Prayers Appreciated

I would very much appreciate your prayers, should you feel so led. :-)

My Beloved has been out of work now for 2 weeks. We are confident that God will provide, but it is difficult not to worry about how the bills will be paid. He had an interview this morning that he felt went well, but we will not hear back until sometime next week whether or not he gets the job.

Thank you, and God bless.

Thought for the Day

God is not only the conductor, but the composer of the song that is my life.

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Proverbs 16:9

And the winner is...

Susan Peterson!

Congratulations, Susan! Thanks to everyone who entered to win. I really appreciate your participation in my first giveaway! This was fun for me, so I may just do it again! ;-) Hmmm... Maybe around Valentine's Day? Check back!

May each of you have a wonderful, blessed day!

Last Day!

Today is the last day of the giveaway for "Dining On A Dime" by Tawra Kellam and Jill Cooper!
Be sure and enter to win. A couple of you have your comments on yesterday's post, but I did make a notation (to me), that those comments came this morning. Sorry this post is late ~ internet's been spotty with the weather we've been having.

Tomorrow morning I will put the names in a hat (or bowl!), and have one of my darling children draw the winning name. I will post the winner here, and also contact the winner to get contact information to send to Tawra over at Living On A Dime.

You may want to check out Living On A Dime's website, I believe today is the last day of a big sale ~ so you might be able to get some other great money-saving books there as well!

A Wife is a Good Thing

**Don't forget ~ leave a comment and be entered to win a copy of Dining On A Dime by Tawra Kellam and Jill Cooper. You must be a US resident.**

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." Proverbs 18:22

Would your husband consider having you for a wife a good thing? This may seem like a silly question, but just sit and listen sometime. Even in Christian company, often, wives and husbands are not spoken well of. In fact, it is so common to speak poorly of your spouse that when someone speaks well of their husband or wife, people notice. Often, they are mostly just joining in ~ they do love their spouse, but they still willingly say hurtful things about them. Men talk about how difficult and nagging their wives are. Wives belittle their husbands and talk about how inept they are.

We should endeavor to live in such a way with our husband that he when he speaks of us it is to relate what a good thing he has in us. How blessed he is by the Lord to have us for his wife. I want my Beloved to always be able to speak well of me, not because I want "ego stroke", but because it means that I am living as a godly wife.

Think about how you relate to your husband. Be honest with yourself. Does he believe you to be a good thing in his life?

Psalm 128

**Don't forget to leave a comment and be entered to win a copy of Dining On A Dime!**

"Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life! May you see your children's children! Peace be upon Israel!"

No grand thoughts ~ it's been a migraine day. :-/ Just some questions.

1. Do you fear the Lord?
2. Do you walk in His ways?
3. Are you a fruitful vine?

God bless you as you contemplate this Psalm and what it means to you as a woman of God, a wife, and if so blessed, a mama.

Embrace Who You Are

**Don't forget to leave a comment and be entered to win a copy of, "Dining On A Dime" by Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam! You must be a US resident, and only one entry per day. If you leave more than one comment, you will still only be entered once for that day.**

Secluded in our bedroom, I moved from making the bed to straightening the top of the dresser. My hand fell upon pictures of babies, and my eye rested upon a portrait of the older boys taken with a beloved pet. Remembering back over the years to when the boys were little brought a smile to my face.

Then I began to reflect upon the advice I've heard time and again from varying marriage and romance "experts".

• "Do not have pictures of your children in the master bedroom." (It's supposed to be a romantic place!)
• "When on a 'date' with your spouse, do not discuss the children."

Years ago, when we first began to hear this advice, we tried to follow it. After all, we were hearing it from so many different people, even Christian 'experts', and we wanted to have a great marriage. Their reasoning seemed sound ~ after all, you don't want to get to an empty nest and find out all you had in common was the children.

However, we have found this advice to be impossible to follow. When we are alone, although we talk about a variety of things, our conversation naturally turns to the children: their schooling, jobs they are working, sports, any issues we may be dealing with or problems they might be having. We are, after all, their parents. An integral part of who we are as a couple is the family that God has blessed us with. It is good and right that our conversation should often be centered around them.

It is wonderful and even romantic that we have pictures of our blessings in our bedroom. You may now be thinking that I've stepped over some line of sanity referring to pictures of our children as 'romantic'. But I tell you, not only am I sane, I'm serious! Those pictures (as well as the baby sleeping in our room) are reminders of God's purpose for our union. God desires godly offspring. "Did He not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth." Malachi 2:15

My Beloved and I are quiverfull. That means that we acknowledge that Scripture says that God is the one who opens and closes the womb. We acknowledge that Scripture says children are a blessing from the hand of God. And we joyfully accept the blessings that God gives us ~ in His timing. We don't have to be inhibited in our lovemaking because I "might" get pregnant. It is a joy to us if I get pregnant! We can be free and romantic whenever, because we know that God is in control of our "family planning". Pictures of our children do *not* inhibit romance in any way.

If you have no children, then embrace that. Do your utmost to be content and embrace your role as a helpmeet to your beloved. If you do have children, embrace that. Don't inhibit conversation because what you want to talk about is your children. Don't make your room devoid of their pictures, because some "expert" has said it should be. God has blessed you with those children! By all means, do what you can to have other common interests with your beloved ~ your children *should not* be the only thing you have in common; but don't set them aside either.

You Are Needed!!

**Don't forget to leave a comment and enter the book giveaway! Only one entry per day and you must be a US resident. I also wanted to let you know that it's not necessary to leave your mailing address on my blog ~ do please leave some sort of contact information ~ that way, I can just contact the winner for their mailing address. Thanks!**

For Christmas, we bought the girls a set of American Girl movies. A friend had told me that although she didn't care for the books, the movies were good movies for girls, and what she found objectionable in the books was not in the movies. So, when I found them at Costco, I got them.

One of the movies is about Molly, a little girl living during WWII. We have watched this several times now, and this movie saddens me! Molly is 10, and because of the war, her world is turned upside down. Her father, a doctor, enlists in the Army so that he can go overseas and take care of wounded soldiers. After he leaves, her mother goes to work in a factory because the women were needed. Her aunt, who originally agreed to come and care for Molly and her siblings, joins the women's air corps because, "she can do so much good". I sit and watch this movie and I ache for Molly! While the overall message of sacrifice is a good and noble one ~ Biblical as well! ~ basically, every adult in Molly's life tells her that her needs are not as important as others. "We all have to make sacrifices." Only too true. But should a 10 year old have to sacrifice her mama for an airplane?

As I watch this movie, I sit and wonder at how many children were left virtual orphans by the war? Daddy was off fighting and Mama was off to the factory. Women bought into the "We need you" line fed to them by the factories, hook, line and sinker. What about the children they left at home? Didn't they need them? Was it worth the sacrifice of their children? How many of those same women never returned home, even after the men were back from the war?

I am not sitting in judgement ~ wartime is a time when sacrifices need to be made. I'm sure many of those women needed to go to work just to keep food on the table. And, it would be arrogant of me to look back and say every one of them was wrong. But watching the story of this fictional little girl, I wonder. I wonder at how many children got the message that they weren't as important as a fighter plane. Or ammunition, or whatever.

So today ~ Wife, Mama, I want to say to you: You are needed! Your beloved needs you. If you have children, they need you. No one can take care of them like you can. No one can meet the needs of your beloved the way you can, no one knows him like you do. No one can love your children like you can, no one has your hugs, your knowledge, your wisdom, no one can give them the care that you can give them.

Are there voices calling for your time and attention? Don't listen to them without carefully evaluating how their call affects those who truely need you, those who truely can't do without you. Don't let those voices drown out the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, or the voices of those entrusted to your care.

A Good Thought for A New Year

A good thought for wives and mamas as we begin this new year.

Image courtesy of Snapshots of Joy.

Don't forget to leave a comment and be entered to win in our book giveaway!

Dining On A Dime Giveaway!

Okay, I've never done a giveaway on my blog before, but the opportunity came up, and I thought it would be fun! So, here we go!!

Starting today, January 1 and running through January 7, we will be doing a giveaway.

The rules are:

1. You must live in the United States.
2. Only 1 entry per day.
3. You must leave me your address and consent to the transfer of that information to: Tawra Kellam over at Living On A Dime.

Tawra has generously given me the opportunity to give away one of her books, but I don't have that book, she will ship it to the winner.

So, how are we going to pick our winner? I will have some sort of post each day this during the seven days. Each person that leaves a comment will be entered into the drawing ~ remember only 1 entry per day! Leave your email address in your comment. On the morning of the 8th of January, I will put all the names in a hat and have one of my beautiful children draw a name. The winner will be notified and posted here on my blog.

But, you may ask, what book am I entering to win? Good question! The book is "Dining On A Dime" by Tawra Kellam and Jill Cooper. Click on the title and it will take you directly to the page on their website that tells you all about it. While you're at it, you may want to just go to Living On A Dime and check out the sale they're having this week.

Good luck!