Stewardship

My Daughters,

I want to share my heart with you about living simply...being content in whatever financial situation God has place you in.

I would love to be given the trial of riches, but so far my Lord has not seen fit to send me this trial!  I say that to be funny, but in many ways it is true.  I can be so easily tempted to desire for more than I have been given.  It's so easy to worry about tomorrow and how we will pay the bills and make ends meet.  I am slowly learning that this is not what God wants me to be doing.  He wants me to trust in Him, in His provision for me.  I need to remind myself so often that He knows what is best for me and my family.  If this means poverty, then so be it.  If this means riches, then I hope that I will be a good steward of all He blesses us with.  We seem to always be somewhere in the middle.

Money, finances and stewardship are talked about in scripture a lot:
Proverbs warns three times against being surety for another person (6:1, 11:15, 17:18) as well as warning against borrowing (Prov 22:7 "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender").
Jesus told the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14 - 30) .   Jesus also told a parable about the man who hoarded his wealth, storing it up in barns, yet he died before he could enjoy his wealth (Luke 12:17 - 12).
Paul stated emphatically in Romans 13:8 "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law."
Paul also admonished Timothy of the potential evils of loving money in I Timothy 6:10 - " For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
Jesus said in Matt 25:29, "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. "

First and foremost, I want to share with you about tithing.  God required the Israelite tithe 10% of everything.  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 9:7 that God loves a cheerful giver.  Out of thanks in our hearts for all the God has provided for us, we should give back to God from our "first fruits". Give to God (via your church of Christian ministries) first from your income, then pay your bills, and live/save from what is left.Next, let's talk about debt.  Going into debt to purchase something is really showing a lack of trusting in God.  I know that sounds extreme, but I believe it to be true.  If God had wanted you to get that item, He would have provided the resources for obtaining it without incurring debt.  Being content with what He has provided can be a very hard thing to do, but it is so important.  If there's something you need/want but don't have the funds to purchase, pray about it.  Pray that God would provide the means to get that item, or that He would cause you to be content without it.

The one possible exception to this rule is that of housing.  Owning a home is nearly impossible today without borrowing money, but some have been able to do it.  I recommend looking at other ways to acquire a home without borrowing money, or borrowing as little as possible.  Living in a low rent home while saving up the money for land, and then building using cash would be the ideal.  You could even live on the land saving the money that would be spent on rent.  This can be a very real sacrifice and can make the day to day living difficult at best, but I have known of people who have done this successfully.  I have also known of people who have purchased a home that was in need of lots of fixing up, so the cost of purchasing was low, requiring little or no borrowing of money.  Then they fix it up and sell it for a substantial profit once it is in great shape, and then they do it all over again, with a larger/better home.   That way they work their way up into a beautiful home that meets the needs of their family.  This takes a lot of hard work, but can be very rewarding. Living below your means, whenever possible is the ideal. 


 Keeping your living expenses below your income will keep you out of financial troubles.  If you can save a portion of each paycheck, then you won't be caught when large expenses, unforeseen, show up.  This can also prevent you from being tempted to borrow to purchase, as why would you borrow money if you have money saved up?
Keeping your living expenses low can be something you work at everyday - turning out lights when you leave a room, turning down the thermostat, making things from scratch instead of buying them store-bought (like bread, cookies, ice cream, pizza),  staying home more/combining trips to lower fuel consumption, using cloth diapers, feminine pads, washcloths and napkins instead of disposables diapers, pads, paper towels (reduces waste too!), use natural and alternative medicines when appropriate to save on the cost of doctor visits, shop once or twice a month instead of every week, do without instead of making a special trip to the store for a missing ingredient, give up luxuries like eating out, espresso drinks and pedicures...look through your bank ledger and see where you are spending your money and be creative in trying to reduce all expenses. Make it fun - see how little you can live on, recording milestones like "our power bill just hit a new low record"!

Budgeting can sound like a bad thing, having to stay within your budget can be a downer if you don't have the right attitude.  But a budget can be a powerful tool!  I highly recommend using a computer software program like Quicken to keep your bookkeeping.  There are many functions in the program for you to use to track your spending.  I also recommend that you keep it up to date as much as possible - recording your expenses at least weekly.  This can also help you plan for bills and recurring expenses, and allow you to project your income and expenses for the next week.

After tithing and monthly bills like rent/mortgage payments, power/gas, water, garbage have been paid, what's left is called discretionary spending. Discretionary money needs to be allotted for items like savings, food, clothing, household items, fuel/licensing for vehicles and such.  Saving up money can be challenging at times, but if you make it a priority it will be such a blessing.  I'd suggest you have an account set up that will automatically put a certain amount of money into your savings account every payday.  Or use cash every week for shopping and put any left over money into savings (we never seem to have anything left over so that doesn't work for us).

When it comes to clothing, you can save so much when you get creative!  I suggest that you never buy new unless you have tried everything else first!  I also suggest that you make use of your local consignment store.  Turn in clothes/toys that you don't use anymore, and use the credit to purchase what you need there, or take the credit out in cash and use it to shop elsewhere.  Be picky about what consignment shop you use, as some of them are not reputable and may close their doors, take your stuff and cancel your credit (this happened to me once!).  You can also store clothing that you are not using now, but might again someday.  If you're a mom, then save the out-grown clothes that are in good condition to pass down to your younger children.  When you need something, shop at the consignment shop where you have credit first, then go to the second hand stores like Goodwill or Salvation Army.  You can also make use of garage sales, but they can be hit and miss as far as finding the right clothes needed, plus you might lose some of the savings if you use a lot of gas to go running around to the sales.  When we went to garage-sales frequently, we'd check the ads and make a map of what sale we plan to go to, making the least amount of running around.  This saved time and money! One other way to save if you can't find what you need second hand, is to go to the discount stored like TJ Maxx, Tuesday Morning or Ross where they have close out items marked way down, but sometimes it can take a lot of time to find what you need there.   You can also get household items there as well, but go with caution as this can be a place of great temptation to impulse shop - purchasing something just because it's such a great price, but it's not what you were shopping for!

Another expense that can get out of hand quickly is groceries.  I've heard that some people stop at the grocery store every evening to purchase what they need for dinner and the next days meals, or they eat out for every meal!  Crazy!  The best way to handle aquiring the needed food for you/your family is to plan ahead!  Never enter a grocery store without a list and/or hungry, you will purchase items you don't need and waste your hard earned/saved money!  Set aside one day a week to plan your menu (I do this the same day I do the bookkeeping), using your local grocery store ads/coupons and big store coupons to help you decide what you will have for meals. I have found it very helpful to have a list of the items I usually purchase at different stores and list the usual price. This helps with budgeting and I can also use it as a reference to find out if the grocery store "special price" is truly a savings over the regular price at the big stores like Walmart and Costco. I'd also recommend that you keep an inventory of what you already have, update that weekly, and try to make use of what you already have when you create your menu.  I hope to install a dry erase board on the door to our garage to have an inventory in sight of the items in the garage fridge and freezer to help with this.  It might also include a list of what's in the pantry too.  


Once you are ready, put together your menu for the length of time between shopping trips, using your inventory and good deals to help come up with ideas for the meals.  If you have an inventory item or great deal on something you are not sure how to use, go to the internet and search for recipes that use that ingredient - we did this recently and found a wonderful bean soup recipe - Pinterest is great for this!  I like to include all meals in our menu, plus a list of snacks as well.  Then you create your shopping list from your menu, making use of the sales/coupons that you have found.  If you live far from the big stores like Costco and Walmart/Target, you might want to budget in such a way that you can make a big shopping trip once a month, or twice a month, and get only perishables at the local grocery store in between.  This can save a lot of time and money, but it takes a lot of planning to have enough cash on hand to purchase so much at once!  We also keep a running list on our dry erase board of thing we notice we need (especially staples like flour, salt, sugar or things like toilet paper that we don't purchase regularly), and use that to help us get everything we need each week, hopefully eliminating extra trips to the store in between shopping days.

Once you have your menu created, it's time to compile your shopping list.  I like to use a computer spread sheet (Open Office is a great, free resource for this) for this using one column for the item name and the next column for it's approximate cost.  This way I can program it to come up with the totals for each store for me and it makes for easy editing if the list goes over budget.  I like to put my list for each store in the order that I usually shop - for example, putting the produce/dairy/dry goods all together and in the order I go through that particular store as this helps prevent missing an item or having to spend more time and energy to go back through the store for an item I missed.  I often make up my lists by hand (not on the computer), but I usually end up writing it twice or it's quite a mess by the time I'm done due to edits or adding items missed on the first run through.  When I think I'm finished with my list, I read through my menu again to be sure I have all the items needed for the meals, and take a quick look at our staples to try to make sure we have everything on the list that we need.  Then it's time to see if the shopping list is within our budget.  If it isn't it's time to get creative.  You can reduce your grocery list to meet your budget by changing the meals selected to lower cost meals, removing items that are not truly necessary, purchasing smaller amounts (like getting a smaller pack of toilet paper from the grocery store instead of the huge pack at Costco).  If your list is on the small side, consider just going to the local grocery store and then you can use what you save on gas for more food items (this works better if you live a ways from the big stores).

One way we have recently found to add to our available food, especially produce, is to join a gleaners group.  We go there 1 - 2 times a week and come home with at least a box full of produce/breads for less than $15/mo!  It takes a little time and effort, but it's well worth it as produce and breads can break you budget faster than anything (besides meat)!  You can also find out where to glean in farmer's fields throughout the summer months.And then there is preserving of food.  This is a great way to provide for your family!  Purchasing produce and meats in bulk when the price is good/it is in season and then preserving it for future use is a great way to reduce your costs, especially if you can grow/raise it yourself or glean from farmer's fields!  Canning, freezing and dehydrating are just some of the options for putting food up for later.  If you haven't learned how to do these, or don't have the equipment, find someone who does and learn from them/borrow their equipmenc (or learn via the internet/Youtube videos) and work toward being able to do it on your own - it's well worth the investment of time and energy!

One last category of living expenses I'd like to talk about is that of vehicles - cars, trucks, recreational vehicles.  I highly recommend purchasing your cars used and do not owe anything on them.  You'll pay far less in car maintenance and repair than you would ever pay in car payments with interest.  Also, by owning your vehicles outright, you are not required to have comprehensive car insurance on your cars and this lowers your insurance expense more than you can imagine.  Due to the high price of gas, think twice before leaving the house, and try to use the most efficient car for errands whenever possible.  I would recommend never purchasing a new car, or even a newer used car.  Shop around, get a mechanic to look over a car you are interested in, and l Learn to do some of the repairs/maintenance yourself - oil changes, for example, can be done yourself and save a lot through the years, and find a local, reliable auto mechanic for the big jobs..  Shop around for the best deal in auto insurance if you are required to have that.  I suggest that older children don't get a driver's license until they can afford to pay for their auto insurance so that they learn that responsibility goes with the privilege of driving.


There is one gift from God that we can all too easily take for granted and squander needlessly - Time.  Many times in scripture God tells us that our time on this earth has been set by Him - we can not add to it, and no one can snatch us from His hand - no death is early as God is in control of our time.  Living in fear of sudden death is unbiblical, but living like you'll live forever is too.  Each day is precious, every hour priceless.  No one knows how many days have been allotted for that lifetime - some live only a few hours/days/months, others live a hundred years or more.  Live like everyday might be your last, because it just might be.  Don't squander your time on fruitless activities (movies, video games to name a few) but try to make every moment count for your gain and His glory.  Invest in the people in your lives, invest in the pursuit of godliness.  I'm not saying that recreation is evil, and that you can't ever watch a movie, but be careful in the choices you make.  Start every day asking God for wisdom to use your time wisely.  Try to plan your day by making a list of things that need to be done, but also be willing to be interrupted, as God quite often will interrupt our day to bring blessings (like a little child wanting to go for a walk or a friend calling to get together), but if we are so set on our plan for the day we might miss out on a blessing.

Now I'd like to talk about stewardship for what God has already blessed you with.  It's so easy to take for granted what you already have - your home, your vehicles, your furniture, your clothing, your food, your equipment, your time and your health.  All of these are blessings from your Father in heaven and they each need to be cared for in order to preserve them and make the most out of them.  Repair things when they are broken, mend clothing when they are torn, eat left overs before they rot, properly clean and care for your kitchen appliances, and use your time wisely. Exercise, take vitamins, get proper sleep and eat healthy to preserve your health.  Thank God for His provision and show your thankfulness for taking good care of what He has given you to show yourself faithful and He will reward your faithfulness.

 I saved this for last, but it really should be first.  If you have a need, pray about it!  So often we worry and fret over our budgets and things that we seem to need.  Listen to what Jesus told us in Matthew 6:

"Do not be worried about your life,
as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?   Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today
 and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace,
will He not much more clothe you?
 You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying,
‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

When you are in need of something, turn to the One who ones the cattle on a thousand hills and ask Him to provide for you.  Look for His provision, recognize it when it comes and take time to thank Him for it.  But also remember that He might deem it best for you to do without, or wait for a time.  This is when you must learn to be content, as Paul tells us in Philippians 4:

"...for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
I know how to get along with humble means,
 and I also know how to live in prosperity;
 in any and every circumstance I have learned
 the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need."

Be creative, make do, stretch your resources, care for what you already have and learn to be content.  Ask God daily for wisdom, self control and a spirit of contentment.  Those are the keys to learning to be a good steward.  I hope and pray that when you and I stand before my Lord and Savior that we will hear these blessed words:

"Well done, good and faithful servant. 

You have been faithful over a little; 

I will set you over much. 

Enter into the joy of your master."

 (Matt 25:21)

You have been faithful over a little;

I will set you over much.

Enter into the joy of your master."

 (Matt 25:21)

All My Love,

Mom

Honoring Your Father, Loving Your Husband

My Daughters,


In Titus 2 Paul instructs the "older women" to "encourage the young women to love their husbands..." In some translation it reads "teach".  But, you may ask, if a woman falls in love with a man and they marry, why would they need to be taught how to love their husband if she is already in love with him?  That is a very good question!  The answer is that "falling in love" is not what the Bible talks about when it comes to marriage.  If you can fall IN love, then you can (and will) fall OUT OF love!  The love spoken of in the Bible is a love that is a commitment to  the object of the love.  It is very similar to the friendship kind of love - putting the object of your love before yourself, desiring to bless them and please them.  But before I get into that subject (in a later letter), I'd like to talk to the young women who are not married yet.  At this time, none of my daughters in my home are married, but that doesn't mean that this command to teach them to love their husbands can be ignored by me or them!


When you are a daughter at home, you can practice loving your husband!  Until you are married, you are under the protection, provision and instruction of your father.  God calls you to honor your father, and no where in scriptures does it say you outgrow this command!  Honoring your father can be excellent preparation for being a help-meet to your husband someday...at least the kind of loving support that I am talking about.


So, how does "honoring your father" look?  How can that prepare you to love your husbands?  It can in many ways.  The kind of love and honor I am talking about is that of a commitment to improve their life, to support them in their work and ministry, and to make them know they are loved.


The most important thing you can do to honor and love your father is to pray for him!  He has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and faces our evil world everyday to supply our needs!  Pray for his protection, wisdom, strength against temptation, spiritual growth, good health.  Praying for someone will always increase your love for that person.  You can also ask him if there's anything you can specifically pray for - knowing that you are praying for your father will mean so much to him!  And, of course, praying for your father will establish a habit that will convert over nicely to praying for your husband when you are married.  Speaking of praying for your husband...have you ever prayed for your future husband?  God knows him intimately and even now you can be praying that God would bless him and teach him, to protect him from evil, and mold him to be the godly husband you hope to have!


The kind of honor and love I am talking about also takes getting to know your father - what he likes, what displeases him, what his purpose in life is, what his ministry is...and maybe he doesn't even know these things himself, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have them!  You need to study your father, get to know him, spend time with him listening to him, asking questions to draw him out.  What does he like, what are his favorite foods, what is his favorite thing to do, what does he like to read, what are his hopes and dreams?  Find out more about your dad than anybody, besides your mom, knows about him!  Then take what you have learned and try to please him.  Make meals/snacks that he likes.  Use the Golden Rule - "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" - do things for your father that you know would please you!   Offer to help him out with his projects (it's OK to get dirty/greasy).  Ask him to teach you the things he knows, especially things that will help you care for your family someday - like how to fix plumbing, a lawn mower, change the oil in a car and more!  If your father has a hobby, try it out.  Even if it's a "guy thing" - some male hobbies are quite fun!  Working side by side with your father will be so special.  Men are not prone to sharing their heart with others...but when you spend time with your father doing something he enjoys, it will give opportunity for special talks as well!


Thinking about your father during the day, and planning to do things for him once he gets home from work, will create a deeper love for your father.  Many young girls look at their father from a viewpoint of what their fathers do for them - protection, provision, fix their things, and the maker of the rules in her life.  But they can be so much more!  When you invest yourself in someone else, you will deepen your relationship with that person in ways that will last a lifetime.  I wish I had done this, but it's too late as my father passed away a few years ago.  So let me encourage you to do this for your father, no matter how old you are, or if your relationship with your father has taken a few hits through the years.  Commit to loving your father in tangible ways, day in and day out, giving him the respect and honor that God commands and going that much farther and becoming his loving daughter.


But what about submitting to and obeying your father?  Let's assume that in general you obey your father and do as he asks...but is that all you should do?  When you obey your father, you are practicing how to honor your husband.  When you act in accordance with your father's wishes even when he is not present, you are practicing to love your husband and you are pleasing God, your heavenly father!  When you are married, your husband will have ideas about how a home should be run, what activities he likes to have his wife involved in and how his wife interacts with others in her world.  But he will not be with his wife 24 hours a day.  Your father is not with you 24 hours a day, but that does not mean that if he is not there, that you can act anyway you please...you still need to live according to his preferences and rules at all times.  By committing to living your life according to your father's (and your heavenly Father's) will, you are learning to curb your sinful nature and gain self control.  This is not easy!  This is impossible in our own strength as our nature as women is to put ourselves and our desires first and take any opportunity to fulfill those desires when no one is looking!  But, much like your Father in heaven, he will find out.  What you do when you are not in his presence, will usually get back to him somehow...and even if it doesn't, disobedience always damages relationships.  When you have gone against your father wishes, the next time you are with your father your will hold back that part of your life from him and your will be dishonest with him.


What about when you are making decisions?  Are you wise in your own eyes, or do you realize that your father is a source of wisdom?  Granted, not all fathers are filled with Godly wisdom, but if your father is a believer then this is most likely true, and if he is not a believer, he has lived longer than you and understands the world around you much better!  Talk to your dad when you are needing to make decisions and listen to him.  You might not like what he suggests, but dad's have been around and they know things you do not know.  Unless what your father tells you is contrary to God's word, you should put great importance to what he says.  If you are unsure about anything - activities to participate in, what subjects to study, where to volunteer your time, how to help your mother, how to spend your money, what clothes are acceptable to wear...ask your father and listen to him.  So many times women and girls will ask the man in their life for his opinion, but when that opinion does not line up with the girl's/women's opinion, the women/girls will react in defensiveness and reject that opinion.  We, as women, like to have our own way (it started with Eve).  When the men in our lives do not agree with us we are tempted (and usually give in to this temptation) to rationalize our way out of listening to and honoring the men in our lives.  So I encourage you to ask for his opinion/help and take it...don't discuss it, just take it to heart and take some time to think about it, and see why he would recommend/suggest what he did!  You can ask him to elaborate on his opinion and why he feels that way...but sometimes he might not know exactly why or may not think it prudent to explain it in detail to you...so you may just have to take his word for it!  Pray about it and ask God to show you what to do...but don't reject anything your father suggests just because it doesn't line up with your wants and desires.


What about his ministry?  Does that seem strange to you?  Event though your father is not a pastor or a missionary, every Christian father has a ministry whether or not he realizes it!  In Deuteronomy 6, God's word says to father (and mothers), "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  And these words which I commend you today shall be in your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children..."  His ministry in your home is to teach your family about God.  Think about what it takes to have family devotions in your home and work to make it as easy as possible for your father to do this.  In our home, in order for us to have a time as a family to study God's word with my husband, we have to plan and execute having dinner on time,  and have the books needed within arms reach, and all the children willing to remain at the table when they are finished eating...we also need to be very careful not to make too many evening commitments, as when we have events in the evening it never fails that we run from the dinner table not even thinking about taking the time to read together!  So think through and plan out what it takes to get your home set up to make having family Bible time possible and commit to executing that plan every day!  Make a list...dinner ingredients in the house (thawed if need be), dishes clean, table set, dinner started on time...what ever it takes!




When you give your father the honor and respect I just described, it will uplift him and encourage him.  It will cause him to take his role as your father more seriously!  So many men (and women) today have succumbed to our world's flawed portrayal of a father and husband..they are the bread winner and their job in life is to keep the women in their lives happy, 'cuz "if momma ain't happy, aint nobody happy".  But that is so wrong!  We as women are called by God to support, encourage, help and love the men in our lives and make them happy!

What if your father is not a believer, does that change my advice to you?  Not really.  Not unless he commands you to do something contrary to God's word.  Loving and honoring your father as I have shown you today can be a powerful tool that God can use in your father's life to draw him to the things of God...this kind of daughter is not heard of in the world (and even in most Christian circles) today.  He will take notice.  And in this case, praying for your father is even more vitally important!


So, prepare to be a godly help-meet to your husband by being a godly, helpful daughter to your father...you'll never regret it.


All My Love,


Mom

Striving to Become a Woman After God's Own Heart

My Daughters,


The Westminster's Shorter Catechism begins with this question and answer:  What is the chief end of man?  To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  As believers, our number one priority in this life is our relationship to God.  Our lives should bring glory to Him.


Imagine a bride-to-be...planning her wedding and preparing to be her fiance's bride.  The first thing she thinks about upon waking is her betrothed.  As she gets dressed she wonders if the outfit she is selecting will please him when she sees him later in the day.  As she eats, she wonders what he's eating for breakfast.  As she styles her hair she remembers that he said that he likes it when she wears her hair up, so she styles it that way.  As she puts on her makeup she remembers that he really liked it when she used the lavender eye liner.  So, of course, she uses the lavender eye liners.  And then there's the earrings he gave her, she has to wear them again today since she's going to be seeing him...and she can't wait!  Oh how she wishes she could spend time with him first thing in the morning instead of having to wait all the way until his lunch break at work!


Did you know that Paul tells us in the Bible that the relationship of believers to Christ is like that of a bride to a bridegroom?  We, the body of believers, are waiting for Christ to return and take us to His home.  He is our bridegroom.  Are you preparing for Him each day?  Are you growing more in your love for Him each day?  Do you think about what pleases Christ when you make decisions about how you use your time, how you dress, how you eat, what you talk about?  We, as believers saved by His paying the price for us through His death, should live that way!


But how can we do this?  What does it look like in the average day?

this artwork is by an artist who hides the word "Jesus" somewhere in the painting
- check out her other works, they are amazing!

 In the book "A Woman after God's Own Heart" Elizabeth George talks about the Seven Sacred Pools in Hawaii.  There are several pools with waterfalls in between each pool, the water dropping into one pool and then leaves that pool and fills the next pool lower down.  Our lives are like that waterfall.  Our first pool needs to be filled before we can fill the next one, and so forth.  Our first pool is our relationship with God!  We need to be filled with love for Him and from Him first and foremost!  In order to fill that pool, we have to put God first in our life and that takes work.  It takes dedication and determination.


I have tried to have a time with God every day since I became serious about seeking God's will for my life way back in high school.  I have not always succeeded, and there have been long spells when I hardly ever had a regular time to meet with my Lord, read His word and talk with Him.  Until I read Elizabeth George's book I had not really committed myself to doing it daily.  I did it when it worked out, and at times I'd be consistent for a few weeks or months, but then the pressures of life would squeeze out that time - "I don't have time today to meet with God, He must understand because He knows how long my "to do" list and how little sleep I've been getting".   But this time is critical!


When I was in school I would try to do it before going to sleep at night - so many times I'd awake during the night and find my Bible lying on the bed next to me and I would have no recollection of what I read, and obviously I did not remain awake long enough to talk with God after He talked to me (through His word).  So I have always tried to do it in the morning.  But in order to do this you have to wake yourself up early enough to take the time, especially if you have to be somewhere at a certain time that day, or to be awake before your children wake up and the demands of the day rush up to you.  Elizabeth George says to "beat the kids up" - no, do not beat your children, but beat them to waking!  Get up before they do!  Yes, there are nights where a young mother might get very little sleep, and for her health she needs to sleep as late as the children do, but she still needs to find time to start her day with God.  Maybe set the children up with their breakfast and sit at the table and read to the children!  Or have your Bible lying where you sit to nurse your baby and the first time you nurse your Baby, read the Bible and pray.  Make it work for you.


A relationship takes time, it takes work, it takes commitment.  If you have a friend and you never talk with them, or listen to them, how good if your friendship?


 Reading the Bible is listening to God - hearing what He says about how to live your life.  You can read a portion of scripture, or use a "Read Through The Bible in a Year" Bible to guide your reading, or use a Bible study book to help you apply the Bible to your life.   Memorizing scripture is a great way to internalize God's truths and it will help you apply it in your life.  When you find a passage that really speaks to you or helps you to know what God's will for you is, memorize that passage.  I've just started memorizing scripture for the first in years and it's not as hard as I thought it would be, and the passage I memorized years ago are still lurking around in my mind and come into my thoughts when I need them!


Praying is talking with God.  Usually you do all the talking, but many times while I am praying I will think of something important I need to do, or maybe further understanding about what I was reading, or maybe I'll be asking for help with a problem and suddenly I'll think of the solution to that problem.  That is God talking to me!  I just had this yesterday.  In the morning I was thinking about my desire to start a new blog, but couldn't decide what to use as the subject matter - I have so many things I like to do or like to talk about.  So as I was working on my laundry, I started to pray and ask God to show me what He wanted me to write about, and within seconds I remembered the talk I gave last spring at a mother-daughter tea about mother's and daughters walking side by side.  And then I knew I needed to start a blog to share my heart with my daughters, teaching them to be women of faith.  So this very blog is the result of hearing God's answer to my prayer while I was still praying about it!


Learning from someone else is also a great way to grow in your faith.  For many women, spending time with a wise, godly woman isn't something we can do on a regular basis, but many wise, godly women have written books that can teach us many things!  That's how I have learned the bulk of how to apply God's word in my life!  Elizabeth George, Elizabeth Elliot, Michelle Duggar, Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Stormie Omartian are a few authors who have impacted my life in the past few years.  Be careful in choosing the authors you study under, as not all Christian authors are doctrinally sound, many are worldly and fall into the category of teachers who lead others astray from the pure gospel.  2 Timothy 4:3 speaks of this: "For the time will come when people will not up up with sound doctrine, Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears way from the truth and turn aside to myths."


Lastly, it can be very helpful to have an accountability partner.  An accountability partner is someone who commits to meeting with you (in person or by phone) on a regular basis, which can be once a week, once a month or whatever works for both of you, to encourage one another and pray for each other and hold each other accountable.  I have been doing this for over 2 years now and it has been so helpful for me.  I tell her what I want to be held accountable for, and she shares her desires for spiritual growth with me.  We pray for each other as often as possible regarding each other's struggles.  Knowing that she is praying for me, and that sometime soon I will be sharing with her how successful I have been in having a regular time with my Lord helps me to stay on track!  Ask the Lord to show you who would be a good accountability partner for you and ask that person if she would be willing to do this with you!  You won't regret it!


Once you are filling your heart and mind regularly with the things of God, and taking time to talk with Him, your spiritual pool will fill up to overflowing.  That overflow will spill out into your relationships in your family.  But that is for my next letter.


I pray that what I have shared with you will enable you to become dedicated to spending time regularly with Him who died for you, and in so doing that you will be filled with the love of God and that it will bring glory to Him and bless all who know you.


With all my Love,


Mom

My Purpose

I have been blogging randomly for a few years now.  It started as a business blog, and then I began to blog about the happenings around our home.  Because I am a mother to many, 11 to be exact, and run a home business my blogging has been sporadic at times, and dealt with all kinds of topics.  But lately I have been wanting to do something more purposeful with blogging.  After mulling this over for a few weeks, and praying about it this morning, I found a purpose for a new blog.  Letters to my daughters.


But why letters to my daughters in such a public forum?  Because my daughters encompass more than just my biological daughters, but they will be the focus of my posts.  I have mentored many young women through the years, both in my extended family as well as friends of my daughters and other young women who have come into my life.  These are my spiritual daughters.  They are not always available for teaching on a regular basis, so a blog is a great way to put all the things I want to share with them in a place where they can be found, anytime!


I am also inspired to put these things in a blog because someday I might not be here or able to share these things with my daughters.  I have no idea how many days God has given me to spend on this earth serving Him.  I may live to be over 100 years old like my grandmother, or I may only have a few days/weeks/years before I go home to be with my Lord.  I may live out my days with mental clarity, or I may experience things that make me unable to share these things with my daughters.


God has taught me so much through the years, things that I never learned growing up and things that have been lost in our culture.  I want to be able to pass on these things to my daughters so they can start their lives so much better equipped than I was.  This will enable them to better serve God all their lives by fulfilling the high calling of godly womanhood right from the start.  Not floundering like I did trying to "keep up with the Jones's" and beginning my life as a home maker with little to no skills, and following the world's advice as to being a wife and mother.  I want to equip my daughters so that they enter marriage and motherhood with a good supply of the proper tools (and I'm not just talking about kitchen gadgets) and a strong relationship with their Lord that will carry them through the tough times.


I hope you are blessed by what I will share with you, and I pray the Lord will use this to equip many young women to make a difference in our world by fulfilling the High Calling of godly womanhood.