Avoiding Two Lamentable Errors on Human Sexuality

This is how I feel about it. I'm not sure if all the girls agree, and that is fine. But I thought this was very clear and very Biblical:

Quiet Time, Fishing Line, and Jesus

I came across this quote earlier this week:

“It has been well said that if a great king were to bring us a great heap of gold and bid us take as much as we could count in a day, we would make a long day of it; we would begin early in the morning, and in the evening we would not withhold our hand.” Unknown

The great King, Jesus, has bought and brought us a much greater treasure than a heap of gold yet we revere Him not!

Years ago, when my children were toddlers and I was given a new life in Christ, I heard from the Bible, godly women & their husbands, the Internet, literature, and personal friends the importance of cultivating a quiet time daily to attend to the richness of Christ. Someone told me if I had to lock myself in the bathroom to make it happen then so be it! Others spoke of wearing a hat that everyone knew to be Momma's quiet time reminder.

As our Pastor diligently continues to remind us, God asks us to consider this: 

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate on and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so richly clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient is it’s own trouble.” Matt 6:24-34

Though I too often fail to honor God by seeking him routinely in prayer, reading the Word, confessing and listening, when I capitalize on the time God has given me, the results are immediate and powerful!

Culling out time in our daily schedules results in abundant blessings far outweighing simple stones like silver & gold! The rewards are eternal!

My husband and I were on the pier overlooking the ocean last week and he was showing me how a pole was rigged to catch a King Mackerel. The line was dropped with a heavy weight and off of it a second line carried the bait which floated near the surface. I kept hearing a strange high pitched ringing as we spoke. David said that was the sound of the wind passing by the taut line causing it to “sing”… May we be anchored so firmly in Christ that as the winds blow by we “sing” too!

Consider making a long day of counting Him worthy and I pray He continues to convict us of our need!

"...if anyone makes the assistance of grace depend on the humility or obedience of man and does not agree that it is a gift of grace itself that we are obedient and humble, he contradicts the Apostle who says, "What have you that you did not receive?" (1 Cor. 4:7), and, "But by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10). (Council of Orange: Canon 6)

To God be the glory!

introducing amy!!!!

I've been sitting at Starbucks for 2 hours....finding every excuse to not write and not being able to have a straight thought about what to write. When someone is asked to introduce themselves or talk about their life with God, there is the temptation to want to say the right things, show how dramatically God has moved, what He has taught you and led you through. Then you read other people's accounts and you think, "Man, I don't have it together at all.....I have so far to go." That is when I realize..... "hmmm...maybe this is exactly where God wants me to be." The truth is, I don't have it together, my life and heart is generally a mess. And I have so far to go in my walk with Jesus.

My journey with Jesus began at birth. I had the privilege of being born into a Christian family. My parents went to church and took my sister and I from the time I could remember. I don't have a memory that doesn't include church, singing songs about Jesus and reading stories from the Bible. I loved going to church and singing all of the songs I had been taught about Jesus. Then when I was 5 years old, I made confession of faith and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I was baptized and we celebrated my decision with ice cream at my favorite place! Looking back, all I remember is being baptized and feeling like I was gonna drown, realizing my Momma didn't pack clean undies for me - so I had to go commando, and being SO excited to go to Pixie's and get a swirl cone. My sister had recently been baptized and taken to Pixie's so I wanted to do the same. I don't remember any kind of big change after that evening. My life proceeded as normal. I loved being in church! As I grew, church became a bigger and bigger part of my life. As I entered junior high/high school, youth group was my life. All that I did revolved around youth group. If there was a mission trip, I went. If there was a weekend retreat, I was there. My Christanity was upheld by the highs that were experienced on each retreat, trip, convention. I wasn't taught to do in the low times. There was an emphasis on having daily devotions....such an emphasis that it came out like a guilt trip if it wasn't done. It wasn't until college that I began to realize how to live life in the day to day - not just the highs.

I could write pages more of what God has done in my life since my high school and college years. I could give you minute details of my walk with Jesus. I could tell you how God has allowed some heart wrenching things in my life only to allow some of the deepest healing and satisfaction in Him that I would have never found without the pain. I could tell you of the insane amounts of joy - pure, Jesus drenched joy - that have seeped into every corner of my being. All of these things would give glory to God and hopefully show you what God can do with a life. But there are two words that would describe it all.. ...But God!!

But God saved me from the pits of hell, by His sovereign grace and mercy.

But God allowed my parents to divorce when I was 19 to teach me immense joy despite my circumstances.

But God...led me to an amazing college that would provide the friends and mentors that I would need to grow and start to become the woman He was calling me to be...then led me to the an incredible seminary and to the friends that would be the glue to hold me together.

But God....in His sovereign mercy allowed me to go through the end of my own marriage and be a single Momma at 29 to teach me who I am in Him and that He has an incredible plan even though the pain was more than I could bear.

But God....He gave me an incredible little boy to begin the healing process in my life when it was just he and I.

But God...let me feel like I was stranded on an island waiting for His plan to unfold.

But God...turned incredible heartbreak into incredible joy and peace.

But God...brought an amazing man into my life to show me how a wife should be loved by her husband, how a son should be loved by his daddy and how a family can be centered on Him and Him alone.

There's been some incredible things and some heart breaking things that God has brought into my life. But I know that everything that has come into my life has passed through God's strong and loving hands. I know that everything that has happened has been for His glory and for my growth. The past 32 years of my life have been pretty amazing...I can't wait to see what God has in store for the next however many He allows me to be on this earth.

Our Role as Women

As women, I believe we were created to be a helpmate- not the career-driven women which society has pushed upon us women. God created us to take care of the house and raise children. You are probably thinking, “Wow, Sarah, that is so pretentious and closed-minded of you to claim that.” I did not always believe this was our role as women though. My mom is a very hardworking, amazing, but career-driven woman. Growing up, I was somewhat confused about my role as a women, just based on my parents relationship. (Disclaimer: my parents are both absolutely amazing and I love them both so very much!!). My mom is a doctor and worked all day, then would come home, make dinner, do laundry, take care of us kids and do it all over the next day. Essentially, she was trying to do two full time jobs as once!! (I sincerely do believe that running a house and being a mom is a full time job!!) So, this was my paradigm growing up. When I got to college, I chose pre-med as a major, desiring to follow in her footsteps. It was around that time that I started a relationship with God and started to learn about biblical womanhood and the difference between men and women.

As I grew in my relationship with God, my desire to serve Him and glorify Him grew more and more. Us women were created to serve and glorify God in a different way than men. We are to be the helpmate, supporter, encourager. This does NOT mean however, that our ideas, dreams and desires don't matter. THEY DO MATTER! There are many bible verses that speak of wives submitting to their husbands, such as Ephesians 5:22. Men are called to be the spiritual leader of the household and women are to follow their lead, thus submitting to their husband. I believe that one reason why women get offended by and struggle with this verse is because they are yoked with a man whose authority they do not respect. As women, we need to encourage the men around us to step up and be the men of God and spiritual leaders God has created them to be!

So, women, I leave you with this small piece of advice. DO NOT SETTLE AND DO NOT PURSUE A MAN. Let the man pursue you, make him earn your trust and allow him to lead. I loveeee the way Blair put it: “ If you are a woman in a relationship, your role is to help your husband and support him as leader. You should feel honored and important, but also humble and submissive to the leader in your family.” Amen, sister! When you let the man do what the man is supposed to do in a relationship, life is just so much sweeter. You will feel truly loved, respected and appreciated and will in turn be able to give love, respect and appreciation back in a much more genuine and sincere way.

Eve and Us.

Women and men are the same in many ways. We are all created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). We are all human beings with (mostly) similar features. We all have personalities. We all are equal in the sight of God. We are all sinners.

However, we differ in many ways. I would go as far as to say that we are fundamentally different. There are some things that are just normal for men, and normal for women. There are things that men were created for, and different things that women were created for. We see it even at early ages of our children. Boys are rowdy and rambunctious, like to hit each other, and build cars out of legos. Girls are calmer and gentler, like to hug, and play with Barbies. As teenagers, boys get confused about what their girlfriends are mad about, and girls get mad because their boyfriends don't understand what they've done! As adults, men handle arguments by walking out and blowing off steam. Women handle arguments by talking about their feelings.

The list could go on and on, but enough about the differences that I notice between the genders. Let's see what the Bible says about it. Here we pick up in Genesis 2 right after Adam was created. Remember that the first man and woman, and the first marriage, are setting the pace for the rest of us and defining our roles and responsibilities.

    The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
    Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,
    “This at last is bone of my bones
        and flesh of my flesh;
    she shall be called Woman,
        because she was taken out of Man.”
    Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
(Genesis 2:15-25 ESV)

There are a few things to notice here:

1) Man and woman were different from other creatures. They had dominion over all the other creatures. Man and woman were uniquely made in the image of God, and were above all the rest of creation. This is why Adam was given the responsibility of naming all the animals.

2) Man and woman were different from each other. They were created at different times, in different ways, and for different purposes. They were also given different jobs. Adam's job was to work and keep the garden. Eve's job was to be Adam's helper-to support him in his job. This set the pattern for men and women for the rest of time, and still holds true today.

3) Adam was established as the head of the family. The authority to name the other creatures showed Adam's rule over them. Notice that Adam names Eve as well. Of course, there is still the blatant difference between Eve and the rest of creation. She is Adam's helpmate, tailor-fit to him. Their covenant is described right here. He loves her and will hold fast to her. She is a part of him. The fact that he names her doesn't undermine her or place her down with the animals, but it underlines his role in their relationship as a loving leader. Remember, this is going to be a huge picture throughout the Bible of Christ and His church, so we don't want to misunderstand this relationship.

2) Eve was a Helper. Many women are actually offended by this passage, and want to twist it so it doesn't hurt their pride. They think it is condescending, belittling women's ability and importance. This isn't true at all. Again, women are equal with men. Both have essential roles and responsibilities. If you are a woman in a relationship, your role is to help your husband and support him as leader. You should feel honored and important, but also humble and submissive to the leader in your family.

3) Eve was fit specifically for Adam. None of the animals would have been a good helper for Adam. Only another human being, made in God's image, would do. She was not only made for him, but from him. Flesh of his flesh. I could be wrong, but to me this is a reminder of us being made in God's image. Eve was literally a part of Adam-how could they not be incredibly in love and cherish one another? This should remind us that we, the Church, are made in God's image, by Him and from Him and of Him. And that is an even greater love and more amazing covenant than that of Adam and Eve.

This passage says so much about who women were created to be, and our relationships with men, and our individual/corporate relationships with God. This is really only touching the very surface on these topics, but it is a wonderful place to start and study, and to refer back to. This is the starting point--the foundation to build on. There is much more we can look at, but we will look at more another time.

To finish it up...you know that ridiculous commercial where the man and woman are singing "Anything you can do, I can do better?" Yeah, that bothers me so much. Women, we need to accept and embrace the fact that we are different from men. We don't need to compete with them, just like they don't need to compete with us. We don't have to feel inadequate, and we cannot feel superior. Unlike popular culture will tell you now, feminism shouldn't be about making sure we can do absolutely everything a man can do. Trying to step into a man's role goes against God's design for men and women (same goes for men trying to step into a woman's role). True femininity is being exactly who God created you, as a woman, to be.

Update!

Hello lovely people. Sorry for the big build up and then completely not posting anything for a long time. That was my fault...I kind of assigned everyone an October topic and completely forgot that there was a month in between August and October. Plus I got kind of slammed with work and school starting back all of a sudden. My B.

So, let me begin by saying: THANK YOU! To everyone who has started following our blog and has been waiting patiently for me to actually get a move on with this thing. Thank you, also, to the girls who are contributing and have written posts so far! Y'all are the bomb diggity.

I am finishing up the first post, and soon we will be diving into the whole world of Biblical womanhood goodness. Hang tight.

introducing michele

Hi! My name is Michele... and I am humbled to be blogging beside such wonderful people! I love Jesus, learning new things especially spiritually, fumbling around at marriage, parenting, Aunting (is that a word?), after-schooling (I work at an elem school in the after school program), traveling & growing things....to name a few! My dashing husband is David and by God's provident hand, we met & were married 16 years ago. He is a machinist and loves fishing for flounder, music, walks in the woods, cooking, and looking after me! We are the grateful parents of 2 lovely young ladies! Emily is 15 and Rachel is 13. They are wonderful, beautiful, delightful, smart, deeply caring people! I'll have to tell you more as we go!!

My Mom & Dad, Step Mom, Sister, Brother, and sister in law have been hugely influential in my journey as well as many others! I'd love to share some of those stories sometime! I am so thankful that my family is full of prayer partners and encouragers!

But it wasn't always that way...None of my family walked in the faith that we have now through Christ! I was brought up Catholic with nuns & priests comprising the majority of my teachers. I remember my mom taking me to church as a child and to the chapel times during school... I didn't actually have faith in God or in Jesus...I just went to church because Mom took me. I think I wanted to believe He was real but so many difficult things happened that I came to doubt He did care at all...When I made my first visit to church after about 15 years of absence I was terrified! But I went because my life was a mess and despite all my own efforts, I could not straighten myself out!

God knew He would be the answer to my problems...

He graciously brought me to my knees...

I was guilty of putting my own desires and wants and fun and work and relationships above the God who gifted me to be able to even participate in those things.

It was a struggle every week to go to go to church. But He kept drawing me back...

It was difficult to hear the things said that I needed to hear. But He knew it would be best for me...

It was difficult to be loved by people who I barely knew. But He gave them to me as a gift...

It was just plain difficult all the way around....and it still is in a good way...

"Man . . . is few of days and full of trouble." Job 14:1

But God has continued to show us that His Son, His Word, His plan for redeeming His people, His church is precious and us being a part of it is precious. And the joy that comes from receiving such great gifts from The Greatest Giver is inconceivable!

And I still struggle with Him

But He steadfastly draws me to Himself

To the heavenly things

To Himself

To His Word

To His people

To His mercy & kindness

To His faithfulness & devotion

To His abiding love and affection

To His discipline which corrects me

Not to the things of this earth that remain a short while and fade from dust to dust

But to Him & things eternal & everlasting...like His love & justice

This is a quote by a man of God now deceased:

"We should love, but we should love with the love that expects death, and that reckons upon separations."

This is the love of God.... that He cares enough not just to to want to spare us from death & separation from Him but to make a way that we can live full of joy...that God gave....He gave Himself...completely...when He reckoned to give His Son, Jesus...

as a payment for our sin... not begrudgingly as we give...but planned from the beginning of time for His joy and ours...so that we may bask in Him and the life He claims in us forever! And that we may share this love with others!

I'm excited to take this blogging journey with you!