Being Joyful in the Mundane

Here's an excerpt from Passionate Housewives Desperate for God by Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald that I found particularly encouraging. This is for the married and unmarried alike, such an inspiration to be joyful in the tasks that seem boring in life:

"We can all be Mary, even if we don't have an hour to sit down for 'quiet time.' It's all in our attitude toward the things that need to be done and the people we are serving. If we view our husbands, families, and guests as so many leeches crying, 'Give, give!' then we are not going to develop a godly joy as we serve them. If we resent the fact that our husbands sit down to read with the children while we are preparing supper, we are being harpies, just like Martha. Choose the better part. Be Mary in the kitchen. Sing praises while you sweep up those never-ending crumbs. Whistle hyms while you wipe down the bathroom.  Meditate on Scripture while you are folding the third pile of laundry.
"I feel so greatly blessed to have been brought up in a home where our father urged excellence in our work as a way of glorifying God and where my mother joyfully tackled the tasks that lay before her. Whether organizing cabinets, planning school projects, upholstering furniture, planting a garden, or welcoming strangers, Mom always made every job seem like an adventure. When we complained, she just sang louder or turned up the music so we could march around in time as we did our chores. As a result, my parents' home was fragrant with the aroma of servant-hearted, life-giving hospitality.
"And let me just say it again: it wasn't because we had beautiful furniture, just-right curtains, or spotless rooms. It was because Christ was Lord of that house, and our job was to serve Him without being bitter or acting put-upon. Be a Mary! When the laundry piles rise up in rebellion, the children don't do their chores right, or the kitchen sink never seems to quite empty itself, rejoice! Choose the better part, crank up the music, and lay down your life."

--pgs 152&153
--The Mary and Martha mentioned in the passage are from Luke 10:38-41.

((For more from Jennie Chancey, Stacy McDonald, and other women like them, check out Ladies Against Feminism for some fantastic reads!))

C.S. Lewis on Servanthood

This quote was taken from The Quotable Lewis:

I believe that men of this age (and among them you Father, and myself) think too much about the state of nations and the situation of the world. Does not the author of The Imitation warn us against involving ourselves too much with such things?
We are not kings, we are not senators Let us beware lest, while we torture ourselves in vain about the fate of Europe, we neglect either Verona or Oxford.
In the poor man who knocks at my door, in my ailing mother, in the young man who seeks my advice, the Lord Himself is present: therefore let us wash His feet. [Ed. note: Verona is the home city of Lewis's correspondent.]

In light of the blasted and ridiculous recent Healthcare bill being passed and soon to be signed by President Obama, I thought this was a fantastic quote. No, I'm not telling you that you shouldn't pay attention to what's going on in the world and try to stop our government from promoting unconstitutional bills and such. By all means, that would make me not only wrong, but a hypocrite as well. I'm just as upset about this horrid bill as the rest of you are.
What I am reminding you through this wonderful quote is that, in the midst of all the uproar, do not leave your hometown- your primary mission field- by the wayside. Do not get so wrapped up in what's going on that you can't properly function any longer.
God has it all in his hands and we must commit ourselves to doing His will no matter how often our country tries to throw itself under the train. Yes, we get some of these jokers out of office come November (Thank the Lord, I'll be eighteen!). Yes, we do our best to follow God in politics as well as normal life. Just remember to keep things in proper prospective.
Don't forget to wash the feet of Jesus when He enters your home because you're too busy rallying against Caesar.
Have a blessed day!

Living From Desire

"Jesus ran because he wanted to, not simply because he had to or beccause the Father told him to. He ran 'for the joy set before him,' which means he ran out of desire. To use the familiar phrase, his heart was fully in it. We call the final week of our Savior's life his Passion Week. Look at the depth of his desire, the fire in his soul. Consumed wiht passion, he clears the temple of the charlatans who have turned his Father's house into a swap meet (Matt. 21:12). Later, he stands looking over the city that was to be his bride but now lies in the bondage of her adulteries and the oppression of her taskmasters. 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,' he cries, '...how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathrs her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing' (Matt. 23:27, italics mine). As the final hours of his greatest struggle approach, his passion intensifies. He gathers with his closest friends like a condemned criminal sitting down to his last meal. He alone knows what is about to unfold. 'I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you,' he says, 'before I suffer' (Luke 22:15, italics mine). Then on he presses, through the intensity of Gethsemane and the passion of the cross. Is it possible he went through any of it halfheartedly?
"When the going gets rough, we're going nowhere without desire. And the going will get rough. The world, the minions of darkness, and your own double-mindedness are all set against you. Just try coming alive, try living from your heart for the Sacred Romance and watch how the world responds. They will hate you for it and will do everything in their power to get you to fall back into the comfort of the way things were. Your passion will disrupt them, because it sides with their own hearts which they've tried so hard to put away. If they can't convince you to live from the safer places they have chosen, they will try intimidation. If that fails, they'll try to kill you- if not literally, then at the level of your soul." -From pgs 197-198 of The Sacred Romance (Italics actually aren't mine, those are the author's italics.)
Have a blessed day!

The Adventure in Following Christ Pt.1

 "Before skepticism takes over (what we mistakenly call maturity), children intuit the true Story as a fairy tale. If you'll remember, the best fairy tales aren't romantic in the poor sense of the word. They are realistic, only more so. There are ogres and evil sorcerers and wicked stepmothers, to be sure. But they are neither the whole story nor even the heart of it. They are genuine heroes and heroines and a cause to live for that is worth dying for. There is a quest or a journey strewn with danger and the stakes could never be higher." 
-pg 44; The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis & John Eldredge

"When we listen most attentively to the inner story our heart tells us about, most of us are aware that the plot revolves around two very different messages, or revelations, that have vied for our attention since we were very young. One has enchanted us while the other has dared us to rise above fear and resignation. The first has come to us in the form of a romancing that even now in my forties fills me (Brent) with anticipation. Something wonderful woos us. The other lays siege to us in much darker hues and brings with it a foreboding that sometimes nags at the edges of our consciousness even on the most sunlit morning. Something fearful stalks us."

-pg 14; The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis & John Eldredge

More coming soon...
Have a blessed day!

Dressing Feminine vs. Masculine

There were and are distinctions in dress that do more than reveal our different genders; they also reveal our God-ordained roles. The woamn who wears a man's clothing is, in essence, declaring herself to be a man and able to do whatever a man does (enlist as a soldier, defend cities from attackers, and take an arrow like a man). The man who wears a woman's clothing declares that he has shunned his maleness as God defines it and prefers not to protect, fight, defend, or even fully provide for those under his care. Pagan societies repudiated God-given male-female differences and roles, as reflected in their idolatrous practices. So we must take care to see that our clothing is a correct portrayal of who we are-whether male or female. As women, our clothing should tell the truth or our position in God's economy. We are the "weaker vessel," softer and gentler than the man and in submission rather than in leadership. When we dress for the day, does our clothing declare that we are feminine and precious- people to be protected and cared for? Or does it proclaim that we can earn our own way in the world and slay our own dragons? The woman clomping around in "tank pants" and combat boots doesn't bespeak maidenly virtues or na need to be treasured or cared for.
In fact, she invites others to treat her as "one of the guys," slapping her on the back, slamming doors in her face and leaving her to fend for herself in a dark parking lot. But the woman of gentle, discreet femininity invites honor and distinction. Men hush their rough talk when she enters the room. Men think twice before letting a door closei n her face. No one would dream of slapping her on the back or sharing a coarse jest with her. The clothing she chooses to wear partially explains the preferential treatmen she receives, but it goes deeper than what is on the outside. Her feminine beatuy grows from within-from her obedience to God's commands for womanly behavior. As our culture continues to toss aside male-female distinctions in favor of "gender neutrality," we must strive even more to be womanly and make modesty look as wonderful as it really is.

From So Much More by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin (pgs 88&89)

A Truly Strong Woman

The following is an excerpt taken from page 100 of the book, So Much More, by Anna Sofia Botkin and Elizabeth Botkin:

A truly strong woman is not masculine or mannish, but is firm in decision,
character, beliefs, and action; she has all the softness that does not imply
weakness in the wrong way; she is possessive of a firmness that is not harsh or
domineering or exclusive of delicacy. She has the ability to provide for
herself, but in restraint does not. Instead she channels that ability by
supporting and building up her father or husband, enabling him to fulfill his
God-ordained role. The strong woman is loving toward family, helpful whenever
she can be; she is competent, capable, and intelligent, yet dependent on,
trustful of, and submissive to the Lord and her father or husband. I had never
before understood the harmony that existed between being strong and being
feminine. Yet a feminine woman is a strong woman, because her strength comes
from embracing and fulfilling the role that God has given to women.

Have a blessed day!