Proverbs 31 Woman

Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

As of May 4 I’m a Grandma again!  My 2nd grandchild was born early that morning!  She was 8 # 5oz. and 21″ long.  Her name is Erin Mairead (Irish for “pearl”).  What a wonderful privilege and blessing it is to be blessed in this way once again.  I’m learning to think more generationally.  What I do and say and think today impacts the coming generations…..I need to go study the Proverbs some more to get more wisdom.

From Charles Bridges in his commentary, Proverbs:

“So rare is this treasure, that the challenge is given —- ‘Who can find a virtuous woman?’  Abraham sent to a distant land for this inestimable blessing for his beloved son.  Perhaps one reason of the rarity of the gift is, that it is so seldom sought.  Too often is the search made for accomplishments, not for virtues; for external and adventitious recommendations, rather than for internal godly worth…Truly her price is above rubies.  No treasure is comparable to her.”

I just checked the mail and guess what I got?

Today, I received a birthday card from my grandson!

Yes, yes, it did make me cry!

How old is my grandson you ask?  He’ll be one in April ‘08!

Thanks very much, D/R!!  That made my day!!

Many thanks to everyone who called, sent cards, gave cards, sent flowers and gave gifts.   I am blessed!

As I work on a more lengthy entry with that title, a few observations come to mind.

The setting is 40 years ago, a moderate mid-western town.  In the Summer, I’d play in the neighborhood as a child  and there were lots of children, lots of mothers, lots of joy.

Today, in the same town, during the Summer, I, now a mother and grandmother,see some children playing, some in their homes, but where have all the mothers gone?

If you’re looking for an inspirational book to read to your children or as a family, go to the library and check out The Shoe Box, by Francine Rivers.  It is wonderfully illustrated by Linda Dockey Graves.   On the back cover it says, “Six -year old Timmy O’Neil comes to live with Mary and David Holmes on a cloudy day in September.  When Timmy arrives, he has very few things with him.  As he slowly makes new friends, he finds a chance to offer his small treasures to a very special someone.  A tender and moving story from beloved author Francine Rivers, retold especially for children ages 6-10.”

If I say much more I’ll spoil the adventure.  Francine Rivers even includes a page entitled:  How This Story Came to Be.  Themes of healing, mercy and joy shine through.  The Lord’s graciousness to adopt His children as His own is manifest in a special way.  Enjoy!

You’ve heard about the Boynton’s book, Radical Debt Elimination in the previous post. I wanted to share a few lines from section 13, the Conclusion. “A whole new life begins when your debt is paid off, and this book was merely the doorway. By continuing to employ the tools we discuss in our book, your income will increase without your taxes increasing. Instead of needing financial help yourself, now you can help others directly……People need to know that others care. Be the one that brings hope to the hopeless. While you were in deep financial bondage, you were not able to do this but now…..”

The book is organized well. There is an introduction, followed by 4 chapters which discuss 4 phases. Phase I is Determine Your Current Location which talks about where you are at right now financially. Then, in the next chapter we read about Phase II: Thinking Radically – Developing the Plan. The nitty gritty of preparing a budget is covered along with an explanation of reducing and redirecting one’s spending. Phase III is covered next: Executing the Plan. There are 4 sections within this phase: Radically Attacking Your Debts, Finding “Hidden” Money, Nickels & Dimes, and in section 10 there is an explanation of “The Malachi Factor”TM. Phase IV is titled Mission Accomplished! There is a discussion about streamlining cash flow and what’s next, after debts are paid.

I agree with much of the contents. God is sovereign and Mighty. His ways are not our ways. As we learn more of Him and His principles, we are better able to make wise decisions. Christ is our Great Redeemer and Life-Giver. He is our all in all.

Why talk about this book on a website called Prov. 31? God calls us to be good stewards of what He has given us. He wants us to be able to reach out and to help others. This may be in the form of explaining to them the claims of Christ, that He died on the cross to pay the debt that His people owed. This outreach may be in the form of reaching out to a family hurting because they do not know what a budget is or how to make one. The Boyntons have decided to write down and share the joys and trials they have gone through with the intent of reaching out to others. Jesus reached out to those around Him by giving bread, by bringing comfort to the sick, by welcoming little children. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man comes to the Father except by Me.”

Happy New Year to all!

As we begin a new year, we often set new goals, make resolutions, establish priorities. An area sometimes neglected in the new year goal setting (or any goal setting period) is finances. A wise man of old summarized how to handle finances in three easy maxims: Earn all you can; Save all you can; Give all you can. Now each of these could be a message in itself and we may give more details in the coming months on these maxims, however, we have been listening to folks for years and a recurring struggle that folks are having is debt elimination.

For us just to say, don’t get into debt won’t really help those who find themselves in debt, whether $1000 or $10,000. In the next few blog entries, we will be discussing a book called: Radical Debt Elimination. Check out the website at: www.radicaldebtelimination.com/aboutourbook.html.

There are many books, programs, and people stressing debt elimination. “Just pay off the smallest debt, then use that money plus the money budgeted for debt elimination to pay off the next smallest………..da de dah………” What’s unique about the approach in the book Radical Debt Elimination is what the Boynton’s call The Malachi Factor (TM). “We coined the phrase “The Malachi Factor (TM)” from the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi…..We had nearly $80,000 worth of debt that was eliminated in just six years (including the mortgage)! While we were paying off our debt, we added five children to our family. At the end of those six years, we had a total of eight children (we have nine now) and my husband’s annual income averaged $28,700 over the six years. We want you to see that it is not necessary to earn a huge paycheck to eliminate debt quickly…….”

Check out their website, check out the book and stay tuned for more information on Radical Debt Elimination soon!

Today, as part of my devotional time with the Lord, I was going through another chapter of Gate Keepers of the Home – How to Guard Your Home by Nancy Campbell. The chapter dealt with how we can bless/minister to/encourage others. I share with you this entry from Matthew Henry’s commentary discussing Proverbs 11:25 which reads, “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”

“So backward are we to works of charity, and so ready to think that giving undoes us, that we need to have it very much pressed upon us how much it is for our own advantage to do good to others, as before, v. 17. 1. We shall have the comfort of it in our own bosoms: The liberal soul, the soul of blessing, that prays for the afflicted and provides for them, that scatters blessings with gracious lips and generous hands, that soul shall be made fat with true pleasure and enriched with more grace. 2. We shall have the recompence of it both from God and man: He that waters others with the streams of his bounty shall be also watered himself; God will certainly return it in the dews, in the plentiful showers, of his blessing, which he will pour out, till there be not room enough to receive it, Mal. 3:10. Men that have any sense of gratitude will return it if there be occasion; the merciful shall find mercy and the kind be kindly dealt with. 3. We shall be enabled still to do yet more good: He that waters, even he shall be as rain (so some read it); he shall be recruited as the clouds are which return after the rain, and shall be further useful and acceptable, as the rain to the new-mown grass, he that teaches shall learn (so the Chaldee reads it); he that uses his knowledge in teaching others shall himself be taught of God; to him that has, and uses what he has, more shall be given.”

Here’s a photo of me and my first grand-baby, taken in July 2007.

What an exciting time in my life! I’m an Oma again; the next grandchild will be born, Lord-willing, early next May ‘08. What a blessing and joy to my heart! I tell my family, “I’m growing old gracefully.” It drives my 12 year old (almost 13) nuts when I say that, but I’m just trying to accept change and my changing roles. I look forward to visiting my grandson this Fall and holding him, talking to him, telling him about Jesus. He’s 6 months now and soaking things up like a sponge.

This Fall I am homeschooling my almost 13 year old and ministering to my family: 3 young ladies commuting to college and hubby who takes a bus to work in the computer field downtown. I also teach English as a Second Language as a volunteer for one class period of an hour and 20 minutes per week.

Today, my almost 13 yr. old and I tilled the garden boxes that never got planted this past Spring; by the time we went to the greenhouse for our plants they were sold out. We bought a few tomato plants and did enjoy a small harvest of those. What we found, though, in the unused garden boxes that they were infiltrated with weeds galore. We talked about our hearts how we need to guard them “for out of the hearts come the springs of life”. When we let our guard down and don’t care what we watch, read, talk about, think about, etc., we open up the gate to all kinds of junk to seep into our hearts……like the untilled garden beds.