The Simple Wife

Spiritual Mothering: Chapter 2 and a little video

Chapter 2 is titled "A Life-Purpose." I have to say that this is what so much of this book is about. Are we living for God's glory in all we do? Chances are that the more we focus on that purpose, the more nurturing we will be to those around us--other women, our own children, other people's children, you name it.

Here are this week's questions:

1. In the first short section of chapter 2, Hunt talks about the second-pivotal principle of spiritual mothering: that our life-purpose is to glorify God. The driving force of any spiritual mothering relationship is not the relationship, but God's glory.

How does this alter/change/influence/affect what you've thought so far about this topic? Does it change how you perceive this kind of mentoring? If so, how?

2. Much of the chapter examines Mary. "I fear that too often we do not hold Mary up as an example, because we are overcompensating for some who have elevated her above humanity. This robs us of one of the most beautiful examples of faith found in Scripture...In Mary we do see a woman who embraced God's glory as her reason for being and translated that into her experience" (page 26).

What struck you fresh about Mary's story after reading this chapter? 

3. Hunt made a couple of statements about Mary's response to the angel:

"This young woman handled the situation without her brain or her emotions being scrambled" (page 27).

"This was no emotional reaction but rather a deliberate and logical response based upon the character and promises of God" (page 28).

How do these statements compare to how you typically respond to something? Are you more on the side of being scrambled, or more deliberate and logical?

How does/should having a life-purpose of glorifying God and an identity of being the Lord's servant affect our response any kind of situation?

4. On page 32, Hunt distinguishes between confidence based on our identity in Christ and self-confidence. How do you see these as being different?

5. If you had to pick a sentence or a phrase from this chapter to write on your bathroom mirror to see each and every day, what would you pick? Why?

6. Anything else you want to add, highlight, or ask everyone else to answer? Have at it!

Feel free to write your own blog post and leave a link in the comments or to write your answers directly in the comments here. Be sure to check back on this post (and last week's here) as there's some back-and-forth conversation going on. Which totally thrills me. I love seeing my friends become friends!

Don't forget that you have to hang on after you type your comment and preview it to type in the word verification thing-y. I know it's a pain, but it prevents spam. I didn't used to use it, but after getting TONS of spam comments on some older posts, I turned it on.

And if ever you get totally frustrated, send me an email and I'll put your comments up in a comment from my computer.

I put up a couple more questions than we had for the last chapter. Too many, not enough, just right?

Any other housekeeping stuff I should be aware of? Let me know!

Chicken tacos for a crowd

So here's your list:

Frozen chicken breasts
Big thing of salsa

Cook together in the crockpot, shred chicken meat and drain if too soupy. 

Corn tortillas

Heat skillet and cook tortillas on both sides until browned and a little crisp.

Avocados, sliced
Limes, quartered
Radishes, sliced
Cilantro, washed and cut 
Red/purple onion, sliced into strips
Crumbled feta, optional
Kosher salt, for sprinkling over tacos

Set these ingredients out for people to add to their tacos according to their preference.

Tortilla chips
Salsa for chip dipping

Watch this

So I've seen this here, there, and everywhere on line in the past day or so. If you haven't seen it, go ahead and take the nine minutes it'll take. It's worth it.

I needed to be reminded of this. And I'm guessing you may need to hear it too.

YOU are God's masterpiece. Never forget it.

ADDED LATER:

Some of you are getting messages that I removed the video. I didn't. Anyway, here's the link to YouTube.

Here's the scoop!

Thought it would be more fun to tell you about the weekend! 

Okay, here's the song I was talking about. No matter what's going on in your life, he's calling your name to get back up. WE ALWAYS GET BACK UP until the day when we finally fall at his feet.

I forgot the pictures! Oops!

Here's the view out my window:

(And it rained all Friday and Saturday.)

And here are the shoes I brought:

As a Girl Scout I really should know better. But I just laughed at myself and drove back and forth!

I'm back!

Excuse the pjs and no makeup! Couldn't wait until after my shower...

Heaven is a REAL place

I got an email on Monday night letting me know that one of the teachers at the girls' schools had died that afternoon. She's been fighting cancer for more than a year, had wasted away to almost nothing, and was in the hospital after surgery to remove a tumor that broke her back.

And in the midst of it all, she glowed with love and faith in Jesus.

It's was hard to tell the girls. They have faithfully prayed for her healing, and it was hard for them to feel like God didn't answer their prayers. Audrey especially was touched by this, as she'd worked with this teacher on some learning issues. She's cried herself dry.

And yet as I was praying yesterday morning (Tuesday is the day I pray for healing for others--including YOU, if you've sent me a prayer request for that) I had to praise God. Because he did answer our prayers.

She is WHOLE. She is HEALED. She is WITHOUT PAIN. She is BEYOND SORROW. Because she is WITH JESUS.

Yes, I wanted her to be healed here on earth. To remain with her husband and three children. To live a long life. But what she received is so much better.

As a child, heaven never seemed quite real to me. I knew it existed, but my ideas about it were vague and murky. I didn't really want to go to heaven because it seemed so unknown. In truth, I was a little scared by it.

But the Bible tells us a lot about heaven. And I think we'd do well to think about, dream about, learn about it more than we do. As I think about it, I don't know that I've heard that many sermons about heaven. Why is that?

As Audrey and Emma and I have talked, it's helped them to realize that heaven is a REAL place. With real sky. With real ground. With real trees. With real streets. With a real city. With real people. It's helped them to know that this teacher is in a real place--a place they too will go someday. She's not gone. She hasn't ceased to exist. Her life isn't really over.

I love this song by Kirk Franklin about heaven. He wrote it in celebration after a friend of his died. And singing this song (because, let's face it, I always sing along!) makes me want to go to heaven. Really, really want to go to heaven.

Maranatha! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

P.S. If you want to learn more about heaven, I'd recommend Randy Alcorn's book, Heaven. It's pretty thick and extremely repetitive if you're trying to read it cover to cover. But it's an easy resource to use to answer specific questions.

Good morning

Just for Papa

Dear Papa,

Here's what we've been up to lately!

Love, 

Audrey and Emma

***

While we were hanging out at the pool yesterday afternoon, Audrey and Emma earned new nicknames. Emma is "Otter" because she rolls here and there, frolicking in the water like an otter. Audrey is now "Seal" because she's much more interested in swimming smoothly and learning to dive in cleanly.

Video test

Just testing this whole video/YouTube/blog thing with a video tour of my basement/craft area/mad workshop.

EDITED LATER: Oh my! It really works! Hooray! (Can you tell I'm kind of excited about this?)