Homemaking - Chapter Seventeen

Essential Nine

 

THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT: READ CHAPTER SEVENTEEN IN YOUR BOOK,

 STUDY IT, & SHARE YOUR GLEANINGS!)

 

"That they may teach the young women... to love be keepers at home..." Titus 2:4-5

 

Greetings once again everyone! After our very long break I hope you all are eager to dig back into our study. We are almost finished with our book "A Woman's High Calling"! Isn't that exciting? I would love to continue our online study group with another book once we've finished. Does anyone have a suggestion for one?? Leave a comment with your ideas or contact me!

Well, we are onto a new essential - HOMEMAKING - the ninth one. I hope to have some more gleanings to share with you soon but until then I thought it might be helpful to briefly review the past eight.

#1 GODLINESS (being set apart for His work)
#2 GODLY SPEECH (using our speech to build others up)
#3 PERSONAL DISCIPLINE (bringing our body under submission)
#4 ENCOURAGING OTHERS (helping others to live better)
#5 LOVING YOUR HUSBAND (helping, following, respecting, & loving him)
#6 LOVING YOUR FAMILY (making them our highest pursuit)
#7 WISDOM (knowing our priorities and practicing them)
#8 PURITY (an issue of the heart)

May the Lord bless you as you seek Him!

Love and Prayers, Nicole

Purity - Week Seventeen

Essential Eight

 

THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT: READ CHAPTER SIXTEEN IN YOUR BOOK,

 STUDY IT, & SHARE YOUR GLEANINGS!)

"That they may teach the young women... to love be chaste." Titus 2:4-5

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8

Still going on here with essential number eight! Forgive my long delay (once again). As you see I am still working on finding that "balance" in my life. :) I'm still hopeful that one day I will find it.

Last chapter we looked mainly at the purity of our body. This week we will be looking at how we can be pure in heart. I am looking forward to this important part and hope we will have lots to share at the end of the week.

I read this book awhile back and it goes right along with our current study. If you're looking for more on this topic of purity, I'm sure you'd enjoy it. :)

Purity: A Godly Woman's Adornment by Lydia Brownback

May your thoughts be ever focused on our wonderful Lord and Savior! He alone is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of our praise!

Love, Nicole

A free resource for you! As we focus on keep on our thoughts pure, the key is to focus our thoughts on our wonderful Lord! Print off your own "31 Days of Praise" cards. Each day focuses on one of God's attributes. :)

(Printing instructions: You will need four 12x12 pieces of cardstock paper. Cut each page into two 5x12 inch rectangles. Print on these strips, then cut into 3x5 inch cards. Punch corners and secure with a book ring.)  

Purity - Week Sixteen

Essential Eight



THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT: READ CHAPTER FIFTEEN IN YOUR BOOK,

 STUDY IT, & SHARE YOUR GLEANINGS!)

"That they may teach the young women... to love be chaste." Titus 2:4-5

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8

Hello friends! I hope your study of Wisdom was inspiring and eye-opening. If you feel like I do, you are probably wanting to study wisdom deeper and more in depth. :) But for now let's go on to our next essential - purity. When I think of purity being separate from the world and set apart for God comes to my mind. What comes to your mind?

The marks of wisdom:
     1. Know your priorities and practice them
     2. Balance in every area of life
     3. Farsighted
     4. Work at wisdom
     5. Practice the seven steps of wisdom
               (Stop, Wait, Pray, Search, Ask, Decide, Plan)

I came across this quote by Leslie Ludy that went along perfectly with last week's study. Just have to share it with you all :)

"The only way to walk in the wisdom of God is to abide in Him daily,

and build our lives around Him. God's wisdom isn't what comes naturally to us - we must know Him in order to know and understand His pattern for our lives."

 

 

May you continue to seek the Lord and His strength today and always!

 

Love, Nicole

 

Wisdom - Week Fifteen

Essential Seven



THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT: READ CHAPTER FOURTEEN IN YOUR BOOK,

 STUDY IT, & SHARE YOUR GLEANINGS!)

"That they may teach the young women... to love be discreet." Titus 2:4

"Wisdom makes it a habit to keep one eye on the future

 and the other on reality and makes her decisions accordingly."

Hello friends! Wasn't chapter thirteen great?! Wisdom is so much more than I ever imagined it to be. I hope your excitement for more truth about wisdom is high this week.

 

balance = harmonious arrangement of relation of parts or elements within a whole.

 

wisdom = making wise, thought out, determined choices so that your life will be orderly, calm, and balanced.

 

Balance is definitely a goal in my life that I am hopeful will one day be a reality. :) It is always a challenge to fit everything I need to do, want to do, and have to do into a 24-hour period. But one thing I find helpful is focusing my priority first and first most on my Lord. When I start to get so busy that I am neglecting time alone with Him, I find that it takes longer to accomplish any tasks, my attitude is not right, I am easily overwhelmed, and I have lost balance. As we strive to be women of wisdom we should seek to be woman who knows her priorities & practices them, and who is balanced in every area of life.

 

Did anyone try using Elizabeth George's "simple weekly calendar"? I tried it last week and did find it to be quite helpful. It felt like I accomplished more in a week then usual. I think I might change a couple of her points and use it in my weekly planner. :)

 

Well, this week we are continuing on with WISDOM. May this week be even better than the first! :)

 

Love, Nicole

 

"Do any of you need wisdom? Ask God for it. He is generous and enjoys giving to everyone. So he will give you wisdom." James 1:5ERV

Wisdom - Week Fourteen

Essential Seven

 THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT: READ CHAPTER THIRTEEN IN YOUR BOOK, STUDY IT, & SHARE YOUR GLEANINGS!)

 

 

"That they may teach the young women... to love be discreet." Titus 2:4

Discreet: curbing one's desires and impulses, self-controlled, temperate

"Wisdom keeps her eye on her heart, on her homefront, and on heaven.
 Wisdom gives diligent attention to being who God wants her to be in her heart,
 to doing what God wants her to do on her homefront, and to doing the things that count for eternity in heaven. This is what wisdom is all about."

 

Hello again dear friends. We're onto essential seven already! Did you enjoy last week's study on loving our family? I, for one, certainly did! I loved looking at the list of ten practical ways to carry it out in my life. Like I said last week, I've been looking at this last study in light of loving my siblings and discovered many things I can apply to this area of my life. For one I want to spend time praying WITH them. Praying for someone is excellent, but coming together with that someone and praying TOGETHER is sure to encourage & strengthen both. :)

 

The same day I was doing this study, I was also reading in Psalms 35. A verse that stood out to me was verse eighteen - I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people. I realized we should be giving thanks & praise to God in front of people. Others should be witnessing our adoration & love for our Lord. If we truly love Him, how could we not help but speak of Him continually? Our children (or siblings etc.) should be hearing us praising the Lord, thanking Him, and hearing of the blessings which He daily bestows. (Psalm 68:19)

As we begin our study on wisdom this week, here are a few inspiring quotes to start us off. I really liked the last one by R.C. Sproul. :)

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever." Psalm 111:10

"Wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it." ~J.I. Packer

    

"Not until we have become humble & teachable, standing in awe of God's holiness & sovereignty. acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own thoughts, and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours." ~ J.I. Packer

    

"As we trust God to give us wisdom for today's decisions, He will lead us a step at a time into what He wants us to be doing in the future." ~ Theodore Epp

    

"People only have true wisdom when they look at everything from God's perspective. Authentic wisdom begins when we understand that God is to be the object of our devotion, our adoration, and our reverence (Psalm 111:6)." ~ R.C. Sproul

    

Loving Your Family - Week Thirteen

Essential Six

 

THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT: READ CHAPTER TWELVE IN YOUR BOOK, STUDY IT, & SHARE YOUR GLEANINGS!)

"That they may teach the young women... to love their children." Titus 2:4

 

Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing well & enjoying these beautiful, colorful, fall days. This past Sunday our family took our annual fall drive through beautiful Pennsylvania hills, enjoying the breath-taking views. Though this season never lasts long enough it sure is lovely while it lasts. :)

 

Life has been quite busy here lately (thus the LONG delay in my writing - SO sorry!). Hopefully I didn't lose anyone with this unseen deferment. Now that life is slowly down (a little :) hopefully I will faithfully continue this study with you all! It's exciting to see that we are already over halfway, with only 4 essentials left to go. :) I really am enjoying this study and have little notes in my notebook of things to do and apply to my life. :)

 

This week we will be finishing our study on "Loving Our Family". Since I'm not a wife or mother, I've been trying to look at this sixth essential in light of loving my siblings. Thought I'm certainly not their mother I can encourage them, spend meaningful time with them, and point them to the things of the Lord. Most of us are in different seasons of life & whether you are a grandmother, mother, sister, daughter, aunt, etc... we should all strive to encourage, uplift, and serve those closest to us.

 

"So encourage each other and help each other grow stronger

in faith, just as you are already doing." 1 Thess. 5:11 ERV

 

May your study be rejuvenating this week!

 

Love, Nicole

 

Loving Your Family - Week Twelve

Essential Six

(THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT: READ CHAPTER ELEVEN IN YOUR BOOK, STUDY IT, & SHARE YOUR GLEANINGS!)

"That they may teach the young women... to love their children." Titus 2:4

"A godly mother is one who loves the Lord her God with all her heart,
soul, mind, and strength and then passionately, consistently,
and unrelenting teaches her child to do the same."

Hello dear Friends! Forgive me for this week late post. Life has a way of "flying" by much too quickly for me to get everything done! I hope your study of chapter ten was blessed and you have been working on applying the practical advice in there to your daily life. :)

I was at a Bible conference during that week of study and most of the topics were on loving your husband and children. (Goes right along with what we're learning...) One of the speakers made this point "Marriage is a spiritual battlefield not a romantic balcony."

Here's the 13 practical ways to love our husbands:

1. Make the choice to love your husband
2. Make the choice to love your husband before your children
3. Submit to being taught to love your husband
4. Set up a prayer book for your husband
5. Write a letter to God
6. Cultivate willful love
7. Listen to God's Word, not the world
8. Read daily on marriage
9. Do the works of love heartily
10. Do all to the glory of God
11. Confess any bitterness of heart
12. Learn to ask your husband
13. Put your husband first, even ahead of yourself

These are such great pointers, not only to apply to marriage but to every area of our lives. Whatever we do in life we should do it all to the glory of God. When we put Him first and foremost we will be filled with His love, which in turn we can pour out into the lives of those around us. It is only through His Love & Grace that we can truly love those He brings into our lives. :)

Praying for you dear friend as you seek more of Him in your life!

Love,
Nicole