Here is another older post, I apologize for not keeping up with things for two weeks or so, I have been busy setting up our new school year and getting started. This is day two and it has been wonderful! Check out the link to Ambleside Online for those of you interested in a Charlotte Mason education. This is the best (in my biased opinion) schooling I have found for my family. I hope to get started on my writing again soon. BTW: If you haven't already done so, don't forget to order our new book for our next Titus 2 get-together: Biblical Womanhood in the Home edited by Nancy Leigh de Moss.
There is free online book here: http://www.cbmw.org/Biblical-Womanhood-in-the-Home/
If you would like to only read one chapter, read it and come ready to share what the Lord is doing in your life because of what you read and applied. check out my Upcoming Events for more date info. Email me at althevaos@yahoo.com for more information if you are a newbie and would like to join us!
Titus 2:3-5 says, “ …teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, that no one will malign the word of God.”
In her book, girl talk, Carolyn Mahaney says, “Biblical womanhood, simply defined, is God’s perfect design for women as revealed in the Bible. Much more than a script, it’s a way of life.”
Although I am considered a “younger woman” in light of this scripture (Titus 2), Mrs. Mahaney informs me “ we must understand our responsibility to pass on this language (language of biblical womanhood) from mother to daughter. For while God clearly calls all older women to school the younger women in the art of biblical womanhood, one of the most important teacher- student relationships is between a mother and her daughter…this is our mission.”
Wow! What an exciting task! Although I am still seeking to learn from older women in my task of caring for my family, I am clearly not “off the hook” for setting the stage for my daughters. I am called to be an example to them as well as teach them in the way they are to go.
How, you might ask yourselves, do I do this when I am constantly at war with my daughter? Or you might wonder how to start when you never experienced this type of relationship first hand. Let me encourage you to first go to the Cross. This is where it always begins. And then roll up those sleeves and dive in!
Let me paint a picture from my life. Ever since I became a mother I have had a passion to love my daughters with all my being. That is not so unusual, right? I decided to be the most loving, the most giving, and the most patient mother in the history of motherhood- now you are chuckling, if you have children.
Like many of you, this is my life recipe; Toss together a mom who thought she had it all together, add an extremely loud, and strong child who could bring me to tears with a single mealtime, bath time, or bedtime. Then, add another mild, yet surprisingly stubborn girl and a little boy who just loves being a boy, and what do you get? Sinful responses from Mom- lot’s of them! By this point, I am sometimes tempted to wonder what God was thinking?
I must look no further for my answer, than my bible. Psalm 139:16 reassures me with this: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” God made my children for me! Quoting Mrs. Mahaney once again she creatively states, “ He has created your mother- daughter relationship. He doesn’t just put mothers and daughters together like a guy in a deli slapping meat and cheese on bread. God has placed us in the exact mother- daughter relationship that he desired.”
So, I began by thanking the Lord for my children. And then I began to look in the mirror, so to speak. I had to first acknowledge my own sinful tendencies, and simply not give into them! This alone is not as simple as I just stated, but in light of scripture, it is as simple as stopping and asking the Lord for his grace when I am tempted to sin, and then repent when I have sinned against my children.
And then the work begins. It is not an easy task to conquer feelings of defeat or tackling disrespect and bad attitudes from our children. Some times it might be easier to ignore them or to just let “kids be kids” as we often hear the world say. But this is not the case for Christians who have a higher calling!
The next step was to talk to my daughters. This is not too difficult now with a four and seven year old who LOVE to talk, but I try not to make talking just about anything. I try to stimulate deep conversations about God, and godly character, and even identifying when I am wrong and showing them how I am sinful, and how I repented, and how Christ forgave me. This paints a picture for them to see and then emulate.
In the upcoming posts I will continue to delve further into this mother- daughter relationship and the steps I am taking to establish biblical conversations in my home. Come along and try it for yourself- the rewards you reap will far outweigh the sacrifice!
In her book, girl talk, Carolyn Mahaney says, “Biblical womanhood, simply defined, is God’s perfect design for women as revealed in the Bible. Much more than a script, it’s a way of life.”
Although I am considered a “younger woman” in light of this scripture (Titus 2), Mrs. Mahaney informs me “ we must understand our responsibility to pass on this language (language of biblical womanhood) from mother to daughter. For while God clearly calls all older women to school the younger women in the art of biblical womanhood, one of the most important teacher- student relationships is between a mother and her daughter…this is our mission.”
Wow! What an exciting task! Although I am still seeking to learn from older women in my task of caring for my family, I am clearly not “off the hook” for setting the stage for my daughters. I am called to be an example to them as well as teach them in the way they are to go.
How, you might ask yourselves, do I do this when I am constantly at war with my daughter? Or you might wonder how to start when you never experienced this type of relationship first hand. Let me encourage you to first go to the Cross. This is where it always begins. And then roll up those sleeves and dive in!
Let me paint a picture from my life. Ever since I became a mother I have had a passion to love my daughters with all my being. That is not so unusual, right? I decided to be the most loving, the most giving, and the most patient mother in the history of motherhood- now you are chuckling, if you have children.
Like many of you, this is my life recipe; Toss together a mom who thought she had it all together, add an extremely loud, and strong child who could bring me to tears with a single mealtime, bath time, or bedtime. Then, add another mild, yet surprisingly stubborn girl and a little boy who just loves being a boy, and what do you get? Sinful responses from Mom- lot’s of them! By this point, I am sometimes tempted to wonder what God was thinking?
I must look no further for my answer, than my bible. Psalm 139:16 reassures me with this: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” God made my children for me! Quoting Mrs. Mahaney once again she creatively states, “ He has created your mother- daughter relationship. He doesn’t just put mothers and daughters together like a guy in a deli slapping meat and cheese on bread. God has placed us in the exact mother- daughter relationship that he desired.”
So, I began by thanking the Lord for my children. And then I began to look in the mirror, so to speak. I had to first acknowledge my own sinful tendencies, and simply not give into them! This alone is not as simple as I just stated, but in light of scripture, it is as simple as stopping and asking the Lord for his grace when I am tempted to sin, and then repent when I have sinned against my children.
And then the work begins. It is not an easy task to conquer feelings of defeat or tackling disrespect and bad attitudes from our children. Some times it might be easier to ignore them or to just let “kids be kids” as we often hear the world say. But this is not the case for Christians who have a higher calling!
The next step was to talk to my daughters. This is not too difficult now with a four and seven year old who LOVE to talk, but I try not to make talking just about anything. I try to stimulate deep conversations about God, and godly character, and even identifying when I am wrong and showing them how I am sinful, and how I repented, and how Christ forgave me. This paints a picture for them to see and then emulate.
In the upcoming posts I will continue to delve further into this mother- daughter relationship and the steps I am taking to establish biblical conversations in my home. Come along and try it for yourself- the rewards you reap will far outweigh the sacrifice!
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