Well, Christmas is over and it's finally time for a much needed break. I looovvve Christmas, but I'm always glad when things settle down and I can get some rest.
I have a small group of gals that come to my home once a week for Bible study and also I email them with inspirations that I get from various sources, not least of all the Lord. I want to include what I wrote to them yesterday and today. I hope you will be blessed by these emails that I sent to them.
Your Kingdom Seekin' Mama,
12/29/09
Good Morning Girls,
I'm so sorry that class was canceled last nite; but I am feeling sooo bad. My throat feels like it's on fire and I'm having terrible pain in my back (I have this from time to time due to my scoliosis). It took everything I could muster up to get out of bed this morning. Please pray for me; I need to get back on my feet so I can take care of my kids, run my household (Bob is not a very good housekeeper, although he's doing a great job helping me catch up the laundry - it's probably because he needs clean underwear and work-clothes, HaHa!), and be the help-meet for my husband that I was designed to be and help him run his business by taking care of all the paper-work and money (bills have to be paid whether your sick or well). Bob hates when I'm sick, he works soooo hard during the day and doesn't want to come home and work more; but he does what needs to be done without complaining (I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful, hard-working, selfless husband).
I'm writing to you this morning because while I've been 'down' due to my back I've been given the opportunity to read more than usual. I'm an avid reader, I'm always reading something that will teach me something new, encourage me in my Christian walk, convict me of sin, help me to be a better wife, mother, daughter, member of a local church, and a more disciplined follower of Christ.
The book I've been reading (Raising a Modern-Day Knight by Robert Lewis - awesome!) has inspired me so much that I could not wait to pass it on to you! Although this book is written to fathers and is about raising sons, it hit me that the principles laid down in this book could also help us girls with our New Years resolutions. So often we decide 'what' we would like to see changed in the coming new year, but we lack the 'how.' I think this book, that is geared to teach sons how to become men, can teach us gals how to achieve some of the goals we want to accomplish in the coming year.
Here are the principles and I've included a brief explanation of what this means for us as women:
1) Reject Passivity - when it comes to becoming the women that God intends for us to be, according to His Word, we cannot be passive. We need to reject laziness, procrastination, and rebellion in order to become the godly women we need to be in our generation and inspire younger women that look to us as examples.
2) Accept Responsibility - accept you femininity!!! and the unique call that God has for you as a female. Your responsibilities are to know your God and worship Him only, serve and submit to your husband with zeal, raise your children according to Biblical standards and with joy, represent our Savior to your church and community with love. We must accept this, and all the many facets that each responsibility contains, and do all this as unto the Lord! And in addition develop a meek, quiet spirit that is of great value in the sight of God
(1 Peter 3:1-4). Accept the responsibility to run your homes well, be the wife and mother that God commands, be a woman of prayer and the Word, be committed to godly speech and actions, and committed to encourage the body of Christ - all of this is our responsibility as we pursue our Christianity. I pray that it will be said of all of us that 'Jesus is truly the King of who and what I am.'
3) Lead Courageously - we must use the Titus 2 model when we lead. Girls, we are not to lead our husbands, but our homes!!! Take on courageously the leadership of your home and make it a sanctuary for your family from the harshness of the world. I want to include here a quote from Peter Marshall, former chaplain of the US Senate:
"I was privileged, in the spring, to visit in a home that was to me - and I am sure to the occupants - a little bit of Heaven. There was beauty there. There was a keen appreciation of the finer things of life, and an atmosphere in which it was impossible to keep from thinking of God. The room was bright and white and clean, as well as cozy. There were many windows. Flowers were blooming in pots and vases, adding their fragrance and beauty. Books lined one wall - good books - inspiring and instructive - good books - good friends. Three bird cages hung in the brightness and color of this beautiful sanctuary, and the songsters voiced their appreciation by singing as if their little throats would burst. Nature's music, nature's beauty - nature's peace... It seemed to me a kind of Paradise that had wondered down, an enchanted oasis - home!"
This quote has been a constant goal of mine and will continue to be until I achieve it. I'm not there yet, but I press on. I pray that you will too!
4) Expect the Greater Reward, God's Reward - remember as we set goals and achieve them that there will be times when you will receive no thanks or accolades from anyone!!! There are things that we can expect rewards from only in the future and maybe not even until we reach eternity. Just remember, God sees all, and you will be rewarded, at some point and time and only God knows when, for all your had work and effort. Also, don't expect rewards for doing the minimum of what your duty is. Your duty to God, your family, and your employer is just that - your duty! So, let me encourage you to stretch yourself and do more than what's expected. I've had a motto for years and have tried (still trying) to pass it on to Caleb: 'It takes so little to be above average.' If you want to rise in this world and in God's Kingdom do more than expected, go the extra mile, do hard things, and attempt the extremely difficult. It will strengthen you into the mighty woman of God that you were intended to be.
Please girls, hear me on this - I do not want to set myself up as an example of what I have just written; but know that I am sooo inspired by this that I had to pass it on to you. I pray that you will be too!!!
Be blessed today and God glorified,
In His Grip, Charlotte
12/30/09
Hi Girls,
All this lying around with my back out has got me being more contemplative than usual. It's been in my heart and mind today about delighting in who we are: children of grace - God's grace. And because we are the recipients of abundant grace it only stands to reason that we should be gracious. Have you ever heard the expression, "Growing old Gracefully?" Well, that is exactly what we should be doing. As we mature, both physically and spiritually, we should become more and more gracious for no other reason that it represents Christ well. And as we mature in the Lord we can see how much of His grace we have received and will continue to need. I am in amazement of the fact that the more I learn about God the more I am in need of His grace to conquer my own flesh and be victorious over my own wicked heart.
I looked up the word 'gracious' on the online Webster's dictionary and this is what I found:
a) marked by kindness and courtesy b) graceful c) marked by tact and delicacy d) characterized by charm, good taste, generosity of spirit, good breeding
Wow!!! I loved this definition and thought of how much Christian women everywhere need to be marked with the attribute of graciousness. These are some characteristics (kindness, courtesy, tact, delicate, charm, good taste, generosity, and good breeding) that I definitely want to possess. Some [including me] may feel that they do not come from 'good breeding' but anyone can start that lineage with themselves. You may not have been born into a wealthy family (another definition I found on Webster's), which can be the mark of 'good breeding;' but remember that you have been re-born into the family of God and so the heritage of 'good breeding' starts with you. Another thing to add to my New Year's resolutions - "Lord, help me to be your 'gracious' daughter."
Another way to look at it is being 'grace filled.' Being so full of God's grace that it spills over onto those around us. Anytime you are patient with someone, forgiving someone, extending mercy to someone, kind to someone, making peace with someone, gentle with someone, joyful with someone, courteous to someone, charming with someone, generous with someone, tactful with someone, loving to everyone, you are allowing your grace filled tank to tip over and pour out on them. This is especially true when it happens with someone that doesn't deserve it (remember that grace means 'undeserved favor'). When you do this to someone undeserving, you stand in the place of our Lord; because the abundant grace He extends to all of us is most assuredly undeserved. Think about how gracious God has been with you, and as Christians we cannot do less but be gracious to others.
Please give this some thought, and think about, in the New Year, being gracious in your speech and actions, gracious in your thoughts and attitudes, building a gracious home, teaching your children and grandchildren (no matter what age) to be gracious. It's the mark of the 'beautiful, godly woman.' I pray that you will think about what it means to be gracious in the particulars and specifics of your daily life. "Lord, help us all to represent You by being gracious!"
Be Blessed today, and God glorified,
In His Grip, Charlotte
