I Think I Got the Message

Don't you just love the way God works? I know that sometimes He must just shake His head at me and wonder how it is He created such a thick headed woman. I pray that He would reveal His will for me and that He would make it so clear that I can't possibly miss it knowing that if He would just do that, I would so very gladly follow exactly where He is leading me without the slightest gripe and a smile on my face (so not).

The sad thing is, He has been so very clear about what He wants from me, but I don't like it, so I've been trying to just ignore Him and get Him to tell me something else. It just doesn't work that way. I can see that He is going to harp on this until I am willing to get serious. So, now I have enlisted the help of some wonderful friends, and I am going to buckle down and get to work. I am even going to get you to help me out because I am going to confess my sinfulness to you and ask you to pray for me when you remember (and maybe some of you could use the same prayers). Here it goes: I am not a submissive wife to the wonderful husband God has blessed me with. I can put on a good act sometimes, but I am not what He has called me to be in this area, and now, He is getting me to work on it.

A couple of years ago I heard a sermon on submission. It was a bad sermon and not biblical, but it got me thinking about what biblical submission was, and that showed me that I was falling way short of the mark. Nothing new about that in my life. Since I didn't really want to work on that part of my life, I went on my merry way only to be brought up short a few months later by a discussion with a friend on the difficulties she was having in this area. I pointed her to scripture. We prayed, and I was done with that. At least that is what I thought. Then months later a sweet young friend was lamenting the lack of Titus 2 teaching going on. As friends and I reminisced about some godly women who had poured their lives into us, I remembered vividly their call to be submissive as God requires. Okay, now I got it. This is something I need to work on, but I know that I will give up all too soon without accountability.

Enter a really awesome group of women who have agreed to go through the book "The Excellent Wife" with me. We are going to meet weekly (online and off) to discover just what the Bible has to say to us and how we can apply these things to our lives and our relationships with our husbands. I NEED this. I am desperate for this. And just when I think that God and I are good to go now, He pounds in the last (?) nail so that there are no lingering doubts or going back.

I have been eagerly awaiting my Tabletalk subscription renewal. I had let it go to help the budget, but found that I don't have an acceptable replacement for that first thing in the morning time in the word. Tabletalk works well for me. My September issue just arrived. Do you know what the verses are for Sept 1? You bet. "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior" Eph 5:22-23.

Lay Aside Your LIfe

He sees you, you know. When you've had that stressful week and you just want to stay in bed and watch that sappy movie while it is raining this morning. He sees you. He also sees how you give that up when your mom calls and wants to chat because she is lonely. He sees when you give up your afternoon to go rescue a friend whose car broke down and needs a ride to the repair shop. He sees when you stretch your food budget yet again so you can make dinner for a neighbor who just got out of the hospital. He sees all of the times that you put your plans on hold in order to love others. And He is pleased.
He is pleased with you moms who have put your careers on the back burner so that you can be the one to raise your children. To make sure they are getting the right instruction on God and His creation. He is pleased with you wives who put your plans aside so that your husband can work at a job that he loves even if it means longer hours or less pay. He is honored when you lay aside your life for others. Laying aside our lives doesn't mean we cease to exist, it just means we die to our own selfishness and live in His grace. It is not an easy way to live, but He sees. He knows your sacrifice. And He is glorified by your life. What better way is there to live?

George Washington Carver

I've just read a very interesting and detailed account of the life of this incredibly gifted man. John Perry does a great job of giving us a in depth look at Carver while still keeping our interest. I learned a lot about a man that I thought I already knew much about.
Carver did not have an easy life, but his experiences made him the man he was. Like all of us, his early life shaped who and what he was to be, but unlike many these days, he did not complain against or blame circumstances. Instead, he gives us a wonderful example of taking what God has given you and using it to the best of your ability to glorify the Creator. Carver's foundational belief in a sovereign God gave him the confidence to move forward in life when others might have given up.
I appreciated the balance that Perry showed in presenting Carver to the reader. We are not shown a hero without flaws. The author clearly points out character flaws that cause conflicts in Carver's life. In spite of these, we come to know, love and appreciate this man and his amazing contribution to his fellow man as a teacher, botanist and Christian.
I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson Publishing in exchange for my honest review.