What's scaring you today? Is it the illness of a child, fears of death, loss of income and security? Is it your marriage – are you frightened of the possibility that lies within you to throw it all away, to run from the responsibility and disillusionment regarding your own strength? Has the unfaithfulness of man made you frightened that your God will leave you as well? Can I encourage you to go to the word of the Lord as given to the prophet, Isaiah? At least 8 times, this command comes from our God: "Fear Not!" With the command comes encouragement, the reason to be strong: "I am with you!"
Read these passages, memorize them, write them on your heart:
ISAIAH 40:27-WHY DO YOU SAY, O JACOB, AND SPEAK, O ISRAEL, 'MY WAY IS HIDDEN FROM THE LORD? AND MY RIGHT IS DISREGARDED BY MY GOD'? HAVE YOU NOT KNOWN? HAVE YOU NOT HEARD? THE LORD IS THE EVERLASTING GOD, THE CREATOR OF THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. HE DOES NOT FAINT OR GROW WEARY, HIS UNDERSTANDING IS UNSEARCHABLE. HE GIVES POWER TO THE FAINT, AND TO HIM WHO HAS NO MIGHT HE INCREASES STRENGTH. EVEN YOUTHS SHALL FAINT AND BE WEARY AND YOUNG MEN SHALL FALL EXHAUSTED; BUT THEY WHO WAIT UPON THE LORD SHALL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH, THEY SHALL RUN AND NOT BE WEARY, THEY SHALL WALK AND NOT FAINT."
ISAIAH 41:4 WHO HAS PERFORMED AND DONE THIS, CALLING THE GENERATIONS FROM THE BEGINNING? I AM THE LORD, THE FIRST AND WITH THE LAST; I AM.
ISAIAH 41:9B-10: FEAR NOT! I AM WITH YOU, BE NOT DISMAYED FOR I AM YOU GOD; I WILL STRENGTHEN YOU, I WILL HELP YOU, I WILL UPHOLD YOU WITH MY VICTORIOUS RIGHT HAND.
ISAIAH 41:12B-14: … THOSE WHO WAR AGAINST YOU SHALL BE AS NOTHING AT ALL. FOR I, THE LORD YOUR GOD, HOLD YOUR RIGHT HAND; IT IS I WHO SAY TO YOU, 'FEAR NOT, I WILL HELP YOU. FEAR NOT, YOU WORM JACOB, YOU MEN OF ISRAEL! I WILL HELP YOU, SAYS THE LORD; YOUR REDEEMER IS THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL.
ISAIAH 43:1ff: BUT NOW SAYS THE LORD, HE WHO CREATED YOU, O JACOB, HE WHO FORMED YOU, O ISRAEL: 'FEAR NOT, FOR I HAVE REDEEMED YOU; I HAVE CALLED YOU BY NAME, YOU ARE MINE. WHEN YOU PASS THROUGH THE WATERS I WILL BE WITH YOU; AND THROUGH THE RIVERS, THEY SHALL NOT OVERWHELM YOU; WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH FIRE YOU SHALL NOT BE BURNED, AND THE FLAME SHALL NOT CONSUME YOU. FOR I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, YOUR SAVIOUR.
ISAIAH 43:5 FEAR NOT FOR I AM WITH YOU …I WILL GATHER YOU… MY SONS FROM AFAR AND MY DAUGHTERS FROM THE END OF THE EARTH, EVERYONE WHO IS CALLED BY MY,NAME, WHOM I CREATED FOR MY GLORY, WHOM I FORMED AND MADE.'
ISAIAH 44:2FF THUS SAYS THE LORD WHO MADE YOU, WHO FORMED YOU IN THE WOMB AND WILL HELP YOU: FEAR NOT, O JACOB MY SERVANT, JESHURUN WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN. FOR I WILL POUR WATER ON THE THIRSTY LAND, AND STREAMS ON THE DRY GROUND; I WILL POUR MY SPIRIT UPON YOUR DESCENDANTS AND MY BLESSING ON YOUR OFFSPRING. THEY SHALL SPRING UP LIKE GRASS AMID WATERS, LIKE WILLOWS BY FLOWING STREAMS. THIS ONE WILL SAY, 'I AM THE LORD'S, ANOTHER WILL CALL HIMSELF BY THE NAME OF JACOB AND ANOTHER WILL WRITE ON HIS HAND, 'THE LORD'S' AND SURNAME HIMSELF BY THE NAME OF ISRAEL.'
ISAIAH 44:6-8 THUS SAYS THE LORD, THE KING OF ISRAEL AND HIS REDEEMER, THE LORD OF HOSTS: I AM THE FIRST AND I AM THE LAST; BESIDES ME THERE IS NO GOD. WHO IS LIKE ME? LET HIM PROCLAIM IT, LET HIM DECLARE AND SET IT FORTH BEFORE ME. WHO HAS ANNOUNCED FROM OF OLD THE THINGS TO COME? LET THEM TELL US WHAT IS YET TO BE. FEAR NOT, NOR BE AFRAID; HAVE I NOT TOLD YOU FROM OF OLD AND DECLARED IT? AND YOU ARE MY WITNESSES! IS THERE A GOD BESIDES ME? THERE IS NO ROCK; I KNOW NOT ANY.
ISAIAH 45:5-8 "I AM THE LORD, AND THERE IS NO OTHER, BESIDES ME THERE IS NO GOD. I GIRD YOU THOUGH YOU DO NOT KNOW ME THAT MEN MAY KNOW, FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN AND FROM THE WEST THAT THERE IS NONE BESIDES ME; I AM THE LORD AND THERE IS NO OTHER. I FORM LIGHT AND DARKNESS, I MAKE WEAL AND CREATE WOE, I AM THE LORD, WHO DO ALL THESE THINGS.
ISAIAH 45:21FF AND THERE IS NO OTHER GOD BESIDES ME, A RIGHTEOUS GOD AND A SAVIOUR; THERE IS NONE BESIDES ME. TURN TO ME AND BE SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH! BY MYSELF I HAVE SWORN, FROM MY MOUTH HAS GONE FORTH RIGHTEOUSNESS, A WORD THAT SHALL NOT RETURN: 'TO ME EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW, EVERY TONGUE SHALL SWEAR.'
ONLY IN THE LORD, IT SHALL BE SAID OF ME, ARE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND STRENGTH…
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Founding Father's Failure of Faith
This from Mike Sr.:
Everytime I read from the pages of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography I am overtaken by a certain sense of sadness. Perhaps I have fallen under the spell of that great man's well crafted image as a man of kindly reason and general good will. He was, after all, the consummate self-made man. Perhaps the chief product of such labors was this rustic reasonable public persona that quietly smiles upon us from the historic portraits now hung in our nation's hallowed halls. I wouldn't be the first to so succomb to this affable image of bonhomme. Norman Cousins, one of America's greatest men of letters, described Franklin thus: He was rounded in interests without being polished; aristocratic in intellect without being undemocratic in thought; daring in ideas without being impractical in their execution; perennially youthful in outlook but consistently mature in approach. The Republic of Reason , New York: Harper & Row, 1958, p. 16
Why such sadness then? Primarily it is because the great man came so close to the gospel. At least so he would have us believe. Yet he remained to his dying day uncommitted to its message. A few weeks before his death at 84 in 1790, Franklin replied to a letter addressed to him by the President of Yale University, Ezra Stiles. Evidently Stiles had inquired as to Franklin's faith. Franklin wrote: "As to Jesus of Nazareth I have... some doubts as to his divinity though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble."
This is heartbreaking. The Christian knows too well the trouble that awaits an indifferent soul in eternity. Another sad note in Franklin's account of his life was sounded in the familiar comments on his friendship with the great evangelist, George Whitefield. They were good friends. Franklin said that he did not doubt Whitefield, who died 20 years before Franklin, prayed for his soul every day of his life. "But," Franklin observed, "to no avail." Perhaps the saddest aspect of Benjamin Franklin's failure to believe lies in these many connections with evangelical Christians. Charles Hodge, the noted Princeton theologian, married Franklin's great-great granddaughter and the features of Franklin can be seen almost eerily in the photos of their son, Archibald. The American poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, only a generation removed from Franklin, wrote: "for all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been." I suppose this sums up my melancholy over Benjamin Franklin. What might have been? Franklin's strongest ties to Christianity lay in his family's heritage of faith. From the pages of his autobiography we read: "This obscure family of ours was early in the Reformation, and continued Protestants through the reign of Mary, when they were sometimes in danger of trouble on account of their zeal against popery. They had got an English Bible, and to conceal and secure it, it was fastened upon with tapes under and within the cover of a joint-stool. When my great-great grandfather read it to his family, he turned up the joint-stool upon his knees, turning over the leaves then under the tapes. One of the children stood at the door to give notice if he saw the apparitor who was an officer of the spiritual court. In that cast the stool was turned down again upon its feet, when the Bible remained concealed under it as before."
What happened to Franklin's faith? I can only hazard a guess that comes from the counsel of God's Word. "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ." (Romans 10:17) Somewhere along the roadside of his long and illustrious life the Evil One snatched away the Word of God from the mind of Benjamin Franklin. Once taken it could not be restored. And as great a mind as Franklin's remained unrepentant and unbelieving to the very end. How sad! How frightening! No wonder we are commanded over and over again to guard, protect, and regularly attend to the Word of God. To cite an old proverb that I found written on the fly leaf of my first Bible: "This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book." A final footnote. Perhaps my maudlin sentiment is overly indulgent and too romantic. My sadness over Franklin's admissions is greater than any he ever expressed. After all, I can no more know the heart of Benjamin Franklin than I could any man's heart other than my own. I must ask myself, then, what is the reason for my remorse? Perhaps the truth is found in the words of Gerard Manly Hopkins. Hopkins wrote of seeing a young girl weep over the falling leaves of autumn. He asked "Margaret why are you weeping?" and concluded the young girls tears were common to us all. "It was," he said, "the blight man was born for. It is Margaret that you mourn for." My sorrow, I suppose, is less for Benjamin Franklin's loss of faith and more for the threat to myself and all my loved ones, if we do not attend daily to the hearing of the Word of God. It is as though God were saying "if this can happen to the greatest of men, what chance have you apart from my grace?" May God, the only sovereign creator and sustainer of life, keep me and my beloved ones ever and always in that place where he can bless us. May he keep us in his word.
Everytime I read from the pages of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography I am overtaken by a certain sense of sadness. Perhaps I have fallen under the spell of that great man's well crafted image as a man of kindly reason and general good will. He was, after all, the consummate self-made man. Perhaps the chief product of such labors was this rustic reasonable public persona that quietly smiles upon us from the historic portraits now hung in our nation's hallowed halls. I wouldn't be the first to so succomb to this affable image of bonhomme. Norman Cousins, one of America's greatest men of letters, described Franklin thus: He was rounded in interests without being polished; aristocratic in intellect without being undemocratic in thought; daring in ideas without being impractical in their execution; perennially youthful in outlook but consistently mature in approach. The Republic of Reason , New York: Harper & Row, 1958, p. 16
Why such sadness then? Primarily it is because the great man came so close to the gospel. At least so he would have us believe. Yet he remained to his dying day uncommitted to its message. A few weeks before his death at 84 in 1790, Franklin replied to a letter addressed to him by the President of Yale University, Ezra Stiles. Evidently Stiles had inquired as to Franklin's faith. Franklin wrote: "As to Jesus of Nazareth I have... some doubts as to his divinity though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble."
This is heartbreaking. The Christian knows too well the trouble that awaits an indifferent soul in eternity. Another sad note in Franklin's account of his life was sounded in the familiar comments on his friendship with the great evangelist, George Whitefield. They were good friends. Franklin said that he did not doubt Whitefield, who died 20 years before Franklin, prayed for his soul every day of his life. "But," Franklin observed, "to no avail." Perhaps the saddest aspect of Benjamin Franklin's failure to believe lies in these many connections with evangelical Christians. Charles Hodge, the noted Princeton theologian, married Franklin's great-great granddaughter and the features of Franklin can be seen almost eerily in the photos of their son, Archibald. The American poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, only a generation removed from Franklin, wrote: "for all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been." I suppose this sums up my melancholy over Benjamin Franklin. What might have been? Franklin's strongest ties to Christianity lay in his family's heritage of faith. From the pages of his autobiography we read: "This obscure family of ours was early in the Reformation, and continued Protestants through the reign of Mary, when they were sometimes in danger of trouble on account of their zeal against popery. They had got an English Bible, and to conceal and secure it, it was fastened upon with tapes under and within the cover of a joint-stool. When my great-great grandfather read it to his family, he turned up the joint-stool upon his knees, turning over the leaves then under the tapes. One of the children stood at the door to give notice if he saw the apparitor who was an officer of the spiritual court. In that cast the stool was turned down again upon its feet, when the Bible remained concealed under it as before."
What happened to Franklin's faith? I can only hazard a guess that comes from the counsel of God's Word. "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ." (Romans 10:17) Somewhere along the roadside of his long and illustrious life the Evil One snatched away the Word of God from the mind of Benjamin Franklin. Once taken it could not be restored. And as great a mind as Franklin's remained unrepentant and unbelieving to the very end. How sad! How frightening! No wonder we are commanded over and over again to guard, protect, and regularly attend to the Word of God. To cite an old proverb that I found written on the fly leaf of my first Bible: "This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book." A final footnote. Perhaps my maudlin sentiment is overly indulgent and too romantic. My sadness over Franklin's admissions is greater than any he ever expressed. After all, I can no more know the heart of Benjamin Franklin than I could any man's heart other than my own. I must ask myself, then, what is the reason for my remorse? Perhaps the truth is found in the words of Gerard Manly Hopkins. Hopkins wrote of seeing a young girl weep over the falling leaves of autumn. He asked "Margaret why are you weeping?" and concluded the young girls tears were common to us all. "It was," he said, "the blight man was born for. It is Margaret that you mourn for." My sorrow, I suppose, is less for Benjamin Franklin's loss of faith and more for the threat to myself and all my loved ones, if we do not attend daily to the hearing of the Word of God. It is as though God were saying "if this can happen to the greatest of men, what chance have you apart from my grace?" May God, the only sovereign creator and sustainer of life, keep me and my beloved ones ever and always in that place where he can bless us. May he keep us in his word.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Women Learning Together
We have been blessed in the Wise Woman study this summer to have a number of young, unmarried women with us. One of them said: "I wasn't sure this was the study for me - what does this teaching on women building their homes have to do with a grad student (college student, single working woman) living in an apartment by herself or with a room-mate?
The reality is that all of us in the body of Christ are in the business of building God's household: the kingdom of God is among us, God's kingly rule presides over the household of the universal church, all believers of all times; the household of the local church, in our case Four Oaks; the household of the family unit; and the household of the individual believer. We have responsibilities within each of these spheres as we order our lives under our King. The apostle Paul's letter to Pastor Titus teaches us about this order and the particular order the women bring as pillars, strong beautiful pillars supporting and building the household.
We're learning the importance of the woman as priest within this household. The elder women have the responsibility for teaching and training the younger women to think and behave wisely based on the good things of God. The younger women have the responsibility for being willing to learn from women they know well with all their flaws and shortcomings - but who are desiring to obey this command from the Father of every household on earth and in heaven.
We've learned that we are in school together whatever our situation in life. We are encouraged to know the "grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live sober, upright and godly lives in this world awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds."
One of our single women with no children yet of her own, Lauren Curtis, shared the following:
Last week, one of my kids, we'll call her Kate for the sake of HIPPA laws, revealed to me a very tangible perspective on our need for Christ and the beauty of the Gospel. Kate is 3 years old and suffers from various health issues; she is legally blind as well as unable to walk or crawl, barely able to sit up on her own. One aftenoon last week, Kate was laying belly down, playing on the rug, completely content playing with some toys. A few minutes later, we turned around to see that Kate had had what we call a "blow out" and was completely covered in poop. Not only was she covered in her own poop, but she was playing in it face first. It was everywhere....and it was disgusting. I left the room disgusted at the thought, but later was very much blessed by this experience. This is a child that I pray for the Lord to help me love, she is very difficult in more ways than one. As I was praying about her the next morning, the Lord reminded me of Dueteronomy 32:10 which says "He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye." As I read this, I was first so convicted that I have not loved this little girl with the love that has been shown to me. Honestly, I looked at her in her poop and was just frustrated and comletely grossed out. Then I was so amazed at the truth that I, just like her, once played in poop, enjoying it for the satisfaction that I thought it would bring. I played in my own mess, completely blinded to the fact that it was poop and nothing about it was good. And in that mess, completely covered, head to toe, my Father found me, encircled me, cared for me and has kept me as the apple of his eye. He has loved me from before day one. Day in and day out, I am among the children of the world who are deemed unlovely and unworthy. Like Christ, people look at them and do not see beauty that makes them desirable. They have been rejected by men and are acquainted with daily sorrow and grief. But day in and day out, I see Christ in them. I look at them and am reminded that I am just like them. Though I see, though I walk, though I am not as smelly or dirty, I am no different. I need Christ just as much as they do. Isaiah 53:6 says "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." Abba Father, please give us eyes to see the beauty, love, and grace of the Gospel in the most mundane and routine moments of our day; changing diapers, feeding families, taking out the trash, putting children to sleep. Please help us to take time to sit with You, speak with You and enjoy You. Jesus, thank you for seeing us for who we are, the muck and all, and loving us in that - teach and help us love others with that same love. Thank you for the ways in which You teach us of Yourself - help us not be so busy that we miss it. Still our crazy minds and hearts, Lord. Give us hearts that desire You first and foremost. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days (Psalm 90:14).
The reality is that all of us in the body of Christ are in the business of building God's household: the kingdom of God is among us, God's kingly rule presides over the household of the universal church, all believers of all times; the household of the local church, in our case Four Oaks; the household of the family unit; and the household of the individual believer. We have responsibilities within each of these spheres as we order our lives under our King. The apostle Paul's letter to Pastor Titus teaches us about this order and the particular order the women bring as pillars, strong beautiful pillars supporting and building the household.
We're learning the importance of the woman as priest within this household. The elder women have the responsibility for teaching and training the younger women to think and behave wisely based on the good things of God. The younger women have the responsibility for being willing to learn from women they know well with all their flaws and shortcomings - but who are desiring to obey this command from the Father of every household on earth and in heaven.
We've learned that we are in school together whatever our situation in life. We are encouraged to know the "grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live sober, upright and godly lives in this world awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds."
One of our single women with no children yet of her own, Lauren Curtis, shared the following:
Last week, one of my kids, we'll call her Kate for the sake of HIPPA laws, revealed to me a very tangible perspective on our need for Christ and the beauty of the Gospel. Kate is 3 years old and suffers from various health issues; she is legally blind as well as unable to walk or crawl, barely able to sit up on her own. One aftenoon last week, Kate was laying belly down, playing on the rug, completely content playing with some toys. A few minutes later, we turned around to see that Kate had had what we call a "blow out" and was completely covered in poop. Not only was she covered in her own poop, but she was playing in it face first. It was everywhere....and it was disgusting. I left the room disgusted at the thought, but later was very much blessed by this experience. This is a child that I pray for the Lord to help me love, she is very difficult in more ways than one. As I was praying about her the next morning, the Lord reminded me of Dueteronomy 32:10 which says "He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye." As I read this, I was first so convicted that I have not loved this little girl with the love that has been shown to me. Honestly, I looked at her in her poop and was just frustrated and comletely grossed out. Then I was so amazed at the truth that I, just like her, once played in poop, enjoying it for the satisfaction that I thought it would bring. I played in my own mess, completely blinded to the fact that it was poop and nothing about it was good. And in that mess, completely covered, head to toe, my Father found me, encircled me, cared for me and has kept me as the apple of his eye. He has loved me from before day one. Day in and day out, I am among the children of the world who are deemed unlovely and unworthy. Like Christ, people look at them and do not see beauty that makes them desirable. They have been rejected by men and are acquainted with daily sorrow and grief. But day in and day out, I see Christ in them. I look at them and am reminded that I am just like them. Though I see, though I walk, though I am not as smelly or dirty, I am no different. I need Christ just as much as they do. Isaiah 53:6 says "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." Abba Father, please give us eyes to see the beauty, love, and grace of the Gospel in the most mundane and routine moments of our day; changing diapers, feeding families, taking out the trash, putting children to sleep. Please help us to take time to sit with You, speak with You and enjoy You. Jesus, thank you for seeing us for who we are, the muck and all, and loving us in that - teach and help us love others with that same love. Thank you for the ways in which You teach us of Yourself - help us not be so busy that we miss it. Still our crazy minds and hearts, Lord. Give us hearts that desire You first and foremost. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days (Psalm 90:14).
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Workers of the Home
This is from Ashley Baker's study:
The priestess guards her household through fear of the Lord and fruit of her hands. She tends hard to the things she has been given by the good works of her hands. She loves her husband and children, so that she may be praised and blessed. She teaches and encourages young women to do the same. She is focused on the coming age and not enslaved to the ways of this world. She is a keeper and protector of her household. Kindness is on her lips and wisdom in her good teachings. She represents strength and submission, sensibility and provision, and purity in words and action. Not entrenched in the malicious gossip of others. Her heart is fixed on her household so that the Kingdom of God may be furthered and those around her may be blessed by the fruit of her good works. She represents who we are to be, made perfectly in the image of God, glorifying him in every way. She shows others who she is in the eye of her Lord and Savior, far more precious than jewels.
The priestess guards her household through fear of the Lord and fruit of her hands. She tends hard to the things she has been given by the good works of her hands. She loves her husband and children, so that she may be praised and blessed. She teaches and encourages young women to do the same. She is focused on the coming age and not enslaved to the ways of this world. She is a keeper and protector of her household. Kindness is on her lips and wisdom in her good teachings. She represents strength and submission, sensibility and provision, and purity in words and action. Not entrenched in the malicious gossip of others. Her heart is fixed on her household so that the Kingdom of God may be furthered and those around her may be blessed by the fruit of her good works. She represents who we are to be, made perfectly in the image of God, glorifying him in every way. She shows others who she is in the eye of her Lord and Savior, far more precious than jewels.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Workers of the Home
We're working through "The Wise Woman Builds Her House" again this summer. What a joy to study with these women of Four Oaks. As we study Paul's very deliberate commands to the women in the local church in Titus 2:3-5, we've zeroed in on the call for the older women (whose behavior is that of a priest in the home) to train the women in good sound doctrine and sound biblical thinking. The women are to be "workers of the home". The women were asked to carefully compare Proverbs 31 with Titus 2:3-5 and write a paragraph or two describing this "priestess in God's house", using both passages (Proverbs and Titus), as well as the things learned during the study that have shaped our thinking about our calling to the home.
As usual, the responses were terrific. I asked the women to email their paragraphs to me so I could post them here.
Tamzen Baker sent the first offering:
"The “worker” is deliberate, purposeful and mindful in her undertaking. She does not simply make sure things get done, family is fed, children are to bed. She is gracious in the way she acts, kindness and grace flow from her. She is thoughtful in her actions. She does well in the deeds, but is not too concerned with the outcome to not consider and serve the greater things (like Martha and Mary.) She does not trivialize her work, her family, her standing. It is her faithful action with an air of grace and dignity that forms her character and her reputation. These things reflect on her husband who is honored because of her, and they bless her household, causing her children to rise up and bless her. She is not a woman of extremes or run by fears, she guards, she protects, she is steady, she is sensible. She honors the word of God in her moral deeds as well as her diligent deeds. I don’t believe the woman of God, the worker at home, the proverbs 31 woman is a perfectionist causing stress and strife over things not done as well as the next magazine mom, but she does well to the ways of her household, she makes things special, she cares for the bodies and souls of those who are entrusted to her and trusts the One who has given her part in that stewardship."
I'll post more as I receive them!
As usual, the responses were terrific. I asked the women to email their paragraphs to me so I could post them here.
Tamzen Baker sent the first offering:
"The “worker” is deliberate, purposeful and mindful in her undertaking. She does not simply make sure things get done, family is fed, children are to bed. She is gracious in the way she acts, kindness and grace flow from her. She is thoughtful in her actions. She does well in the deeds, but is not too concerned with the outcome to not consider and serve the greater things (like Martha and Mary.) She does not trivialize her work, her family, her standing. It is her faithful action with an air of grace and dignity that forms her character and her reputation. These things reflect on her husband who is honored because of her, and they bless her household, causing her children to rise up and bless her. She is not a woman of extremes or run by fears, she guards, she protects, she is steady, she is sensible. She honors the word of God in her moral deeds as well as her diligent deeds. I don’t believe the woman of God, the worker at home, the proverbs 31 woman is a perfectionist causing stress and strife over things not done as well as the next magazine mom, but she does well to the ways of her household, she makes things special, she cares for the bodies and souls of those who are entrusted to her and trusts the One who has given her part in that stewardship."
I'll post more as I receive them!
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