A Woman Who Fears the Lord #16

The Woman Who Fears the Lord

A Study of Proverbs 31

Verse 25

"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at days to come."

What does it look like to be clothed in strength and dignity?

What does it feel like to release ALL your fears to God and laugh at days to come?

Let's get real here.  If Mrs. Proverbs was a real person, she made mistakes.  Bad things happened to her because life just works that way sometimes and because sometimes, a person makes the wrong choices.

Yet, it doesn't say anything about her life's rough patches in this chapter.

This leads me to wonder who our friend Mrs. Proverbs really is...

1) Mrs. Proverbs was a model and guide to be used as inspiration, growth and personal reflection.

or

2) Mrs. Proverbs was a real person and they just didn't tell the whole story.

or

3) Proverbs 31 is based off the characteristics of several women who each had areas of strength.


We read Proverbs 31 and it shines a spot light on this woman.  This seemingly awesome, great at everything she does, perfect person-- yet we must remember, we are not perfect. I can only think of one person who was.

We can each learn from the truths and the just plain good advice found in Proverbs 31.  It can encourage us.  It can challenge us.  It can create a deeper connection to God.  It can help change us to be the women God wants us to be.

Do I see myself clothed in strength and dignity?  Nope.  I see myself as a stumbling mess who can be strong or who can be found curled up on the kitchen floor, crying because I feel so overwhelmed.  Not very dignified.

On this journey we call life, I will use this verse to aspire to trust God more.

Maybe the next time I am feeling overwhelmed, I will remember this verse.  I will pick myself up spiritually by praying and then literally so I can go about my tasks.

Believing that God is in control and that He loves me because I am his child will help me laugh at the days to come...

I'll start small and remember our friend, Mrs. Proverbs.

Pizza Crust

PIZZA CRUST

A friend of mine passed along a great bread machine pizza crust recipe but sometimes waiting for the machine doesn't work out for my schedule.  I have successfully made this dough in my kitchen aid which makes it my go-to pizza recipe.  You can make the dough a day before and put it in the fridge or a week or two before and stick it in the freezer.  For frozen dough, defrost in the fridge and then leave it out (in a covered bowl) until it is room temperature.  For dough that's been in the fridge, take it out about an hour before you need to make the pizza so it can get to room temperature.

Ingredients

1 cup of luke warm water
1/4 cup of oil (I use olive oil)
3 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast



Kitchen Aid Directions

Put sugar and water in bowl.  Add yeast.  Leave this mixture alone for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.  Add oil, flour, salt, garlic powder and onion powder.  Mix on low until combined.  Knead on setting 2, for 3 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size.

If you are using a bread machine, follow your specific machine instructions for making a dough.

Making Your Pizza

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Roll dough onto pan.  My family likes a thinner crust, so we can get two pizzas from this dough recipe.

Top with your favorite toppings and bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, or until the top is browned nicely.

Let the pizza set for 5 minutes and it will be easier to cut.



Link to More Recipes

The Little Gray Hair

It popped up on top of my head, the one single short gray hair.  I had met it before, and colored my hair.  The gray hair began to mock me.  You're getting old.  There's more of us coming.  You can't avoid this reality.

Then, I had a thought.  It was quiet at first but became louder until it completely drowned out the gray hair on my head.

You are getting older... you are blessed to be getting older.

You could have died... you did die.

When I was seventeen years old, I was in a near fatal car accident.  I don't remember anything at all and a lot of my memories from childhood are gone.   I was given medication that placed me in a coma for three days and wiped out that traumatizing morning, plus more.

My mother told me that my employer had called because I wasn't at work yet.  Then, she heard sirens.  She got dressed and waited by the phone for the call.

I remember her telling me they had told her to hurry.  Hurry to the local hospital where she kissed me on the forehead before they air lifted me to a bigger hospital.  Hurry to the next hospital because they didn't expect me to make it.

I don't know if I coded just once or if it was more than that.

Members of our family, friends and our church were praying.



Obviously, since I am writing this blog post, I didn't die.

I did break my left ankle, both my legs, both my arms, my left shoulder and collar bone.  Included in the list was a closed head injury.

Months were spent in hospitals and in therapy and years went by before a full recovery was made. An almost full recovery.

My family would say that the closed head injury altered my personality, making me sarcastic and weird.  Just like them.  Personally, I think it was genetics finally catching up to me.

I lived.  I am living.  I am getting older and yes, I am old enough to have a pesky gray hair on my head.

God bless that little fella for helping me put things into perspective.  I'm sure he'll peer his mocking self often in my life and he will be joined by family and friends who will move in completely uninvited... until my next hair appointment.

January 2014 Goals- 1/19/14

I prayed about the goals I should set in honor of the new year. 

   

2014 Goals

In order to work toward the 2014 goals, here are my goals for month of January.

A LOVING FAMILY

Love notes to Chuck.

Have daily screen free periods of time.

Specifically pray for peace, gratitude and contentment in our home.


Sometimes I work on so may aspects of my life and I forget my marriage.  My husband is great and our marriage is stronger than it has ever been... but our relationship still needs nurturing.  This week I was intentional in sending him text messages saying that I loved him or thanking him for the work he does.

A PEACEFUL HOME

Organize the boy's room, our bedroom and the van.

Implement clean up before moving on rule.

A HEALTHIER PERSON

Memorize Isaiah 41:10

Drink 8 glasses of water daily.

Substitute a minimum of 4 lunches with a salad.

ON TRACK WITH FINANCES

Pay bills on time.

Get certified for Simply Fun's MOPS Presentation

Make new business contacts weekly.  Minimum of 2.

Plan a GAME NIGHT EVENT.

Several things have happened as I try to grow my business.  First, I realized that I was trying to earn God's okay by my works.  If I can just keep the kitchen clean, the boys heading in the right direction, a home cooked meal on the table and our home running like a well oiled machine, surely God will see that the home is the place I need to be.  Then, when business ended up not starting out as busy as I hoped, I tried harder.  I can not "earn" God's permission.  If it's what He wants, it will be.  As long as I do my best, He will help me through whatever lies ahead.

Second, I got the recall letter from my seasonal full time job.  I'm signing it to return and trying to trust God through it all.

Third, the Pastor at our church preached on Ecclesiastes 9.  Although I had memorized verse 10 with my oldest last year (and repeat it often), it was I needed to hear as I struggle with wanting a more flexible work schedule so I can be more available to my family.  The pastor's words presented a message I needed to hear.

GIVING OF OURSELVES

Send a card to two friends that I don't see very often.

Invite a family to join us for a meal.

Remembering Baby Will

Tomorrow is the 9th anniversary of my son, William's death.  As you read my story, please don't question me, yourself or others.  Losing a child is the most unnatural thing that can happen.  Everyone processes death differently, creating a grief that can feel all consuming.

This is my story...

I laid him down, all swaddled and cozy, stuck a pacifier in his mouth and thought, he's going to be up in the next 30 minutes wanting to nurse.

Hours later, I awoke to find my son blue.

I cried out to my husband, handed him the phone and told him to call 911.  I began infant CPR as we waited for the ambulance to arrive.

The EMT swished Will away, commenting that he was warm and that was a good sign.

I ran after her and climbed in the front seat as we sped off to the emergency room.

I was praying.  It seemed surreal.

I was sure God was going to give him back to me.

About halfway to the hospital, the EMT told me she was sorry, but he was gone.

Gut wrenching, chest aching pain swelled up inside me and I cried.


The rest of the day was a blur.

I remember holding him and crying.

It hurt so bad, yet, it didn't feel real.

They couldn't find a reason for why Will had died and so, they told us it was SIDS.


Phone calls, visits, cards, and gifts all pored in.

"You are handling it so well." It is what people told me.

"God would never give you more than you can handle."  was another thing that was often said.


Life went on.  

Those who had felt the loss of this little one, tried to get used to the new normal that became life.

I wanted to die.

Now, I wasn't suicidal.  I just wanted to be with Will.

I questioned the point of life.

How can anything be worth it if I feel this much pain?


Depression set in.

With my mother's ever watchful eye and prodding hand, I sought help and was given anti-depressants.

The medicine helped but I'll tell you what has helped the most.

TIME.

Time to hope.  Time to experience joy.  Time to trust that I can love.  Time to breathe the air, feel the sunshine and thank God for everything He has given me.  Even Will.

My sweet baby Will, who at 6 days looked at the towel I had on my head and then looked at my eyes again to make sure it was me.

Simply Thursday

Sometimes being a mom can be pretty thankless.

No one to give me a performance appraisal.

No one to give me a raise.

No staff meetings where you get to problem solve.


Days go by and there are many times when no one notices the things you do.

Yea! You just wiped that snotty nose for the 100th time today!

Good for you!  You didn't scream when you found marker all over the wall.

Awesome!  You made it to the grocery store and returned not only with groceries, but your children!!

Simply Thursday.

Each Thursday I will simply post a picture of something I feel like I did good on this week along with a one or two sentence description.

All those simple things add up to those big things and those big things can be really awesome.

So, give yourself a pat on the back for the simple thing that you did today.  We could all use a bit more encouragement on this journey we call motherhood.

We saved money by eating a packed lunch after a fun morning with friends and bouncy houses.

Even with Chipotle and Panera calling my name...

A Woman Who Fears the Lord #15

The Woman Who Fears the Lord

A Study of Proverbs 31

Verse 24

"She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes."

Before my study of Proverbs 31, I had never paid attention to the business knowledge this woman had.





Her business skills are mentioned throughout the chapter.

The woman who fears the Lord is business smart.

Am I business smart?

Can I be business smart?

What does it take to be business smart?

Phew!  Those are important questions for this wanna be successful business woman.

Let's look at this verse and the other verses and see if we can make an outline of Mrs. Proverb's business skills.

• She is selective about her products and materials.                     (Verses 13 and 16)
• She is a hard worker.  (Verses 13 and 17)
• She will go the extra mile to take care of business.  (Verse 14)
• She works the hours needed to get the job done.  (Verse 15)
• *Her employees have great pay and benefits.  (Verse 15)
• She invests her money wisely.  (Verse 16)
• She is a highly motivated business woman.  (Verse 18)
• Her skills and products are in high demand.  (Verses 19 and 24)
• People come to her for business advice.  (Verse 26)
• She is a skilled business manager.  (Verse 27)

* We don't have servants and so I translated verse 15 to the 21st century.
Sometimes, I wish I had servants...

Wow, Mrs. Proverbs!

These characteristics describe a business woman but most importantly, they describe a woman who fears the Lord.

May I fear the Lord and allow Him to shape me into a successful woman.

Just like our dear friend, Mrs. Proverbs.

My study on Proverbs 31