The Capable Wife

This blog is mainly written for teenage girls. It is written for an online magazine/blog for the church I attend, but I wanted to share it! 

It is my second week in the South, and I now know why I am here. I have the opportunity to see my relatives every summer, and this year, has been one trip I will not forget.

Every day my grandma and I visit another family. I drive her Mercury Mountaineer all over downtown Ruston to another home where we will drink Sweet Tea, munch on homemade brownies, garden in the backyard, or shell peas. Life is different here. Not only does it seem as though it is in slow motion, but every time I visit, it teaches me something about humans. As I look into the eyes my grandma's elderly neighbors, they have something they want to say, and what they do express is so insightful. I experienced insight from someone this past Sunday; but it was not an elderly lady, or the pastor, but a fourteen year old girl in the youth group I attended. The youth pastor asked a question of the youth group, "What would you want to see written on your tombstone?" One teen raised his hand and responded, "Forgive me, and I will try to forgive you." After much laughing in the group a quiet girl said, "Well if I am blessed to have a long life and I get to serve the Lord and be married, I would want Proverbs 31:10-31 engraved on my tombstone." Everyone in the room stopped and racked their brain to see if that was a verse known by heart or one taught in Sunday school recently. Nothing came up. I immediately flipped my Bible open and turned to the last bit of the book of Proverbs. When I saw the words, "More precious than rubies", I knew which passage I was looking at. 

The Lord was fully aware that this part of His word was something I needed to hear...immediately. You see, this part of Proverbs discusses the image of a wife: one serving and living for Christ, her husband and her family. Proverbs has a lot to say about women. It is so fitting that the book ends speaking of a woman with great character, many diverse skills, and unconditional compassion. This woman is not a solely domestic, quiet, and servile woman. She is the picture-perfect wife, mother, and daughter of the Lord. Her resume includes being a realtor, seamstress, and merchant, and that is only the beginning of it. This woman of God does not tire easily, and is rejuvenated when she looks to the Lord. She is not lazy either, her energy is from Him. What is so amazing about this passage is that her character and dignity do not originate from within her, from her husband, or from her family. Her strength comes from her reverence for the Lord. 

To be wise you must first have reverence for the Lord. If you

 know the Holy One you have understanding. Proverbs 9:10

This woman has outstanding abilities. As women, we must look to her as an inspiration for all we can be. We can learn from her integrity and grow from her strength. 

Isn't she the perfect model for all women to admire, and aspire to be? She is a superwoman in God's eyes and heart. 

As women, praying to be the "capable wife" mentioned in the Proverbs encompasses every aspect of our lives. Our relationship with our future or current husband will be strengthened, our family will be concrete in Him, and our existence will be one devoted to prayer, serving and all-out worship for Him. What could be any better? Our lives, and our families will be a part of the Lord's Kingdom on Earth. 

The word "capable" is so interesting too. As flawed, sinful humans, how will we begin to be capable enough for our future husband?  We must start the groundwork now. Let us live lives of fellowship for Him now, so that our husband can praise our capable nature once in a marriage. And, in eternity, let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I pray that all women know they have a home in You. Let us feel strengthened and humbled by your power. Transform each of us into a woman whose hope is to be a Godly wife: one who never tires because we know we are rejuvenated by You, and one that will serve her husband and family the way You have instructed. Let us begin to grow into a capable wife today, and bless our marriages under You forever. 

IM. I Am. He Is.

Facebook. Myspace. Twitter. MSN. It is instant messaging time. What has occurred in the lives of the friends that I have gone two hours without instant messaging?! Isn't it funny, and quite sad how a generation is connected, almost too connected?

I have the opportunity of giving an oratory speech for Speech and Debate tournaments.  A piece of my speech speaks of the concept of the IM, and the instant messaging craze of our technological era. Instead of focusing on the impact of instant messaging though, I have realized the our Inner Messaging is what truly shapes who we are.  What we tell ourselves daily, hourly, and even second by second centers our perspective and influences our potential.

I give this speech pretty frequently too; in fact I am in the midst of a competition this week. As I say this line time and time again, it is beginning to lose its validity, yet inspire a new meaning within me.

 It is true that what we tell ourselves is a large contributer to what we believe and why we believe it.  We must ask ourselves what the source of our inner messages are. Are the messages holy? Are they breathed of the Spirit?

Many times what we think we are telling ourselves is actually what He is telling us. But before we begin to assume that something is of Him we must test these messages against His word to validate them. 

I think it is incredible how the Lord speaks to us in the most ingenious of ways. He is a whole different dimension of creative, isn't He? How the Lord delivers His word and guidance to us is unbelievably complex. Although many may say that all of the Lord's commandments and "tips for success" are already stated in His Word, the ways he reveals his promises to us makes me astonished. They are in a timely manner; on his perfect time schedule. He knows what we are prepared to hear about him. In the same way, he knows when to deliver insight to us, challenging our miniscule thought processes beyond the mundane world's perspective. His messages are holy. And, we cannot trust our own messages for anything. We must listen to His voice and disregard the voices of sinners. Seek the truth with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Seek messages and encouragement from Him, and beware of the flawed advice of the flesh.

We are not what our IM tells us we should be. We need to be people that looks for His messages. The purest of all voices, our guiding light. 

Tomorrow is the last time I will ever perform my "Dash" speech to an audience of judges, and competitors. I cannot continue to let people believe that our inner messages will lead us to a world of success. By listening to ourselves, we make a 360 degree turn: we get nowhere. Let us look to him....and honestly listen. Let us keep our ears open, our thoughts pure, and let us call on Him with eager hearts. If we call, He will answer. 

He is the source of the messages, and the messenger. With six conversations occurring between friends on our "instant messaging" sites per night,it seems so easy to become distracted and illusioned. Words of truth, comfort and validity will only come from ONE conversation. Let us add the Lord to our friends list. 

More than just Noticing.

I saw him again. His long blonde hair gently swept away from his face when the wind hit him. He clutched his Bob Marley longboard in one hand and a blue Powerade in the other. He looked across our highschool's quad and peered in the direction of the library. He kicked down the longboard, jumped on, and began racing fast down the paved walkways of our school.
I have always known skaters, but this one was different. He had an intensity that was overwhelming. His blue eyes and blonde hair made him have an angelic appearance with a rough demeanor. As he arrived at the front gate, he picked up his longboard and began to talk with his friends. I noticed him. I do not know why, but he continually catches my eye's attention.
Why do we notice certain people in our day to day life? Why do specific people that may be your ordinary aquaintances suddenly call for your respect or thoughts? As we will all see in our Christian walk, God places certain people in our lives for a reason that may be unknown to us. Something about this boy is calling for me to notice him. Possibly the Lord wants us to seek out these people to lead them to Christ. Maybe, He just wants us to be their friend.
My trip to Mexicali when I was a freshman sparked something interesting in me. I had always been nervous that going to Mexico was somewhat cliche as many churches go to the country to build homes and teach in a Vacation Bible School setting. But after spending one day with Christ's children, I knew it was the opposite of cliche. The unique nature of these children impacted my life for Christ. Their infectious faith was passionate and strong. One girl imparticular caught my attention this time. Her name was Gloria, perfectly fitting her. She never smiled...just watched. Her intriguing nature led me to believe that Christ was truly speaking to me through her. When I was having a rough week, stumbling over my attempt at Spanish, she would just smile and say "Esta bien," "It is okay."
So what should we do when we meet people like this? They may be children, may be the elderly, may be people we are around every day and suddenly realize why they are in our lives. We need to do more than just notice them. We must pursue them with the Lord's love, and show them how much they are loved. We must speak words of truth and integrity as well. Christ does not solely notice people after his own heart. He guides, leads and follows them. We must be His messengers here on Earth.
Usually "standing in the way" of someone has a bad connotation. But, as Christians we must be willign and capable of being the mediator between the person after Christ's heart and the Lord. Once they find our Savior, it is their turn, and God takes care of him. We must not be a hindrance to them finding the Almighty God, but we must be ready to lead them with never-failing energy.
Evangelism is a touchy subject, and doing a final project on this topic has opened my eyes dramatically. If we are going to lead people to Christ we must be a person that is contagious for Christ's being. But, more than that, we must use words. We must actually speak words of truth and lead people to God's divine words. Although our WWJD bracelets are catchy, and although a Cross is beautiful to wear, words are what will bring people to God. Our actions and our talk must be congruent in all aspects. We must walk our talk and be sure not to "overtalk our walk".  With a pure and faithful heart for the Lord, we become contagious. Through Him, we become the messenger.
I must actually speak when I see that boy again. Christ desires us to use our gifts to please him, and we must. He has given us the ability to speak and we need to utilize it. We cannot be quiet and we cannot possibly be silenced.
Let us begin to do more than just notice people close to us. Let us pursue them and deliver a glimmer of God's glory to their day, or life.