New Braunfels Bible Church Women's Ministry

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...

The Apostle Paul wrote from prison, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every circumstance, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”  (Philippians 4:12-13)

Many in this country are currently facing serious financial need for the first time.  Some are angry.  They want to blame someone.  They haven’t learned Paul’s secret.  Have we?  It’s definitely a challenge.

We’re rather spoiled.  At least some of us are.  My husband and I have faced some lean times, but we have never experienced the kind of poverty that much of the world knows.  We’re now living in the realm of plenty rather than need.  God’s Word warns us that spiritually this is a more dangerous place. 

It’s good for us to remember that in those lean times the Lord faithfully provided.  Friends prayed and gave.  One couple told us when they gave us very large financial...

We know that the holidays are especially hard on some.  Those who are grieving, battling depression, or facing serious need may be aggravated to read the above title.  However, if you know the Lord and have received His gift of salvation there is always much reason to give thanks.

My husband and I recently took on the task of reorganizing, purging, and shredding about 20-years of paperwork.  One thing that surfaced was the following poem.  I wrote it approximately 18-years ago after the death of my father.

In Everything Give Thanks   

In sorrow, give thanks for: the Father of mercies and God of all comfort    , His perfect love and righteousness, the sure hope of the resurrection, the prayers and comfort of friends, grace and peace

In times of need, give thanks for: Jehovah Jireh, our faithful provider, His every provision and promise, the challenge to be better stewards, every friend who cares and gives, God’s perfect timing.

In weary times,...

It’s very interesting to me that in God’s word, there are no perfect families.  There are a few men  that have nothing recorded to their discredit.  That’s not to say they were without sin.  That is only true of Jesus.  But some, like Joseph and Daniel, trusted the Lord and honored Him through thick and thin.

But families, no way.  Every family has a skeleton or two.  So does ours.  In fact when our younger daughter had an assignment to make a family tree for a sociology class in college, she used a double layer of poster-board and made doors that opened, some revealing a skeleton.  She got an “A.”  She and her sister both used to play my-family-is-weirder-than-your-family with college friends, and they usually won.

But both our girls called home as college freshmen to tell us how thankful they were for us, for our immediate family.  With the Lord’s help, we have been able to break the mold.  We have a great marriage and a close relationship with our girls.  They are very close also.

Some...

Are there difficult tasks on your list...or ones that should be there?  It takes me a while to face up to some tasks.  I need to focus on why the task needs doing and how good it will be to say, “done,” as I scratch it off my list.  I also ask the Lord for grace, grit and gumption.  In asking for grace, I’m asking for guidance, provision, no major glitches, and blessing “on the work of my hands.” (Psalm 90:17)

The grit and gumption are requests for extra doses of initiative, courage, and perseverance.  Some people are naturally more goal-oriented.  Grit and gumption come easily to them.  These people just need to slow down and smell the roses.  Others, like me, are distracted by every rose bush.  We need to be encouraged to “do the hard thing,” an exhortation of Elizabeth Elliot’s, which sometimes I repeat to myself.  And once I start a hard thing, I need perseverance to finish .  I remind myself that there will be special satisfaction in completing it.

“...you have need of endurance...” (Hebrews...

Are you familiar with this concept?  I first read about it in Laura’s Kitchen, an “earth mother” book published in the late 70's.  I am not an “earth mother.”  I do not grow our produce, grind our flour, or bake our bread, but I do like this concept.  Traditionally “the keeper of the keys” was the woman of the house.  She was responsible for the efficient management of the household resources in good times and bad.  She wore a ring of keys at her waist, keys to the pantry, linen closet, storeroom, cupboards, and chests.  It was a position of great responsibility, authority, and trust?

I’m afraid that we have pretty much lost this concept, which is too bad, because it is biblical.  The Proverbs 31 wife is a very good keeper.  Thus she not only has adequate food for her household, but enough to share with the poor and needy.  Today we don’t have all those keys, and I am glad.  But we are still very much key to the efficient management of household resources.  Your husband may manage your finances overall,...

I really like this expression.  We tend to say, “God is good” when He answers our prayers, but in truth, He is good all the time.  He may not answer our prayers the way we want, but He always hears, and answers with our good in mind.  Sometimes He seems to be telling me, “This is not about you.  There is something else I need to deal with here.  Just trust me.”

Some are quick to say there is no God or certainly not a good and powerful one, or He would not have let some tragedy occur.  I would say that they have missed a few basics. 

First of all, from the beginning God gave man and woman free will.  This was a very courageous gift.  Man could either choose to obey, love and trust God or he could go his own way.  If he chose his own way, he would forfeit the blessing of God. 

Of course God could have created us without free will, but then we would have been puppets.  There is a huge dynamic missing from any relationship that lacks choice. 

God chose to graciously extend His love...

I imagine that we all have interesting memories of family meals, especially those with small children present.  Our younger daughter was usually well-mannered, but she had a tendency to choke and then propel the offending article across the table.  My husband was usually across from her, and he developed a quick reflex of pulling his plate toward him.  Her range wasn’t really quite that good, but it was a natural defense maneuver.

Sandwiched between such unappetizing episodes, many good things can happen at family meals.  I can think of no better training ground for children in regard to social interaction.  They learn: to thank God for their food, to wait, to chew with their mouth closed, to say “no thank you” instead of “I don’t like...” or “I don’t want...”, to not interrupt,  to share their day and eventually their ideas, to listen to their parents share about the Lord and His ways, and to appreciate “the whole family all together”as a safe and supportive place.

With so much potential for good,...

Did you sing “Jesus Loves Me” as a child?  It is a great thing for a child to know this truth.  But for me, an even more precious truth is that He knows me, yet still loves me.  I saw the words “Jesus Knows Me, This I Love” on a plaque in a catalog, and decided I had to order it.   

A favorite verse is Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  As moms we know that though a baby seems so very innocent, this stage is very brief.  Even so, it seems more comprehensible to me that Jesus would love the little children.  But that He knows me through and through, all my sins–past, present and future–and still loved me enough to die for me on the cross, is too huge to take in.  (Tenses get a little tricky here.  Before the foundation of the world, Jesus knew that He would die for me.  Is that not awesome?)

Some of us had a long list of sins for Jesus to bear on the cross.  I did.  And though I have been walking with the Lord for many...