New Braunfels Bible Church Women's Ministry

Years ago when I was working with MOPS, we had a speaker on genealogy. She did not lack enthusiasm for her topic, but somehow her enthusiasm was not contagious. Eyes glazed over, heads drooped; thankfully no one snored. While much of this type of research can be done on-line today, our speaker definitely lost her audience in old cemeteries and dusty courthouse record rooms.

Young moms generally do not have the time and energy for such digging. But I told the group that at some stage their children would be likely to show a surprising amount of interest in their roots. Our daughters would spend hours in old family photo albums when they visited their grandparents.

Children also like early photos of themselves. Our younger daughter was sad because she thought we had never taken photos of her. We did, but on slide film, and we never got around to ordering prints and putting them in an album. One day, we pulled out an old forgotten suitcase full of slides. Both our girls were very happy.

I encourage...

If you have ever researched the history of Valentine’s Day, you have to scratch your head. How did we ever get from remembering Christian martyrs to cupids and hearts, chocolates and roses? Well, never mind. Roses are lovely, but I did tell my husband the first time he brought me a big bunch that I could be quite happy with one or two in a bud vase. Roses are expensive and more so just before Valentine’s Day. I got two this year. Chocolates are very nice, too, but again not too many…for other reasons.

It is very nice to be remembered with treats and to receive loving words on this day, but older women are supposed to encourage younger women to love their husbands every day. (Titus 2:4) What an awesome assignment! Without God’s Word, I would not attempt it. My husband and I were newlyweds when we started walking with the Lord. I have often wondered what a foolish mess I might have made of our marriage without His principles. His ways are so opposite to the world’s that they may seem extreme to us. But no...

We had a chaotic, crazy Christmas this year. Our house was full of family, and at times family of family. Our grandchildren range in age from 18-months to five years. I am still finding objects out of place on a high shelf, where a parent put them after rescuing them.

One memory we cherish is that of Pippa, age 2-and-a-half, opening gifts. Everyone’s gifts. She would deliver them to the intended recipient, but she still thought it was her job to unwrap the gift for them. If a gift was for her, her eyes would light up, and hugging it, she would exclaim, “For me? Oh my!” It was delightful, even after several repetitions.

When I sat in our communion service this past Sunday, and heard an elder read the words, “This is my body which is broken for you,” (I Cor 11:24) Pippa’s words came to mind. “For me?” Broken for me? “Oh my!” I swallowed some tears. Somehow God’s indescribable gift was especially personal to me at that moment.

Do you suppose that when Jesus endured the cross for the joy set...

Do you have tea time at your house? If not, I’d like to encourage you to try it. Our family is over-the-top crazy about coffee. One son-in-law is a barista and has roasted commercially. My husband roasts coffee beans which he buys green on-line. Yet tea has also had a special role.

A teapot and teacup are symbols of comfort and cozy conversation. The Brits in particular tend to reach for the tea kettle whenever trouble strikes. I took my cue from them, and when our daughter had a disappointment or a trauma, I put the kettle on. We also had a tradition of sharing a pot, as we shared our days, when she got home from school. A thermos of tea once accompanied us to the ER.

Little girls love tea parties, even with only their dollies or teddy bears as guests. Our daughters and granddaughters started with plastic tea sets, and enjoyed graduating to china. If a brother is interested in joining the party, just give him a cup or mug that doesn’t require him to extend his pinky finger.

Inviting a friend...

There are some memories in a family history that are so painful that you will make every effort to not go there again.  The shish kabob fiasco was one such episode for me.  I have the lessons that needed learning printed indelibly on my brain.  Fortunately, it wasn’t tragic, just embarrassing. 

About 15 years ago, we invited our pastor and his wife and our doctor and his wife to dinner.  I had a chicken pasta dish, previously well received, in mind.  A couple days before the dinner, I was talking with the doctor’s wife and asked  about food restrictions.  She told me that her husband was lactose intolerant, no dairy, allergic to basil, didn’t like pasta, and didn’t eat sugar.  Oops, so much for my menu!

I called another friend, and she suggested shish kabob.  We had skewers, so I thought “Okay, shish kabob.  Chicken?  Beef?  Shrimp?  Why not all three?  And rice pilaf, a salad, zucchini bread and grapes for dessert.”  We’d never done shish kabob, but when the day arrived I threw myself into multiple...

Maybe you recognize this expression as a Mary Engelbreit theme.  I have a cute mug with this on it, as well as the image of one very frazzled gal.  Some days I intentionally reach for it.  Do you sometimes feel like this?  Housework is very daily.  You skip a day, and the dishes and laundry multiply exponentially.  Parenting is totally daily.  There is no time off.  If you have a job outside the home, a daily job...eek-a-meek!

How to cope?  Well, Scripture tells us that, “Through the Lord’s mercies, we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”  (Lamentations 3:22)

What are some of these mercies?  Some are pretty basic.  The sun comes up each day.  We can get up.  Coffee can be a daily morning blessing. 

Another mercy is a home, a place of shelter which can be a pleasant, orderly haven.  Did I say, “orderly?”  Sigh!  Do you need inspiration in this area?  Invite someone over.  There is no better inspiration for order than...

Michelangelo said this when he was 87 years old.  I believe he said it in regard to his art.  He is considered by many the greatest artist of all time.

It is fair to say that knowledge is worthy of life-long pursuit.  I am not saying that it’s good to pursue knowledge for knowledge‘s sake or just to appear knowledgeable.  That can become a prideful pursuit...definitely not good.  However, the Lord can give us not just knowledge, but wisdom, exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart.  That’s what I want. 

How do you best pursue knowledge for good reasons?  Here are some things that come to mind:

Michelangelo had a good, humble attitude.  He didn’t say, “I have arrived.  I’m the best.”  He said, “I am still learning.”

Knowledge can help us do a better job ... to God’s glory.

There are many practical applications of knowledge.  Our food at Thanksgiving was very tasty, but we had some chaotic moments in the kitchen.  Before I serve that menu again I’m...

Change and mobility are very much the warp and woof of our times.  Do you have an adventuresome spirit that welcomes all things new?  Or do you sometime wish things were more stable and predictable?  Maybe sometimes one, sometimes the other?

My husband and I have moved many times.  Some moves involved a whole new culture and language.  A couple times we didn’t know where we were going next.  Once we sat a table in our apartment in France feeling a bit homeless.  We had just been told that we weren’t getting the visas we’d been assured, and that we had about five weeks to get out of the country.  My eyes fell upon a bookmark we’d just received at church.  It said in French, “Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  (Joshua 1:9)  How very good of our Lord to place it there!

We are now retired and hope to stay put, but we are not supposed to feel too settled and cozy in this world.  Hebrews chapter...

How do you feel about leftovers?  My husband and I love them, our daughters not so much.  We love being able to easily put together a tasty meal with little mess in the kitchen.

Part of managing a household well is using that which is leftover.  People in primitive cultures and those struggling with poverty are most often quite good at this, as a matter of necessity.  Unfortunately prosperity often breeds wastefulness.  Our country has been guilty of this.  Some people have taken up dumpster diving, not out of need, but to underscore this point.  Yuck!  Perhaps our struggling economy will result in better management of what we have. 

As believers, we are called to be responsible stewards.  We can use leftovers or remnants creatively to produce some good things.  Extra turkey can make a yummy soup or casserole; scraps of fabric, including some from favorite old clothes, can become a beautiful quilt; partial skeins of yarn can be knit into a well-loved striped scarf; bits of trim can dress up a doll...

One important courtesy that is often neglected these days is the writing of thank you notes.  This is too bad.  A well written thank you is a blessing to receive.  If you have taken much time and trouble with a gift, receiving warm thanks makes you glad that you did. 

I have a sister who feels thank you notes are so important that only nieces and nephews who write them continue to receive gifts, usually well-chosen books for their children.  Our daughters know this and manage to get their thank you’s off to her promptly.  I hope this is not just because they want to keep receiving those delightful books, but because they know it is important to her.  They aren’t always quite so good about notes to us.  Our younger daughter has been known to write a note, but then squirrel it away in her purse for quite some time.  Life is very full for her and her sister.  For many of us.

Thus, if we struggle with this matter, we need to be more intentional about it.  We should plan ahead.  Choose note cards that...