Final Post for Virtual Bible Study: Chapters 11 and 12

Well...this is our final blog post for this summer's virtual Bible Study on A Wife After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George. I have loved the opportunity of studying God's Word with all of you this summer. And even though many of you have not had the time to comment on the posts, I have enjoyed knowing that there are so many ladies out there reading this book along with me.

For me, I desperately needed a refresher course in how to truly be a wife after God's heart. Years ago, I read our virtual Bible study book for the first time and was set on fire to serve God through serving my husband and family. But as the years went by, my ability to serve my husband, while having the right heart, had become pretty rusty. Through this study, Elizabeth George equipped me (for the second time) with the tools needed to set my priorities in order and make serving my husband (with a joyful heart) my number 1 ministry! So let' s now discuss the wisdom that we found in Chapters 11 and 12.

In Chapters 11 and 12, Elizabeth disscusses serving the Lord and reaching out to others. These two concepts go hand-in-hand, and on page 208, Elizabeth reminds us of God's order in "reaching out...carefully." This order of "Principles for a Wife's Ministry" goes as follows (p.208):

1. Serve those at home first.
2. Serve with your husband's blessing and support.
3. Serve however you can.

In life, we have the opportunity to "serve ourselves silly" if given the chance. Meaning, we can serve other people within and outside of the church to the detrement of our families and ourselves. It is important for us to remember to pray first about any service opportunity before commiting ourselves to take on more than God expects us to handle (yes...I am a work in progress on this one!) He wants us to do the tasks that He has equipped us to do WELL and with EXCELLENCE, so He definitely doesn't expect us to take on everything that comes our way! Remember, as Elizabeth says, "Say yes to the best and no to the rest!" If we have prayed over a ministry need, our loved one's at home are taken care of with excellence, and our husband gives us his blessing, then we are free to go ahead and set forth on what God is calling us to do!

For our blog comment post this week...

Please share what this Bible study has meant to you! How has your life been changed by the principles learned? How has your relationship with your husband been blesssed?

Lots of love,
Macki

Week 9 and 10

Hello Ladies,
For those who have been checking the blog waiting for an update, I have to apologize! I have discovered that Satan has been attacking many in this Bible study through technological glitches and computer crashes. I joined the bandwagon a few weeks ago when my computer crashed, which has kept me from blogging like I expected. Then, I traveled to Florida to see Jeff's family. While I was there, my mother-in-law was unable to utilize her Internet, and therefore, I was unable to catch up on blog updates like I had planned. Hence, Satan is manipulating our technology, attempting to keep us from the blessings awaiting us in the completion this virtual Bible study. Hopefully, we are back in working order now, and my prayer for us is to finish this study well!!

Due to the computer glitches over the past weeks, we are going to cover weeks 9 and 10 in this post. I do realize that this is going to place us a few weeks behind schedule; however, I believe that it is more important to finish this study well instead of rushing the final chapters and possibly missing the many blessings that God has awaiting us.

Chapter 9: Tending to Your Career

The topic this week was extremely blunt! The message was pretty much that no matter what, our husbands and family should be our first fruit of ministry...regardless!

Over the past year, our little family has gone through a variety of career changes and responsibilities. For me, I have gone from quitting my job with the Health Department to stay at home with my daughter. Then...to buying a business with my husband. Also, after much prayer and support from Jeff, I just took a part-time job as the nursery minister at our church. I feel like I have done a little bit of everything in a short period of time, which has left my head spinning!

This chapter was an important reminder that our number 1 ministry as wives and mothers is to our families. The other callings that He has entrusted us, ladies, to fulfill are important and a part of His plan; however, He never intends for our careers or outside ministries to take away from our first priority...tending to our families with excellence. We can't just assume that our families will be "o.k." and life will "just work out". We must pray for godly wisdom to guide us in the ways to best minister to our husbands and children so that we can help keep their love tanks full.

Week 10: Making Time for fun

WHOE!!! What a reminder this was! So many times lately I have wondered what happened to the fun things that my husband and I used to do together. Jeff and I love the outdoors and used to do fun things together all of the time. We went on four-wheeler rides, boating trips, hikes, horseback rides, and the list goes on! Then, like Elizabeth said, we had "to 'grow up,' to mature, to put away childish things" (George 163). It seemed that so many responsibilities complied on us suddenly, and we were required by circumstance to shift gears quickly. We began to realize that the decisions that we were making would affect many more people than besides ourselves.

Elizabeth is right that "it's a fact, that the older we get the more serious life becomes" (George 163). But even though life may become serious and somber at times, we can't let this consume our joy and corrupt our ability to have fun. I really liked the challenge for wives to be the "fun planners" at home.

For our blog posts this week, choose one of the two options to discuss...

1) In Chapter 9, what challenged you the most as a wife and mom.

2) From Chapter 10, plan 1 fun activity for your family that is out of the ordinary. Discuss what you plan to do, or either, discuss what you did and how your family reacted.

Have a great week! Lots of love...
Macki

Week 8: Extending Love to Family

Hello Friends...

I know many of you have been checking the blog and nothing has been posted for the week! I have to say...I simply forgot! I don't know what happened...my mind has been in a thousand places this past week...and apparently it missed the "I need to write on the blog" stop! So sorry! I will do my best to redeem my scatter-brainness (yes, I know that this is not a word...but it works here!) So let's now get to business...

Our week's chapter title is Extending Love to Family. I am sure that it is pretty safe to say that many of you are like I am in that you love your family tremendously; however, there are moments where loving and being kind are not the easiest processes. A few years back I was taking a Bible study course that taught me a tool to use during trying times. This tool is praying actual scripture over a specific situation. When we pray scripture over a specific person or situation, it takes the bondage that we feel from not being able to control whatever is happening and places the power of that situation into the actual words that God, Himself, spoke. What could repel Satan more than placing power over our hardships into the most powerful physical tool that our world has access to today...God's Word! In this week's chapter, Elizabeth provides us with several powerful scriptures that we can use to pray over the difficulties that we often face in our families. It is important for us to have these scripture on hand (and in our hearts) so that when the need comes, the authority of God's own words can be quickly and powerfully over our loved one's difficult circumstance.

For our blog writing assignment for the week, we are going to be to brag about one member of our extended family. Let's make a practice of building those we love up with our speech, instead of tearing them down. Also, privately, without writing about it on the blog, choose one scripture from Chapter 8 to memorize and pray over a specific situation that you may be going though with a precious family member.

Week 7: Raising Your Children

This chapter, Raising Your Children, has been one of the most near and dear to my heart of this entire book. For a moment this week we take a small focus away from our marriages and focus in on the fruit of our marriages...our children. At the very beginning of this chapter, Elizabeth discusses the verse Deuteronomy 6:6-7. It says, "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children."

In mediating this week over this verse, I realized that these words should not be taken lightly. In fact, teaching our children diligently is a commandment from God that He, Himself, said "shall be in our heart[s]." This verse indicates that training our children in the ways of the Christian faith is not a mere afterthought that we have at the end of a hard day. It is not something that we hope to do better at implementing...one day. It is not something that we think our children will just "get" because we take them to church and Bible School. Deut. 6:6-7 affirms from God that teaching our children about Him should be as constant as our hearts' beating. It means constantly and diligently teaching our little (and not so little) ones about His character. It means teaching them what the Bible has to say about living the life that Christ has called us into...a life of servitude! It means equipping our children with the spiritual armor necessary for this life of servitude so that they may face with strength and wisdom this culture of selfishness that surrounds us.

As parents, the knowledge of God must be so ingrained in our hearts so that the intentional teaching of His Character to our children can be wisely carried out! A few weeks ago, Bro. Scott preached a sermon about a child needing 10,000 hours of training in order for him/her to become an expert in the life of Christianity. He cited research documenting the training that professional athletes, musicians, scholars, etc. go though so that they are able to become experts their areas of concentration. At the minimum, these professionals trained for least 10,000 hours. Bro. Scott then compared this research to raising our children as Christians, asking us, as parents, if our children will be experts in the teachings of Christianity when they leave our homes! Pretty scary, isn't it...especially when most children in this society have hour upon hour of ungodly media influence penetrating into their little hearts!

So how as parents are we going to get these 10,000 hours of Biblical training into our children's lives?

One more thing before I close. The 10,000 hours of Biblical instruction are extremely important and should not be taken lightly; however, if we only train our children with facts and stories about the Bible without their seeing a real, daily relationship that we, as parents, have with our Heavenly Father, it will lead them to confusion and questioning. We want to help them create a faith and understanding that is like concrete in their hearts! We want to be able to show them the fruit of God blessings through the daily living of our lives. Bible stories, understanding the Trinity, and the road to salvation are all vital in our heartbeats as Christians, but knowledge without a relationship with Jesus is in vein. So let's, as Christian parents, build as many of these 10,000 hours sharing with our children about our own personal faith! Let our daily lives be the breathing testimony that our little ones see, showing them why Jesus is the most precious relationship they can ever possibly have!

For this week's blog assignment...what intentional things can we implement in our homes that will help our children get the 10,000 hours needed to become experts in Christianity?

Week 6: Taking Care of Your Home

Sorry that I am so late getting this post out. Jeff and I decided last minute to go to Gulf Shores, so I was busy packing to leave...and once we got down here, I have been on my computer as little as possible.

So this week's chapter...taking care of your home was good to read but difficult at the same time! It seems that right now in our home, everything that I take care of and put back in order instantly gets taken out and placed into chaos. I wanted Elizabeth to give me some advice for what to do when a one-year-old is following behind me undoing everything...plus some!!! Hence, I still do my best to keep a clean house, despite how difficult it is at most times. Also, I have had to learn that patience and love is more important at times than everything being in perfect order. Right now, the condo is in disarray...Tiny Mack has pulled everything out of 3 trash cans and distributed it randomly throughout each room...dirty diapers have been her favorites on this trip! What does the Bible say about this? I'm serious about that...I need help!!! For this perfectionist, having a little one follow behind me and make my home less than perfect has been a SIGNIFICANT challenge. I would say this is one of the most stressful points of my day is trying to clean, and it immediately becoming UNCLEAN!!! So through the constant cleaning, God is sifting me of so much! Everything is a sifting process if we allow it to be, even cleaning a house!

So what are your thoughts on this week's chapter? What are your best suggestions for taking care of your home and creating a Godly as well as peaceful atmosphere for your family?

Love y'all,

Macki

Week 5: Managing Your Money

Money Management...I feel that over the past year with the recession hitting all of us hard, it has required us to take a closer look as to where our money is going. This chapter is a fresh reminder that even though we may earn our money through what jobs we have, it is not our's to have and use as we want. God has a very strict plan on what we should do with our money to use it to His glory!

There were three points that I highlighted this week that I thought would be good blog discussing points...here they are:

1) "90 percent of all marital arguments can be traced back to the issue of money." (George, 77)

~ Because money is the number 1 source of arguments in marriage, as wives, we must be on guard of how Satan will use finances to come between us and our husbands. Satan will use anything thing that he can to unbind a union that was bound by God Himself! Be mindful that Satan is wanting us to fail in our marriages (and look at statistics...he is having much success)! He will use money as a way to create distance...only, though, if we give him the power to do so!

2) "As our Lord Jesus taught, instead of laying up 'treasures on earth,' you are to 'lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven...for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also' (Matthew 6:19-21)". (George, 80)

~ How are we using our money? Are we using it as a source to gain more "stuff" for our comfort and luxury here on earth? Matthew 6 says that we should be building our treasures for heaven! How many mornings do we really wake up and ask, "How am I going to build a treasure for Heaven today?"

3) "Doing without - because a host of spiritual disciplines are birthed and enhanced as you do so." (George, 83)

~ Do we feel like we are entitled to have the things we have? I know that I struggled with this for many years. What I have learned through a number of circumstances that God has allowed me to walk through is that I am entitled to nothing! It is by His grace that He freely and mercifully gives!! I know that I have joked with many of you about not having a dishwasher and having a peewee hot water tank (this is what I call our hot water heater because it is about half the size a normal one), but the truth is that God has blessed me abundantly by requiring me to do without for the time being! When I would fuss and complain to Him about having to wash all of my dishes by hand, He would answer my heart "at least you have dirty dishes, Macki. That means that you had food to eat off of them!" When I would fuss about not being able to soak in a hot tub because my hot water ran out before it was a quarter full, God would answer my heart, "Macki at least you have hot water...some hot water is better than none!" As Americans living in such a prosperity, we get focused on all of the wrong things. I still have a long way to go with this one, but at least I am farther than I used to be! I can now have a heart that is grateful for dirty dishes...at least that is a start!!!

For our comments this week, chose 1 of the three points above to discuss! I can't wait to hear what you have to say!

Love y'all,

Macki

Chapter 4: Enjoying Intimacy

Ok...um...well...we aren't gonna blog about our chapter this week! So...just read it...and we will get back to blogging next week. I just think this chapter would be...um....way....way...way...TMI (too much information) to comment about!!! If you really want to blog, go back to last week's blog...we only had 1 response...let's use this week to play catch-up for last week!

:), Macki