Helping Our Teens - What exactly is a teen?

As a parent we here from our teens, "My parents just don't understand me!" Parents, maybe we don't, how do you treat your "young adult" You know when they are 13 they are just leaving childhood, when they are 14 they are maturing a little more, at 15 they really want their independence. At 16 they are very close to being an Adult, at 17 many are going to college and need mom and dad to understand their dreams, at 18 and 19 they are Young Adults!

I personally am at the stages of 13, 16, 17 and 18. Do you know how hard it is to work with all these stages at once? I will admit It does get a little easier as each child reaches the stage another has gone through. Although my only girl is the oldest so I learned one thing with her, and then my 17 was different in that the rest of the kids are boys. I do have to adjust things according to each child. NO two children are the same, I'm constantly amazed at this when all 5 of our kids have the same mom and dad but yet they are SO SO different!!!

Here are some suggestions Dr Jack Hyles gives in his book "How to Rear Teenagers" on how to understand and deal wit these precious people we call teenagers.

1. Remember that a teenager is nearer adulthood than childhood.
They are maturing not only in their actions but their bodies. The young person is becoming an adult.

2. He should be treated more like an adult than a child.
A wise parent will do all they can to resist the temptation to treat him/her as child but rather as a young adult. You say I have a teen who's troubled. If you deal with a troubled teen, your teen WILL say, "I'm treated like a child!' Our children have been our child since birth, we have done all the different things needed as an infant, then toddler, then child, now you have to realize your Child is NOT a child anymore, He or She is teen which is a Young Adult!

3. Exhibit patience with him.
Remember they are learning the ways of being an adult, they have limited experience. A wise dad and mom will do everything possible to exercise the most difficult part of being a parent manners - that of being patient with the teenager.

4. Remember his potential.
What can your teen do? Challenge him to reach his potential! Does he have music skills? Art? Athletic? Whatever it is challenge him to reach his FULL potential in that area!!!

5. Give him proof.
You may say what? Proof for what? Well, Teens want to know why? I was told this one time and I found it to be so true. Think about your son/daughter was 3, what was a favorite question they asked? It was Why? Now look at your teen, what seems to be their favorite question? Why!! So we need to NOT blow off our teen when they say, "Why can't I........ or Why is it that......." Whatever the question you answered

Remember You Are Somebody!!!

I'm copying this directly from the booklet I've used some throughout this series of lessons.

Go go Psalm 139 often, and read that wonderful passage again and again, realizing how much God loves you. You are somebody! God sent His son to die for YOU. You are priceless. You are forgiven of every wrong thing that you've ever done. You don't have to compare yourself to anyone else because you are special in your own right. You can fill a place nobody else can fill.

You need to get up tomorrow and dress one who is going to rule someday - not a dunce, not a nobody, not a person without talents, not a person with no worth, but someone who will rule someday. Self-worth is a necessity of life.

Begin today loving yourself. You will still feel unworthy at times, but you need never feel worthless.

If you fail to plan you plan to fail. Don't plan to fail in this matter of accepting whom you are in God's eyes. Doing so will help you reach out to others because you have accepted who you are in God's eyes. YOU are somebody!

Jeremiah 31;3 b "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friends, wives, moms, children, husbands anyone who reads this please realize YOU are somebody and you were made by God.

I pray that this short series is help to someone somewhere.

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made....

Attaining the Poised Beauty of Self-Acceptance

How do you attain poised self-acceptance?
1. Accept God's evaluation of you!
Think about it we need accept who we are because of whose we are!  John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
God gave his son for who? YOU! So we should accept ourselves!!
Luke 12:27, 28 "Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith."
Can you imagine God loves us so much that he would cast things into the oven, to care for us!! WOW
"YOU ARE a beautiful, precious pattern God intimately created.'

2. Accept God's forgiveness.
God has forgiven us already, accept that and don't feel that he's still holding the sin or guilt over your head. "He accepts me just as I am. He love me unconditionally, and  He thinks precious thoughts about me."
John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
God has forgiven us not YOU need to forget it!
Jeremiah 31:3b "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee."

3. Quit comparing yourself to other people!
"No one can take your place and do what you were meant to do."
II Corinthians 10:12 "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise."
God wants you to be your BEST not compare yourself to other people.
I can't be you and you can't be me!

4. Learn to walk as one who will rule someday!
YOU ARE SOMEBODY!! You can do things!!!

5. Take care of the outward self as a person who is somebody.
I Corinthians 6:19-20 "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's"
a. Purpose in your heart to do it.
Daniel 1:8 "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat nor  with the wine which he drank."
If you fail to plan then you plan on failing!
b. Have a no-no list of foods.
If there are things you know you should not eat, make a list and follow it!
c. Don't ever eat standing up.
Just because food is left on the plate doesn't mean you have to eat it. So make it a choice NOT to eat while standing!

Remember friend YOU ARE SOMEBODY!!!!
Read Ps 139 and have your mirror there. Tell yourself GOD MADE ME AND I AM SOMEBODY!!!

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made....

Loving your neighbour! That's not always easy, and the thing is your neighbour isn't just the person who lives next door. It can be anyone! Those of you who read this, are my neighbours even though I may not personally know you. I'm to love you!

So why are we to love our neighbours? Did you grow up thinking I'm not suppose to like myself? or I'm suppose to put myself down? You NEED to change that! You are suppose to like yourself and be think positive about yourself!!!

God does not want any of His creatures to continually make statements like:
~ Uh, I can't do anything.
~ I don't have any Talents.
NO that is not what God wants from us!!!!
What if God gave you:
~ Good looks
~ Maybe a talent
~ Maybe your really smart
God gave you these things don't criticize these things so you don't have and whatever it is.

We are to love our neighbour! The reason we want to have a healthy self-esteem is so we can forget ourselves and then reach out to the many who need us!!

Do you have your mirror? Look in it and say, "GOD MADE ME!!" GOD MADE ME WHAT I AM!!!
Forget self, and look to the needs of others!
People who need your help - the sick, elderly, a friend, your spouse!
Show someone kindness! Do something for that neighbour who never smiles, the child who comes to your place to play.
Say loving words to others!

We are of great value because God made us. We are His marvelous works - fearfully and wonderfully made! Because  God made us so valuable, we need to have self-acceptance.

So dear wife, mom, daughter who ever you are. Read again PS 139 and look for 15 sec in the mirror and say GOD MADE ME AND I ACCEPT ME FOR ME!!!

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made....

Good Evening, I'm having a fairly good day. This would of been out sooner but I've had a major headache most of the day and I also was trying to get ready for my daughter. She came home from college today and it's been WONDERFUL having her here and it's only been since 6:30 this evening!!!
I'm loving it cause some of her friends have already stopped by to see her.

So on to our lesson today, remember to get your mirror and your Bible, and Read Psalm 139. After you are done with that then we'll cont on.

Decide to Accept Yourself, you say, But Paula you don't understand! Maybe I don't, but I do understand that you have to Accept yourself for who you are. God made us as we are, Read Psalm 139: 14 "....for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:...." God made you special!!

If you say but I don't like.....Keep in mind somethings cannot change!!!
Maybe you don't like your nose, yea you can have cosmetic surgery but will you truly be happy with it?! Why not accept the way God made you! He made you tall, short, big feet, or however, it's because he see's you as YOU!! GOD MADE YOU!!!!

Take these things and say, "All right, Lord, I accept them. THis is how You chose to make me. I now recognize that YOU made me with certain strengths and weaknesses. Every other person You ever created has them, too. I now accept the ones I cannot change. I call this decision self-acceptance!!!

One you do this you WILL be able to look in that mirror you have beside you and say, THANK YOU Lord for makeing me the way you did!

Now what are 2 Great Commandments that Jesus gave us in the Bible?
The one we want to look at is, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Lev 19:18
Look at this commandment: Since God commanded that we love our neighbour as ourself, we realy don't have choice but to obey it.
As a wife you don't have a choice to obey your husband.
As people we don't have a choice to love our neighbours.
Then we notice, "as thyself" so this is a 2 fold commandment.
First - a person to like, accept and love yourself as God made YOU>
Second - You are to love your neighbour in the same way!

So over the next 24 hrs see what you do, or change in your thoughts on how to Accept yourself. I have a dear friend who has some self-esteem problems and I will never say or indicate who he/she is. But I believe that this person through the way they dress, present themselves, change maybe attitudes, could get to where they accpet who they are. God has a purpose for you and for me.

However if you are constantly cutting yourself down, think negative about yourself, convincing yourself you are not worth it. When you start feeling or thinking this way Read Ps 139 I don't care if you have to read it 10 times a day. As Christians YOU/I NEED to Accept YOURSELF!!!

Ladies, or men. It's so important that we accept who God made us as. Do you believe God makes no mistakes? Then why would you say, you can't accept who you are?! You are saying to God, You made a mistake when you made me. How untrue is that?! God Made You! Look in your mirror and way it God Made Me! God Made Me! God Made Me! You will eventally believe it if you don't already! YOU ARE SOMEBODY!!!!

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made....

Before we start get your Mirror and Bible and get ready for another lesson on how YOU are Somebody!!
As we go into this decide now that you will read it with an open mind especially wives! If you are engaged and reading this, you too need to read it with an open mind.

I love the wedding vows and I love what they mean. When you, lady, said to cherish, honor and obey till death do us part. Did you mean it? Or was it just a bunch of words? I've watched TV shows and even heard people say I will NOT say Obey, or till death do us part. Why bother getting married if you aren't going to keep the Wedding vows? Marriage is a blessed thing and part of that is be submissive as a wife to your husband. I understand that if for some reason divorce comes into the picture, you may not have any say over it. Lady, please make sure that you have done your part that you did your best to honor, obey, love, submit to your husband. Let's make the stats of divorce lower and Men and Women who stayed married high!

Submission isn't always easy to do, but since we're told to as wives, we have to Obey the Bible. In today's world the woman who submits to her husband is looked at as a crazy person. However you and your husband are fearfully and wonderfully made, marriage is/was made in heaven, and God wants us to honor and obey his word!

So now Read Psalms 139, and look in the mirror for 15 seconds and ask yourself how God and your husband see you as a Special Lady. Today lets write down the positive things and make sure to keep the paper close by, you'll need it again.

Seek to Please

As I have said earlier women have a more difficult time with self-esteem for the simple reason we are to be submissive. Did you know submission is role that God designed? Submission simply means Seek to Please.

Because so many women have a lack of self-esteem, it causes many problems in our lives. Look at your marriage, has your lack of self-esteem hurt the marriage. Do you think this about yourself?
~ I can't do such and such, like she does.
~ I wasn't born with such and such talent like that person.
~ I don't have any character. (THAT can be changed if you only try)
~ I'm not the prettiest person in the world. (Guess what you don't have to be the prettiest person in order to have self-esteem) Why? God See's us all as beautiful and "....for I (you) am fearfully and wonderfully made....'

Change comes when you decide you can and will change. For instance, if you're overweight, work on that area. Suppose you don't have the character to be on time. Begin to work on arriving early; that character flaw can be changed. Maybe you don't keep a clean house, start today in one room and decide that you ARE going to be a good house wife.

Before closing out today, Please take your mirror look in it and say, "God made me!" "I'm a beautiful person" and "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Now go have a great day and enjoy who you are!

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made....

I'm going to start today's lesson with a story from the booklet Mrs Hyles wrote on "I Am Somebody"

Don't Dress a Dunce!

     Upon entering school, a young boy was told by his teacher, "You're just a dunce! You're really beyond learning. You have no brains. I suggest you go home and don't come to school anymore. Don't ever try to learn."

     That boy believed his teacher. (Just as we have believed some of what people have said about us.) He went home, never again tried to go to school or tried to learn. After 17 yrs, this boy was administered an I.Q. test. The results? He was a genius!

     How sad to me that for 17 yrs this boy had gotten up every morning to dress a dunce. However, from the day of his I.Q. test forward, he got up and dressed a genius.

What can we learn from this story??? Let go back a minute....

Based on what we believe on, we should believe in God's Word! We can ALWAYS accept it as truth. However people are human, they make mistakes, do you have to believe everything that a person tells you? NO!!

Self-Esteem

Self - A person regarded as an individual apart from everyone else

Esteem - To think well of; to regard highly; to value

Read Psalm 139 now

Now that you have read Ps 139 and you've read the story we stared with, take your mirror and look at your self!

1. YOU are a person, apart from everyone else

2. How is your esteem? Do you see yourself as regarded highly? As a value? One that is thought well of?

If you can't answer yes to these questions then you need to Re-read PS 139 and look in your mirror saying, I AM SOMEBODY!!! I am made for purpose! God made me special not like anyone else!

Then go back an ask yourself those questions again. If you still say NO to them repeat this section till you can say YES my self-esteem is good about myself.

You know I see people and know people that have low self-esteem and if they are saved have no reason to feel like they are of no value, or that they aren't regarded highly or even that they aren't thought well of. You know people say hurtful things and many times it's all because they are hurting!

Again Read PS 139 and look at yourself in the mirror for 15 sec and then list the good about yourself!

Self-esteem is a deep sense of worth to God, and an honest evaluation of your gifts or talents, and potential to perform your unique ministry ~~~M.E. Gravens 

"If I could write a prescription for the women of the world, it would be to provide each of them with a healthy dose of self-esteem. Take 3 times a day. I have no doubt this is their greatest need."

The lack of self-esteem is a detriment to American women today!!! The person who wrote the "prescription" recognizes the GREAT need for women to get their self-esteem back.

Mom, wife, teacher, student, child anyone.....Don't let your self-esteem destroy you! Let it build you instead!

Think about it when a baby is born does he/she lay in his crib saying:

"I'm ugly"

"I have no talent"

"I can't do anything"

NOPE!!! I know that sounds silly because they are babies, but you know what we don't have to say those things when we get older either! I have an Uncle that was told, You are lazy, you are good for nothing and you will NEVER amount to anything. You know what? He's done exactly as he was told. Why? he heard it all the time.

Mom, Dad be careful what you say to that child. If you say something enough he or she will begin to think that of themselves. Which comes back on you, you are destroying that child's self-esteem.  If you are a care taker, babysitter, teacher don't do as the teacher in our story did. You maybe destroying a genius!!!

So I'm going to ask you to one more time look in your mirror and say, I AM SOMEBODY, I can do what I'm meant to do! Why can I do this, because, "...I am fearfully and wonderfully made...."



For I am fearfully and wonderfully made....

Good afternoon! I hope you are having a great day! I know we have :) House is cleaned, school is done for the yr, school room/living room cleaned out doesn't look like we ever home schooled in here :) Love the change for the 3 short months. I certainly hope as you prepare for your summer that you too can see changes in your home, your life, the way you look at yourself. So are we ready to go into the next lesson? I pray you read yesterdays and let me remind you, you will again need your mirror and Bible for today's lesson.

Before we start take the time to Read Psalm 139.

Question for you... Are you locked in a Cocoon?
Do you feel like the caterpillar who is looking for his food?
Maybe, you feel like the unattractive caterpillar who's in the cocoon who's waiting to be a butterfly or moth. Remember, no one can make you what you need to be or ought to be, there's not another human who can do that for you. Only you can break out of the cocoon and spread your beautiful wings.

Does your church have Ladies meetings? Maybe you should attend them and reap what you can from the teachings. The Lord has blessed ladies with the ability to teach and help others. Now this won't change you unless you allow the Holy Spirit to work through you. Remember YOU ARE Fearfully and wonderfully made. You can read books, listen to tapes/CD's now :) They will inspire you, however YOU have to realize that you are FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made and that YOU have to decide to make the change.

May I remind you: YOU ARE SOMEBODY!!!!!! God made you dear lady to be the wife you are, to be the mom you are or maybe in the future, to be the teacher you are, to be the friend you are, YOU ARE SOMEBODY!!!!!

Dear lady, Guess what???? God, himself, no one else Made You! He chose to Make YOU! He made YOU, with say a crocked nose, or freckles, or maybe you think your hair is the wrong color HE made YOU! GOD MADE WHO????  YOU!!!! YOU ARE SOMEBODY!!!! You were fearfully and wonderfully made!!!!

Say the following as you look in your mirror: GOD MADE ME!!! GOD MADE ME THE WAY I AM!!!! Now you just need to accept who you are.

Some of you maybe have decided that you're no body that you aren't needed. You are WRONG!! You are needed why? YOU ARE SOMEBODY!!!

Some of you say what can do for the church, I go as I'm suppose to, I tithe, that's enough. NOPE!!! You ARE SOMEBODY and you CAN contribute ALOT to the church, the world, Your family. Remember YOU ARE SOMEBODY!!! Why? because God made you and you are fearfully and wonderfully made!!!

As you end today Read Psalm 139: 1-17 and see what God has done and thinks of you.

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made....

Good morning! I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but it's rainy and sunny at the same time here in WV. We're under flood watches in area, our drive floods very easily so it's a constant watch to make sure the garage doesn't flood :) Never a dull moment AMEN!! You know what I like about blogs, us ladies can say Amen and not be out of line :D LOL  love it :)

Well, I'm excited about this new lesson I was packing up somethings an came across a booklet written by Mrs Beverly Hyles, I was surprised I'd never read it. So I sat down and read it, and as I go through life from day to day I see wives, moms, teachers, friends, women in general who really are depressed, and act as though they really don't know who they are or why they even exist. It's so sad when we are "...fearfully and wonderfully made...." Think about it God made each of us as a unique individual, if your an identical twin the two of you are unique in your own way. Back about 4 yrs ago I was really going through some things and my Pastor, a very wise and godly man suggested I read Psalm 139 every day finding something different each day to learn from. I did this for almost 3 mo and WOW!! Now I read Psalm 139 once a wk. You may ask why do you cont to read it like this? Well, you will see as we go through these lessons and prayerfully if you are having/going through something it will help you also. I promise you, it was amazing how it helped me and changed me. Some of what I'm going to share with you is from my own life and some will be from the booklet that was written by Mrs Beverly Hyles, a very godly lady and a lady whom I greatly admire, my former Pastors wife.

You say, Paula, really I'm no one special. Wait, you are special! I believe you, even though I may of NEVER met you, are special in God's eyes and he made you so that's reason enough to decided today that YOU ARE SPECIAL.
You say, but I'm not pretty.
I'm not smart.
No body ask me to help with _________________ and whatever it is.
I never get ask to be part of plays or weddings or whatever.
You know what? I use to think if I wasn't asked to be in things or help with things that it was because I was plain, not popular, I was (for some you, you'll say what? You?) shy so nobody thought I could do whatever the job or request was. That was wrong, you don't have to popular, or out spoken or pretty to do the things God has for you.

So as you read these lessons you will need with; your Bible and a mirror.
The mirror is so you can look at your outer beauty as your read this.
The Bible is because EVERY Christian lady needs to examine her heart!

Read Psalm 139: 1 - 17
Every lady should read this and memorize it. (I'm working on the memorization part now)
In these 17 verse's you'll see how much you really mean to God.

Over the 3 months that I was reading this passage every day, God did a work through me that I honestly believe was due to the fact I realized that even though my husband and family had been hurt emotionally and spiritually God let me see that He LOVES ME and cares for me and thinks I'm a wonderful person. I won't go into detail, but we moved to WV from another state and we basically had been told we would never make it, and that we were not good enough to do what we were going to do. The Devil was winning and we were low. BUT, a man of God saw good in the Seavey family and saw a family who needed to "rebuild". As I met with my Pastor he lead me to this passage of scripture and he lead my husband to a passage our teen children in a direction. Our family is now a thriving, growing family who loves the Lord. Now we never stopped loving God and we knew he was in control. However now we are stronger and we all know that we are "...fearfully and wonderfully made...."

As you look at your life and what God can and will do with your remember:
He's everywhere; omnipresence is an attribute of our wonderful God.
He's behind us; He's beside us.
He knows our thoughts - every little things about us.

Ps 139:14, God says that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." Each of us! No one is not in this realm. God didn't say ok, you, you, and you can't be included this verse. NO he included you and me!!!

Now did you get your mirror? If not go and get it now. You need to pick it up look at yourself for 15 seconds (time it). As you look at yourself think about what you notice as you read verse 14: "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."
WHO is a marvelous work of God?
WHO is fearfully and wonderfully made?

Congratulations! IT"S YOU!!!! The person you stared at for 15 seconds in the mirror was YOU, YOU are fearfully and wonderfully made! YOU are somebody!!!

The things that God did through me in this passage he can do for you! Start today reading Psalm 139 every day, maybe you need to read more than once day. Please read it and help yourself realize you are special!!

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made....

In the next day or so, I'm going to start a short series of lessons on Psalm 139, verse 14 will be our key verse "I will praise thee: for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works: and that my soul knoweth right well."

As an wife, mom, friend, Interpreter for the Deaf I see people who honestly wonder who they are and why they are here. I pray that as I prepare to post these lesson that someone out there who feels their life isn't worth living or that simply doesn't seem to figure out "who they are" that these lessons will help.

Even before I start posting the lesson's I'm praying for ALL who made read these.

Silk and Purple - Provision

God's provision in a world that believes we're falling apart, no way to make it, no possible to come out of this financial mess. Well, if you are reading this guess what? There's hope through Jesus Christ!

Philippians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.'
This is one of my favorite verses!! Notice its says "need" not needs, why is this? From sermons I've heard and from what I believe is the reason is because, yes, we have many needs; however, God sees it as a NEED! God will supply ALL your NEED he doesn't need to show that it's plural because he will simply care for it ALL! I love that fact that I look to God, yes, I'm to do my part in helping care but our wonderful Lord sees, Knows, and cares for us.
Read II Kings 4:1 - 7
II Kings 4:2a "What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house?...." The story here is about a widow, she did all she could then went to the man of God for more help. She saw the NEED to get help. She knew to depend on God and God's people to help care for NEED.

1. God provides for the Preachers family.
2. God provides for the Preachers wife.
3. God provides for the woman who's husband fears the Lord.
4. God provides and sends his blessings and provisions, all he ask is that we follow Him.
5. God provides for the godly wife and mom!

A challenge for you is to get a piece of paper and just start listing the things God has provided for you.
Then don't just stop there, but thank him for all his provisions.
God is a God of provisions! He wants to provide your every NEED! Let Him.

Silk and Purple - Purity

As warmer weather started coming I was noticing as I do ever yr how young people, as well as adults started wearing less and less. There's 2 things that aren't real pleasant about summer for me, one is the extreme heat (i"m not a hot weather person) the other which is the biggest of all the lack of clothing. Parents today wonder why their girls are stalked, or get physically hurt or even raped. Yes, I said it! We NEED to be put on the clothes and stay pure! There's also many ways to stay pure not just sexually but also through our thoughts, what we say, do etc.

Proverbs 2:19 "None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life."
Read Genesis 39: 7 - 24

This lesson deals more with Potiphars wife and Joseph but I'm going to go a few other directions with purity. What does Purity mean?
Definition of PURITY

1: the quality or state of being pure

Examples of PURITY

purity while surrounded by wickedness>

Even in the dictionary it says a struggle....if we as wives and mom would simply dress right teach our girls AND boys to dress right we wouldn't have these problems, or at least we would have a lot less problems with young people staying pure.

Purity begins with yourself, at home, with your children. How do your children see you from day to day? Do they see you flirting with other men? Do you dress to please other men or do you dress to help them their minds pure? Pretty strong questions!!

Now I will say I dont' think we as ladies, and girls need to wear clothes that go all the way to the floor and clean to our chin, to our wrist and show NO skin whatsoever. Yea, maybe that is a sure fire way of keeping men from lusting after you and not keeping their thoughts pure. Seriously though are you wearing glorified pants with what you wear or are you wearing what God says a woman is to wear. I'll not go down this "rabbit trail" that is on a different lesson. How we dress does affect a man though and it does affect his thoughts, he can be lustful and not pure in our thoughts.

Now in this lesson it was the woman who was being lustful! Joseph however did as he should and he fled from the wickedness and evil. Genesis 39:7 "cast her eyes upon Joseph" She was trying to get Joseph to go to bed. Praise the Lord he took a stand and he fled and didn't look back. You and I can do the same.

How can we stay pure:

1. Must learn to stay grateful and content. You ask how can one stay pure by doing this? I'm glad you asked :) Are you grateful and content with your husband? Or do you constantly wish you were with this man or that man instead?

2. You must stay busy! Yep busy!!! We must stay busy and not be idle. Don't let the things of this world cause you to lose your purity.

3. You must learn that luxury and position cannot make up for neglect in our marriages.

See if you are a "cold fish" in bed, guess what? Hubby is going else where!!! Now Lord willing hubby is a strong man and will seek council but you know what Most men, REAL men struggle with purity if their marriage is bad.

4. You must learn accountability.

Are you naive about your marriage and what it needs? Do you need help for marriage, WIFE do you make sure your accountable for things you do?

5. You must be careful what you see on TV, billboards, magazine racks....OH my word!!! TV today is AWFUL it has come to the pt I almost don't even want my boys watching it, EVEN Disney!!! YES I said Disney they have so much rock and roll, teens making out, teen girls parading around in their 2 piece bathing suits. Do your BOYS NEED to see that???? Do you need to see men running around in their underwear? NO NO NO NO Be careful what you bring in to your home what you see. I know in today's world keeping pure thoughts is almost impossible. This is why I do one of two things when I'm out.

1. I listen to sermons while driving

2. I listen to GOOD Godly music! Not this so called contemporary or christian rock. For one things ROCK and Christian DON"T go together. IF you don't like what I'm saying about this. Don't read my blog. I won't apologize for standing for what is right.

6. You must recognize temptation right away.

"Avoid all appearances of evil."

7. You must not be forward in your behaviour.

Did you know the way you talk to the opposite sex or the way you act can say ALOT!!! Be careful.

8. You must realize that the desire to be unfaithful stems from lust and not love.

Potifars wife didn't love Joseph she was lusting. Why? Maybe her marriage wasn't what it should of been. Maybe she watched one two many "romance" movies, or read one two many romance books. Those books and the Majority of those romance movies are G-A-R-B-A-G-E!!

9. You must realize that dishonesty and stubbornness lead to impurity.

Maybe you how is that? Well, think about it you go out on a Girls night, which is fine right? Basically yes, however you don't tell your husband that you went to the bar or the strip club. All you say, is we went to dinner and the mall. DISHONESTY!! it can lead to impurity!

Stubbornness- does your husband ask you to do this or that, an rather than submitting you let that stubborn streak come out. Maybe say, "You aren't telling me what to do!" "I'll do that when I 'm good and ready!" STUBBORNNESS it can lead to impurity.

10. You must realize you hurt your Saviour when you do immoral things.

Are you saved?

Do you read your Bible?

Do you pray?
Do you LOVE the Lord?

Why then would you grieve the Holy Spirit who lives in you by doing immoral things?

11. You must realize how much you hurt others with your immorality.

Who do you hurt? God, Your husband, your children, your parents, your pastor, ALL those who have invested in YOUR life!!!

Stop

Think

Don't do it!! Don't ruin your life with immorality, by not staying pure!

This lesson literally took me 3 days to post. You may ask why, but in a few area's here we have had to deal with something in our family. I won't say who or what because I would NEVER hurt the one who has had some problems. I will however say,  Much prayer went into this, and as I mentioned I WILL NOT apologize for what I have said. This is what I believe and God wants us to be pure he wants us to keep our minds clean, he wants us to be the right kind of Moms, wives, ladies, girls!!!

Philippians 4:8

"Finally, brethern, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever thing are lovely, whatsoever things are good report: if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

 

Silk and Purple - Faith

Good Morning! I pray you have had a good a week. I've been sick since Sunday and finally feel a little human today :) Well I can at least breath without having problems. I was looking over the lesson I had wanted to post 3 days ago, and I got to thinking about it and it seems any series of Lessons I've done Faith has always shown up. I do believe that no matter what we do in life we need Faith and the Lord is trying all he can to make sure we learn about Faith. I have thought of doing a word study on Faith, for now though we're going to look at Faith and how Sarah applied it in her life.

Mark 8:35 "For whosoever  will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it."

Hebrews 11:11 "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive see, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised."

I love reading Chapter 11 of Hebrews I've heard it called "The Hall of Faith," "The Faith Chapter."
I love verse 1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." My husband has a sermon that he preaches on this and I love how he applies it. We have faith in the an airplane, we have faith in a chair, we even have faith that we can walk outside and be fine. So why can't we have faith in God! We don't know that the plane will stay in the air till landing time. We don't know that the chair we sit in won't fall. We don't even know what will happen when we step outside. BUT we apply our faith in each of these things to do as they are to do. That when we walk out side that we'll get to our next destination etc. So why then can't we have faith in the creator of earth, in the one who died for us. Pretty silly if you ask me that we have faith in worldly things but not in the one who gave his life for you and for me.  (taken from my husbands sermon on Faith)

Each verse in Hebrews 11 either starts with "Through faith...." or "By faith...." I was thinking about to the day we packed up all our things, putting a lot in storage. Saying bye to my family and all my friends. Taking a step in faith that what I was doing in following my husband to travel the US and Canada would work out. Was it easy NO! We loaded up our 5 little ones ages 3 to 10 in the van, each having just a little space each, a small trailer with everything else we thought we would need. Drove away trusting and having Faith stepping out "BY Faith". Oh the stories I could tell on faith an how we, The Seavey Family, literally lived "BY FAITH" day by day!

Now on to the lesson Read Genesis 12, 16 and 21
In the story of Sarah, Did she have little faith or great faith?
To start she probably had little faith, but she submitted to her husband! She followed him and did as he ask.
So by obeying the Bible and submitting to her husband maybe it was something like this
Sarah had little faith but she obeyed which gave her Great Faith.
The key here wives is: for a married woman having great faith is found in her obedience to her own husband!

You say, Paula, I really have some of my own dreams and I know my husband has dreams. What about those? Well lets look at the following pts:
1. God will replace your dreams with something better!
You may have a dream of living someplace all your life and raising a large family. Part of the dream my remain such as the large family but God puts in a different place doing something completely different than you had planned.
I had a dream as a young married lady, I had wanted to be married 2 yrs, have 2 children about 16 to 18 mo apart, then wait 2 yrs and to more, wait 2 yrs and have 2 more. LOL
I have no intention of hurting anyone, I pray that if you are a wife and God hasn't given you children that you would see this as an opportunity to take you faith in God and apply to how you can be blessing to others.

2. God will replace your dreams with a special relationship in Him.
Sometimes our dreams will not take place because God wants us closer to him. Do you have a daily walk with God?

3. God will fulfill the dream.
If your dream isn't what God has for you, he will replace/fulfill that "void" for you! Just have faith in God.

Sarah had faith in God, she obeyed her husband, and then God blessed her!
"Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Silk and Purple - Worldliness

How often do we allow the things of the world to pull, draw, entice, amuse, us into doing what we as Christian wives and mom know we shouldn't do. Now I realize that things such as blogs, Internet, facebook, tv, movies are all things of the world BUT you can have control of those things.

Our lesson today is about a Lot's wife.
I John 2:15 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him.'
Luke 17:32 "Remember Lot's wife."

Read Genesis 19: 1-26
We all know the story of Lot, how his wife looked back to Sodom and turned to a pillar of salt. If we as individuals look at our lives, really, we are JUST LIKE LOT"S WIFE! Maybe we've not done all that she did, but we all, have allowed worldly things "capture" us.
Lets look at some things that would/should determine what we choose:
1. Never choose a place to live if it's not God's will.

I know of a family that has shared something with me and I will not even mention their names, they were doing what they believed to be God's will. Later they moved and the wife started having various health issues. To this day they believe that this is due to the fact they left God's will. They went where they wanted and now are dealing with things that maybe could of been avoided.

My husband and I are making some big decisions and one of the things we want to make sure is that it's God's Will!! We don't want to do anything that could be bad for our family. So when you are making decisions and looking into making a move, or changing a job or whatever. Stop and make sure it's God's Will.

2. Have your priority, in your life, to influence others for Christ. Don't be afraid to take a stand.

3. Stay away from that which will harden your heart to sin. Such as TV, Internet etc.
Wives, moms do you realize that watching the soaps will turn your heart hard to sin? Did you realize that there are things on the Internet that will make your heart hard to sin. BE CAREFUL!!!
Oh be careful little eyes what you see,
Oh be careful little ears what you hear
For the Father up above is looking down in love
So be careful Mom what you watch,
So be careful Wife what you look at.

4. Place people before things.
Do your children come first or your favorite TV show?
Does  your face book page, blog or whatever on the Internet come before your husband and children?
I'm not perfect, but I try to make sure my family is cared for, before I sit down at my computer, or sit down to watch anything on tv. I have slipped and let things take first priority, we are all human and need to very careful of that!!

5. Remember Lot's wife.
When you are more interested in things stop and think about Luke 17:32 "Remember Lot's Wife"
Maybe, just maybe you'll change what you are about to do.

So as we start our days, think "Do I want to be like Lot's wife or do I want to be different?" IF you ask yourself this question daily, it can and will change your life it you allow it to.

Silk and Purple - Persecution

OH my, ever have one of those wks where the computer is the last thing you do in a day, no matter how hard you to try to get to it? The last few days have been that way. To sit down and spend a great amount of time here was not going to be heard of. As Christians wives and moms we have so much to do and we have to be so careful what we put as most important and what can wait till another day. That is what I had to do with my blog, It's important to me, because I know the Lord had me start it for a reason, but when it's a choice of blog or family. Well, family wins. I have in recent days received a few e-mails about my blogs and the people have said, that I am wrong in posting what I post. I've even been told that I'm wrong using ONLY one version of the Bible for my scripture. I would like to say, I am a KING JAMES Bible ONLY person. I'm sorry if you don't like it but you know what, it's funny how God allows things like this to happen because today's lesson is Persecution!

II Timothy 3:12 "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

Well look a there. My next lesson on Silk and Purple and for wives and moms is how Noah's wife endured Persecution. Here just this wk you could say I've endured it because of some e-mails I've received. I will say, I have several very precious ladies that either through text, e-mail or posting in comments let me know regularly how the different lessons help them. I'm not saying this to tote my horn and say look at me. I'm saying God has let these lessons help others and as long as JUST ONE person is being helped, I will cont to post. God is in control, God is Good, God is my Saviour, and God will use this for HIS glory, NOT mine.

Now on to the lesson....Read Genesis 6:1 -8:22

As wives of Pastors, Missionaries, Evangelist, Christian School Teachers, Lay people our husbands take a lot of persecution if they take a stand for our Lord. It's so sad to see what America is coming to. We need our men and women to stand up for what's right. Yes, persecution will come, Pastors and others have said, they foresee Christians being persecuted as in the Bible days. Are you dear wife, mom willing to stand by your man during the time of persecution? Will you stay by his side as Noah's wife did. Can you imagine building an Ark and all the persecution that took place. Mrs Noah had to go through it too, not just Noah.

As a wife and mother what do we need to do to be able to withstand the persecution:

1. Your walk with God must carry on.
You say, but Lord, "I can't go on!" He will carry you through. Stay true to the Word of God!

2. Your walk with God will give peace.
I have found in the past as well as now that the word of God gives peace. The other night I was awakened by an usual rain. At 3 in the morning the wind was blowing extremely hard and the rain was coming down in sheets. As I peered through the window, the lighting flashed and thunder crashed! I immediately walked through the house checking things and then arrived to my boys rooms. Yes, they are pre-teen and teens, but I wanted to be sure they were safe. As I prayed for them, the one son in Maine and my daughter in KY (who also was having severe weather at the time) I had a peace that came over me. I had scripture come to mind that I know for a fact I hadn't thought of for days. God's word that we hide in our heart, will come to mind and give peace when needed. God's word GIVES peace.

3. Your walk with God will help in your faith.

4. Your walk with God gives hope.
The hope of safety, the hope of all things are going to be fine.

5. Your walk with God gives love.
By reading God's word daily you see His love for you!

Wonderful Peace

Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight,

Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm;

In celestial - like strains it unceasingly falls

O'er my soul like an infinite calm.

-W D Cornell

My prayer is, if you are going through persecution that you will find Strength, peace, faith, hope and love by STAYING in God's Word.

Silk and Purple - Dependence

Psalm 119:195 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Psalm 62:5 "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him."

In the book of Genesis we learn about Eve. She was a very dependent lady. You may ask how do you see her as dependent. Well, think about it, she lived in the garden of Eden which had EVERYTHING she needed. She had all the beautiful flowers, delicious vegetables, the man that God had given her to. She didn't have to pull weeds or worry about thorns on the roses or anything that is thought to be "negative".

So when we look at Eve there are 3 observations to look at that not only she had but all women have.
1. Women are creatures full of pride.
Women many times have a hard time going to authority to ask for help.

2. Women are spiritually aggressive creatures.
We as women are more naive than men in many cases. I'm not saying we're dumb or stupid, men just are less naive in many area's than a man is. This is why Eve was so easily deceived by Satan. Because she, as we are, was more aggressive she jumped at the chance of becoming more spiritual, rather than going to her husband for help or better yet to God.

3. Women were created with natures which are more spiritually aggressive than men.
The author of Silk and Purple has 2 children and when she taught her children about Jesus and trying to teach that, Jesus is everywhere; her daughter took it right away and accepted the fact that Jesus was there even though she couldn't see him.
However her son, was like, he's not here because I can't see him.
Now not always is the response of young children the same, men however do think more logically at times than a woman and so therefore where a woman accepts, this for this, a man will say No, it can't be because......(and whatever it is).

In Genesis 2:15 God had told Adam to "keep" the garden.
Keep - means to protect.
Adam was to protect all that was in the Garden of Eden, but then the serpent, Satan, came in and he knew he couldn't go to Adam. Why? Adam had been given charge to Protect, keep the garden safe. Where as Eve was to enjoy all that was there, and she is the weaker of the two, although very dependent she was the one whom Satan convinced to go against what God had told them.
In the sense of woman being more spiritually aggressive we see this in Eve.
Eve was more spiritually aggressive with a desire to make quick, emotional decisions. Where as Adam was a little less spiritually aggressive in that he was hesitant to take the lead.

So lady as a wife and mom we are dependent, we are at times more aggressive in our spirituality. BUT we are to as a wife, depend on our husband who then depends on God. Now this doesn't mean we don't have to depend on God. We need to depend on God so that we can be the right wife and mom we are meant to be.

Because of our dependence we need to pray daily for God to help us to submit to our husbands.  Without our dependence on God, our marriage, our children, our own lives - as Eve - will be lost forever!

As a Wife, what is your purpose?

Good Morning, we're in another week what can we as wives do to make our families, homes, marriages even better? Lets take a look at the home....I love the saying, "Home is the heart is" I also believe "home is where we live, not at the house, at HOME!" Yes, we live in a house, BUT the house is a building, Home, are the ones who LIVE in the house!

So what makes a home? As a wife, it's the family seeing our true love. It's the children seeing you love you love the Lord, your husband. It's your children seeing your love for them. It's your husband seeing your love for the Lord and for him, and the children!

The following is taken from "God's Ideal Woman" Written by Clifford Lewis

The Stick Together Families

The stick-together families are happier by far

Than the brothers and sisters who take separate highways are.

The gladdest people living are the wholesome folks who make

A circle at the fireside that no power but death can break.

And the finest of conventions ever held beneath the sun

Are the little family gatherings when the busy day is done.

There are rich folk, there are poor folk, who imagine they are wise,

And they're very quick to shatter all the little family ties.

Each with strangers likes to wander, and with strangers likes

to play.

But it's bitterness they harvest, and it's empty joy they find.

For the children that are wisest are the stick-together kind.

There are some who seem to fancy that for gladness they

must roam.

That for smiles that are the brightest they must wander far

from home.

That the strange friend is the true friend, and they travel

far astray.

And they waste their lives in striving for a joy that's far

away.

But the gladdest sort of people, when the busy day is done,

Are the brothers and sisters who together share their fun.

It's the stick-together family that wins the joys of earth,

That hears the sweetest music and that finds the finest mirth;

It's the old home roof that shelters all the charm that life

can give;

There you find the gladdest play-ground, there the happiest

spot so live.

And O weary, wandering brother, if contentment you would

win,

Come you back unto the fireside and be comrade with your

kin.

                                                                                -Edgar Guest

So, do you as a wife make sure that your part of the home, seen by all? Your love? Your care? As a wife, mom, friend, we are to love, and do for those we love.

Tomorrow we'll look at another aspect of the Home and how we as wives are such a big part of it. Now please remember we aren't the Head of the home, but we are a very important part of the home.







As a Wife, what is your purpose?

Ephesians 5:20-22 "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

Do you thank the Lord for your husband?
Do you submit to your husband as the Bible says we should?

In submitting to our husbands and being thankful for them we need to:
1. Not correct him
2. Not laugh at him
3. Don't accept him, based on what he does.
4. Don't always think and look at what his weakness is.
5. One of the worst things I hear wives doing: DON"T compare him to other husbands!

No we are going to look at each of these things. Now I asked you do you thank the Lord for your husband? Ephesians 5:20 "Giving thanks for all things...." you know you can put in there Giving thanks for your Husband! God wants us to be thankful for all things and that includes our husbands. Let him know how thankful you are for him.

Now submission. Yea, I know you hear it all the time "Wives submit yourselves unto your husband" guess what? I'm a wife too and I know how you feel also. There are times I'm thinking WHAT? But as the wife, as a wife who wants to obey the Bible, as a wife who wants to be Prov 31 lady, I go ahead and submit. Is it easy? NO I want lie to you I'm human, I'm a woman and I'm independent! But Guess what? If my husband ask me to do something or to follow him or to go with him, I will! Who am I married to? My parents? or Him? My work? or Him? something for each of us to consider.

Now We don't need to be correcting our husbands.
Here are a few things we should avoid correcting him on:
             ~when he's telling a story, let him tell it his way. Don't make him look ignorant!
             ~When he's telling a joke. let it go....
             ~His English
             ~The way he works
             ~His appearance
We want him to be his best, but we can, in trying to help him, hurt him. So be careful as a wife how you say things and what you "correct" him on.

Laughing at your husband.
Make sure that when you laugh it's with your husband and not at him. Even though he may not show it, when you laugh at him with others it's hurting his ego. If he's laughing and your laughing with him that's being as one, so to speak.

Wife, don't base your acceptance of the man you married on what he does. Don't try to make him more spiritual, the Lord will do that. Your husband will stand before the Lord, for his responsibilities.

Don't dwell on his weakness. Did you know you when you dwell on the weakness of something or someone, you no longer look at them as you should. Maybe he doesn't pick up his dirty clothes, guess what at some point you didn't either. Maybe he smacks his food, you did also when you were little and who knows you may still do it. Maybe your husband changes channels on the tv more than anyone else you know. Guess what, you don't need to dwell on it. You especially don't need to go to your friends and say you know my husband he does this and this (using negative about him). Now if your going to praise him before others, by all means Do It.

Don't compare him to other men! You know what each man, woman, girl, boy are D-i-f-f-e-r-e-n-t!!
None of us have the same looks, same way of working or anything. Just be careful DON"T compare your husband to an  old boyfriend, best friend  husband, your pastor, your SS teacher. He is Your Husband, He is who God made him to be, He can't be changed by you!

Accept your husband for WHO he IS!!

The challenge for this wk is to Praise him more, Thank the Lord for him daily, and most importantly Submit to your husband. Do as he ask, go where he ask, follow him where he goes. Remember to do all this with a good attitude and with the Joy of the Lord.

As a Wife, what is your purpose?

Ephesians 1:6 "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
Do you accept your husband for who is? Pretty strong question, very important though. We as wives don't always accept our husbands for who is....
Why is this? Maybe his past, maybe he hurt you, maybe trust is no longer there, so many things could be the reason one no longer accepts their husband for who he is. However, He IS your husband! You took the wedding vows and prayerfully when you said, "till death do us part" you meant. Now lets look at some things that we need to do and why we should accept the man we are married to.

Does your husband make plans for you and he? Do he plan dates or special days? Let him do this without suggestions. Our regular date night is on Tuesdays, the majority of our date nights Bill has already planned where we will go and everything. Now there are times he ask me if I would like to go to a particular restaurant. If I have a place I've wanted to go I will say something like, this place would be nice.
Now I don't know about you, but I have a way of choosing a place or dinner that Bill had for lunch. It's the craziest thing. You know though he never complains, it should be the same with us as wives. When your husband says I have planned for our date this and this, Accept it! Especially if he doesn't say, "unless you had something else in mind."

How many of you like to get gifts from your husband? I know I do!!! Accept what he gives you! Don't turn your nose up at the perfume, or say I prefer this type of flower. NO we need to accept what our husband give us.

Accept his schedule. Now this can be hard! Trust me, I'm home all day (by choice) and home school our children. There are times, I'm like, "Do you HAVE to go do this or that?" YES he does that is his schedule, he works to help feed our family, provide a place to live etc. So don't complain!!! I remind myself that his schedule is for OUR, Bill and mine, family.

Everyone handles people differently. Your husband whether in the ministry or working in the world, deals with lots of people, saved and unsaved. So, if you don't think he handles a person correctly, just accept it that, that is your husbands way of "dealing" with it.

Now this can be a touchy topic...Accept his affection towards you! YES, we are to as wives ACCEPT his affection. I won't go into details, but ladies, if you are married don't be cold to your MANS affection. It can, it has before, and it could destroy a marriage!!! I know we have our days, but you know the man whom you married does NOT deserve to me told NO. Accept your husbands affection.

Does your husband have toys? You know fishing poles, golfing, hunting, whatever his "toys" are accept them. Now the one thing (I'm going to tell on myself here) I absolutely can't stand is smelly fish!! I don't eat fish, and I DON'T don't clean them. However, after Bill and I talked we decided that if I had everything he needed on the back porch he would care for the fish outside then bring them in to freeze them and yes, he will even cook them outside, most of the time. Why did I tell you this, well we, I, need to accept the things my husband enjoys doing.

So ladies, as a wife, our purpose here is to accept our husbands. You accepted him as he was before marriage. Why change after marriage?
For richer or poorer
In sickness and health
the key phrase "Till death do us part"
Keep those vows accept the man God gave you, love him, enjoy being with him, enjoy his "toys". You will find that doing this makes your purpose as his wife will be much easier!!

What can you change in this area this wk?

As a Wife, what is your purpose?

Good evening, I'm not real sure how many lessons this will go, but as you may be thinking, she was reading another book :) Yes, I was, actually 2 books and between the 2 I want to touch on what our purpose is as a wife. You may say, but I know, I'm suppose to be here for my husband, take care of the home, take care of the children, or maybe you believe your purpose is to work out of the home, to bring in money to the home. Whatever you believe is your purpose, we are going to look into the Biblical purpose of wife.

I thought for fun I would through in this picture. This was mine and Bill's 15th wedding anniversary and I love the little sign at our feet. "Still Hitched"  I'm happy to say that Aug 24th we will be "hitched" for 20 yrs!! You know my purpose as a wife hasn't always been easy to go through with. My desire has/is to be the wife I was meant to be; To be God's ideal woman as my husbands wife; to do what God gives as a Wife's purpose. In the next day or so I will go over things that maybe you and yes I, didn't realize was part of our purpose. If you have followed any of my devo's in the past months. Let me say, One of the things that not only the books say, but the Bible and God says, Read your Bible daily, Pray without ceasing, Stay close to the Lord these are important in EVERY part of our marriages, and lives. You may not be a wife or a mom but I believe as if you will still read these post and if you will apply them to your life as a single person, or as one who could have children that you will learn and be able to apply these things to your life when the time comes.

Two of the books that I will be referring to off an on are:

God's Ideal Woman Written by Clifford Lewis

A Wife's Purpose Written by Cindy Schaap    I highly recommend both of these books to help your growth as a lady, wife and/or mom.

Genesis 2:18 "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."

This is you and I! We were created to complete man.

"A wife's purpose is to meet her husbands needs by helping him!"

We will be looking at the ways we can help him and how we can fulfill our purpose!

Ephesians talks of how we are to submit to our husband. We will be looking into that and prayerfully answer some questions that maybe out there. In today's world the woman submitting to her husband is almost unheard of. We want as Christians to let it be known that it's not a "I have to submit" but rather "I get to submit" or maybe I submit why? "I want to" Or "I submit to my husband because God says I should and I want to obey God" So many ways people look at it.

Well, my friends it's late and I am looking forward doing this study. My prayer is that someone will see the need to submit and to follow her husband.



We're all teachers

Some Quotes I came across that even as parents we can apply at home, after all we teach our children at home. Well, at least we're suppose to, right?!

Train up a child in the way he should go....

~Children love to feel accepted for themselves and praised for their own unique qualities.
~Avoid the expression that life was much tougher when you were their age.
~Children simply need someone who cares enough to help them get beyond the hurdle.
~Celebrate victories with your children.

A Nations Strength

Galations 6: 7 & 8
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth in his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not gold, but only man can make
A people great and strong:
Men who, for truth and honor's sake,
stand fast and suffer long.

Brave men who work while others sleep.
Who dare while others fly--
They build a nation's pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.

Shipwrecks in Relationships

In order to tap into

the supernatural,

Miracle-working power

of God that is

available to me in my

relationships, I've got

to get focused on what

God expects from me

in this relationship,

instead of what I

expect from the

other person.

In the past few lessons we've been looking the principles that guide our relationships and how to avoid the shipwrecks that can happen. Every person that we interact with who crosses our paths constitutes a relationship. We are given instruction how to treat our enemies, those who hate us, criticize us, oppose, accuse and attack me unprovoked. So you can see there is yet one more relationship in our lives.

We are told to share the gospel and give all an opportunity to accept Christ. Mrs Corle did an interesting  word study on how to avoid disaster and shipwrecks.

Disaster - comes from the English language of ancient nautical history. It means "to lose one's fair"

Think about it in ancient days they didn't have the modern day equipment to guide the ships. They had to depend on the stars. Where as today we compasses, and maps and things. So in order to avoid shipwreck you cannot lose sight of the guiding star.

The Bible is our guiding light. So in order to avoid shipwreck in our relationships we need to follow God's word which is a light unto our path.

Psalm 119:105 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and light unto my path." If we lose sight of the way the Bible is leading we'll have a disaster/shipwreck. Stay focused on God and the Bible, if you make your decisions on your relationships according to God and the Bible and let that be your guide, your relationships will fair much better.

When you have the "rough seas' in a relationship don't run or quit on that person. Keep going. I think of the fact that I work with deaf people. Relationships with the deaf are very unique. For one I"m hearing and they don't think I understand them. (not so much their language but what they go through). It would be so easy so that's it, I'm done the deaf aren't worth it! You know that wouldn't be good for me or them. If you know sign language, use it! Deaf are in their "own" world which is a minority in a hearing world! When a deaf person sees, a hearing person is trying to talk with them, trying to be friendly, it really makes their day. I realize this lesson isn't on deaf and how to treat them, but I see MANY relationships between deaf and hearing that could be so much stronger if the hearing person would be the "captain" of the relationship!!!!

When a problem arises in a relationship don't throw in the towel so to speak! Let God and the Bible be your guide and keep it afloat!

If you have children, or if you babysit, or you teach, for every negative you hear or get "deposit" 5 positives into their minds! You say how do you do this? Let me explain:

I'm going to use one of my children as an example here:

My son: I hate math!

Me: Math can help you in many ways.

Son: How?

Me: 1.  you need math to do your check book when you are older.

2. You say you want to be a mechanic, you need to know your fractions an how to use them with various things.

3. God could use you to teach a shop class and you would need to be able to explain the various things about math and how it applies to tools.

4. I tell him I love him and that I want the best for him so this why we need to learn these things.

5. God wants the best from us and we need to put aside the I hate attitude and have the I can attitude.

These are just a few things I have used. Now until I studied this lesson and really thought about it I had never used 5 positives for a negative, but you know I have tried it several times and the children have benefited from it. We've also had a better time of learning or whatever the negative remark was. You know with my 3 teenage boys I have noticed a better mom/son relationship develop!!!

Remember relationships also need good manners. You know when you say yep, or yea to someone to it's really not showing that you respect your relationship. Now I know sometimes in play or casual conversation we may do that but don't call the person names. One of the things I really have to work on with my boys is calling their brothers names. When it comes to your home courtesy and thoughtfulness are more important than anywhere else.

Learn to say "magic words" Not hocus-pocus stuff" or abracadabra. I'm talking important words like:

Please

Thank you

I'm sorry

I was wrong

Can we talk about it?

I love you

I need you

I admire you

You are important to me!

ALL these are so important. Mom, it's ok to admit to a child that you were wrong! Yes, I know you are the adult, but guess what??? We make mistakes too!!! I will never forget the first time I went to my daughter and said, "Can you forgive me?" She looked at me like I lost my mind. (that could of been a possibility haha) Really, she was like you are asking ME to forgive YOU!!! I had made a mistake and she needed to know that Mom was human too. That mom needed forgiveness just like she did!!! Make sure courtesy and thoughtfulness is kept right in your home!

Don't let it be said of you, "you always hurt me" rather let it be said, "she is always willing to help, and she helps me!' You can make the choice!

Keep God and the Bible as your guide to keep you from having a disaster or wrecking your ship in a relationship. 



Shipwrecks in Relationships

Good Morning!
Today we're going to look at crucified life and how this will affect our relationships. Truly living the crucified life is real, this truly applies to who I am and what I do right now! As I've mentioned in other blog post: Our walk talks and our talk talks, but our walk talks louder than our talk talks. Find out how much we really mean business for the Lord in our lives, minute by minute, play by play.

J - Jesus
O - Others
Y - Your
This is the formula for Joy!  It reminds me of a song I learned in High School.
J is for Jesus, he is the way.
O is for Others, trust him today
Y is for you my friend, why don't you come to him
Joy is the way you feel when you let him in!

Be careful of what the world teaches where it's ME, MY, MINE!! I"m #1 that's all that matters. NO we don't want to get in that trap. In every relationship, husband wife, pastor - people, parent - child, boss - employee, co - workers, extended family and friends. God is to be first in our lives and determine "What does God expect from me in my relationships?"
Then decided, "What are the needs of "others" and how does it fit in obeying God in his relationship?"
By doing this it won't leave much room to worry about yourself.
Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Romans 6;11 "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
If we follow these instruction given by God in his Word, then I can't be offended and the hurt feelings won't come.

Now test will pop up in our lives to see if we really mean business serving God but if you remember and follow what Galatians 2:20 and Romans 6 :11 says you will do fine.

Just remember Christ is your Captain and the captain of your relationships is you. The pitfalls that come in life will affect a marriage before it does other relationships. Satan is out to destroy the marriage and then the rest will fall into place. Don't let your marriage relationship be attacked. If you focus on your self it will, but by helping your husband encouraging him and being there for him it will strengthen your marriage.

Give your marriage to God and stop expecting the impossible. God will take care of your of marriage and your relationships if you only give it to him!

Shipwrecks in Relationships

Not everyone is good at holding or having relationships! But you can avoid having a shipwreck in the relationship. Just remember one of the most important things in our lives as Christians, wives and mothers is relationships.

Direct Quote from Mrs Corle book: "The closer you are, the less it takes to hurt you. But when you're hurt, don't retreat to stay away. Retreat, recover, renew, reload and RETURN good as new to begin once again to obey the Lord's instructions concerning this relationship. Keep a "Don't Quit -- Won't Quit' attitude and outlook, and don't ever allow despair to take over and make your decisions. Remember that you've the Captain of this relation-ship and you've got to keep steering it in the right direction."

You may say, but I can only patch up my relationships so much. This may be true, but our Captain the Holy Spirit of God can patch and re-patch as long as we allow him!!! The Great Physician is capable of doing so much we just block him from doing those things he wants. He WON"T force himself on you. You need to ask!!!

Ephesians 4:26-27 "Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil."
This verse is for ALL forgiveness! In your all relationships:
Marriage
Motherhood
Friends
Church etc

Marriage - If you let the sun go down without making things right with your marriage. You will start the next day, with strife. This can and will be very bad for a marriage!
Motherhood - You need to train your children that have a clear conscience when you go to bed, helps you sleep better and it keeps wall from building up with pains.
Friends - true friends won't want that wall to come between them and you want to face them the next time knowing that all is forgiven between the two.
Church family - Most people from church you see 2 days a wk. It would be terrible for something to happen and you never made things right with that person you only see once in a while.

Sorry my computer does things on it's on or something I can't figure out some of what it does LOL

Anyway back to our lesson: We all need to learn to "Live one day at a time" Don't worry about yesterday, it's the past. Don't worry about tomorrow because there's always that chance tomorrow won't come and you'll have a wasted a day worrying!

Forgiveness means you deal with each situation  and each day one at a time, and then really forgive and let it go as if it never happened! That's true forgiveness and that's how God forgives!!

Changing the direction a little in things do you like to collect things? Did you know you can collect things through relationships and not material things....Why not choose to collect some good and positive things: happy memories, blessings from the Lord, answers to prayer, spiritual victories.
Don't be a drudge collector.

Remember if the devil can destroy relationship, he also can destroy our lives!!!
I like the saying I've heard many times (not sure who said) Friends (relationships) come and go in our livesSome for time then they are gone, Some for a period of time (maybe a few months or yrs) then others are for a life time! In these relationships keep them fresh and alive. Don't stay away because your feelings are hurt, don't let Satan destroy you or the relationship by allowing him to sneak in with heartache, unforgiveness.

Friends are friends for ever if the Lord is Lord of them!!!
Relationships are Relationships for ever if the Lord is Lord of them!!!

Shipwrecks in Relationships

Good Afternoon! Wow, I started these lessons yesterday and this morning the sermon was perfect! Looking at yourself making sure your right with God and that you are rotten on the side putting on a front!! My, how that can be applied to our relationships!!! Don't put on a white wash appearance in relationships when in your heart and soul you're rotten! WOW!!!
we start todays lessons we're going to first list a few of the relationships that our lives are full of:
Marriage
Motherhood
Friendships
Family
Church etc.

You may be very successful, but if your not careful Satan will sneak in and he could destroy your relationships. How will this happen? It happens because we don't direct our relationships to the course of the Bible. Just as a captain directs the course for his ship, so must we direct our course through Jesus Christ.

We established yesterday that we are the Captain on the ship. I like to look at it more as I'm the Co-captain and Jesus is my Captain. So whatever he says is what I do.

Relationships are the blending of 2, their hearts, lives, minds and goals maybe even dreams. Careful that you don't insist "my way". You can destroy a relationship by saying me, me, me. We also need to be considerate, compassionate and cooperate in the relationships we have.

This next little bit is from Mrs Corle's book, I loved the way she put it: "Someone jokingly said, It's no wonder husbands and wives have a tough time adjusting after the wedding. I mean, while you thought there were only 2 people who said, "I Do" there were actually 6!" You say what???? Well lets cont with what Mrs Corle wrote. "The person you thought you were, the person he thought you were, and the person you really were, pledging eternal love to the person you thought he was, the person he thought he was, and the person he really was." WOW!!! Did you ever look at it that way? I know I hadn't until I read her book and started working on this lesson.

When you have relationships you have more chances of problems, which in turn makes more chances for blessings. This why we need to Read our Bible, Study our Bible, Heed what the Bible says, and DO what the Bible says.

The next step to our relationship is Prayer!! We need to pray for ALL we have relationship with. In these relationships we need to protect the most vital one from Satan! Remember earlier I said, "Satan is out to destroy relationships and he wants to destroy your life." Be careful!!!

Pray without ceasing! this helps to ward off Satan. When both of you are close to God the better your relationships will be.
Proverbs 21:1 "The kings heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water; he turneth it withersoever he will." This could salvage a relationship from shipwreck. 

Be careful that your relationships aren't selfish. As humans we can have a tendency to look at a relationship as, My needs, My wants, My feelings and we don't want that in a relationship.

Seek God's desire in your relationships! They can create the biggest challenges sometimes the biggest hurts and disappointments. The closest relationships have love, rewards, also potential for pain. As you grow closer to a person you have more possibility for things to happen that are good and bad. Be careful not to shipwreck in these relationships.

Put away what YOU expect, but rather what the OTHER person wants! You'll be much happier and your relationships will be better.

There are a few hidden "undercurrents" that can send you spinning in a relationship that will put you on the rocks.

Shipwrecks in Relationships

Good Morning :) I hope you're having a great day! We're going to start a new set of lessons today. Over the last month I noticed that relationships seem to struggle. I'm not meaning marriages necessarily but friendships, parent - child you friends, it sad what we let to interfere with our relationships.

We need to protect all relationships in life. First I'm going to give a few things that could destroy a relationship in marriage:
1) Not praying together as a couple/family.
2) Not having family alter/fun time together.
3) Allowing negativeness into the home.
4) Not keeping the communications door open.
These are just a few things that can cause "Shipwrecks" in our relationships!

Here's a few things that can keep a relationship strong in marriage:
1) Have daily prayer time with your spouse/family.
2) Having Bible time/fun time with your family.
3) Keeping a positive attitude!
4) Communication!
Imagine what you can avoid with these things, Prayer, Bible Reading, being positive, communicating with your family and others.

Now we're going to look into some area's of Relationships. Ask yourself how is this relationship?
~Husband - wife
~parent - child
~boss - employee
~pastor - people
~The Lord - you
The Lord's instruction for relationships is being peaceful and happy. We need to make sure that the Lord is the Lord of our relationships. I love the song:
Friends are friends forever if the Lord is the Lord of them. (you could put this way:)
Husband and wife are friends forever if the Lord is the Lord of them. (Put anything in there if the Lord is the Lord of it, it WILL LAST!!!

Now in this topic I'll refer to "Ships", "storms", "shipwrecks" etc in relationship to our lives. I pray that before I start that you'll decided today that you are going to Avoid Shipwrecks in your Relationships. Mrs Cathy Corle wrote the "Avoiding Shipwreck In Your Relationships" The passage of scripture that we'll refer to occasionally throughout this lesson is in Acts 27.

vr 14 "But not long after there was against it a tempestuous wind, called Eursclydon.
    15 And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive."

As a Captain of a ship - he has a direction to reach it's destination. The same with our life, we had a directions we are going and it can end up in a shipwreck, or on a calm sea.
Storms will happen in our relationships:
~marriage (you know that arguments will arise, disagreement comes BUT you can avoid shipwreck)
~child training - "Train up a child in the way he should go...." Now if we allow the storms to control us, do you think that your child will turn out right? Stay focused and don't allow your child training to shipwreck.
~in laws - you say, "I can't _________" don't say I can't decided this couple had my husband/wife they are they're parents and I'm going to avoid a shipwreck with them!!
I will say, there were rough sea's with my mother in law. However I can say, "I loved her" and I did my best to avoid the shipwreck. I believe that because I didn't let our differences come between us, the Holy Spirit was able to work in her life and she now is Heaven! Why? I didn't allow the storms to shipwreck our relationship!!
~maybe church, work, ministry etc. - be careful of the storms in these area's it can hurt and crash relationships.

Now stop and look at yourself, not your husband, not your children, not your parents, not your friends BUT look at YOU _______________ put your name there. Say to yourself, do I cause storms that could avoided? Do you complain about things that maybe could be left alone in your marriage? Do you show negative attitudes with your boss that could be left alone? Stop! Look at Self! Avoid the shipwrecks of life that you cause by NOT thinking or stepping back and saying, "What can I change?"

Remember, "There is none righteous no not one." When you enter a relationship of ANY kind NO ONE is perfect!

Where do you want your different relationships to go?
I have a dear friend in TN that I LOVE! We lost contact during high school because my family moved away. She and I had a good relationship and I wanted to keep that, but as I said we lost contact. Well, a few yrs ago, maybe less we were able to get back in contact. You know I believe our relationship picked right back up where we left it. Thank the Lord for our relationship and our friendship.
There's another friend in, Indiana that I met in college. She and I have had our ups and downs. We haven't lost contact, but I believe our relationship is strong. Why? I can't say it's because we never had a storm pop up, because we did and have. I believe it's because we tried to steer clear of the perils of life, of the sea that could of caused major shipwrecks.
My husband and I, YES we have our problems. You know what.... We don't let them shipwreck our relationship. Could 19 yrs of marriage had a shipwreck or two? YES! Trust me as a wife and mom we've had our times. BUT the Lord is the Lord of our relationship!!
Dont' let the little things make you crash into the rocks and put you upside down in the sea of life.

Don't use excuses as to why your relationships don't work: These are some I get so tired of hearing:
-I have a bad temper, I can't control. That is WRONG you can control your temper.
-I can't help it, I'm a sensitive person. Good I'm glad your sensitive BUT don't let it rule your life, it will shipwreck your life if you let it!

So are you a foolish or wise captain?
The foolish captain will end of shipwrecking his ship in calm waters because he doesn't pay attention to the perils of the sea/life!
Where as the wise captain will steer clear of the perils when the waters are calm or during a hurricane!

So remember: Christ is on board with you! OR should we say you are on board with Christ. The captain of your ship is Christ and if you depend on him, HE WILL help you avoid the shipwreck of your relationships!!!
He gives peace in the time of storm!!!

Missionaries

Hello friends,
I was wondering if you could help me compose a list of Missionaries for our Prayer list. I'm going to give the list I have so we don't have duplicates then if you could add anyone you may know in comments it will help me to build up the prayer list on this blog:

The Johnson's - Japan (Military)
The Harris family - Welland, Ontario Canada
The Tulley's - Brazil
The Whitmore's - Brazil

I have many more to add, just can't at this time.

Shipwrecks in Relationships

Good Morning for another 2 min :) I hope everyone is doing well. Well, I've been reading another book and WOW!! Mrs Cathy Corle is an excellent author. This will be an series of 8 Lessons, on "Avoiding Shipwreck In Your Relationships" This is the title of her book....

In Mrs Corles book she says, "A friend is someone who knows all about you, and loves you anyway!"
"A friend is one who listens with their heart, who sorts out the good and valuable in what you say, and lovingly throws all the worthless chaff to the wind."

So as we start these lessons tomorrow remember: no matter how great a storm you may face along your journey, Jesus is the One who can speak peace into existence, and the winds and waves obey His will. Sail on!  (these are directly from her book)