Roots Firmly And Deeply Planted

Plants that have shallow roots don't do too well here in the summer.  They turn brown quickly and need a lot of water.  We have a lot of Eucalyptus trees here in southern California.  They grow quickly and very large.  When the strong Santa Ana winds blow through here, they topple over very easily because their roots don't go very deep.

God's Word admonishes us to have deep roots in Jesus.  Know Him and His ways.  Be familiar with the Bible and Truth.  Those roots need to be daily watered by reading the Word, praying, and being thankful.  In this way, your roots in Jesus will become deep and thick.

When the winds of deception come blowing through, your roots will be so deep in the wisdom of the Lord that you will know deception when you see and hear it.  When trials and tribulation comes, your trust will be in the almighty God and not in the things that are happening around you.

Make sure your children have deep roots in Jesus.  There is such a lack of Bible knowledge today, even among Christians.  Read the Word to them consistently.  Put them in church groups like Awana.  My children went to Christian summer camps and Vacation Bible Schools.  Our deepest desire for our children was for them to know Jesus and know Him intimately.

There is so much deception out there  Satan is alive and well and loves nothing more than to see God's children walking down the wrong path.  Continue speaking God's trugh to those around you even when it hurts and is hard to hear.  People need God's truth.  It is the only thing that saves marriages, families, and societies.

Let all those around you see your deep and abiding love for Jesus by the way you live your life.  Love them deeply.  Walk in obedience to God.  It is the best way to live and in so doing, you are storing treasures in heaven.

Have the roots firmly and deeply planted in Him,

being continually built up in Him,

becoming increasingly more confirmed

and established in the faith,

 just as you were taught,

and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 2:7
 

Women Want Strong Men

Did you know there are fan clubs for the man who set the Boston bombs off?  Yes, women would love to marry him and think they are in love with him!  What is it that attracts women to evil, mean men?  There are many women who even stay with men who are beating them up.

 

This was the conversation on the male/female hour on Dennis Prager's radio station.   He was saying that men being the head of the household is being mocked to death now and one isn't allowed to even say such a thing, sadly, even among Christians.

 

However, even in the midst of the feminists movement that has tried to make men and women equal in every way, most women still want an alpha male, a strong and assertive man.  Basically, they want a masculine man.

 

Men today are being taught to be sensitive and have more feminine qualities.  Unfortunately, many men are being raised without fathers so they have no masculine role to follow.  Mr. Prager said that men call him up and ask him if they should open a door on a date.  He counsels the men that of course they should and if the women don't want them to open the door, don't date them.

 

So women who are in love with mass murders have their desires misplaced.  They see murderers as strong, forceful men, something they desire while forgetting the evil, sinister qualities of these men. It is a tightrope men have to walk these days.  They need to be strong and assertive but not become mean and act like a jerk in the process.

 

I think many godly men fit the mold perfectly.  Jesus was a masculine man.  He truly loved people but rebuked the Pharisees and hypocrites.  He overturned the tables in the temple and fought for justice and mercy.

 

Yes, women should seek to find a masculine man for a husband.  One who is not afraid to protect and provide for his family.  Yet, in order to do this, she must become a feminine woman.  One who wants to be provided for and protected.  She must also seek to have a gentle and quiet spirit.

 

I have written unto you, young men,

because ye are strong, and the word of God abides in you,

and ye have overcome the wicked one.

I John 3:14

 

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It Takes A Tornado???

There are three children in the family around 7, 9, and 11 years old.  They don't like each other.  They fight continually.  Two weeks ago, a massive tornado roared through their school and they didn't know if their siblings made it out alive.

All three of them did survive and now they love each other.  One is in the hospital mending from her injuries as the other two weep with her, so happy that they are all alive.

Why must it take a near death experience for siblings to love each other?  All throughout the Bible, we are commanded to love each other.  For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. {I John 3:11}  Beloved, let us love one another:  for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. {I John 4:7}

It is your responsibility as parents to make sure your children love each other.  Ken was continually telling my children that "Alexanders love each other."  You must train your children to love each other for it does not come naturally.

Don't allow them to fight and quarrel.  If they do, tell them they must sit on the couch right next to each other for 15 minutes and then hug each other.  Do this consistently until they stop arguing.  They must learn from an early age how to get along with others without quarreling but pursuing peace with all men.

Your home will become so pleasant.  Strife divides and tears down a home.  Peace unites it and makes it a place people want to be.

In the picture above is Steven and Cassi on the right.  They are only a year and a half apart and have always been close and love each other very much.  Julia and Ali, my two precious nieces, are on the left and they both love their wonderful brothers!

Do Males Wander?

“Males have a tendency to wander a little bit, and what you want to do is make the home so wonderful that he doesn’t want to wander,” Pat Robertson said.

Wow!  Mr. Robertson is getting pounded for saying these words.  He was responding to a woman whose husband had cheated and she just can't forgive him.  Mr. Robertson told her to forgive him, dwell on all his positive qualities, and make a wonderful home.

I agree with him.  Many will say that men are not made to be monogamous.  They just weren't built that way.  So I guess women weren't made to not allow their emotions to control them.  We are just made that way!

God commands men to be monogamous.  Therefore, they can be faithful to one wife.  It makes it a whole lot easier for the man, however, if the wife is a godly help meet to him.  The man has to take responsibility for the affair and ask for forgiveness, but then the wife needs to do everything she can to keep her husband happy.

Women do set the tone in the home and most homes have ugly tones.  There is strife and tension.  If you are always mad at your husband, do you expect him to stay just because he is a christian?  Yes, he should but he may not.  You begin to obey God, become the wife He calls you to become, and watch how beautiful your marriage can become.

Yes, God made men with a lot of testosterone which makes them highly attracted to the female body.  Keep him happy and fulfilled at home.  You were created to be his help meet.  Spend your life learning how to be the best help meet to this man God gave you.  Your husband and children will thank you!  NOTHING beats a happy home.

Every wise woman buildeth her house:

but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

Proverbs 14:1

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Eating A Crunchy Salad

This is the first salad I have eaten in over a year.  Over a year ago, I had dental work and couldn't eat on the right side of my mouth for several months.  One night, I ate a bunch of carrots and woke up at 2:00 a.m. with excruciating pain.  It was the carrots, right?

We figured I injured a cranial nerve so I lived on soft food for a year.  It didn't seem to help.  We knew that people who had neck fusions can have trouble with their TMJ.  My TMJ never hurt, however, just the throbbing pain in my right temple.

Ken was massaging my neck every night.  I iced my head and temple regularly.  I would wake up two to three times a week with my temple throbbing and have to ice it.  It felt like it was never going to get better.

In the beginning of March, my whole head started hurting.  Ice was no longer helping.  I knew something terrible was wrong but didn't want to think brain tumor.  I finally told Ken I needed an MRI for my peace of mind even though we were given only very small percentage chance that my tumor from nine years ago would ever grow back.

You know the rest of the story.  Ken told me that if I ever get a headache for longer than a week from now on, I will get an MRI.  I will have to have an MRI every year for the rest of my life. I have a diseased dura in which the tumor grows out of but it is a benign, slow-growing tumor.  I have a 50% chance of it never growing back so we will pray.

Today, May 25th, I walked the beach with Ken and Cassi.  It was the first time I have gotten out of the house in many months to do something fun.  My hormones seem to be stabilizing as well as my electrolyte balance between water and sodium.  My energy is slowly improving and life seems a bit brighter the past few days.

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, 

for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 106:1 

Gratituesday

Commanded To Hospitality

Do you know we are commanded to be hospitable? 

Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 

I Peter 4:9

There it is and it is to be done without grumbling.  Most people do not like to be hospitable.  They don't have enough time.  It is too much trouble.  It costs too much and they like their privacy.

However, if you want to be obedient to God, you can no longer make excuses.  I have heard from missionaries that people in third world countries are the most generous people with their food and possessions.  I wonder why that is the case.  Why does wealth create greed?

We must live our lives with open hands.  God's ways are best.

There is one who scatters, yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want.  The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered. 

Proverbs 11:24,25

I use to be very selfish.  When we had guests, I was always concerned about the food they ate, the water they used, etc.  It was ugly.  Thankfully, the Lord convicted me and changed me.  Now I love to have people over and make them comfortable when I am feeling good. 

So when God commands something of us, it always results in our benefit!  The more hospitable and generous you become, the more good things you will reap.
 

The Secret To Losing Weight

Eat less. Move more. That is it. There is no secret. Trisha Yearwood just lost thirty pounds and said this was her secret. For her it is a battle every day to not eat that cookie and she is usually slightly hungry. 

My parents just met with three other couples that they have been friends with since they were young. My dad told me that out of the four couples, one was thin and in shape. The rest were twenty to thirty pounds overweight. They were all in their eighties but this thin couple looked ten years younger than the rest. They go to the gym five days a week and eat in moderation.

My dad told me he gets a ton of health magazines and preaches the benefit of antioxidants and being in shape, yet he struggles to lose weight. He knows he should but it is so difficult once you put on the weight.

It is being said that this generation will not live longer than previous generations because of being overweight. It is a serious problem that leads to many diseases.

I know it is difficult to lose weight. I think the only reason I stay so thin is from two brain surgeries and a neck fusion with feeling poorly most of the time. It affects my stomach so I am not that hungry. Whenever I go through times when I feel well, I have to battle my appetite and my weight so I know it isn't easy.

So I don't have a secret to losing weight, except I would encourage you to give up sugar completely if you can since it is so addictive and destructive on our health. Don't let that cookie or piece of cake control and master you.  You master it! I would also encourage you to just eat as healthy as you can and exercise as much as you can. 

We are commanded to be known for our moderation and gluttony is a sin. We are told we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We have everything we need for life and godliness, including self-control. Now, I guess we just need to start believing God's many promises to us and act upon them.

Let your moderation be known unto all men.

The Lord is at hand.

Philippians 4:5

Love Like Jesus Does

Every single piece of everything I am,
Yeah, she knows the man I ain't,
She forgives me when I can't,
The devil, man, no, he don't stand a chance,
'Cause she loves me like Jesus does.

I always thought she'd give up on me one day,
Wash her hands of me, leave me staring down some runway,
But I thank God each night, and twice on Sunday,
That she loves me like Jesus does.

This is a country song by Eric Church.  I heard a bit of it on the country channel and knew I needed to read the lyrics.  Men want women who will love them just the way they are.  Women want the same thing but we feel the need to change our men into the man we can love instead of loving them the way they are and letting God change them.

I know this is true because there are many verses in the Bible about quarreling and arguing addressed to wives.  We quarrel and argue because we are not getting what we want.  Most men seem to have much lower expectations than women and don't try to change their wives.

We are all called to love like Jesus does, especially our husbands since we are modeling Christ and the Church to the world.  They need to see unconditional love and acceptance between husbands and wives.  We need to show them how amazing marriage is the way God designed it to be.

I applaud the women who stay with difficult husbands.  I realize tough marriages are not always the result of quarreling wives but when we walk in obedience to God, especially during the hard times, we are blessed and God is glorified.  You stay with your difficult husband for your husband's sanctification, for your children's happiness and security, and mostly, because God wants you to since he knows how destructive divorce can be.

Make it your goal to love your husband as Jesus does.  Love him freely without shaming him.  Forgive him easily for no one will ever be perfect.  Love him just the way that he is and allow God to work a miracle in him.

Marriage is such an amazing gift.  Ken and I haven't argued for months and it is so very good...He is my leader and I accept that.  He doesn't expect me to be perfect but he knows my heart is for his good.

And above all these put on love,

which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Colossians 3:14

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Making Your Home Sing

Making Time For Sex

She bragged about giving her husband sex once a week, after work on Thursdays, for five minutes.  That is only 20 minutes a month, ladies.  It takes longer to buy a candle for your living room.  She thought she was being a great wife to sacrifice those 20 minutes a month for her husband.

Another young women works a full-time job and has another business on the side that takes many hours a week.  Her health isn't great.  Her husband isn't very ambitious and they haven't been married for very long.  He wants sex everyday.  Are you kidding me?  I work so hard and don't feel that great!

A very good friend of mine gives her husband sex every day because she told me he enjoys it and it makes him very happy.  She loves pleasing her man.

Which husband do you think is happiest???

You must come to terms with the fact that most men like sex a lot more often than women do.  God made them that way.  He gave them a lot of testosterone to fight wars {defeating Hitler}, exploring new lands, building skyscrapers and bridges, and having the burden of providing for their families until the day they die.

If a burglar is in your home, who gets up to confront him?  Your husband, of course!  God made them to be the providers and protectors and having lots of testosterone makes them to want to fulfill that role.  {A feminine, godly wife helps him want to fulfill that role even more.}

My advice...once a week is way too seldom for most men.  Most men would love it every day or at least every other day.  {Yes, there will be times of sickness and child birth, etc. that will prevent that but most of the time, you can fulfill that need.}

If you work too many hours and are too tired, you need to slow down and live on less.  Your husband is your first priority.  You were created to be his help meet regardless of what kind of a husband he is.  The more you live to please him and keep him happy, the more he will do the same for you.  We absolutely reap what we sow.

Change your thinking.  Appreciate your man for the way God created Him.  Find pleasure in making him happy.  Know that this is your ministry in life and learn to enjoy the journey.

Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time,

that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer;

and come together again,

that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. 

I Corinthians 7:5

Fearing Powerful Storms

Jesus and His disciples were in a boat when a powerful storm came.  Jesus was sound asleep in the back of the boat.  "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" {Mark 4:38}  Jesus' lesson was clear:  you're afraid of the wrong thing.  Don't fear what or who can kill your body, but fear and trust me because I rule over storms and death. 

{Matthew 10:28}

Life will always have powerful storms.  We will all go through trials and we will all die.  There will come a time when Jesus' prayer for us to be with Him will overrule our prayer for prolonged earthly life.  And when it does, we will experience a life so far better, richer, fuller, purer, and more joyful that we will shake our heads in wonder that we ever pleaded to stay. {Jon Bloom}

There are many things to fear in life.  Yes, we must weep with those who weep but we must remember that many bad things will happen as long as this earth exists.  We must know God.  We must cling to Him.  We must teach our children about Him consistently.

No one will escape death.   The only way to be prepared to die is to believe in Jesus.  He is the way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.  {John 14:6}  He is our only hope.  

So don't fear powerful storms and tribulations.  Fear God.  He is the only one worth fearing.  He is the final judge.  I pray He may say to you at the end of your life:  Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.  {Matthew 25:23}

Self-Pity Is So Ugly

Steve Harvey was interviewing a couple who was heading for divorce.  He asked the woman what she felt was wrong with the marriage.  She sat there and told us all the things her husband did wrong.  He didn't understand her love language.  He doesn't do this and that.  On and on it went.  It was ugly...

Self-pity is ugly.  Wouldn't it be amazing if she had answered, "I don't hardly ever give him sex.  I expect so much from him.  I want him to behave the way I want him to and I know that is wrong.  I rarely try to serve or learn what pleases him."

No, you never hear that when you ask a spouse what is wrong in a marriage.  It is always the other person's fault.  That is why Created To Be His Help Meet was so powerful for me.  Debi pointed out all the things I was doing wrong and I was doing plenty wrong.  I just didn't realize it.

We are so blind to our own faults.  This is why young women need older women to tell them the truth.  Satan blinds us to our sins so we can only concentrate on the sins of others thus destroying our relationships.

Own up to your faults.  Stop looking at his faults.  You stand only accountable to God, no one else.  The lower your expectations are for your husband, the happier you both will be.  God commands for you to love, serve, please, submit to, obey, and respect your husband.  Work on all of those and see how mightily God will work in your marriage to restore it to beauty.

Love is patient and kind; 

love does not envy or boast;

 it is not arrogant or rude. 

It does not insist on its own way; 

it is not irritable or resentful; 

it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, 

but rejoices with the truth.

I Corinthians 13:4-6

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Our Purpose In Life

It is to glorify God.  This is what I have always heard.  What exactly does that look like?  I know the greatest commands God gave us were to love Him and love others.  Don't we show our love for God by loving others?  Don't we show love to others by serving them?  Isn't the greatest of all the servant of all?

So I think our purpose in life is to love others.  Truly love others by serving them.  In this way we are showing the world we love God.

Someone can know the Bible backwards and forwards and win every theological argument, but if he isn't loving others, it means nothing.

A wife can wake early every morning, read her Bible, pray for an hour, attend Bible studies and church but if she isn't loving her husband, it means nothing.

We must show the world who God is by loving them, serving them.  When we see a need, try and meet it.  Love your husband.  Love your children.  Love your in-laws and neighbors.  Love all those God puts into your path.

This, I believe, is our purpose in life.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,

and have not charity, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,

and though I give my body to be burned,

and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three;

but the greatest of these is charity.

I Corinthians 13:2,3,13 

Making Your Home Sing

A Sinner Saved By Grace

Many Christians live by the phrase, "I am a sinner saved by grace."  Do you know that phrase is not even in the Bible?  Yes, before you believe in Jesus you were considered a sinner but once you believed, God calls you a saint indwelt with the Holy Spirit.

Stop calling yourself a sinner.  Calling yourself this just excuses your sin.  Call yourself what God calls you..His child, chosen, holy, forgiven, redeemed, justified, a new creature, transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, and loved by a mighty God!

Don't define yourself by your past.  When you believe in Jesus, you are buried with Him, raised with Him, and seated on the right hand of God with Him!!!  You are definitely a new creature with the power living inside of you that raised Christ from the dead! {Ephesians 1:19,20}

 

If ye then be risen with Christ,

seek those things which are above,

where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 

Set your affection on things above,

 not on things on the earth. 

For ye are dead,

 and your life is hid with Christ in God. 

 When Christ, who is our life shall appear,

then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

Gratituesday

 

Cutting Off Your Breasts

Women are cutting off their breasts in fear that they may get breast cancer someday. It seems radical to me given the risks of surgery, the toxicity of anesthesia and drugs, and the long term effects of breasts implants.

My dad is a pathologists and he said implants that had been taken out of women were covered with ugly looking stuff.  The body tries to rid itself of foreign objects.  Once you get implants, you have to have them replaced every ten years or so.

Rather than do all this to prevent cancer, why not eat a lot of fruits and vegetables which are proven to prevent cancer and stay as far away as you can from toxic chemicals and sugar which are proven to cause cancer? It would seem to be a wiser decision to do everything you can to build a strong and healthy immune system.

If you have breast cancer, I completely understand going this route but to prevent cancer  this way seems like you may be causing cancer by trying to prevent it since surgery and drugs are very hard and toxic on the body.

The same thing puzzles me about scheduling C-sections for a mother's convenience. Many working mothers do this. This is major surgery!  The stomach and uterus are cut open. Then one must live on strong pain killers for awhile afterwards that I am sure are transferred to the baby if one nurses her baby.

Some actions like these two just make no sense to me. Yes, I am glad there are mastectomies for women who have breast cancer and C-sections for women who would be putting their lives and their babies lives at risk if they didn't have one, but to do this voluntarily is difficult for me to understand.

Major surgery is hard on the body. There are many risks. Choose carefully when making these kind of decisions. Pray, ask for wisdom, and research before taking these drastic measures and do all you can to prevent cancer.

The very idea that breast cancer is a "percent risk" is a complete lie. In reality, everyone has cancer micro-tumors in their bodies, including myself. Cancer is not a disease you just "get" like being randomly struck by lightning. It's something you must "manage" or "prevent" day by day, meal by meal, through a lifestyle choice that involves vitamin D supplementation, nutrition, superfoods, vegetable juices and avoidance of cancer-causing chemicals and radiation. So when a doctor says you have a "chance" of getting cancer, what he's implying is that you have no control over cancer, and that's an outright lie. Cancer quackery, in other words. {Sarah's Daughter}

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you

 and that you may be in good health,

 as it goes well with your soul.

3 John 1:2

Giving Into Despair

Life can be very difficult at times.  For several weeks after surgery, it was very hard not to give into despair.  I even wrote on my facebook page these words..."When I am too weak to cling to Jesus, you {my brothers and sisters in Christ} cling to Him and hold tightly onto me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."  

I felt too weak to pray most of the time.  I read these words in Streams In The Desert that describe what I was going through perfectly ~

Once you have come close to the point of despair, God's message is not, "Be strong and courageous" {Joshua 1:6}, for He knows that your strength and courage have run away.  Instead, He says sweetly, "Be still, and know that I am God"{Psalm 46:10}.

Hudson Taylor was so weak and feeble in the last few months of his life that he told a friend, "I am so weak I cannot write.  I cannot read my Bible.  I cannot even pray.  All I can do is lie still in the arms of God as a little child, trusting Him."  This wonderful man of God, who had great spiritual power, came to the point of physical suffering and weakness where all he could do was lie still and trust.

Just before going into surgery, my dear neighbor Uschi, came to visit and as she was leaving, she said, "Stop being so strong!"  I told her I needed to be or I would be in a mental hospital.  God taught me otherwise.  I don't always need to be strong for when I am weak He is strong.

During those rough days, I depended on the prayers of all of you and the support of my family.  Ken was a huge comfort to me with reassuring words.  I can't imagine going through something like this without a supportive spouse.  

I have learned through my many trials that God never does leave me nor forsake me just as He has promised.  I have learned that it is okay to be weak.  I have been very, very weak yet He has carried me through just like He always will.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; 

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 23:4

***Thank you Mossy family for the beautiful basket of flowers!

Standing In The Gap For Their Husbands

Whenever I write about women staying with their mean husbands, I have all these "supposed" experts come out of their hiding and tell me how wrong I am to teach such things.  They think they should leave these husbands and divorce them.

Mean husbands are unhappy people. This is a spiritual battle.  These wives are standing in the gap for their miserable husbands and praying for their salvation.  By staying with their husbands, they are sanctifying them.  They may even help save their soul from hell.

Is this too much to ask?  I don't think so.  I remember reading these letters by a woman named Connie.  There is an article from her in the recent Above Rubies magazine.  Her husband was in and out of jail for many, many years.

She had six children and had to completely depend upon the Lord for her provision.  Every night, she would put a place setting at the table and tell the children it was for their daddy when he came home.  He was an awful husband.  He neither protected nor provided for his family.

Connie still loved him, however.  She knew he was her husband and was committed to him for better or worse.  She prayed consistently for him ~

People laughed at me and said that he would always leave me and be in and out of prison. The prison guards told me that Jim was institutionalized and was hopeless. Hopeless or not, he was my husband. I knew I could never forsake the Lord by not forgiving my own husband. Also, as a young wife I wanted to be a teacher of women when I got older and I knew I couldn’t be divorced. I’d sing, “Keep me Jesus as the apple of thine eye.”

After many years, he came home for good.  He accepted the Lord and they had 20 wonderful years together before the Lord took him home. She stood in the gap for her husband, along with many other women out there who are doing the same for their husbands.  If they leave and divorce their husbands, their husbands have little chance of ever living a decent, godly life but the Bible promises us we overcome evil with good.

He promises them they can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens them.  God hates divorce.  The only reason Moses permitted it was due to the hardening of their hearts, an unforgiving heart.  These women realize that true love forgives easily.  Is it easy?  No, it is difficult but we are asked to make difficult decisions, walk the narrow path, and love even our enemies.

I am confident these women will be eternally blessed for continuing to live with their husbands who they are one flesh with.  God will never leave them nor forsake them.  He is fighting the battle for them and He will lead them in triumphal procession.  Praise be to His holy name!

And I sought for a man among them,

that should make up the hedge,

and stand in the gap before me for the land,

that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Ezekiel 22:30

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Fractured Families

Most families don't do things together anymore.  Every one is in their own bedroom doing their own thing.  I have some suggestions for you that may help your family become united.

Don't let your children have toys in their bedroom.  Their bedrooms should only be a place where they read and sleep.  You want your children within earshot of you most of the day.  You need to be there to monitor their activity.

It takes a lot of time to train, discipline, and lead your child in the ways of God.  Having the children always play where you are will allow your children to learn to play together.  This is something you will have to train them to do.  They need to learn to share their toys and not fight.

The key to helping your children learn this is consistency.  If you tell your child if you hear them argue one more time, they will have to sit on the fireplace, then follow through.  Never make empty threats.  They do much more harm than good.

You don't want your children playing in their bedrooms or having friends in their bedrooms.  It is too easy for them to get into mischief when they are alone.  I think this is why God wants women with children to be keepers at home so they can continually monitor their children's behavior and the things that influence them.

Children are easily led astray by the world.  Mothers need to be there for them continually to protect them from the enemy and guide them.  Have all their toys in the family room and in the kitchen, where you spend most of your time.  My children were almost always in the family room, kitchen, or backyard when they were young.

They didn't have any electronics in their bedrooms and very few toys.  I wanted them around me.  Also, be very careful who their friends are and even limit their going to friend's homes.  We didn't allow sleepovers.  We wanted our children under our roof at night.

You must work diligently to keep your family together.  But it will be worth it.  Have family dinners and devotions together.  Help them to grow deep and strong roots in Jesus so when the winds of the world try to blow them over, they will remain strong and do what is right.

And you shall teach them {God's ways} to your children,

speaking of them when you sit in your house,

and when you walk by the way,

when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Deuteronomy 11:19

Don't Dictate To Him

Meredith Viera has been married for 26 years to a man who has multiple sclerosis.  She knew he had it before she married him but she said she fell in love with him anyways.  She was on Dr. Oz recently and said,  "In the sixties, I bought into the notion that you can have it all. The job you always wanted.  I had a little boy.  I was happily married.  I thought the package was complete.  Then I discovered in doing the job that something had to give.  Life is really about priorities.  For me, it was the job that had to give.  It was all consuming."

She feels that since her children grew up with a dad with a disease, her children are more empathetic towards others.  She said Richard has dealt with his illness with strength and humor which has been good for the children. 

When asked what makes her marriage strong, she responded, "I am a good listener. I have a strong backbone.  I don't impose on him and I think that is important when you are living with someone with illness.  I think it is wrong to decide things for them...I don't want to dictate to him...I couldn't live his life for him.  I have to be there to support him."

Such wise advice.  It is so easy to think we know best with our spouses.  What they should eat.  What they should wear.  What they should watch.  What they should do with their free time.  What they can do to be a better spiritual leader.

No spouse wants to be dictated to by the other.  You sure don't want to be dictated by your spouse.  Allowing your spouse to live their life the way they please is a wonderful gift you give them along with being his biggest supporter.  We need to treat others the way we want to be treated.

I have always like Meredith.  She always has seemed so kind and loving towards others.  Now I see why.  She doesn't try to control or manipulate others.  She allows them to be who they are and loves them that way.  This is a recipe for a peaceful and happy home.

And be you kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32

Making Your Home Sing

Best Mother's Day Gift Ever!

Erin delivered a precious baby boy on May 9th.  His name is Kenneth Ryan Jr. and weighed almost seven pounds.  This is the picture Ryan sent us minutes after he was born. We are so blessed!

Erin's parents came down and will live with Ryan and Erin for the next few weeks as they adjust to a second child and  Erin recovers from delivery.  What a rich godly heritage this baby boy has been born into.  All his grandparents love Jesus as well as his parents, aunts, and uncles, etc.  Children are indeed an amazing gift from our Lord.

I continue to struggle to get well.  I have to go in to get my blood tested every other day to make sure the balance of water and sodium are okay.  We do this to prevent me from going to the Emergency room again.  Three times is plenty.

The pathology report said this tumor was a grade one, benign, and slow growing tumor just like my last one nine years ago.  It said there should be no concern that it will grow any faster than the other one.  Hopefully, it will never grow back again. I have a diseased dura in which the tumor is growing out of and if they were to dig into the dura, I would have no quality of life.

May all of you wonderful mothers have a great mother's day.  Life is fragile and very precious.  Use your time wisely loving those around you.

Listen to your father who gave you life,

and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Buy truth, and do not sell it;

buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;

he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.

Proverbs 23:22-25

Alphabe~Thursday

A More Desirable Country

It is so easy to feel at home here in America.  We have so much wealth.  All of our needs are met.  It is very comfortable for most people.  However, this isn't our home.  The Bible tells us we are strangers, temporary residents, and exiles upon the earth.

 

We should be yearning for and aspiring to a better and more desirable country,  a heavenly one.  I love Hebrews 11, the Hall Of Faith.  I love reading about the heroes of old and their amazing faith in God for without faith it is impossible to please God.

 

Moses preferred to share the oppression and bear the shame of the people rather than to have the fleeting enjoyment of a sinful life. {Hebrews 11:25}  He trusted God.  He considered contempt and abuse and shame for Christ to be greater wealth than all the treasure of Egypt. {Hebrews 11:26}

 

Living a sinful life is fleeting and unfulfilling.  The result is shame and guilt.  Living for this world and all it has to offer is emptiness.  Read Ecclesiastes.  The only thing worth living for is Jesus and His ways.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: 
Fear God, and keep his commandments: 
for this is the whole duty of man. 
For God shall bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing,
whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:13,14

{picture source}

White Flag Of Surrender

She'd been to counseling.  They even went to a marriage counselor together.  Nothing seemed to work.  She was worried about her marriage.  She has one child and didn't think she wanted any more.  She came to me and wanted to be mentored.

I encouraged her to be in God's Word daily.  I told her to renew her mind with God's truth.  Stop thinking negative thoughts about her husband.  Her husband was upset when he heard that she wanted to be a "submissive wife."  He didn't want any part of that.

I told her she must be a submissive wife for this is what God commands of her regardless of what her husband wants since God's Word trumps a husband's word.  I told her to win him without a word.  Let him see what true submission looks like.

The last time I met with her she was glowing.  They haven't had any arguments.  She got her IUD out and desires to have children.  He got mad at her for something and she simply said she was sorry instead of fighting back.  She is no longer an adversary of her husband but a source of peace to him.  She has waved her white flag of surrender and she is reaping beautiful fruit from it.

He no longer tells her not to be a submissive wife.  I think he is enjoying their new relationship and his new wife.  She no longer cares if he sleeps in.  She wants him to now so he will be well rested.    Her whole countenance has changed.  She radiates joy and peace.

I never tire of watching the beautiful ways of the Lord and how well they work.  Mentoring young women is so rewarding...marriages restored, peace reigning in the home, children becoming well-behaved.  If you are an older women, begin mentoring younger women.  You will learn so much in the process and young women will be so thankful.

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...

Titus 2:3,4