Titus 2: 3&4 “That the older women likewise…teach the young women to love their husbands and to love their children.”
We talked in the last series about loving your husbands and I trust there were some practical ideas for you to practice in learning how to accomplish that. The next topic in Titus 2 relates to loving your children.
I want to point out something that kind of builds a bridge between these two admonitions and that is that loving our husbands comes first. I have been there, so I know that it is very easy, when that first little one comes into your home, to focus in on him/her and let your husband be more on his own! He, after all, is a “big man” and that little baby needs us so much! It is very easy to give all of our time to the baby and kind of let our relationship with our husbands go “on the back burner” to be picked up again after the last child leaves the home. I know all about this and I wish someone had cautioned me during those early years of motherhood as I found it very natural to give most of myself to those helpless babies and assume my husband would do well on his own. Oh, I did the necessary chores of making the meals and keeping the house relatively clean and keeping his clothes washed, but I was giving so much time and emotion to those babies that I know now that I wasn’t totally being there for my husband.
You may wonder how to balance everything during those years, and it is difficult. I think it is true that the wife (mother) sets the tone in the home and so it requires a lot of planning and dedication to keep everything in perspective. But I think that is why God gave women such an array of emotions – we have an ability to love many people at the same time and balance things that might overwhelm our husbands. And we need to remember the truth that God equips us for everything HE asks us to do. (Philippians 2:13) If we find we can’t do everything we are trying to do, then we are trying to do something that isn’t a priority to God!
First of all, it is very important that you set goals (short term and long term) for yourself and your family. Of course, you and your husband should be setting these goals together so that you are both working toward the same ends. (If you don’t have time to do that just now with your husband, think of the Biblical goals set in the Scripture and work toward those.) Next, prioritize your time. Make a list of the things that you need to do in a given day. Look over your list and cross off anything that isn’t necessary to meet your Biblical goals. Be sure to leave time for yourself to do something meaningful or helpful to your own personal growth in making you the wife and mother God wants you to be. Be sure you are getting a good amount of rest. You will function better and be more efficient if you are rested. If you are getting up in the night with children, then sleep when they do during the day. Make sure your children are at least resting an hour each afternoon – this is important for them, but it is also important for you as you need to have something left to give when your husband comes home. There are other things you can do, but this is a start.
The best thing you can do with any of the thoughts that are shared here is to take one bite-sized piece and try it tomorrow. (If I were you, I would start with the one-hour rest time for the kids!) Practice that and then add another bite-sized piece. If you always say, “I will try that some day”, you will continue on in frustration and miss some of the blessings that God has planned for you.
Well, this kind of bridges the gap between loving your husband and loving your children. These are not meant to be theological lessons, they are just thoughts from my heart that I hope will help you in a very practical way to avoid some of the pitfalls that will come your way if you follow the patterns of the culture.
I will be away from the computer for a week or so, but next time I will share my heart on how to accomplish the very important responsibility of loving your children by praying for them. Our grandson, Iain, born January 28, 2007, will be having hernia surgery on April 5. We would appreciate the prayers of anyone who would think about him on that day. As God has planned it, we were going to be in Dayton on that day anyway, so we will be able to be there with his parents to make their day a bit easier, we hope. Have a good week.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Loving Your Husband Part III
Loving Your Husband - Part III
(Fun ((and inexpensive)) ways to show your husband that you love him)
Today I am just going to share some ways that I have found to be helpful in showing love to my husband over the 37 years of marriage that we have enjoyed. None of these things are in the Bible, but if they can jog your mind to think of things to do for your own husband, then risking my personal thoughts and ideas is worth it!
First of all, I remember when I was growing up, they told us that “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. Well, after being married for over 37 years, I am not sure if that is entirely accurate, but I do know that it helps! Since I love to cook, it has been very fun for me to think of things to do related to food that have been an encouragement for him. If cooking isn’t your thing, you probably still like to eat good food. Part of my motivation for cooking good food is that I enjoy eating and I am too frugal (cheap) to buy it all out! There are lots of ways of finding good and fun recipes. There are cookbooks that give the most beautiful and appealing pictures of the food for you to prepare. There are very beautiful food magazines with delicious recipes that aren’t difficult. “Taste of Home” is the one that I thoroughly enjoy. And finally, there are WEB sites where you can find hundreds of recipes for anything you might like to cook! The availability of recipes is boundless!
We live within 10 miles of Lake Michigan, so one of the fun things that we enjoy from time to time is to go to the Lake and eat our supper. I make something cold (wraps, salad, etc.) along with some chips and cookies and we go over and park the car so we can see the lake and we eat our supper. If the weather permits, we often sit at one of the many picnic tables along the channel and enjoy the boats coming and going. I know that you are not all blessed to live near one of the Great Lakes, but you have your own kind of beauty wherever you live. Be sure you enjoy it with your husband/family. We often did this when our kids were still home as well.
We do go out to eat from time to time, but that isn’t our source of happiness, so when we are on the road, we often plan fun things to eat in the car. I plan things similar to the things we eat at the Lake and we enjoy things that I don’t make often when we are home. Instead of always going to a restaurant where we are bombarded with the coming and going of other people, we will just take fun things that aren’t on our “diet” and have a little enjoyment with the food!
Another thing I do to love my husband is to try to schedule my days around his schedule. I try to make sure that my “work” is done before he comes home so that I can be available to be with him and share our evenings together. I love to help him when he has a project around the house and we love to chat about the things going on in our lives. I used to tell my kids that “people are more important than things” and that is especially true in respect to our husbands! No one deserves our best time more than he does!
Finally, we love to do things together like bike riding, walking and camping. These activities are conducive to being able to spend uninterrupted time chatting without the phone and other disruptions.
I am sure that you have your own set of options, but just be sure that you schedule those things into your day! If you always talk about doing things with him in the future it will never happen, because the future never gets here! God will be glorified in the marriage of a husband and wife who are devoted to being together and doing things with each other! That is not a common sight in our culture, so you will be sure to attract others to “see your good works and glorify your Father Who is in Heaven”! Matthew 5:16
“Picnic by the Lake” recipe ideas:
Wraps: 2-4 flour tortillas
2-4 tablespoons sour cream mixed with some dry ranch dressing mix
Spread tortillas with sour cream mixture. Lay a piece of thin smoked turkey over the sour cream. Put some shredded cheddar cheese over turkey and roll up like a jelly roll. Insert a toothpick to hold. Serve with pickles – dill or sweet.
Chicken Salad: The meat from two chicken breast halves cooked and shredded.
1 cup pineapple tidbits OR chopped grapes
½ cup finely chopped celery
½ - 1 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup shredded cheese
½ cup sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
Mix all of the above and serve over a lettuce leaf or whatever you have to make it pretty.
(Fun ((and inexpensive)) ways to show your husband that you love him)
Today I am just going to share some ways that I have found to be helpful in showing love to my husband over the 37 years of marriage that we have enjoyed. None of these things are in the Bible, but if they can jog your mind to think of things to do for your own husband, then risking my personal thoughts and ideas is worth it!
First of all, I remember when I was growing up, they told us that “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. Well, after being married for over 37 years, I am not sure if that is entirely accurate, but I do know that it helps! Since I love to cook, it has been very fun for me to think of things to do related to food that have been an encouragement for him. If cooking isn’t your thing, you probably still like to eat good food. Part of my motivation for cooking good food is that I enjoy eating and I am too frugal (cheap) to buy it all out! There are lots of ways of finding good and fun recipes. There are cookbooks that give the most beautiful and appealing pictures of the food for you to prepare. There are very beautiful food magazines with delicious recipes that aren’t difficult. “Taste of Home” is the one that I thoroughly enjoy. And finally, there are WEB sites where you can find hundreds of recipes for anything you might like to cook! The availability of recipes is boundless!
We live within 10 miles of Lake Michigan, so one of the fun things that we enjoy from time to time is to go to the Lake and eat our supper. I make something cold (wraps, salad, etc.) along with some chips and cookies and we go over and park the car so we can see the lake and we eat our supper. If the weather permits, we often sit at one of the many picnic tables along the channel and enjoy the boats coming and going. I know that you are not all blessed to live near one of the Great Lakes, but you have your own kind of beauty wherever you live. Be sure you enjoy it with your husband/family. We often did this when our kids were still home as well.
We do go out to eat from time to time, but that isn’t our source of happiness, so when we are on the road, we often plan fun things to eat in the car. I plan things similar to the things we eat at the Lake and we enjoy things that I don’t make often when we are home. Instead of always going to a restaurant where we are bombarded with the coming and going of other people, we will just take fun things that aren’t on our “diet” and have a little enjoyment with the food!
Another thing I do to love my husband is to try to schedule my days around his schedule. I try to make sure that my “work” is done before he comes home so that I can be available to be with him and share our evenings together. I love to help him when he has a project around the house and we love to chat about the things going on in our lives. I used to tell my kids that “people are more important than things” and that is especially true in respect to our husbands! No one deserves our best time more than he does!
Finally, we love to do things together like bike riding, walking and camping. These activities are conducive to being able to spend uninterrupted time chatting without the phone and other disruptions.
I am sure that you have your own set of options, but just be sure that you schedule those things into your day! If you always talk about doing things with him in the future it will never happen, because the future never gets here! God will be glorified in the marriage of a husband and wife who are devoted to being together and doing things with each other! That is not a common sight in our culture, so you will be sure to attract others to “see your good works and glorify your Father Who is in Heaven”! Matthew 5:16
“Picnic by the Lake” recipe ideas:
Wraps: 2-4 flour tortillas
2-4 tablespoons sour cream mixed with some dry ranch dressing mix
Spread tortillas with sour cream mixture. Lay a piece of thin smoked turkey over the sour cream. Put some shredded cheddar cheese over turkey and roll up like a jelly roll. Insert a toothpick to hold. Serve with pickles – dill or sweet.
Chicken Salad: The meat from two chicken breast halves cooked and shredded.
1 cup pineapple tidbits OR chopped grapes
½ cup finely chopped celery
½ - 1 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup shredded cheese
½ cup sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
Mix all of the above and serve over a lettuce leaf or whatever you have to make it pretty.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Love Your Husbands Part 2 - Titus 2:3,4
My last entry was concerning the responsibility for wives to love their husbands. I shared three areas which are important manifestations of your love for him. They were:
Keep yourself looking nice and attractive to him. (And ONLY him!)
Keep your home looking warm and clean for him.
Keep good and enjoyable food on the table.
Today I want to just add a couple more ideas of ways you can love your husband. (There are MANY more. Be creative!)
First of all, loving your husband involves giving him high respect! Scripture doesn’t exactly use the word “respect” but in Ephesians 5:22, we are told to “submit to your own husband as to the Lord”. Is there a better way to show respect than to submit to his desires and plans? I know this is not a popular practice in our culture, but we are under the authority of the Word of God and not under the whims of the culture. I do not want to get into a whole discussion here about wifely submission, I just want to remind us all that God is the final authority on marriage and it was all His plan and design and the ways of the culture haven’t proven themselves to be very sound and don’t have a good track record. So we need to listen to the one Who ordained marriage instead of the culture which is very good at destroying marriages!
The last point that I want to mention today is to pray for your husband and let him know that you are doing just that. I know that many of us know this in our heads, but how often do we actually remember during our busy days to pray for the man that God has given us for our lifetime companion? How often do you remember to thank God for your husband? (While we are on the topic of being thankful, when is the last time you thanked your husband for being your husband?) If prayer is our God-given way to talk with our Heavenly Father, then let’s be sure we come each day to talk with God about the man God has blessed us with and let us allow God to use us to be a blessing to him!
May we all be encouraged to see how God might use some of these thoughts in our marriages as we seek to be the wives that God has called us to be!
Keep yourself looking nice and attractive to him. (And ONLY him!)
Keep your home looking warm and clean for him.
Keep good and enjoyable food on the table.
Today I want to just add a couple more ideas of ways you can love your husband. (There are MANY more. Be creative!)
First of all, loving your husband involves giving him high respect! Scripture doesn’t exactly use the word “respect” but in Ephesians 5:22, we are told to “submit to your own husband as to the Lord”. Is there a better way to show respect than to submit to his desires and plans? I know this is not a popular practice in our culture, but we are under the authority of the Word of God and not under the whims of the culture. I do not want to get into a whole discussion here about wifely submission, I just want to remind us all that God is the final authority on marriage and it was all His plan and design and the ways of the culture haven’t proven themselves to be very sound and don’t have a good track record. So we need to listen to the one Who ordained marriage instead of the culture which is very good at destroying marriages!
The last point that I want to mention today is to pray for your husband and let him know that you are doing just that. I know that many of us know this in our heads, but how often do we actually remember during our busy days to pray for the man that God has given us for our lifetime companion? How often do you remember to thank God for your husband? (While we are on the topic of being thankful, when is the last time you thanked your husband for being your husband?) If prayer is our God-given way to talk with our Heavenly Father, then let’s be sure we come each day to talk with God about the man God has blessed us with and let us allow God to use us to be a blessing to him!
May we all be encouraged to see how God might use some of these thoughts in our marriages as we seek to be the wives that God has called us to be!
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Loving Your Husband
In the last entry, I mentioned the fact that Titus 2 admonishes older women to teach younger women to love their husbands and children. Today I want to expand on what it means to love your husband and some practical things you can do to show your husband that you love him. It is, after all, of little use to love your husband if it doesn’t manifest itself in some way so that he can see it!
I am thinking of three areas of practical applications to this principle. They are:
1. Keep yourself looking good to him.
2. Keep the house neat and warm and inviting.
3. Keep good food on the table.
As I expand on the first point, it is necessary for you to remember that if your husband works out of the house, he is exposed at every turn to women who are dressed so as to attract his attention to them in some way! Be up and cheerful and somewhat ready for the day before he leaves so he will have "happy thoughts" of you during his day. It is the right thing for you to be dressed and fixed up in a nice sweet way in order to bring his attention to you as soon as he walks in the door. This does not mean extravagant dressing in the definition of the culture. It just means to present yourself when he comes home as neat and clean and sweet.
The house should be neat and clean as well. This doesn’t mean there is no dust or dirt, but it does mean that he doesn’t have to jump over toys, magazines or see a pile of dirty dishes in the sink or whatever may be your weakness. Be careful of the priorities of your day and make sure that you are “prepared” for his return home at the end of his busy day.
And make the meal attractive and tasty! Make meal time enjoyable! You can serve good food without spending all day and you don’t need a three course meal so as to avoid adding those extra pounds. Just put some thought into it and plan. If you serve soup, make some muffins to go with it! It you serve a sandwich, make a good salad to go with it. Once in a while, serve a roast with mashed potatoes and a pie for dessert. Pies aren’t really hard to make once you get the hang of it. A little time and effort in making things interesting and comfortable may save you a lot of time in court at a later time!
Here are a couple of easy recipes to start:
Chicken Breast Supreme -- One of our favorites
6 boneless chicken breast halves
8 slices dried beef
3 tablespoons real bacon bits
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Grease the bottom of a glass 9 by 13 baking dish. Lay dried beef on the bottom of the dish. Trim chicken and lay on top of beef. Sprinkle with bacon bits. Mix soup, sour cream and cheese and spread over chicken. Bake uncovered at 275 degrees for 3 hours. Serve over rice.
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 ½ sticks real butter melted
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
Cream the above.
1 large egg plus one egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
2 cups chocolate chips
½ teaspoon soda
Mix well and add to creamed mixture.
Place 1/3 cup dough on cookie sheet about 2 ½ inches apart. Bake at 325 for 15-18 minutes until edges begin to harden and cookies turn golden brown. Cool cookies on cookie sheets and then remove with large metal spatula. Makes 18 large cookies.
I am thinking of three areas of practical applications to this principle. They are:
1. Keep yourself looking good to him.
2. Keep the house neat and warm and inviting.
3. Keep good food on the table.
As I expand on the first point, it is necessary for you to remember that if your husband works out of the house, he is exposed at every turn to women who are dressed so as to attract his attention to them in some way! Be up and cheerful and somewhat ready for the day before he leaves so he will have "happy thoughts" of you during his day. It is the right thing for you to be dressed and fixed up in a nice sweet way in order to bring his attention to you as soon as he walks in the door. This does not mean extravagant dressing in the definition of the culture. It just means to present yourself when he comes home as neat and clean and sweet.
The house should be neat and clean as well. This doesn’t mean there is no dust or dirt, but it does mean that he doesn’t have to jump over toys, magazines or see a pile of dirty dishes in the sink or whatever may be your weakness. Be careful of the priorities of your day and make sure that you are “prepared” for his return home at the end of his busy day.
And make the meal attractive and tasty! Make meal time enjoyable! You can serve good food without spending all day and you don’t need a three course meal so as to avoid adding those extra pounds. Just put some thought into it and plan. If you serve soup, make some muffins to go with it! It you serve a sandwich, make a good salad to go with it. Once in a while, serve a roast with mashed potatoes and a pie for dessert. Pies aren’t really hard to make once you get the hang of it. A little time and effort in making things interesting and comfortable may save you a lot of time in court at a later time!
Here are a couple of easy recipes to start:
Chicken Breast Supreme -- One of our favorites
6 boneless chicken breast halves
8 slices dried beef
3 tablespoons real bacon bits
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Grease the bottom of a glass 9 by 13 baking dish. Lay dried beef on the bottom of the dish. Trim chicken and lay on top of beef. Sprinkle with bacon bits. Mix soup, sour cream and cheese and spread over chicken. Bake uncovered at 275 degrees for 3 hours. Serve over rice.
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 ½ sticks real butter melted
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
Cream the above.
1 large egg plus one egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
2 cups chocolate chips
½ teaspoon soda
Mix well and add to creamed mixture.
Place 1/3 cup dough on cookie sheet about 2 ½ inches apart. Bake at 325 for 15-18 minutes until edges begin to harden and cookies turn golden brown. Cool cookies on cookie sheets and then remove with large metal spatula. Makes 18 large cookies.
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