Winner of “Evenings With Victoria”

(Did I say I get nervous every time I host a give-away?)

127 commenters, some of which had their names entered 2 or 3 times

Alexa was my helper…

Names shuffled, prayer uttered, choose a name…

Michelle!!!

Congratulations, Michelle!

Are You “One of Those People”?

Sometimes the smallest Word lodges itself and looms large in my heart…

“…having the form of godliness but denying its power…”

I tend to skip over this verse because, well you know, it’s about “those other people”.

“For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,  traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.”  2 Timothy 3:2-6

(tap tap…)  “unthankful, headstrong, lovers of pleasure”

How could those things be lumped in with “brutal and blasphemers”?

And He speaks so clearly–“Anyone who loves (fill in the blank) more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

I am unthankful when I complain about MY needs not being met.  I am headstrong when I want MY way.  I am a lover of pleasure when I choose ME over Him.  Ick.

Oh yes, I can “look” godly.  But do I live godly?

I am a “lover of self” each day that I don’t crucify my flesh.  I am “one of those people” when I don’t deny myself, take up my cross and follow Him.

And it comes again–the beautiful irony of God’s Word:

If loving myself “denies the power of godliness” in my life, then dying to self brings it to life!  POWER.  The very thing I think I can achieve when I live in the flesh is the thing I lose.

What if we really died to live?

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Daily.  Thank you, Lord, for knowing I’m so forgetful that I need to start again every morning,  and thank You that Your mercies are new!

Great Children’s Books for the Christian Home

I had forgotten what a treasure the Lamplighter series of children’s books are.  I picked up Hedge of Thorns this morning and read a chapter to the children and was again delighted with the quality of the literature as well as the tremendous inspiration it offered.

“I remember kissing her [baby sister] soft hands; and from that time, my little sister became the object of my tenderest love and affection, and I waited with anxious expectation the happy time when I could take her on my Sabbath picnics near the castle of Hemlock Forest…and how happy I was when I had taught her to repeat her first prayer!”

The Lamplighter Rare Collector series are short, interesting books re-printed from the late 19th century, full of literary richness as well as the themes of godly character-building, most familiar to Christian families of the past.  They make great read-alouds!

Just wanted to offer some suggestions for those of you who are looking for great literature!

(By the way, I don’t benefit from suggesting these, I just like them )

There are several sites who sell them, but Grace & Truth Books is the best price I have found.

All’s Not Hair in Love and War

It took me 5 children to realize that I might need to say it out loud:  “You are not allowed to cut yours or anyone else’s hair”.

You must hear it from the start…

I have had hair woes my whole life. Too thin, too fine, too–not what I wanted it to be. I deal with it.

I married a man with thick, jet black hair, but several of our first girls inherited my hair. Life is still good.

Enter Mallie.

This child was born with a shock of full, fuzzy, black hair. It was comical…me, the fair-skinned blond lady holding this dark-skinned baby with…this HAIR.

I loved it from the start.  And it grew and was so thick and so long and so wavy and so…everything I had always wanted in hair.  And despite the torture of combing out tangles from this thick-maned three-year old, I loved it long (notice that was past tense).

Not braided, it had grown to her waist.

And then…

That tangle I couldn’t get out.  It came out of nowhere and so I had to do it–I cut it up almost to her chin.  I almost cried, but that would have been silly.

So we got used to her cute new haircut.

And then…

Enter Brooks–the 5-year-old that didn’t get the memo.

“She told me to”.  That was the best he could come up with.   (Didn’t Adam say that?)

So here’s the really good part…this happened on the same day I posted about teaching our children forgiveness. God does love a good, “let’s see what ya got?” doesn’t He?

Maybe I loved Mallie’s hair too much…

It’s even worse in the back.

I left it hacked up for 2 days before I could get the nerve to cut it.  And since we don’t have a sharp pair of scissors in the house, I grabbed the little red pair, the same pair Brooks used.

“I wanted hair like Avi.” I get sad every time I look at it.

A good reminder for all of us that:

Forgiveness is mandatory…no matter the mess we have to deal with.

Hair grows back.

There are consequences to our actions.

I need to remember to tell my other 5-year-olds about the hair thing.

We probably do things that leaves God shaking his head and saying, “What was she thinking?!” and He loves us anyway.

So what did I say besides “I’m so glad my son doesn’t show promise for Cosmetology”?

“Well, there’s only one thing left to do….blog about it.”

Register for a Giveaway: Evenings With Victoria Botkin

Exciting news ahead…

Victoria  Botkin is about to begin an on-line discipleship course called “Evenings with Victoria”.  Mrs. Botkin is wife to Geoff Botkin and mother to 7 children, two of whom are Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin, authors of the book, So Much More, which I highly recommend. I have had the pleasure of listening to Mr. Botkin on several occasions and spending limited time with the Botkin family, and I am always so encouraged by our brief encounters. Mrs. Botkin possesses a delightfully gentle spirit contained in a wealth of wisdom, and takes her Titus 2 calling seriously.

If that news isn’t exciting enough, she has graciously offered Generation Cedar readers the chance to win a free registration ($49 value)!

Sessions begin March 1-April 26, every Monday evening from 8-9 p.m. CST.

She will begin each session by responding to questions from participants and discussions will cover topics “such as woman’s great power, sinful tendencies, obedience vs. submission, independence vs. submission, freedom vs. submission, beauty, dress, makeup, respect, women’s rights, hospitality, speaking words of life, managing with grace, pitfalls of perfectionism in homemaking, Hollywood expectations, trials, trust, and cultivating personality.”

I know this will be a time of tremendous inspiration and insight and I would encourage all who can to register. Mothers and daughters in a household can participate with one registration.

Prayerfully consider sponsoring another woman if you are able as well.

Read more at Evenings With Victoria Botkin

Here’s how to register for your chance to win a free registration:  (Comments open until Sunday night, and the winners will be announced Monday morning.)

1. Leave a comment here to have your name entered one time.  If your name isn’t hyper-linked to a blog with contact info, be sure to leave your email in case you win.
2. Link back to this post from your blog, Facebook, Twitter or other location to get your name entered for each link you post.  Just let me know where you posted it.

I hope you’ll consider sitting in on this unique opportunity that the Internet now affords.  There ARE still older women speaking truth and giving of their lives to mentor younger ones.  I believe you and your marriage will be changed.

What Does a Stay-at-Home Mom Do All Day?

Quite honestly, I don’t like the term “stay-at-home mom”.  It testifies to the fact that there are moms who don’t stay at home and I wish it didn’t have to be so.

But there’s an enormous gulf now between “have to work” and “want to work”.  The gulf was a complicated build, and now we can’t even remember the “norm”, when women stayed at home because, well, there was a household to run and  important lives who depended on her, and it didn’t matter that they couldn’t afford new socks–it was her job to darn them so they didn’t have to.

No, our generation doesn’t remember because they were told another story.  They were told that women were home because they *had* to be, (not because it best served their families) and that one little word touches a rebellious chord in us and we jump on the band wagon to “save women from oppression”.  We think “stay” is a derogatory word and though all good sense said that a healthy family needs someone devoted to nurturing it, we passed up the job.

That’s not really what the post is about, but I can never just start in the middle

So now women, some of whom are entertaining the thoughts of coming back home (more and more exhausted working women are getting tired of the “have-it-all” lie and realize home comes closer to anything that offers “all”), don’t know about the art and profession of making a home and are asking, “but what do I do?”

Which strikes a veteran SAHM as comical, because she knows that tasks and opportunities alike present themselves faster than she can ever keep up.

And because readership of this blog makes up a widely-varied audience, I thought it timely to go back-to-basics for a moment and visit the question, “What does a stay-at-home mom do all day?” That is, what does a woman wishing to follow a Proverbs 31 model do?

Remember though...a list of what she “could” do is not the same as what she “should” do. Each woman is in a different season of life, some seasons allowing for greater opportunities than others.  Some are merely surviving with the basics during a busy season; others are finding time to flourish in their gifts and abilities.  But we could all study to be more efficient and become a better home-builders.

• She studies to provide at least somewhat healthy, somewhat economical meals for her family.  This can be a time-consuming job, but there are books written solely on the art of cooking and the incredible ministry found in entertaining your family and friends through the hospitality of the kitchen.  Study it!  (Another word about the ministry of hospitality soon!)  Just in the area of health alone, America is experiencing an epidemic of illness, largely from consuming so much pre-packaged food, a choice usually necessary to maintain the over-booked lives we live.

• If the Lord has given her children, she pours herself into their training, nurturing and developing.  Another full time job almost by itself.  If not, there are a myriad of “mothering” and ministering opportunities sorely in need of a servant-minded woman.

• She helps her husband.  This varies widely from home to home.  But much like an administrative assistant, she can be a “crown to her husband” instead of forcing him to hire another woman for that role.  This is where “the heart of her husband safely trusts her” as she runs a household and “he has no lack of gain”.

• She studies to keep her marriage happy.  The dearth of happy marriages–of marriages at all–is staggering.  Good marriages don’t just happen.  If they aren’t tended, they’ll wilt.

• She studies to save money, to make her home a warm, inviting place, to treat minor illnesses, to repair things, to make things, to plant things, to be busy with her hands.  Books are written–there is no end to this art.

• She engages in meaningful conversation with her children.  An often underrated, but vitally important job in their education–homeschooled or not.

• She “reaches”.  (“She reaches her hand to the needy”. Proverbs 31)  Whether this be the meeting of a physical need for the poor, or a need of a fellow believer, needs abound.  Many needs could be met in the form of an encouraging card, phone call or visit.  It’s just a suggestion, but maybe Prozac has largely filled our lack of availability to hurting women.

• She earns money.  Home industries are easier than ever to begin.  Saving money and making money are doable activities for the SAHM.

• She mentors other moms.

• She takes care of extended family members.  Nursing homes are new.

And I shall close for now, because I have lots of things to do today   Help me, each one of you, where you are, resurrect the art of homemaking.  We need homes…they’re actually pretty rare.