Do Working Women Blaspheme God’s Word?

My friend Stacy @ Your Sacred Calling, has done a superb job of handling this issue of Titus 2.   Well worth the read.

“I’ve received questions as to what is meant in Titus 2 where Paul talks about God’s Word being blasphemed.  They wondered if working women blaspheme God’s name. First, let me say no; from what I’ve studied in the word of God, a woman who works outside of the home does not blaspheme God’s Word by doing so….

Ladies, this is the Word of God! We may be able to debate the definition of a keeper at home, but we really can’t argue about the fact that being a “homemaker” is in fact included in the list of things young women should be taught to practice. And it seems pretty clear that Paul is saying God’s Word is blasphemed in society when the church rejects or ignores the teachings of Titus 2.”

Read full article

The Secret to a Husband’s Love, Happy Marriage

“My husband won’t take me on walks.”

“Have you asked him to or told him you would like to?”

“Oh, no, I’m not going to do that.  If he loved me he would volunteer.”

My friend was asking me how she could help her neighbor who seemed to be suffering from depression because of her “bad marriage”.  (She kept the woman’s identity anonymous.) But as she prodded for descriptions of said marital problems, she saw a completely different picture than what her neighbor seemed to see.

She described the neighbor’s countenance as she foamed about her husband.  Narrow eyes, a tight mouth, and a 2-hour conversation riddled with criticism and negativity.

“He just doesn’t show me love.”

The husband provided for the family and the wife mentioned that he almost always cooked breakfast and would cuddle with her at night.

My friend said, “to be honest, if she’s half as critical at home, I give her husband Kudos for as much as he does for her”.

Description after description of her “problems” revealed a constant critique of “what he doesn’t do for me” as opposed to any thought of what she gives him or what he does do for her.

Listening to my friend, I realized how common this is.  I’ve heard this story so many times before.

The tricky part is, this wife, and others, literally feel “abused”.  This woman talked about “the deep hurt” but couldn’t produce a reasonable piece of evidence that her husband did anything to purposely hurt her.

Standing from a distance, I think of several factors that have caused this cycle many wives describe–factors of which we all need to be wary.

• Artificial men. From romance novels to soap operas to the latest Twilight series, the entertainment industry has fed our lustful desires for husbands that don’t really exist.  The smooth-tongued, at-your-beck-and-call, romantic, say-all-the-right-things guy is rare.  But, he’s in our books and tv and so we indulge in our own “emotional pornography” and it’s just as degrading and hurtful to marriages as the husband who compares his wife to that filthy picture in his magazine.

• Feminist men. To spur the aforementioned image, the feminist movement has done a great job of planting seeds of discontentment into the hearts of women.  As gender differences are spurned, our men have been told to act more like women, in so many ways.  And if they don’t, there’s a barrage of criticism waiting to be launched against their character.

• Our right to pout. In keeping with the feminist propaganda, women were told they have a right to demand and get the things they want.  So, if hubby hasn’t chucked enough of his masculinity to meet my expectations, I deserve to punish him with my coldness, criticism or indifference–a recipe for marital disaster.

In the end, there is a bitter, unhappy woman crying on her friend’s shoulder about how her husband doesn’t bend over backwards to show her love.  Meanwhile, he’s about to go insane.  He thought he was being a good husband.  Most husbands want to please their wives.  They just aren’t women.  They have unclogged the toilet, killed the bugs, taken out the trash, repaired the car, noticed the tread on the tires is getting dangerous, brought home a paycheck faithfully for years, been a faithful father and husband, all for a woman who complains that he doesn’t do enough.  (By the way, this hurts me to write it.  I’ve been this woman.)

Would that husband be a little more eager to show affection or surprise his wife with romantic flair if he came home to a smiling, thankful face?  If she expressed a bit more gratitude?  If she made the home a pleasant place to be?  If she actually tried to make his life easier?

I pray we would all let our men be men and watch how a thankful heart may be the secret to drawing him out.

Raising Daughters of Grace, Beauty and Loveliness

Disclaimer (of which the discerning reader may skip):

I tire of disclaimers.  They clutter.  Yet, sometimes I take a walk on the wild side and leave it out.  I guess this post needed one.

Disclaimer #1:  Just because I posted a picture of Jacqueline Kennedy doesn’t mean I consider her a role model.  She is graceful, lovely and charming.  That’s it.

Disclaimer #2:  Regarding the mentioning of the Victorian era:  the words ” improperly elevated” are the disclaimer.

Disclaimer #3:  This is not a dissertation on whether Jane Austen was a feminist.  We like her movies.  And the pretty clothes.  And the dreamy way Jennifer Ehle says, “You puzzle me exceedingly”. The mentioning of other eras is just that–a mentioning in a post primarily meant to encourage ladies to be ladies.

End of disclaimer.

Loveliness.  Grace.  True Beauty.

You recognize it when you see it.  But it’s becoming rare.  The Victorian era has certainly been improperly elevated, and us Jane Austen-lovin’ gals still swoon over over-romanticized ideals, but there is something to be said about the way women of that day carried themselves, dressed and behaved.

The rules weren’t all pomp and circumstance; women were cherished (despite what many believe) and treated like ladies and they played the part.  Being delicate was not a weakness and acting like a female was actually recognized for the power it holds.  Women were comfortable and strong in their femininity and didn’t feel the need to compete with the toughness of the other gender.

Value or De-valued?

In our day, we have clamored our way out of  “female oppression”, roaring all the way.  And it shows.  Read more »

The Fight’s Not Over: Women of the Faith Called to Action

I missed Kay Arthur’s message at the True Woman Conference.  (That savvy little thing in black boots cannot possibly be 76 years old!) It sounds like I probably missed the most inspiring message (though they all were).  Here is a snapshot from the True Woman Blog of her call to women:

“Kay began the evening by painting a picture of the grave danger our society is in, and telling us that if we’re going to act, it needs to be now, and it would have been better if we’d started yesterday.  She doesn’t point the finger at the world, but at the church. We are to blame for not knowing and proclaiming the Truth of the Word of God.

‘It’s not over, because I’m here. And you’re here. It begins with us—with women who know God. We have to be absolutely convinced that God says what He means and means what He says . . . To know God is to know His Word.’

Kay concluded with seven steps we each need to take, all from the book of Nehemiah:

1. Look at what’s broken, and what needs to be repaired.
2. Go to God and ask if you need to help with that particular repair. The first thing you need to do is sit down. Stop running around being busy. Sit down and weep over the situation. Let your heart be broken over the things that break His heart. Confess your sin. Fast and pray.
3. Ask God how you’re going to do it. Ask for success. Do it even if you’re afraid. Enlist others who see the need. You cannot do it alone.
4. Don’t be distracted or derailed by opposition without or opportunists within. The enemy doesn’t want you to rebuild. Don’t get derailed or discouraged.
5. Fear God and not man. Don’t be afraid. Fight for your brothers, sisters, husbands, houses, and communities.
6. Stay in constant communication with God.
7. Don’t let down your guard. Hold to God’s standard and deal with evil.

‘I believe if you’re not hearing something,” Kay said, “it’s because you’re not listening.’ ”

God’s Glory is Displayed Through GENDER

I almost had to leave the auditorium, retreat to a quiet place, and process the profound revelation I had never seen that Mary Kassian revealed from that familiar passage in Genesis:

“She shall be called ‘woman’ because she was taken out of man.” Genesis 2:23

We skip right over it and miss what God is revealing here.  Some of us even desecrate His very nature in our misunderstanding.

Paint it anyway you like, champion the philanthropic nature of feminism, but underneath all that it is rooted in the rebellion against God’s perfect, created design.

That verse in Genesis is not just about a man and woman being created to live together. It was God’s crowning work with which He announced to the world all the fullness of His glory.  He’s too big to be revealed in one human being.  It is VERY important that we understand that without the distinct characteristics in man and woman, meant to reveal Himself through the union of the two in marriage, we only see a part of who God is.

“She shall be called ISHA, for she was taken out of ISH.”

Now here it is:

“Isha” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “soft“, while “Ish” comes from the word meaning “strength“.  Now remember, God had said, “Let us make man in our image”.  Adam at first embodied the whole image of God.  (Even the word translated “man” in the first part of the verse has a different meaning than what we see after Eve was created.)  Literally, God took the feminine nature out of Adam and embodied that in a new creation.  God was screaming to Adam, and to us:

“You can only fully understand Me by looking at the totality of Who I am through gender.”

The reason marriage is the illustrated picture of Christ and His bride is because it is the only way two distinctly different beings can come together and join as one flesh, representing the completed picture of who God is.

Is that not mind-blowing?

And when we embrace this uniqueness, celebrating our differences, we say to God, “It is very good”.

But when we bristle at and blur these differences we raise a fist and say, “It is not good”.

And the picture gets clearer…man reflects God’s “going out” power (even in the basic anatomy and events of reproduction), while woman reflects His “receiving” power in her anatomy and her ability to house and nourish life.

This is why homosexuality is an abomination to Him.  This is why a rejection of the gift of reproduction fails to display His glory.  This is why an egalitarian view of marriage makes a mockery of Him. This is why when we balk at the “warrior” nature of man and the “nurture” nature of woman we act foolishly.  It’s all Him!

Do you get this?

Makes me want to shout.

Speak well of God with your femininity.

True Woman

We are having a great time at the True Woman conference.  I’ve already met some of you and it has been so neat to see real faces and hug real bodies!

I’m sitting now in bed, eating dark chocolate and my blogging friend Kathy is in the other bed with her laptop (I just emailed her…how pathetic is that? )  The other friend with us happens to be a reader I met a while back providentially through a mutual friend who is now my own dear friend!

I’ve gleaned so much from the fabulous teaching this weekend and I’ll probably be able to formulate several posts after I process it all.

What this conference is about, in a nutshell, is an attempt to ignite a “counter-cultural revolution” to combat what the feminist movement has done to families.  Given the very real power God gave women concerning their husbands and children, it’s a pretty safe statement to say, “As goes the woman, so goes the culture”. The enemy knows that and has largely used lies of that movement to effect destruction of the home.  What we need is women who, to paraphrase Mary Kassian, “are willing to love God enough to do things His way”.

Yes, that’s the snapshot version and there are lots of other factors involved in our culture’s demise, but revisiting God’s design, which includes the mysterious power of woman, evokes fear and trembling in my heart, and brings me to my knees, begging the Lord to preserve me and keep me and empower me to fulfill the beautiful design He has for me–the design that will reveal His glory in my home and extend to the culture.

Yes, Lord, I want to be a true woman.