14 WAYS A WISE WOMAN BUILDS HER HOUSE—Part 2

Posted on April 30, 2014 by thelookingglassbykathy
Photo Credit: theinspiredcafe.com

Photo Credit: theinspiredcafe.com

In my last post, I challenged my readers to consider knowing their worth. Consider that the woman God made you to be is instrumental in how a wise woman builds her home.  Not knowing your worth is like being a woman who plucks her house down with her own hands. Why?  Because you cannot teach what you do not know.  If you don’t know (or struggle with knowing) your worth, the foundation you’re building a house on will not stand.  It’s like building a house on sand. It cannot stand.  (See Matt 7:26,27)

In this post, we will take a look at the second way a wise woman can build her home, a way she builds her area of influence.  Her domain, if you will.  Her area of stewardship.  She has been given her house to steward over it, after all.

House of Prayer—A wise woman builds her house through prayer.  A wise woman realizes that prayer confirms her utter dependence on God.  It’s the first words from her lips every morning.  It’s the first burden on her heart.  It’s the outward sign of a dependent and grateful heart.  A wise woman prays for her house.  She desires to know what God wants for her family and she trusts that God will direct her steps in influencing that.  She is in a constant state of prayer all day because that’s where her help comes from.  Consider the heart behind this traditional hymn penned by a homemaker:

I Need Thee Every Hour

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;

No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;

Every hour I need Thee;

Oh, bless me now my Savior,

I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, stay close Thou nearby;

Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;

Every hour I need Thee;

Oh, bless me now, my Savior,

I come to Thee.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;

Every hour I need Thee;

Oh, bless me now, my Savior,

I come to Thee

“I need Thee ev’ry hour, most gracious Lord.” Author Annie Hawks was busy about her household chores one day when she started thinking about how much she depended on the Lord to help her through the day. Inspired, she took pencil and paper and began to write. The words came quickly and easily. She never imagined that her hasty verse would mean anything to anyone.  But yet it did.  It captures the burden and privilege of building a house.  We cannot do it without Him.  We need Him ev’ry hour.  We need His blessing, His direction.

Dear one, do you commit your day to the LORD when you open your eyes?  Do you say, “Good Morning, LORD” or “Good LORD it’s morning”?  The heart that depends on Him looks for His guidance and wisdom throughout the day and cries out to Him first thing in the morning. Psalm 63:1  She asks Him to prioritize her day.  She asks for the ability to be flexible. To look for ‘God moments’.  To recognize divine interruptions when they come.  And they will come.  She welcomes them as from the hand and heart of God.  Her heart praises Him with her last breath at night because He is faithful.  The wise woman builds her house on prayer.  The foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. Which one are you?

+First Look:

>Read Philippians 4:6-7.

+Through The Looking Glass:

>What kinds of things do you ask God for concerning building your house?

>Are your prayers wise?

 

 

 

 

Posted in Homemaking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

14 WAYS A WISE WOMAN BUILDS HER HOUSE—Part 1

Posted on April 28, 2014 by thelookingglassbykathy
Photo Credit: theinspiredcafe.com

Photo Credit: theinspiredcafe.com

A wise woman builds her house, while a foolish woman tears hers down by her own efforts. Proverbs 14:1 TLB

I have heard this scripture taught many times over my 34 years as a Christ-Follower. Each time I hear or read it, it quickens my spirit.  My heart’s desire is to be a wise woman.  A wise woman who builds her house versus a foolish woman who tears it down by her own efforts.  I am still quite a work in progress though.  As I read this verse, I wonder if I could possibly be the foolish woman who was tearing her house down by my own efforts?  The tearing down of her house doesn’t seem accidental to me.  Seems there was an effort being made to tear it down.  Maybe it’s willful or maybe it’s indifference or maybe from a lack of knowledge.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary describes it like this:  a woman who has no fear of God, who is willful and wasteful, and indulges her own comfort, will as in certainly ruin her family, as if she plucked her house down.  Wow.  I ask myself, “Am I being wasteful of my time, talent and treasure?  Do I indulge in my own comfort to the exclusion of others in my home?”  I don’t know about you, but that really hit me.  I want to get this right before my God.  I want no part of being a foolish woman, do you?

Over the next several weeks, I hope to offer you several ways a wise woman builds her house. Married or single, you will find something here that will speak directly to you.  Here’s the first one:

  1.  Know your worth.  This is extremely vital to building a house on the right foundation.  A woman who knows her worth (in Christ) is a woman who can withstand criticism from others who consider building a home a total waste of time.  She knows this is a noble, God-honoring way of life.  She doesn’t waiver to and fro with consistent doubts about it.  She finds her purpose, calling and passion in Christ alone.  She embraces who God made her and who He says she is.  She allows Him to direct her steps.  Because she knows her worth, she has the ability to leave a lasting legacy unlike the foolish woman who can invoke ruin for future generations.  She counts it a privilege to be used by God in this way.  Proverbs 31:10 says: Who can find a virtuous woman? Her price is far above rubies.

I hope you are a woman who knows what you are worth to God. He paid far above rubies for you.  He paid for your life with His own.  Dear one, that means you are priceless!

+First Look: Read John 1:12; Galatians 3:26-29; Matt 5:13; John 15:16; 1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Cor. 3:9 and Psalm 139.

+Through the Looking Glass:

>Which one of these truths do you struggle with most? Ask God to help you accept what He says about you.

> Which resonates with you most? Praise God for who He made you to be.

Posted in Homemaking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

14 CREATIVE WAYS TO PRAY RIGHT NOW

Posted on April 7, 2014 by thelookingglassbykathy
Photo Credit: reverendcjay.com

Photo Credit: reverendcjay.com

Has your prayer life hit a snag?  Does it feel redundant?  Are you wondering what it may look like to pray without ceasing?  How would you like to get creative with your prayers?

Here are 14 ways you can pray for others that you may never have thought of:

1.  Lay hands on your spouse while they are sleeping and pray for them.

2.  Pray for those who get wet in the rain.  Ask God to wash over them with the LIVING WATER.

3.  Pray for those eating at the table next to yours in a restaurant.  Pray that they will be filled with the BREAD OF LIFE.

4.  Pray for those on the plane with you.  Pray that they have the same attitude as that of the plane (in relation to the horizon).

5.  Pray for the people and incidents you see on your local news.

6.  Pray for kids you see playing on the playground.

7.  Pray for those in the service industry.

8.  Pray for the farmers.

9.  Pray for beauticians.

10. Pray for photographers.

11. Pray for the person you hug or kiss as you hug or kiss them.

12. Pray for your garbage collectors.

13. Pray while you set the table.

14. Pray when you hear the sirens of emergency vehicles.

+First Look–Read 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

+Through The Looking Glass–What is God showing you through this passage?  What other creative ways can you think of to pray?

I would love to hear your feedback on this post.  Leave me a comment below!

Posted in Lessons from Scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

PARENTING PERSPECTIVE

Posted on March 13, 2014 by thelookingglassbykathy
Photo Credit: sanjuanparent.com

Photo Credit: sanjuanparent.com

Recently I sat around the table with a group of people and as we were introducing ourselves, the conversation turned to parenting.  One couple in our group had a 2-year old and a 1-year old.  Another couple in the group had 4 kids whose ages ranged between 11 and 16.  I mentioned that my children range in age between 31 and 40.  One other person is expecting a baby very soon.  We discussed parenting at different stages and debated which stage of parenting is harder and which is easier.  I was then asked which part of parenting I would say has been the easiest.

Parenting is one of the hardest jobs in the world.  It’s unpredictable.  It’s challenging.  It’s joyful.  It’s fulfilling.  It’s contradictory.  Good parents have children gone astray and vice versa.  It is basically on-the-job training.

When our babies enter this world, we greet them with all sorts of expectations, don’t we?  Sometimes, we consciously or unconsciously expect them to fill a need we have.  If we need love, fulfillment, purpose, or desire meaning or status in life we can transfer that responsibility to our children.  They are clueless about our expectations.  Actually, they can never live up to them.  Sometimes we become parents because other people need us to.  I’m a grandmother, so I understand that one.  It’s often said that we parent the way we were parented or parent how we wish we had been parented.  I have parented from both aspects.

As a teen mom, my husband and I didn’t have a vision for parenting our daughter.  I tried to parent how my parents parented me and he did the same.  Never the two shall meet.  It was a disaster.  We didn’t agree on discipline, bedtime rituals, religion, holiday celebrations, schooling, daily activities, etc.  It’s tough when there is little or no agreement/understanding on how to parent.  Parents must communicate with one another.  We must decide how to plan and follow through on a plan to raise our children for ourselves.

What will be the mission for our families? 

What values do we want to instill in our child(ren)? 

How will we go about instilling these values? 

One of the values I tried to instill in my children was respect for me and my life.  I grew up with a (teen) mom who made her children her all-in-all.  Sometimes it felt loving.  Other times it felt like I was suffocating.  As a woman, I wanted and needed my own friends and purpose in life.  I knew that having various interests in my life would be beneficial to my children as well.  They needed to trust me on that.  I tried to teach them that I was not a servant to answer every whim or need they had.  I tried to teach them how to do things for themselves.  Sometimes I was successful.  Sometimes I wasn’t.  I wanted to be a mother who was balanced.  A mom who was both stern and loving.  Both a confidant and their authority.  A giver and a receiver.  Goofy and wise.  Oh my.  Just thinking about that now makes me laugh.  I was so hard on myself trying to live up to my own expectations!

As parents we have a long list of things that we believe make a great parent!  But, we should ask ourselves if these expectations are consistent with the only Perfect parent we know.  God Himself is the ONLY perfect parent!  Because of that, I need to stop trying to be perfect and get that disclaimer tag out and hang it around my neck:  ‘I’m Not Perfect’.  Neither are you.  His parenting skills are the ones I want to embrace and emulate.  How about you?  I need to rely on Him and His wisdom because He loves my child more than I ever could.  He knows how to love perfectly.  He knows the totality of their lives.  His values are the ones I want instilled in them because they are true and just.

I want to embrace both the success and ‘seeming’ failures I’ve experienced as a parent.  My failures, you see, aren’t really failures at all.  Not at all.  When I embrace what I’ve learned through them and allow them to shape my character as a parent, they become triumphs.  If I believe that God knows my beginning and end as well as my children’s, then I can ‘give myself a break’.  I can lean into Him and know that He’s writing all of our stories.

Back to the original question: Which part of parenting would I say was the easiest?  “None of them”, I answered.  Every age/stage has their purpose.  They all require a different parenting style from me.  They all develop in me what I need to shape my character.  Do I need to learn consistency?  Do I need to learn patience?  Do I need to learn to love sacrifically?  Do I just need to relax? Parenting is a great teacher and transformer.  It becomes difficult when I don’t make the shift in my parenting.  Every child, every age and stage has been used by God to make and mold me into the woman I am today.   It’s still molding me to this very day.  Do I wish some things had turned out differently?  Absolutely!  But the only Perfect parent I know is writing my children’s stories as well.  I trust Him enough to write it!

+First Look:  Take a look at how Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Mary and Joseph parented their children.  What can you as a parent learn from them?

+Through The Looking Glass:

~~How is God shaping me as I raise my children?

~~How does the way I was parented affect the way I parent my children?

~~Have I sought wisdom from the Perfect Parent?

Posted in Issues of the Heart, Parenting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

IS HOMEMAKING HAPPINESS? {Part 3} PRACTICING THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Posted on March 3, 2014 by thelookingglassbykathy

Last time I blogged here, I shared my mindset as a homemaker called by God. (Click here to read the post.)  It was and remains a ministry to me.  A real privilege.  As with any ministry, you work hard, plan hard, pray hard, and make sacrifices.

As a woman in full-time ministry as a homemaker, I must, must make time to develop my walk with God.  I can get caught up with the ‘to do’s’ and not with the being.  I need to be with God. I desire to be Godly. Being with takes care of the ‘to do’s’.  Seriously!  I cannot serve well if I am not filled with His Spirit.  I cannot give from an empty well because what’s in the well comes up in the bucket.  If there’s nothing in the well, oh well…you get the point.  As homemakers, we need to practice His presence and be filled with the Holy Spirit as we minister to our families.  While we can formally schedule times with God, I am speaking of times that are more organic and practical.

When my children were small, I used to set aside every Thursday (while they were in school) to get alone with God.  Beforehand, I would choose the content for the day.  I would ask God what type of worship I should include, what passages I should focus on and who I should pray for.  So, I unplugged the phone and spent many hours in His presence.  As a result, my faith grew and grew tremendously.

Other times, I practiced His presence while cooking, cleaning, ironing, decorating, gardening, interacting with neighbors, and running errands.  I asked Him to speak to me and give me direction for my day.  He did.

As I cooked, I gave thanks for the food we had and asked who could I invite to lunch or dinner.  I thanked God for the workers who packaged the food and farmers who planted the seeds, etc.

While cleaning, I counted it a privilege to sweep and wipe and disinfect the shelter that He provided.  We were blessed to have a home and to share our home with the less fortunate.  I took on the mindset that I didn’t want to complain about cleaning or cooking.  I wanted to display a faithful/thankful heart.

As I ironed on Tuesdays, I prayed as I ironed my husband’s shirts.  As I ironed the sleeves, I prayed and thanked God for His strong arms that carried a heavy load of responsibility for our family. I prayed as I ironed the pocket of the shirt for his heart.  I prayed that he would always have a heart for God.  I prayed for strong shoulders to bear burdens.  God was faithful.

As I planted flowers and seeds, I asked God to help me bloom where I was planted.  He was faithful.  I was able to share Christ with my neighbors and influence the world for Him with my prayers from my own little corner of the world.  Talk about kitchen table influence!  I lifted up prayers for many things and for many people from my kitchen table.  It became a holy place.

Still, other times, I sang psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with my children.  I taught them scripture and how to pray for what ailed them and praise God for answered prayer.

Dear ones, I sensed the presence of God every time I acknowledged Him and worshiped Him as I worked and went about my day.  Everything in my ‘ministry’ took on a different perspective when I counted it a privilege to serve my family.  To change diapers, wipe dirty noses, pick up toys, wash dishes.  I have been given that privilege.  So thankful.  As my role has somewhat changed now, I still practice His presence.  I love being in His presence. He meets me there every time.

+First Look:  What biblical account(s) in the Bible speak of God’s Presence?  How did it affect the one who was in His presence?

+Through The Looking Glass: How can you begin practicing the presence of God beginning today?  How does it affect you when you bask in His presence? 

Posted in Homemaking, Issues of the Heart, Mentoring, Parenting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments