Where Hospitality Begins

The latest book I bought is A Life That Says Welcome by Karen Ehman. Her focus is hospitality; hospitality in our own home, and then outside of our home with others.

The message of where hospitality should begin was key for me. How easy it is to put on a smile for others not living inside the four walls of my house. Speaking in a cheery nice tone also isn't terribly difficult toward friends. But why is it so difficult to do the same toward my own family members? How is it that I can be sweetly chatting with a friend on the phone, but then turn and snap at my children only moments later once I've hung up? Or the other way around.... and then answer the phone nicely, only to forget the shambles of a conversation I just left with my own dear family.

Karen writes about how her children were her best mirror in the early days of learning that her family actually wasn't coming first in the hospitality area... "Who are making dessert for, Mom?"  "The house is so clean! Whose coming over?" Yikes.

Head on over to Karen's website if you're interested in what she has to say about hospitality. She has fabulous guest bloggers every day until April 6th writing on such topics.

Any thoughts?

Hang On To Your Life And You Will Lose It

Day 10 of the 30 day Biblical Womanhood Challenge continues. This morning's message from Proverbs 31 was amazing: insightful, challenging, and encouraging!

"Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." Prov. 31:31 (NIV)

I had never thought of it in eternal terms before, but it completely makes sense. This is a reference to our reward that awaits us at Heaven's gates, Judgement Day, when we are told "Well done, good and faithful servant." Now don't freak out, I am not suggesting it's our good works that get us into heaven. No. In fact, this portrait of a woman has been written in Scripture to reveal to me that there's no way I can fulfill this. Just as the law was given to Moses and the Israelites to show them their sin, to show them their need for redemption, their need to be completely dependant upon a Savior. If I embark on a mission to become this woman on my own strength, I'll fail this very hour. But because of the finished work at the cross of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit in me, God can begin to work in and through me.

So, just as rejecting this portrait of a woman is sinful, beginning a mission to become this woman on our strength is just as sinful.

Another thing on my heart lately, and brought out in today's message, is the need to hang on to our lives. The world, and even women in church circles, say women need "me time," we have the right to our own careers, we have the right to do what we want with the money we make, we have rights, rights, rights!! Hmmm...

What does Jesus say?

"Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” --Mark 8:34-38 (NLT)

There isn't even a hint that this Proverbs 31 Woman is miserable by laying down her own life and doing the Lord's work in her home and serving her family. She is fulfilling God's mandate for her life, and the joy of the Lord is her strength. She will receive a reward for the work her hands have faithfully done.

Day 6 of the 30 Day Make-Over

All I can say is, "Wow!" I have been so challenged and encouraged during the first 6 days of this Counter Culteral or Biblical Womanhood makeover. I'm not quite sure what it's called. I rarely practice repetative Scripture reading (reading the same passage every day for a series of days), but I have been so blessed in reading and re-reading Proverbs 31. Nancy Leigh DeMoss' insights and teaching on it have also been helpful in unpacking this passage.

Some of the topics we've touched on in the first 6 days have been:
Day 1 - A Biblical View of Womanhood
Day 2 - A Virtuous Woman
Day 3 - Modeling Humility
Day 4 - Committed to Marriage
Day 5 - A Godly Woman's Work
Day 6 - Working Joyfully

If you haven't yet started this study, go here to sign up for the daily emails from Revive Our Hearts.

Biblical Womanhood - 30 Day Challenge

In a culture where there is so much gender confusion and lack of knowing what the Bible says about our life and how we're to live, here's a challenge I'm encouraging women out there to embrace!

Many of you know how Nancy Leigh DeMoss' ministry, Revive Our Hearts, has encouraged me. Every now and then she hosts different challenges, and this one looks just as good as previous ones.

What is God's created design and mission for our lives?
How can we truly reflect the beauty and heart of Christ to those around us?
How can we pass the baton of truth on to the next generation?

So check out the True Woman Manifesto and the 30 day True Woman Make-over challenge that follows after it.

The Donut?

My daughter's donut bun this morning :)

Another Day, Another Do

This is the hair do my daughter ended up with this morning. It took WAY too long to do... almost 2 full Magic School Bus episodes :)
She is wearing the same dress today as she did yesterday; it is still clean. I haven't been taking pictures of my hairdos and outfits, I'd feel too strange doing that, but my hair is up and is curled today too! I'll admit though, it's 10:15am, and I'm not dressed yet.......I just put my son down for his morning nap, so it's Bible study time for mommy, and getting dressed time!

After I was all done my daughter's hair, she asked me where we were going! I felt kind of bad telling her, "Nowhere." Perhaps we'll get out for a walk later today. The sun is shining, and it's looking to be a beautiful day!

Girl Hair!

This morning I did my daughter's hair up in a fancy, abstract, updo and thought to take a picture.

This week we are sort of following a little challenge called Modest Feminine Dress Challenge. Basically, the point of it is to wear modest feminine dress for a week (skirts/dresses) and to do our hair special every day. It may sound a bit silly, or over the top... but in our day of girls barely dressing themselves at all, or perhaps forgetting how they can look feminine without baring all, we are reminding ourselves that we can reflect Jesus' love and celebrate femininity by being modest and looking nice. (This, of course, is not to replace or distract ourselves away from working on inner beauty, but merely a reminder of it.)

To learn more about this challenge visit Stay-At-Home Missionary