To stay at home or not to stay at home...that is the question?

The pressure to become a woman of the world's making is incredible. It is taught through the schools and universities, through the media, and even from worldly enlightend educated mothers as well. Stay at home women are bombarded with the influence of an ungodly society... "Go out and make something of yourself", what are you doing wasting your life sitting around at home?" "Become a productive member of society."

The enemy has become very slick in his dealings with God's children, but his tricks are not new. Ladies we need to stand in the full armor of God and fight for our families and our marriages in prayer. It is the goal of our enemy to steal, kill and destroy, and if he can remove the wife and or mother from the home, he has got his foot in the door and will be much more likely to creep in. It is the enemy's goal to "captivate" women and use them as he did Eve...(he has no new tricks)

God's word remains the truth....
That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Titus 2:4-5

The first line of defense is prayer. Put on the armor that God has provided and get on your knees and fight, then get up and live as God leads. If He has lead your heart to be domestically inclined then live it and teach these good things to others.

~Teach them the heart of God, teach them what His love letters say...
to be sensible, and to love their husbands, and their children, not just to put up with them until he finally takes off for work, and you can ship the kids off to day care or school.
~Teach them to be discreet or "reserved" in matters of speech and lifestyle and dress and conduct.
~Teach them to be chaste or modest or pure in all things, which is the exact opposite of all the magazine adds and clothing that is offered up today.
~Teach them to be "keepers at home" or domestically inclined. If we are not in our homes we cannot "keep" or rather "guard" them as a soldier guards his post as we ought to.
~Teach them to simply be good, and obedient to their own husbands, and the reason for this is so that it will not give the world a reason to speak against God's word.

Ladies it is a big responsiblity to walk in mutual surrender with your husband before the Lord. The husband is not to lord himself over the wife, but as God has set up an orderly fashion to our lives we as wives must defer the final decisions to our husbands. The obedience of our "surrendered hearts" in this matter shows the world and the angels the power and majesty of the very breath of God spoken in His word to us.

Should the enemy make you doubt the uselfulness of your presence in the home run into the arms of Jesus, drop to your knees and fight for our battle is a spiritual one.

Leave the Politics of the world to others....

for the king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. Proverbs 21:1
© Monika Hardy

Servant of all?

Proverbs 31:11-12

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

An early breakfast was done, morning Bible reading was done,the snow shoveling was done, and dear husband and I were watching the snow still falling and it was to continue all day and did.Right then, I had a moment I thought to be creative, and wanted to write, so I asked my dear Husband, "What should I write about"? His reply..."tell them how to make wonderful delicious meals for your husband."

I know my Husband... that meant..."what we gonna eat and I hope it will be soon?"

No sooner are the dishes done, and the chores done and it's time to cook again.
I suppose if we ate prepared foods it wouldn't take so long but lovingly preparing healthy nutrious meals take time.

Needless to say, I got up from the computer and proceeded to make Broccoli and Beef over brown rice, one of DH's favorites. I suppose I could post the recipe, but maybe another time. It is more important to point out that as a domsetically inclined woman, it is important to me to please my husband. You know your husband and the little things that make him happy.

Here are a few of dh's...
favorite things... I think I hear Julie Andrews now :)

~Quite time in the morning to read his Bible with a cup of fresh coffee
~The smell of garlic in the air when dh walks in the home after work
~A pile of fresh socks to choose from each morning.
~A wife who walks away from the computer when it's time to make a specially requested meal
~and many more.....

Choosing to be a wife that God sees as admirable is work. It is work that the Holy Spirit does from the inside out. After awhile it does not seem as work anymore, because after so many years of marriage...25...I should know the things that please my husband. When I asked my dear husband what I should write about I was really looking for an extememly spiritual topic to share with you ladies, and for a moment was shocked to hear him answer as he did. But then, as I cooked I realized the importance of his answer.

I guess it is because I was brought up by a mother who came from the Old country (Deutschland)...Germany, with old fashioned ways, who taught us girls to cook and clean and to think of and serve others first, that my life seems "normal" to me.

But when I look outside these walls, and see many young ladies rushing kids to day care, and rushing to work and rushing to pick up dinner everyday from one place or
another that I appreciate the path that God has laid out for us.
It can't be easy for moms who have to work, and Lord helps those that have to, but for those that choose to throw away the years on seeking to satisfy self with a career loose out on so very much. If you have the heart to want to change, start today. Begin to simplify your life, and bring it back to serving others and do them good and not evil all the days of your life.

Warming the home...

Love is the best thing to warm your home, of course on a cold Northwest winter day the oven helps as well. My own recipe of Pumpkin Biscotti will help bring some much needed heat with the temps in the single digits, and makes the house smell wonderful. I try to keep a tin of these for those who pop in for coffee.

Father God...not mother earth.

Psalm 8:3-4
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

These verses came to mind as I looked at the pictures in the new slideshow I posted, of my trip to Europe a few years ago, at the bottom of this blog today. What is man that you are mindful of him? God of all creation, who made the sun and the moon and the stars, loves.....you and me!
Who are we that God would even think of us? I know there is much talk these days of spirituality and embracing mother earth, but I'm not talking about those lies.
I speak of the truth of the Bible. Yes, there is such a thing as truth if you cast aside the bologna of "relativisim" brought on by the emotionalism of Postmodernism created to give those that don't want to face the "truth" of God a way of escape.

But escape they will not, for every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. You can do it now, by choice, or be made to before you go to the eternal place you chose for yourself by rejecting Jesus. A place called Hell that was not created for man, but for the devil. But if the blood sacrifice of Jesus is rejected by a soul here on earth, that soul is choosing hell for themselves.

So the next time you think hugging a tree or not having a baby to reduce the carbon print on the planet will make the godless powerless idol of mother earth "feel better"...think again. Almighty God is in control!

Man has a tendency to worship creation, not the Creator of all. Lift your eyes, and bow your heart to the Creator of heaven and earth and enjoy the beautiful creation around you that was created for our pleasure and benefit, but... worship the Creator....Father God, through His Son Jesus Christ.

Keeping the Home clean

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Psa 24:3-5

To keep the house neat and tidy, is an endless job, but one with wonderful eternal benefits since you are available at home to the children, and your husband. Homemaking has a long and glorius career dating back to well...let me see...a good example would be Saria and Abram. Saria would follow Abram from place to place setting up home in a tent everytime they moved. How else was she to care for her husband, for so many years before her first child arrived in her 90's.

Can you imagine!

Ok, so most of us don't have dirt floors in a tent to contend with, but we each encounter messes. To be prepared for "come what may" during the day, it is good to be prepared. First of all we prepare our hearts for continued communion with our King, and then for the day ahead.

I love to wear an apron, and still need to make new ones, but I have found a wonderful site with modest apparael that has some beautiful aprons. I like the ones with pockets so I can gather up small things as I go and put them in theri proper place. I also like to keep a notepad and pencil in pocket for ideas and lists when things come to me during the day. The other pocket, in today's society is for my new cell phone with ear piece. I didn't think I would like it, but the ear piece allows me to speak with my dear husband when he calls, and minister to friends or be ministered to, when they call. All the while, my hands are free to keep busy.

When duty outside the house calls, the apron is returned to it's proper place and it has done it's job to keep my appearance clean and tidy to be presentable out in public.

Heart Temperature

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Revelvation 3:15-16

Isn't it amazing how beautifully God paints the sky in every season? The deep cold of winter is upon us. Although the two weeks of extreme cold temperatures are not my favorite, it most definitely makes me appreciate spring all the more when it arrives!

Life can be cold, hard and bitter at times. But if we are patient, thawing may slowly begin and then burst forth with full force. When the world around me gets cold, I only have one option....stick close to Jesus. The warmth of His love is enough to keep this heart on fire for Him!

Keepers at Home

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy;
at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Psalm 16:11

These words stood out to me from this mornings Bible reading. The world tells us this is a meaningless dead end drudgery of a job, and that we as women should go out into the world and “find” ourselves and “make something” of ourselves. But God tells me He will show me the path of my life, and He has in His word. If we are to find any sort of contentment or fulfillment in life we must surrender our own wants and desires and live the way God intends. I know, some may think this is Dark Age reasoning, but remember the Dark Ages were brought about because the light of God’s word had gone dim.

Those of us with domestically inclined hearts are “keepers of our home”. We guard the home by being good “house-keepers”, that are discreet and chaste. When was the last time you and your friends discussed chaste, or discreet? They are not really a hot topic these days are they? Well, since there is fullness of joy in the presence of God, then what God says is worth exploring.

To be discreet is to be sound in mind or self controlled or moderate in opinions or in passions.
To be chaste is to be clean, innocent, modest and pure.

Those two definitions don’t really paint an accurate picture of the average young or older woman in society today. So we are faced with a choice. Will we be like the women of today that use their charms and sex appeal and manner of dressing to attract men so that we may play with them? Or will we choose the path God has laid out before a godly woman, that of being obedient to our own husbands that the word of God be not blasphemed or spoken evil of.

Guard you heart with all diligence, for it affects everything you do!
God’s word will keep your feet on the path that will lead to His right hand with pleasures forevermore. So find comfort and peace in the beauty of the home around you domestically inclined heart, for this blesses your Father in heaven, and your family here on earth.

"To keep debt, dirt, and the devil out of my cottage has been my greatest wish ever since I set up housekeeping; and although the last of the three has sometimes got in by the door or the window, for the old serpent will wriggle through the smallest crack, yet thanks to a good wife, hard work, honesty, and scrubbing brushes, the two others have not crossed the threshold." ~ C.H.Spurgeon

Domestic Transformation

If you have stopped by to visit this Domestic corner of the cyber world, have you noticed the lack of recipies and homemaking tips? Not that they won't ever be here, for that is part of a homemakers life, but the basis of a Domestically Inclined heart has to be a strong foundation on Jesus Christ. Because of that, you will never find husband manipulating tips included, but you will find encouragement to be sober or disciplined in mind or as Barnes puts it...

to have your desires and passions well regulated, or under proper control.

and Gill expresses it this way ...

To be chaste, modest, and temperate; or to be wise and prudent in your conduct to your husbands, and in the management of family affairs.

Phew! Does that fly in the face of life today! Yes, but one by one, willing hearts can be changed and brought under the power of the Holy Spirit to walk in ways that shine with the holiness of God, instead of stinking to high heaven with the stench of self.

How does one begin to build on the strong foundation of Jesus Christ? By gettting to know and understand Him better by reading God's word, and communing with Him.

Why should I do all this? Well, you don't have to but, one who truly loves wants to grow closer to the one they love.

Here is a good Bible Reading plan...

Today is the 10th of the month. So I would read

Psalm 10, and then add 30 till the book is covered ie.,

Psalms 10, 40, 70, 120.

Also, 1 chapter in Proverbs for the day so today it was Proverbs chapter 10.

I generally read these early in the morning.

Then later in the day I read a few chapters in a New Testament Book and

Then again later in the day a few chapters in an Old Testament Book.

I meditate on what God speaks to my heart through His word throughout the day, and then in the evening I read in the Bible where God leads me to read. Keeping a journal handy during these Bible reading times to jot down thoughts and prayers is also very helpful.

It may sound time consuming if you haven't ever done this before, but it really doesn't take much more than about half an hour to read, plus prayer time. Mind you this is only the Bible Reading.

Bible Study, and intercessory prayer is another matter.

Let the domestically inclined transformation begin.

© Monika Hardy

My Shield, my Strong Tower!

My sheild, my strong tower, my Jesus!

The godly offer good counsel they know what is right from wrong. They fill their hearts with God’s law so they will never slip from His path.
Those who are evil spy on the godly, waiting for an excuse to kill them. But the Lord will not let the wicked succeed, or let the godly be condemned when they are brought before the judge.
I myself have seen it happen-proud and evil people thriving like mighty trees. But when I looked again, they were gone! Though I searched for them, I could not find them!
Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future lies before those who love peace. But the wicked will be destroyed; they have no future. The Lord saves the godly; He is their fortress in times of trouble. The Lord helps them, rescuing them from the wicked. He saves them, and they find shelter in Him.
Psalm 37:30-40

I grew inured to falsehood and spite. The stings at last caused me no more pain than if I had been made of iron; but at first they were galling enough. Do not be surprised, dear friends, if you have the same experience, and if it comes count it no strange thing, for in this way the saints have been treated in all time. Thank God, the wounds are not fatal, nor of long continuance! Time brings ease, and use creates “hardihood”. No real harm has come to any of us who have run the gauntlet of abuse, not eve a bruise remains.

(C.H. Spurgeon)

When others spy on me and wait for an excuse to kill me, Jesus is more than willing to be my shield and strong tower, my fortress in times of trouble, because I have pleaded my cause before the Judge and trust in Him, and commit all my ways to Him, because He loves me.
There are many more mountains to climb, before my Savior returns…..climb on!

(M.H.)