustration with her circumstances and inability to give Abraham the one thing she so longed to give him. Remember she had wanted children now for 70 years.

When Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, Abraham was 86 years old and 13 long and grueling years passed on for poor Sarah. If she wasn't completely hopeless by this point, she must have been extremely close. But when Sarah was 90, God came to Abraham, in HIS perfect timing and said that Sarah would bear a child that will establish a covenant and Sarah would be the mother of all nations. Im sure Sarah was beside herself with excitement, but then God waited another full year to fulfill his promise. Finally, Sarah gave birth to a son which she named Isaac.

God had indeed been faithful to Sarah and her lifelong bitterness and dissappointment faded with the days sun. But what does Sarah still have to continue to deal with?? The son that Abraham had with Hagar. How hurtful must that be for her? This was by her own doing and now surely it is a most terrible situation. Finally, Sarah breaks. Ishmael is making fun of her son Isaac and she commands Abraham to cast out Hagar and Ishmael. Poor Abraham must say goodbye to his son because of his wife's request which God came to him and told him was necessary. Because of sin and trying to take things into her own hands instead of waiting on the Lord, Sarah had much more heart ache than was necessary.

Paul uses this as an illustration between works and grace. No matter what Sarah tried to do to make God's plan come into play, her works could never take the place of God's plans and her human efforts (the scheme that conceived Ishmael as an artificial fulfillment of God's plan) is utterly incompatible with divine grace (the birth of Isaac, the heir of God's promise).

As far as we know the rest of Sarah's years, following Hagar's banishment, were lived in joy and peace, but Sarah had been well tested. She proved to be faithful, but the pain Sarah caused herself and the time and effort Sarah put into putting God's promise in motion were completely unnecessary. Obviously, Sarah couldn't see 70 years into her future to know that God would fulfill His promise, but I think that this offers a crystal ball for us. We can see how long it took for God to fulfill his promise to Sarah and Abraham and how His plan is always perfect and no matter what we do, we cannot change it. His sovereignty far outweighs human will...GLORY BE TO HIM.

I encourage you today to think about your life and what you may be waiting on the Lord to do. Are you hoping to conceive a child, having financial burdens, marriage strains? Whatever you are struggling with, remember Sarah. Remember the trouble she caused herself by trying too hard to make things happen. Look to the Lord and remember that His ways are perfect and that he is holy and just and will take care of those who love him and obey his commands. I encourage you today to spend your time thinking about Sarah and her desparation to see the Lord's plan in action. Wait on the Lord patiently and seek to find him instead of spinning your wheels trying to force his will. I am so guilty of that. When I think that I have it all figured out is just when God knocks me right back down to reality. It is so painful, yet so encouraging to know that we are not in control, be He who created us.

I hope you have a great day!! Next week we will completely contrast Sarah and look to Hagar, "the other woman." Please join me as we continue to learn how to be "The Extraordinary Mother."

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