...make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands...so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. Thessalonians 4:11, 12
than it is to talk to man about God.
We watched this DVD tonight from the Reclaiming the Culture series. It was so very convicting, I highly recommend it. We all need to be challenged and encouraged to share the Gospel. Life is too short to sit quietly by when we are commanded to share God's truth.
I try to keep things on this blog positive and not rant when things get under my skin, but today is an exception! I am so disgusted and angry. Why does God continue to hold back His wrath on our country?
Then yesterday I read what Spunky had to say:
Watch the video trailers. In Where's Happy Baby, one mother lays down the law and scolds the teen couple for their failure to parent properly at bedtime; telling the teen parents that the baby has bonded and they need to "suck it up and solve the need." Yet, the mother has just loaned her baby out who needs her comfort not some teen in training. Another mother intervenes when her baby has not been fed all day; she admonishes the teen that life's not about her any more it's about her baby. But that's not her baby and the teen knows it and so does the baby. Someone should be scolding the real parents of these babies, not the TV teens! After all life is not about them anymore. What life lesson are they teaching their own babies and toddlers?
The Baby Borrower's website tells how parents "donated" their baby for the "experiment".
Those that know me know that I am not an overly emotional person, but this literally makes me sick to my stomach! I am beyond angry. How in the world can parents hand over their child who is 100% dependent on them for something so STUPID? These children are given as gifts from God and to treat them as an object ENRAGES me.
Also, on the website it has a poll asking 'When are couples best prepared to become parents?" And of course it gives a list of ages. It has nothing to do with age, it has to do with maturity and MARRIAGE! Do you hear me yelling? Young couples can make wonderful parents if their world view is correct. Today's view of marriage and children is so out of kilter. Marriage is to be embraced, children are to be embraced, according to God's Word!!! God put us here to be fruitful and multiply, not engage in sex with whoever we want to. It is suppose to be one man for one woman, for one lifetime!
What is just as sad as people donating their precious babies for a STUPID TV show, is that this will encourage not only birth control (that usually causes early abortions, although Planned Parenthood and doctors won't tell you that because there is too money involved) , but it will add to the number of abortions. The show obviously will help teens see that a baby is not for them. What if their 'birth control' fails? Abortion is the quickest, least expensive way to kill their problem, their BABY!
Why not do a show on the consequences of pre-marital sex, or extra-marital sex; shattered marriages, STDs, lives of suffering, neglected children, emotional pain, families torn apart… Now wouldn't that make a good reality show? I doubt it because it would be TOO REAL!
I am so angry!!! On one had I say let's throw the TV out and not see anything, but on the other hand we need to know a little of what is happening to our culture. I know I need a slap in the face once in a while with something like this to get me angry, angry enough to stand up and fight to reclaim our culture.
May God have mercy on us.
So now that we are disgusted about the Baby Borrowers what are you going to do about it?
It's not enough to spout off on a blog or to our friends, which I've done plenty of lately, but we need to take action.
Suggestions:
Pray, which is most important. Pray for a revival in this nation and that Christians will repent of their complacency and even worse, their bad attitude about children. Pray we would be bold enough to share God's truth, not only about salvation but about how we are to live.
Write a letter to your editor, I am doing that! Actually I am writing to both of our small, local papers and to the larger one in Birmingham.
Comment on their website, I just did. I know I will be made fun of, called names and so on, but MAYBE someone, maybe even a teen will realize there IS another way to look at this issue.
Will any of this make a difference? I don't know, but at least I will have a clear conscience before the Lord.
Will you do anything?
Today the pineapple is still used as a symbol that says, "WELCOME!"
You can crochet doilies too! They use the same stitches as used in yarn crochet. I love working with thread. Don't forget to check out our Learn How to Crochet DVD to get you started with yarn crochet and then you can just apply those same steps with using thread.Isn't it amazing how you can clean and organize the house and before you know it it's cluttered and dirty. Being a Keeper of our home is one job we'll never retire from. And if we embrace God's design for our life we can find purpose, fulfillment and joy in making a home. Always easy? No. Always fun? No. Always appreciated? No. But easy, fun and appreciated are about US, and life isn't about us! It's about obeying God, embracing His will and serving those around us.
Isaiah 32:18 says that one day we will,
As women we can provide a small taste of this in our homes, for all those who enter. But we cannot have a peaceful and secure home if no one is home taking care of it. And after a long day of work, strife and activity who doesn't enjoy having a home, not just a house, but a HOME to come to and rest quietly?
This week there are no Domestic Day Camps or Carpentry Camps planned, which leaves me wide open to finish several projects and to give this house a good purging, striving to make our house a home, a quiet resting place, a taste of heaven on earth.
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Here they are with their almost finished quilt. It is made of Christmas fabrics. Do you see the smiles on their faces? They are like this all the time. :o) A pure joy to be with. When they would make a mistake they'd just laugh it off and try to fix it. They showed great perseverance this week. Way to go girls!!! 
I just loaded a new tutorial on frugal flower arranging on my homemaking blog, you can see it here:
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I've decided to giveaway TWO DVDs, due to the fact that I had it on both of my blogs. :o)
The winners are:
I will offer the DVD which is regular priced at $21.97,for a special price of $16.97,
(plus $3 shipping)
This special price is only good for today and tomorrow only, June 15-16, 2008.
The DVD giveaway ends tomorrow night at midnight! I have really enjoyed reading all the comments and I have some I'd like to comment back on and I will!
To get your name put in on the drawing leave a comment HERE. To get your name in the hat twice link to the give away on your blog/website!
Today's Frugal Friday tip is to learn how to do skills such as crocheting to save money and add to your income. :o) For more frugal tips hop on over to Biblical Womanhood.
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Now that I am a little older ;o) and I know how to crochet for example, I can do it to relax, it's not a strain on my brain, it's more like a second nature. My family will tell you I never sit down to watch a movie with them unless I have something in my hands to work on. I find so much satisfaction in creating something. When I give something I have made to someone and they love it, to me that is worth more than what money can buy!
On a related note, my grandmother is in an assisted living facility. She never learned to do much with her hands, except cook. When she was first admitted, she was depressed and complained ALL THE TIME! Then they started letting her roll the flatware in the napkins before meals. Suddenly, she had a purpose, something to look forward to that she could still do. Now she's' much happier, joins in with other activities and LOVES making things with her hands! She's always sporting a new necklace she's made, or showing off something they've all crafted together.
I remember about 15 years ago Grandma saying she wished she'd learned to make something useful when she was younger so she could pass the skills and hand down items to my generation. She regretted that she never learned to do any handiwork.
May we all be willing to use our skills to bless others and to experience the blessings of being productive!
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This was a comment left by Rebekah yesterday. I thought it was beautiful! We never know how God will use our handiwork, even if we only have one hand.
Handiwork really impressed me in its importance when I was working as a nurse in a retirement home during my college years. There are many elderly people who think they are no longer of any use to anyone. When they were younger they could accomplish so much, and they measured their value as a person by the amount they produced in a day. Then they had a stroke, or fell and broke their hip, or a heart attack, or just became more feeble as they aged. Suddenly they couldn’t do so much,others had to help them do even the smallest tasks such as combing their hair or buttoning their shirt. Many of these precious people who had so much to offer in the way of wisdom or wise counsel felt they were a waste of others’ time and not worth it. They had never learned that God loves us not for what we do, but because of what and who we are - His creation. I saw my place as one of encouraging them, but this wasn’t easy day after day. Then one day a man arrived who was a Vietnam vet. He was very young compared to all the other residents. He had one good hand and a stub on the other side, and was confined to a wheelchair because his legs ended at mid thigh on both sides. The first day he was there he asked me to unpack a suitcase for him, and set up his hook set. Then, in the common area he sat there for hours doing this latch and hook thing. He made about two projects per week, and was always talking about who he would give this one to, or send this to, or what it would be useful for. He was the brightest, happiest person who lived in the place. At first his enthusiasm irritated the others, but three months later, nearly every other resident in his hallway began to learn the same skill. They soon founded a club. Then, friends and relatives started to take their projects and sell them and give the proceeds to charity. Those who were paralyzed on one side from stroke found they could still do many things with their good side to help. I made it my goal to find a point of interest for every one of those residents. As more and more became industrious in working with their hands the morale increased and the whole air of the place changed dramatically. One man who didn’t have use of his upper body began to paint with his feet. Those who were not able to use any limbs found joy in the accomplishments of others, would offer suggestions, or would just bask in the comradarie of it all. Anyway, when I left that facility to return to my home town it was an upbeat place. Recently I visited that place while on vacation. It was a new group of people. All of them just sat around feeling sorry that they were alive. It was a pitifully dreary place. I wished I could stay and help them find something to do with their hands. I whole heartedly recommend handiwork in some genre and thank God for giving us His example, saying that His handiwork was ‘very good.’ Thanks for the reminder!
Just leave me a comment and I'll put your name in the hat. When leaving a comment I'd love to know what you find most challenging about learning handiwork. Be sure to leave an email address so I can contact you if you win.
Leave a comment AND post this giveaway on your blog or website, linking back to this post and I'll put your name in TWICE!
If you already know how to crochet this would be great as birthday or Christmas gift!
You can read more about the DVD HERE!
Read my recent article about The Importance of Handiwork.
When your hands are busy, so is your mind. We've all heard the saying, "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop." There is a lot of truth there! But it's not just about busyness, it's about needing to be busy with a purpose.
We need to be busy equipping our children (and ourselves) with tools to help develop their character and abilities. Learning any type of handiwork or skill takes determination, self discipline, patience, attentiveness, and perseverance just to name a few. It's not so much about making a quilt or baking a cake, but do you have the character to see it through and do your best? Do you have the skills to do it correctly? That is how handiwork can build virtue in us and our children.
Let's look at a few verses in Proverbs 31 about handiwork. After all, she is the ideal wife:
11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
Does your husband trust you to be a good steward with the finances and possessions? Are you wasting time and money? Are there gifts you could be working on throughout the year to save money at Christmas and birthdays? Are there more frugal options in your meal planning and preparations? Are there things you could learn to help your home run more efficiently? Are there activities that you could eliminate to free up time to do more important things? This list could go on and on. :o)
Although I do not work a job outside our home, there are dozens of ways I help save money and make money from home. My husband trusts me. He knows that I take my job as his wife seriously.
13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
In today's culture we may not need to go out and sheer the sheep or weave our own fabrics, but we are to be busy with our hands. The key word in this verse is "willingly". The Virtuous Woman has a willing attitude, not one of drudgery or resentment. I love this verse. It clearly states that we are to be creative; we take something in its simplest form (using wool and flax for example) and we willingly, eagerly, work with it to produce something useful and hopefully beautiful!
18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
As I said earlier, it's not just about being busy, but about creating something "good". In order to create something good it takes determination, self discipline, patience, attentiveness, and perseverance.
24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Again, she is creating with her hands and selling her goods. There are countless items you can make to sell. Note that she is not the merchant, but she is selling to the merchant.
27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Striving to be Proverbs 31 Women and keepers of our homes (Titus 2) we have to put a lot of time, energy and love into caring for our families and keeping our homes. It takes a lot of planning, intelligence and hard work. To do our job in a fashion that pleases the Lord there is no time for idleness. Let us be careful to instill this in our children while they are young, but even more so while they are teenagers. Limit their time of entertainment and folly. Give them resources to inspire and equip them, but most of all parents need to lead by example.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.
Build a good reputation in the gates (publicly) of being a woman of virtue. Do not be guilty of being a busybody or a woman of vanity. Be a woman that does not waste her life chasing the wind or being idle. Look after your family, keep your home, and reach out to the needy; this brings glory to God, because you are obeying His ways.
Be sure to see our Products Page to see if there is anything that will help you as you teach your children practical skills!