A Woman's Duty

A request to join a Yahoo! Group sent me back a questionaire. One of the questions was what are a woman's Christian duties?

This question, as easy as it should be, was not that easy for me. I am not a wife or a mother as of yet, and nor was I raised in a "traditional" Christian role home. My parents had their own traditional chores. So what did I say?

- To provide a warm taken care of home
- To complete household chores, including but not limited to sewing, washing, mending, cooking and cleaning (but there are many many more!!)
- To take care of her children and teach them what they need to know
- Teach her daughters how to keep home
- To be a positive Christian role model to all children, not just her own
- To submit to her husband and allow him to be the home/spiritual leader

Did I forget things? Of course! Do I know all that I will be expected to take care of as a wife and/or mother? Nope. So...that being said, I am curious to see what other women (young or young at heart :) see as their duties in the home and even out of the home.

Blessings in Christ,

A few scripture notes :)

Change of plans, at least for today. The Lord has spoken and he does not want me to write about modesty today.

I have seen some discussion lately that as Christians we ought to hold to the OT laws. However, as John 1:17 (NKJV) says "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" we can rely on the grace of Jesus Christ to allow us to enter heaven without all the laws, as long as we believe!

When I first saw the talk about needing to obey OT laws, I started to wonder why I hadn't been. But as I sought the help of Christian women who are far wiser than I, I realized that because of Jesus Christ, we no longer have to offer sacrifices, obstain from certain foods, and all other laws of Moses established in the OT. One woman suggested that I read Galatians through every time I start to have these questions because it is what has solidified for her what is required to enter heaven.

I also find it wonderful to know that there is no limit to the number of people who will enter heaven as stated in John 1:12-13 (NKJV) "But as many as recieved Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." How absolutely wonderful!

There are so many other scripture verses that are absolutely wonderful, but, I do not want to spoil the entire Bible for those of us who haven't read it yet :) By the way, I am just reading it through for the first time in my life! It is never too late to start and read the Bible through!!

Blessings in Christ,

Emergency Phone Numbers

Yes, this is a forward I got through e-mail. But I like it and I think it does a good job of picking out scripture to read in different situations. I am not sure who originally authored this, but it was not me.

Suffering, call 1 Peter 5:10-11, Isaiah 61:3
When in sorrow, call John 14
When men fail you, call Psalm 27
If you want to be fruitful, call John 15
When you have sinned, call Psalm 51
When you worry, call Matthew 6:19-34
When you are in danger, call Psalm 91
When God seems far away, call Psalm 139
When your faith needs stirring, Hebrews 11
When you are lonely and fearful, call Psalm 23
When you grow bitter and critical, call 1 Corinthians 13
For Paul's secret to happiness, call Colossians 3:12-17
For ideas of Christianity, call 1 Corinthians 5:15-19
When you feel down and out, call Romans 8:31-39
When you want peace and rest, call Matthew 11:25-30
When the world seems bigger than God, call Psalm 90
When you leave home for travel, call Psalm 121
When your prayers grow narrow or selfish, call Psalm 67
For great invention/opportunity, call Isaiah 55
When you want courage for a task, call Joshua 1
How to get along with fellowmen, call Romans 12
When you think of investments/returns, call Mark 10
If you are depressed, call Psalm 27
If your pocketbook is empty, call Psalm 37
If you're losing confidence in people, call 1 Corinthians 13
If people seem unkind, call John 15
If discouraged about work, call Psalm 126
If you find the world growing small and yourself great, call Psalm 19
****************************************************
EMERGENCY NUMBERS MAY BE DIALED DIRECT.
NO OPERATOR ASSISTANCE IS NECESSARY
ALL LINES OPEN TO HEAVEN 24 HOURS A DAY!
FEED YOUR FAITH AND YOUR DOUBT WILL STARVE TO DEATH!!!

Here are a couple of my additional scriptures for different scenarios:
If you are in need of comforting, read Psalm 91 and Matthew 11:25-end
If you are not sure of where you stand in God's eyes, read 1 John (the epistle, not gospel)
If you need reassurance of what is important to God, read Galatians
If you need comfort that God will forever love you, read John 3:16

Next week I was thinking of blogging about modesty. But if there's a different topic you'd like to hear about then let me know!!

Blessings in Christ,

Hands off courtship??

Re-reading my last post about how my boyfriend and I conduct our relationship, it gave me the impression that I might have been leading people on that it's perfect. We are far from that! But, we both do have the Lord Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior and rely on him to save us from temptation and sin. We do our best not to even put ourselves in those kinds of situations, but we're human and cannot keep away from it 100%, so for the times we falter, we pray that the Lord might keep us close and away from temptation and sin.

A few more thoughts. I have recently been introduced to Still Waters Ministries out of Kentucky by a friend and so I ordered a few sermon tracts from them (okay maybe more than a few...15!!). Two were on Christian Courship both preached by Andy Coblentz. I listened to both yesterday and wow, that man is opinionated!! A hands-off courtship? Hmm...maybe if people were in a much shorter relationship than 5 years that would work. But seriously, I have to wonder if promoting a hands-off relationship will lead to couples getting married too fast? Just my curiosity. I also wonder how anyone can not even think about physical contact with a person of the opposite sex? He says that we are in sin for even thinking about physical contact (he said it fell under the fornification category)...not just the big s**, but thinking about kissing, cuddling, hugging, or even holding hands also are sin. Hmm...I know with God's help that the want and longing for sensation might be reduced, but so that we don't feel it at all until we are married? I'm not sure that is possible! Any thoughts??

Blessings in Christ,

Courting or dating??

So, as I said before, I do have a boyfriend. We are dating and have been together for 5 years now! Our relationship started out as friends, we met back in 7th grade because we were in a group project together. Does he remember me? Nope :) It's okay, the only reason I remember him is because I didn't want to spell his name the right way and told my mom people need to spell their names the way they sound, lol!! But it wasn't until the beginning of senior year in high school that we started talking more. Then that winter, we went on our first date to a movie - I believe it was "Hitch" (he had to meet my parents before we could go out though).

Most of our beginning relationship, we went to movies and other places by ourselves because none of our other friends had a "special someone" and we didn't want anyone to feel awkward being a third-wheel. Then our first year of college came and we were at different schools so we saw each other on the weekends when he came home. The second year I ended up transferring out to his school because they were a better school for my degree than the one I started at (which was decided by my parents, the school, not my major).

We spent the next three years of our relationship living down the hall from each other because our school had co-ed floors (there was not enough of a female population to have segregated floors). However, nothing changed...our relationship was still mostly talking and working on schoolwork together. Junior year started and we finally had some other couples that we really enjoyed going out with so we slowed down on our own dates and went on group dates...usually out to dinner or to a local boat or car race.

The last two years, we have definitely become more serious about our future...but, it has not come at a price of our spiritual relationship with the Lord. We have both been raised in church-going homes and this last year have gone to church together every Sunday. Before that, we would go to our respective churches with our family and not go together. I do believe that us going to church together has allowed us to both become stronger in our personal convictions while also allowing the Lord to fully control our relationship together. Oh how much one can learn!!

That all being said, people look at us where we live and think we're married or best friends because we respect each other so much, both in public and not in public. To those who do the common dating thing up here, it almost seems as if we're courting because we do not show affection in public and we are very conservative with where we will go for a date.

My definition of dating is a relationship where the young couple does not ask their parents for permission to start getting to know each other as a potential spouse. Also, I consider it to be dating when a couple does go out by themselves, without a "chaperone" or something like that. Now, how far a couple takes their relationship, I do not think that has anything to do with "dating" per-say, that is a decision that they make and must agree on. I do not know that I consider the high school "dating" of going from one person to another and it being a physical relationship only dating. I would call those "flings", but that is me.

My definition of courtship is a relationship where the couple does not go out by themselves and the young man had asked the young lady's parents (father especially) for prior approval of getting to know his daughter as a potential spouse.

Do I think one is more correct than the other? I'm not sure. More Biblically correct? Courtship is probably more correct because the young man asks the young lady's head (her father) for permission to get to know her, with the sole intention of getting to know her as a spouse. But, can dating be okay also? Yes, but, it all depends on where the young couple puts a stop to their relationship. One that goes against the Bible with pre-marital relations, is definitely not okay, but those that report to the Bible for the final word and the Lord for guidance can end up just as well as those who take a courtship approach. Again...my opinion.

Blessings in Christ,

Bad dating??

Because of a recommendation to read the book "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris, I read it...well skimmed it. There were many things I disagreed with because I think dating can be done effectively. But these were some points that I did agree with and wish to share with you.

Seven highly defective dating habits
1. Dating tends to skip the firendship stage on a relationship
2. Dating often mistakes a physical relationship for love
3. Dating often isolates a couple from other vital relationships
4. Dating can distract young adults from their primary responsibility of preparing for the future
5. Dating can cause discontentment with God's gift of singleness
6. Dating can create an artificial environment for evaluating another person's character
7. Dating often becomes an end in itself (ie. a person says "marriage? we're only dating!)

Five important attitudes help break us away from bad dating habits
1. Every relationship is an opportunity to model Christ's love
2. My unmarried years are a gift from God
3. I don't need to pursue a romantic relationship before I'm ready for marriage
4. I cannot "own" someone outside of marriage
5. I will avoid situations that could compromise the purity of my body or mind

Purity in Action
1. Respect the deep significance of physical intimacy
2. Set your standards too hgih
3. Make the purity of others a priority

Guy's responsibility: Defend the honor and righteousness of their sister's. Stop acting like hunters trying to catch girls and begin seeing ourselves as warriors standing guard over them.

Girl's responsibility: Keep our brothers from being led astray by our charms. Remember...guy's struggle with their eyes!!

Four important steps involved in maintaining healthy friendships with the opposite sex
1. Understand the difference between friendship and intimacy
2. Be inclusive, not exclusive
3. Make a priority of same-sex relationships
4. Seek opportunities to serve, not to be entertained

Blessings in Christ,

Knitting much?

I have been using some of my spare time to knit some premie infant hats for a local women's hospital.

I've used two different yarns so far...a girly one and a boy-ish one.


Girl's hat :)


Boy's hat :)

The pattern I used can be found here. You may have to be a member of the website in order to view the pattern, I am not sure.

Last night's Bible reading brought me to a verse in Mark that stood out to me.

Mark 11:25-26 (KJV)
25And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

How wonderful to know that the Lord will forgive me my trespasses if I forgive others!!

Blessings in Christ,