Fake Me, Real Me!

I think I have suffered from a disease for the last 15 years, pastor wife-itis also know as perfectionism.  I don't think it is contagious....well maybe it is.  I don't think only pastor wives can catch it either....they are just really susceptible to it.

Symptoms are as follows:

• Feelings that they must be happy all the time.
• A need to say the right things at the right times.
• Appearance may look to perfect at times.  
• Hair is never gray or out of place.
• Tendency to feel the need to know more about God than others; because it is expected.
• May expect too much of children.
• Appears to never shows anger towards husband...lovingly supports him ALL the time.
• Appears to have hour long devotions and rich relationship with God.
• Actually is turning into Mary Poppins! Carries a large stuffed purse and black umbrella to fight off anything that might catch her off guard.     
• Perfectly, perfect...all together...all the time!

(Because that is what we as Christians are suppose to be 24/7...right?!)

Causes:

Any of the following and can be a result of more than one....

• Idealistic expectations placed on her by herself or others.
• Insecurities
• Need to Control
• Selfish ambition
• Pride
• Fear

Treatment:

• A God shaped pill!

Okay, now I meant that to be funny.  But, God has been examining my heart the last couple days and has shown me some of my sickness.

I realized my sickness a few Sundays ago when my hubby and I were having a disagreement in church before the service started.  Yup...people...arguing right in the sanctuary...oh the shame of it all.  A wonderful unsuspecting pastor greeted us right in the middle of said argument.  And immediately I was struck by my sickness.  My mask went on my face and pretended nothing was wrong.  Now, for the poor pastors sake, he did not need to be in on my drama.  I spared him of that, thank goodness.  But, after he left I was stunned at how good I was at being "fake" me.  I mean... I am really good at it.  As fast as one can say Bibbty-Bobbity Boo...I was changed in to beautifully, happy ME!  I found that disturbing.  I came to the conclusion that I am good at it because I have practiced it A LOT.

Now, I have been asking God about it and of course He began to show me what I was doing to bring about this fake mask that could so easily put on.  I was pouring myself through my own filter every time I walked into church or anywhere really.  I only wanted people to see what I thought they should see.  I wasn't really caring about what God wanted at all.  I only wanted everything good about me to be seen, none of the bad stuff...ever!

However,  God began to show me a better way.  He wanted me to run through His filter...His hands.  He reminded me that He was creating me into the woman of God He wanted me to be.  He knows all my imperfections, my dirt, my shame, and my scars.  He is not surprised by them.  He is not ashamed of me.  He sees all the value of me; because He loves me.  He uses me just as I am and is changing me every day for His glory.  I only need to allow Him to filter me.  When He filters me, He determines what is beautiful and uplifting.  He pours in all that is good into my life.  He pours Himself into me.  He is able to show His redemptive real work in my life as a living testimony of a life changed.  I need not be ashamed of His work.  In fact, His filter brings Him glory.  My filter only brought me glory.

Now, I am not playing down the need to live a holy life, quite the opposite is true.  I don't want to pretend to live a holy life anymore.  I want the struggle, the realness of yielding a life to Jesus every day.  I want the real me God intends me to be to shine!  That is a life that declares all of His Glory and His Ability!

Help me recover Lord!

 May I always run through Your filter!

I'm going to go take my God shaped pill now!

GET JOY

Dear Moms and Dads of Girls,

This is a little longer than my normal post.  So, get a cup of coffee, that chocolate you have stashed for a rainy day, and take some time to read this very important post.  

I have been meaning to write this post for some time now.  I feel impressed to get it out now.  My heart has been deeply concerned about the state of our young girls.  My husband and I have been youth pastoring for 15 years now and we have seen a lot change over the years regarding our young daughters. I am talking just about girls raised in Christian homes in this post.  However, If you are not a Christ follower there are some really great things you can glean from this as well.   

My daughter is in the sixth grade and she goes to a public junior high school.  This year one of her close friends (we will call her Amy for the sake of this post) is being bullied.  Her friend Amy has been told that she should sleep with her boyfriend; because that is what you are just supposed to do.  Amy has been told she should start drinking.  Amy has been ‘hit on” by this girl bully.  Because Amy has decided to take a stand and not participate in these things, she is being bullied all at the age of 12. 

This post is not about what the media portrays women should look like.  This post is not about our over sexualized youth.  It is not about the internet or even peer pressure.  It is about what are we doing about raising our beautiful daughters to be strong women of God.

Time and time again, John and I are helping girls deal with breaking up with their boyfriends and they are barely 13.  We constantly see girls who are already defeated by what the world thinks of them.  We hear of girls who trade in their values just so they can feel loved.   We constantly see a battle in them about who they are in Christ and with the world.  The age of the start of these problems is getting lower and lower.  Moms and dads it is time to wake up and start teaching our girls to find their value in Christ.

Parents we need to be aware, actively aware.  We have found that parents are just not paying attention.  Recently, in our youth group we asked, “How many of you know someone who is sexually active now or has been?”  Out of a room of 25, more than half jr. highers, 80% of them raised their hand.  These are church kids, in middle America, in a small town.  I would dare say that more than half of our youth have unmonitored access to internet.  Most of our kids in our youth group barely know why they believe what they believe. Junior highers are asking questions I would never even have thought of when I was in high school.  Go here to check out some of those questions.  Our kids are growing up in a very different world; but our God never changes.

Okay, Christina so what do we do about it?  I think we need to teach them some very key attributes. 

Modesty is more then just not wearing short skirts and low cut shirts.  Modesty is about how your daughter sees herself.  Too many girls do not see their body as an act of worship.  Our bodies are to bring glory to God, not to get attention from people.  I love this verse...

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold and fine jewelry and fine clothes. Instead it should be that of your inner beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God's sight! I Peter 3:3-4

Every girl needs to find their Identity/Value in Christ alone.  If we look for value from others, we will only leave empty.  Christ fills our void.  He gives us purpose.  He created us.  He knows us.  We are precious to Him!

Psalm 139:14-18
 ¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
      Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
 ¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
      as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
 ¹⁶ You saw me before I was born.
      Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
   Every moment was laid out
      before a single day had passed.

 ¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
      They cannot be numbered!
 ¹⁸ I can’t even count them;
      they outnumber the grains of sand!
   And when I wake up,
      you are still with me!

True Beauty/Purity only comes from a life yielded to Christ.  When we allow Christ to make us new, He comes in and does a clean sweep.  He makes beautiful from the inside out.  We radiate because the light of Christ lives in us.  I tell girls you can be beautiful to the human eye on the outside; but really ugly on the inside. The ugly on the inside will then overshadow the beauty on the outside.   Fear the Lord and you will be beautiful to Christ!

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praise. 

–Proverbs 31:30

You daughter needs to know that she is a part of God’s Plan.  Too many girls are only living for themselves, mostly because at such a young that is what they are able to understand.  They live in the moment, not thinking about consequences.  As parents we need to teach them that God has a perfect plan for them.  Each girl needs to learn to listen to the voice of the Lord. He will guide them.  He will lead them to the good life He has for them.

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.-Jeremiah 29:11

Thoughts can bring life and death to our girls.  I asked about 60 girls what they thought about themselves when they look in the mirror. Here are just some of the answers I heard:   fat, ugly, stupid, unloved, hate, not good enough, dumb, useless, worthless, nothing, the list went on and on.  (You can read my blog about it here)  What does your daughter say to herself?  Have you ever asked her?  Hopefully, she knows exactly what God says about her.  If not, help your daughter to understand how God sees her and begin to help her change her thoughts.  Here is a great verse for that….

 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. –Philippians 4:8

Mom and Dad your daughter is desperate for you to lead them, to help them, and to love them.  We need to intentionally encourage them.   As parents we also need to be the main adult presence in their precious lives.  That may mean Mom you take some time and sit down with your daughter and talk to her about how she sees herself.  Dad it may mean taking sometime out of your busy schedule and take that lovely girl out on a date.  Mom and dad it is time to be examples of Christ followers.  They are watching and learning from you.

It is time to wake ourselves up from our slumber; we need to realize that we need to parent our girls.  We need to do it now, even at a very young age and even if we have missed out and they are older.  It is never to late.  We need to actively train our girls in the Lord.  We need to teach them God’s ways.  We need to pray for them.  We need to help them become the strong Godly woman that Christ desires for them to be.

Your girl can change the world!

GET JOY!

I love this song

I am not Superwoman!

How do you do it, Christina? How do you have time for things? These questions were asked of me yesterday. I had to reflect on it a little because people’s perception of me is very different from reality. To be honest, I don't do it all. I am not superwoman! I think I am realizing that it is a good thing I am not. Nobody is perfect and nobody can do everything; but for some reason many women are under a delusion that you have to do all, be all and look pretty at the same time.

God has me in a season now of learning what it is to be His daughter. It has been a very interesting time of growing and finding out that my expectations are most of the time very different than His. For a long time, I placed some very unrealistic (what I like to call) burdens upon myself. For instance someone once told me that your house should be able to receive unexpected guest everyday within 30 minutes of your dear husband’s phone call. Wow, I really allowed that to put unnecessary pressure on me when my third baby came into the picture. I have also realized that I was actually letting people speak things like that into my life quite a bit. I felt that I need to follow all these rules to be the perfect pastor's wife and mom.

It all came down to the fact that I was living my life waiting for the approval of others. When in actuality the only approval I need is Christ's! I began to ask God to prioritize my life. He began to show me what is most important to Him. What is most important is my relationship with Him. I can keep and clean house all day...care for the children...make meals....exercise....do hobbies....do things at church....whatever; but if I am falling asleep during my devotions my priorities are not right. So sometimes things have to be restructured. Sometimes things have to be reconsidered. Sometimes things need to have us let go. Sometimes we just need to realize that we are in a season and it is okay.

I am in the baby season of life. My little one consumes me sometimes and it is a wonderful time. But, God has also called me to be a minister to the children at our church, be a mom to two older beautiful girls and a wife. Somewhere...in all of this...I can not lose my sanity. So somewhere something has to give and right now it is my house. I am okay with that. I am getting to the place that I can just be real. If someone stops by unexpected...I have to be okay with dirty dishes in the sink. I have to be okay with folded laundry on the couch. It is where my life is right now. My priorities are right....my relationship with Jesus is growing like never before and I am not falling asleep during my time with Him.

So, if you stop by my house and see it in its "real" state, this is what you may see.....

If only my children were as patient as my laundry....see how patiently it sits there waiting for me to come and care for it....
Oh, I wish I thought better during this photo...I missed the big glob of blue toothpaste that was sitting on the back side of the sink.... Hey, check out the Starbucks snow globe, it very cute, thanks sis.

The mustard stained IKEA dish is mine...I forgot to rinse it off good...it wasn't fun to clean later. LOL Is it just my children or do other children throw straws in the sink??? For some reason, I can't get them to throw them in the trash. LOL

Oh, my kitchen table the main hub of our home...when it gets cleaned off after a Wednesday night ...I think it gets lonely.

If only Elmo could get busy and clean up the perpetual toy mess on my living floor. Maybe if I pay him $7.40 I might begin to see results.

See my Nutcrackers bravely guarding my folded laundry while I write my blog....I later had to fire them because the baby monster pulled them all down to the floor.

To be honest I was scared to do this...but I wanted to share it with you. Right now my house is last on my list. When the baby is older, I will get some of my time back. I know now that my time is better spent playing with my baby on the floor than cleaning behind my oven. I want my little man to have moments with me that are lasting for a lifetime. We are not guaranteed a long life...so I want to make the most of each day. So when my children remember me they will not remember the clean house we always had; but the fun they had and the love they felt from John and me.

As women we must be careful not to judge other women. We don't know what phase of life they might be in or what they might be going through. Let us always be mindful of Christ's love and compassion. Let's help one another and encourage. Don't put unnecessary pressure on ourselves or others to be Superwoman...she doesn't exists.

I am reminded that sometime we need to be like Mary when all the world is acting like Martha.

Luke 10:38-42

[38] As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. [39] She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. [40] But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

[41] "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, [42] but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."



Ask God what are some things you may need to let go of...be with Jesus and...

Proverbs 31:30

"Get Joy" Book Verses

There are a few verses that directly speak to women. When there is one I really try to make sure I listen up. God has a very specific job for us and I want to do it the best that I can. I have blogged about Proverbs 31 before, you can check it out here!

Proverbs 31:10-31 is a great passage for any woman to study. I specifically like this one because I think it sums up the passage very nicely. I like this verse because once again God cuts to the heart of the matter. He knows how women can be and what can become important if we do not keep our eyes fixed on Him.

Charm and beauty all too often can quickly become an important thing in a women's life for various reasons. I think our society clearly shows how beauty is so important in a warped way. God says that these things are deceitful and vain. Ouch! God doesn't hold back here. *

The most important thing to Him is that we fear Him. Not an "Ooooo Scary...I am afraid of God" fear but a fear that understands the glory, righteousness, and awesomeness of our great and mighty God. It is a reverent fear. When God is more important than our outward appearance and we let Him transform our inward beings; then He can do something amazing in us and through us.

The picture is of my grandma. She lives out Proverbs 31 for me. She is one of those people that are my rocks. I know she is always praying for me. She gives me a call probably once a month to see how I am doing. She is truly a beauty in my eyes as in the eyes of Christ. She is my example of a Proverbs 31 woman. ~ Thanks Grandma!

Who Cares About Me? Psalm 139

I had the awesome opportunity to talk to about 60 teenage girls today. I was so excited to share what God had laid on my heart 2 months ago for them. It all started when I asked about my friend's new tattoo on her foot. She had Psalm 139 permanently marked on her. I was curious so I looked it up and God began to speak to me that this is what He wanted me to share with these young ladies. I read the whole chapter but for my blog I will copy the portion I really focused on.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

I shared with the girls that there is nothing you can say or do that is hidden from God. He knows everything and sees everything. We see this very clearly in verses 1-12. Some may find that this makes them uncomfortable because of sin...I told the girls that it is just the opposite for those who are in Christ. It is awesome that He knows everything. He knows our dreams, our hurts, when we are sad or when we are happy. God is not surprised by anything that comes along our way. He is always with us and cares about everything in our lives.

We then discussed why He created us. I said that God loves us and made us to have communion with Him. We also looked at that He has a plan for each of our lives and found in Jer. 29:11. We are not some cosmic accident that happened for no apparent reason. The God of heaven and earth made each of us for His unique purpose and plan.

My next question to them is who are you listening to? Are you listening to what the world tells you are or are your listen to who God says you are? I had a 4ft mirror that we wrote on. I asked the girls to tell me all the negative things they say about themselves when the look in the mirror and see the person that they are. Here are some of the things we wrote on that mirror... I am ugly, fat, hate my hair, eyes and nose, I hate my body, useless, worthless, stupid, dumb, sinner, I am nothing.
When we begin to listen to these things, we talked about what happens
1. We want people to tell us what they think and do anything for it.
2. We only do things if we feel we are good enough
3. We hide who we truly are and pretend to be someone we are not
4. Depressed/Arrogant
5. Act out
Addictions, Eating disorders, Cutting, Sex, Suicide


I then brought out my hammer. I reminded them about what we read in verses 14-18. We need to listen to what God says about us. We need to listen to what His thoughts are towards us. He loves us so very much. And as I smashed the mirror it began to reveal what God truly sees us as....His child, His masterpiece, His joy, His love towards us, He created us, we are unique and full of talents, He has given us a hope, and we are beautiful to Him. All those things are what really matters. We need to stop focusing on what others think of us and only be concerned about what God thinks of us.

We then closed out with verses 23-24

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Thanks girls at Lost Valley Bible Camp for giving me the chance to share what God had laid on my heart for you and for all girls. Together we will....GET JOY!

A Mom Named Agnes and Mother's Day!

We drive through a cemetery on the way to church. Sometimes, I laugh at this because I think it is God's not so subtle way of reminding me of how short life is. Anyway, today I saw a man get out of his truck and walk over to a grave. The stone had the name Agnes on it. I can only assume that he wanted to take some time today and remember his mother. With my kids in the back seat, I was reminded by God that subtle little thing about life being short. We all go through life cycles. Once Agnes held that man in her arms; just like I hold my son in my arms now.

God wanted to remind me how valuable my job is to the three little ones that sat so quietly in the back seat of the car today. I need to take every moment and tell them how much I love them and care about them. I need to show them Christ's love and tell them of His grace for them. I need to do it as often as possible so that when I exit this world into eternity I have done all that I can.

I also couldn't help but wonder what that man may have been thinking. Was he sorry for things left unsaid, was he sad for the way he treated her, maybe he was thanking God for giving him such a wonderful mom. Whatever it was, I hope that my children's thoughts about me are of how much I loved them and how much I wanted them to know of God's great love. I also want them to remember that our separation is only temporary for one day they will be in heaven too.

That man also reminded me of that I should never let things go unsaid. We never know how long God is going to allow us to be with our loved ones. I am thankful for my mother. She has taught me so much about how to be a good mom to my kids. I love her so much and she is so beautiful to me. When I talked to her on the phone today the last thing she wanted to say to me was that I was a great mom. She always knows how to make me feel so good inside. She has become so much more than a mom to me.

We had a mother daughter banquet yesterday. The girls and I got all dressed up and had a wonderful time. The theme was, "Diamonds"; but not in the way that the world would want us to be, but being beautiful on the inside is what matters. So, ladies here is a verse to help us be a woman that our children can look up to.

I Peter 3
3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

Have a wonderful Mother's day! Let's remember the beauty of our mother's and be reminded of the calling to bring beauty to our children.
Be blessed and ...


GET JOY!


The pictures are from the banquet. It took me three hours to do all our hair; Yikes, but it was a lot of fun doing it. I like to think I saved $60. John just laughs at that.

Proverbs 31 "A Virtuous Wife"

I have been thinking about this passage for days. I knew it was coming; because it is one of my favorites. I'm a little excited yet a little nervous at the same time to blog about it. To be honest as I looking at my disaster of a living room, I am thinking I should be the last to writing about being a good wife. Thank God, that He speaks to us where we are, even in our tornado stricken living room. Honestly, I think my dryer vomited everything onto my couch. hehehehe

I want to take a look at verses 10 - 31. We start out the passage with a question, "A wife of noble character who can find?" If you are lucky to find such a woman, she is a pretty valuable person. We then go into the qualities of being that virtuous wife:

1. Her husband trusts her in EVERYTHING! vs.11 & 12


2. She is an eager worker vs. 13


3. She does the shopping well vs. 14


4. She gets up early and makes breakfast (for her family and servants) vs. 15


5. She invests her finances, then puts it to work and makes sure it is profitable. vs. 16 & 18


6. She is strong and works hard vs. 17


7. She works into the night. vs. 18


8. She makes her own clothes and linens vs. 19


9. She helps the poor vs. 20


10. She makes sure her family is properly dressed vs. 21


11. Her home is made and she is dressed well. vs. 22


12. Her husband respects her. vs. 23


13. She has a side job to make money. vs. 24


14. She has dignity and sense of humor. vs. 25


15. She is a mentor and guards her tongue. vs. 26


16. She is not lazy. vs. 27
    

Whoa, that my friends is an amazing list, a little frightening I might add. Before we give excuses of why we can not do this list, let's examine the motivation of our hearts. Once again to be honest, I had a few excuses of my own....

• Hey, she has servant; if I had servants I would be able to do all that too!


• If her dryer ate all her missing socks, she wouldn't be so great.


• Back then they had to do all that stuff, we have things now to make life easier so I can relax more.


• I bet she had a servant do all the cooking...I hate cooking.


• Do I really have to do ALLLLLLLL that stuff anyway?

Of course I can not do all this stuff! Not in my own strength, that is why I have to start my day with asking God to give me strength and wisdom for the day. We are closing up Proverbs and it has summed up nicely everything we are to be as women of God. Thank goodness we can go to God for help. Look friends, God is calling us to do more, to be more, and to be an example. He has given us a list that we can carefully examine and see what we need to work on. We do "better" because we now know "better". It is cool that God doesn't leave us wondering, "How can I be a good wife?" I know that there are some things in that list that I need to work on.

With God's help, what will be the results of doing all that crazy stuff anyway? Verse 28 gives us the answer to that question.

28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.

Ooooohhh, I just love that. I want my children and my husband to say those things about me. I want to be "that mom". With God's help I know I can, I know we all can. And as we allow God to help us, we will be an example to our daughters on how to be a virtuous wife and teach our sons the qualities to look for in a good wife. I bet we will be pleasantly surprised by our husband attitude towards us as well.

You know how there is always a "but"?(I know it sounds funny but it's the only way to say it) Well, here it comes. When one says "but"in a sentence, it negates everything before it. Yay, some of you might be thinking, hold on though.... I think this coming verse is the most important one.

29 Many women do noble things (that list is pretty noble), BUT you surpass them all.

(me interjecting, WHY?)

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praise.

I am going to take some liberty and pair this verse with one of my favorites...

I Peter 3:3-4 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of fine jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

When God does not have first place in our lives than when we do all that stuff...it means nothing. Yikes, I don't want that to happen. God wants all of us, hold nothing back from Him. When we fear Him and let Him mold that inner self, then we will be of great worth more than money can buy (even more than rubies vs. 10; but men if you are still reading giving rubies is a great idea to remind us that we are more valuable than them. LOL).

Such good stuff today, I am already...

GETTING JOY!

Check out my friend's perspective on Chapter 31!

Oh, don't worry friends, I have to go back and do chapter's 1&2; so I am not done with Proverbs just yet.

Proverbs 19 "Drip..Drip...Drip!"

Don't you just hate it when you are lying in bed, trying to go to sleep and you hear...drip....drip...drip! It drives me crazy; but usually I'm to sleepy too do anything about it. My husband on the other hand has really great hearing and gets so annoyed about it. He jumps out of bed and doesn't sleep till the drip is taken care of.

When the Bible speaks directly to women my ears always perk up. "Hey, God's talking to me! So I think I better listen." Here in Proverbs 19 we come across two verses that speak to wives.

13 A foolish son is his father's ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.

14 Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

God is speaking to two things that most women have trouble with, our mouths and money!

Okay ladies, I think verse 13 somewhat speaks for itself. I know that sometimes when I am angry with my wonderful husband I let that issue sit and fester. And how many of us know that when we do that they better understand how we feel about it?! Sometimes, I will argue with him until I am satisfied.

The Lord knows how our minds work women! So, He is speaking to us on this very issue so many of us struggle with. God is telling us not to be quarrelsome period. We will be like that annoying drip...drip...drip if we are. If we want to be a good wife, noble and pleasing to the Lord, then let's learn how to dialogue with our husbands in the correct way. I am going to just say it because I think it is true...sometimes we just need to shut up!

I believe the beginning tells us that we are talking about money issues in verse 14. God wants us to be good stewards with the blessings He has given us. The good Lord knows I struggle with this topic. I love to buy things for my kids. I love to buy gifts for anyone. Oh, I justify it with my heart is in the right place. Come on, I am not spending it on myself right? But, if it is not what the Lord wants me to use my money for than I am not being prudent. Going into debt is never using good skill or judgment with my finances.

"My money" is God's money. He has given it to us to bless us as a whole and to bless others. I need to use discretion in every purchase, whether it is the everyday latte or the big ticket items. Things add up quickly and we need to be wise with the bottom line.

Well, maybe you are thinking...wow, you were rough on me today God. But God in His wonderful way is showing us how to have a joyous life. He knows that when we have things under control things go more smoothly. He knows what is best for us and how to give us the best life. I want to be pleasing to Him. I want to be a wife of noble character. I want to be the wife that my husband wants to grow old with.

And with that...I will

GET JOY!

Check out my friend's perspective on Chapter 19!