The Heart of Her Husband

                  Last month I decided to write on the virtuous woman. I sincerely believe that she is a good role model for women and our daughters and that we should strive to be like her.  She teaches us this month about marriage.

                  Marriage has been under attack since the beginning. God instituted marriage in Genesis chapter 2. He instituted one man and one woman for life.  Man changed things, not God.  Instead of one man and one woman for life, now we have divorces running rampant, people living together without marriage, and homosexual marriages. If we followed God’s way, then maybe 50, 60, and 75 year anniversary celebrations would be the normal and divorces would be the occasional. Unfortunately today, that is not the case.

                  So, how do we change that? We could start by putting Proverbs 31:11-12 into our memory. “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” Our husbands need to be able to trust us. When he goes off to work, he needs to be able to trust that we will be true to him and our marriage. He needs to trust that we will not cause difficulties of any area of our marriage; financial, marriage bed, or even rearing our children. These are usually the areas that are the most causes of problems. We need to be able to trust him also, but we are only talking about us now. If he can trust us, then he will have no need of spoil. This means no lack of gain, lack of honest gain.  There is a saying “that behind every good man, is a good woman.” So true is this statement. If we want him to be good, we need to be good too.  We will do him good all the days of our lives. I think this is self explanatory. Simply put we are to always do good for him.

                  How else can we change the marriage problem in this country? We need to make sure that  the man we marry is a Christian man who puts God’s word first and into practice.  We need to make sure that we treat our husband well.  We need to make sure that he is the head of our house and that we each abide by our God given roles. God gave us those roles for a reason and expects them to be followed. 

                 The marriage problem in our country won’t change over night, but if we begin with our marriage and teach our daughters the proper way of marriage and they teach their daughters and so on we can begin to change our country. Our country didn’t get into this situation over night and it won’t change over night.  Let’s start at home and then grow to our congregation and then to community. That will be a good start.

 

Neely Dean

 

Who Can Find A Virtuous Woman?

             Miley Cyrus’ performance at the VMA Awards was not role model material. I did not watch the VMA Awards, thankfully, but the reports I have seen are appalling. What is this world coming to?

             Miley Cyrus is not the first, remember Brittany Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen? The boys aren’t any better wither.  Hollywood does not offer good role models for us or our children.

              So, where do we find a role model for us and our children? The Bible.  Our loving, heavenly Father has given us what we need as women to be the role model for our children and ultimately our community—the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31.

             Proverbs 31:10, “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.” Webster’s dictionary defines virtuous as “morally excellent, having virtue.” Webster’s dictionary defines virtue as “conformity to a standard of  right, morality.” Where do we go for our standard? Yes, we go to the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word to us of how He wants us to conduct ourselves. Immorality is rampant: abortion, alcohol, dancing, dishonesty, drugs, gambling, homosexuality, immodesty, lying, pornography, television/movies/videos, tobacco, just to name a few.  The Bible answers all of these. We do not have to fall to these. We need to conform to God’s way.

             Proverbs 31:10, “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.” A ruby is considered one of the four precious stones with sapphire, emerald, and diamond. The price of a ruby depends on many factors including shape, size, and color (Wikipedia). As of August 29, 2013 when writing this article, a ruby ranged anywhere from .28 carat at $2,000.00 ~ 7 carat at $50,000.00.  This from the Awesome Gems website at www.awesomegems.com. This is what the price is for this time.  The ruby in the time of the writings of the Proverbs would have been comparable to that price in that era. 

             A virtuous woman being compared to an expensive, pretty gem is grand, but to be considered far above rubies is the ultimate compliment a woman could be given.  This verse should make our personal thoughts of ourselves excel. This should give women a wonderful self esteem. We are valued far above rubies if we are virtuous. 

Neely Dean

 

JEWELS Widow's Spa Day

Wow! Today was an exciting day.  Our youth girls put on a Luau themed spa day for our Widow's.  We had a light luncheon, played a game, and gave manicures to our widow's. All the ladies had a wonderful time. Watching the older ladies and the young ladies bonding and getting to know each other over manicures was just heart warming. I do believe that new friendships and the beginning of lasting bonds were made today.  Here are some pictures from the night before decorating to the spa day.  We gave them lei's (I hope I spelled that correctly) and made a flower for their hair.  The goody buckets were in the theme of a flower. We used Styrofoam cut in half and taped to the bottom of the bucket of a green bucket (grass).  A bamboo skewer to hold the body pouf on top.  We put in some brown shreds (that represented the dirt). The body pouf pink and white represented the flower. The widow's received: a Kleenex packet, an emery board, body lotion, body spray, a facial scrubber, and some peppermint and butter scotch. Bath salts (recipe found on pinterest) were also made in different colors with the sent of cucumber melon and the ladies got to choose which colors they wanted to take home. A candle was the game prize. We had 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes. The hair flower was made from the flower material confetti that came in the decoration kit from Party City. I added a sparkle with glue dots and then used glue dots to glue the flower to a hair clip. So simple.

Daniel in the Lions Den

I wanted to post some pictures of an idea one of our teachers at Antioch, Amanda Pierce,  did for our VBS. She taught Daniel in the Lions Den and used an alcove that is in the room to create the lions den.  She used cardboard boxes and made the entrance and left an opening so that you could walk in.  She then used stone patterned bulletin board paper to cover the cardboard to make it look like a stone den.  Then by using black plastic tablecloths to cover the inside so it would hide the walls.  Her husband painted the praying Daniel and her son Cade, helped her color the poster board lions. This was truly a family work.  I loved this idea and she allowed me to post this.  I want to keep this idea going for further classes.

 

Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of all of them working. I thought I did.

 

 

Hope everyone is inspired for future ideas for their classrooms for either VBS or Bible classes. 

 

Neely 

Ladies Bulletin - Question/Answers

Answers to March Questions

1. 66

2. 39

3. 27

4. Hebrew

5. Greek

6. 1400

7. 40

8. 1889

9. Psalm 118

10. Psalm 119

 

Ladies Bulletin - Questions/Answers

Questions

 

                 Last month I caught the Bible reading up in the Ladies Bulletin with the regular weekly bulletin.  I thought that I would change this section to be a Bible question page.  Each month I will have questions on various subjects or books from the Bible. This month we are focusing on basic Bible facts.  Answers will be in next month’s bulletin.

 

1. How many books are in the Bible? _________________

 

2.      How many books are in the Old Testament?  ____________________

 

3.       How many books are in the New Testament? ____________________

 

4. What language was most of the Old Testament written in? 

__________________________

 

5. What language was most of the New Testament written in? __________________________

 

6. How long did it take to write the Bible?  _______________________

 

7. How many men did it take to write the Bible?  ______________________

 

8. How many chapters are in the Bible?  _________________________

 

9.     What is the middle chapter?  ______________________________

 

10. What is the longest chapter?  ________________________________

 

Vashti - Ladies Bulletin

“But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him” (Est. 1:12).  Sometimes we have to take a stand in life.

             Morals means the practice of the duties of life; as a man of correct morals.  Also, conduct; behavior; course of life, in regard to good and evil. We learn about morals from the Bible. Vashti, a beautiful queen had morals.

The Request

King Ahasuerus made a feast and invited all the people that were present in Shushan the palace. The feast lasted 7 days. Vashti also made a feast for the women of the house. On the seventh day, the king’s heart was merry.  (He was drunk). The king commanded his seven chamberlains “To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown

royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on” (Est.1:11).

The Refusal

             “But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him” (Est. 1:12).

Vashti had morals. Vashti was not about to go out in front of a bunch of people and parade herself in front of them for their enjoyment.

 

The REPRIMAND

The king asked his wise men what he should do with Vashti. “What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to the law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?” (Est. 1:15). And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not” (Est. 1:16-17). The princes were worried that their wives would turn on them and not obey them because of her example. The princes wanted a royal commandment written that could not be changed. “If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, that Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she” (Est. 1:19).

Vashti lost her crown because of her morals. Sometimes we may lose our ‘crown’ because we have morals. But because of our morals we will gain more than an earthly crown; we will gain our heavenly crown and that is far more important than an earthly crown.

 

2-5 Year Old Bible Class Spring Quarter

This quarter I am priviledged to teach the 2-5 year old Bible Class.  We are using Paul Sain's curriculum journey through the Bible.  I decided to use the play on words of March to make my door.  I found the door pieces in the Scholastic monthly idea books.

For the attendance chart, I kept the music theme and made a music staff.  I found the treble clef in our workroom. It was left over from another class. These were probably found at either the dollar store, walmart, or our education shop.

I always use a Bible page for our Bible stickers.

The bags are from Walmart. I just happened to find them in packs of 3 for $1.  I wrote their names on them and My Bible Bag. Then I purchased the little Bibles so they could begin learning to take their Bible back and forth to Bible class each time they come and have something to put it in and that way they don't have to worry if it becomes worn.  ( Sorry but I can't seem to get the picture to rotate).

 

Ladies Bulletin - Question/Answer

This month I thought a matching activity would be fun.  Match up the Women of the Bible to the statements they made.

 

Esther                           “Take this child away, and nurse it for me…”

Ruth                              “We may eat of the fruit of the trees…”

Pharoah’s daughter        “… come into my house and abide there”
 

Abigail                           “and behold, the half was not told me:”
 

Eve                             “Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be…”

Sarah                              “My soul doth magnify the Lord,”

Queen of Sheba              “...if I perish, I perish”

Mary                              “my sister hath left me to serve alone?”

Lydia                          “...the Lord hath restrained me from bearing…”

Martha                          “Intreat me not to leave thee,…”

 

Servant - Ladies Bulletin

I am sitting here with my father in law on day 2 of his chemo treatment. As I watch these nurses with all of these cancer patients I am truly grateful for them. Today is Halloween and they have dressed up.  These ladies are so friendly and caring.  These ladies are true servants. How can we apply this to our Christian lives and be true servants?  When I think of servant I am lead to the following acrostic.

             S – Serves (Phi. 2:4, Col. 3:23)

These nurses take care of these patients, serving them with patience and tenderness.  Do we serve others?

E-Empowers (2 Tim. 2:2, Titus 2:3-5)

Empower means to give power or authority to; to enable or permit.  The Bible is our authority and as Christians we are commanded to study and to teach others. We need to give them the truth. The nurses are empowering the patients in the fight to overcome cancer.  Are we empowering those in sin with the truth?

R-Reaches (1 Pet. 3:15)

Reaching out to others is our mission. Christ came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). That was His mission and so that is our mission. We need to study and be ready when asked why we are Christians.  We need to live Christian lives so

we are noticed as different and happy to be different so others will ask us. If they don’t notice we are different, they will not ask questions, and we will not reach others. The nurses reach out to the patients. They are willing to go get them water, snacks, pillows, etc. Reaching out to some physical need can be the first step in serving physically as well as spiritually.  We need to reach out with a helping hand.

             V-Values (John 8:31-32)

Where do we truly get our values? We get them from God’s Word the Holy Bible. We are to walk in the Word to be Christ’s disciples. Are we willing to go the extra mile?  Today at the cancer treatment center they are having a patient appreciation day. This day was so fun for the patients and overwhelming to an extent.  They have had door prizes and the nurses have dressed up and then vendors upon request from the nurses have had food coming in all day long.  They have had donuts, brownies, cookies, eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, cake, salad, lasagna, manicotti, chicken parmesan, garlic bread.  That was just while we were there.  There was supposed to be hamburgers as well and other stuff coming.

A-Adores (Psa 122:1)

Adore means to love intensely.  Do we adore (love intensely) Christ? If so, we will show it with our actions. Remember the old adage, actions speak louder than words. That is also why we teach our children to be careful what they do and a picture is worth a thousand words. Let’s go back to our nurses, their actions show the adoration they have for their patients. They have to love what they do to be able to stick these patients with needles and give them medicine that is to help them but could also make them sick. They are so patient and helpful.

N-Networks (Heb. 10:24-25)

The word network means an interconnected system of things or people. These nurses are their own network so to speak within themselves.  Each have a different role to play but each also assist each other such as one getting medications, one checking stats, another helping with a difficult stick.  Are we as Christians a network of people? Do you feel connected to other fellow Christians in your congregation? What about brothers and sisters in other congregations in other states?

T-Thrives (James 5:16)

The word thrive means to grow vigorously.  As we grow as Christians in knowledge as well as our Christian relationships we are thriving in God’s will. It has been wonderful and inspiring watching these nurses as they interact and connect with their patients. Even though, these patients come in some feeling good, some slow moving and tired from the day before, but when they get here and these sweet nurses begin to work with them and talk to them it is wonderful to watch their moods change. Do we as Christians do that with fellow Christians and non-Christians?

Are you a servant?  

Jewels making Communion Bread

In February, our Jewels class (they wanted a different name than Tabitha or Dorcas) learned how to make communion bread.  I think they had a good time.

I haven't written in a while...

Hello again,

Yes it has been a while. This has not been the easiest, stress free beginning to 2013. 

In January, our basement flooded with all the rain we had. Everything was a mess, it was absolutely awful.  We had to call ServPro and they cleaned gallons of water out of the basement.  I think I estimated about 100 gallons over the week of pumping out water. I am not joking. They had to cut 2 feet from the bottom of the sheetrock all around the playroom and my craft room so that it could finish drying and not cause mold.

My oldest ended up with lice. She felt horrible. 

I had a great-aunt to pass away.

In February, our oldest turned 13.  We gave her a Mary Kay glam party and she invited a few friends over to try on some makeup. 

Now it is the end of March.  We have all been sick with the crud.  My father-in-law passed away March 9 and we have made a few trips to Texas.  We miss him very much but he had battled lymphoma long enough. He was ready to go and we know that if we are faithful we will meet in Heaven one day. That is what makes his death bearable. We know he is not hurting anymore.

I just read the last few posts of where I was. Boy, did all of that sound good. Now it is time to get back to it.  I haven't felt really well today so I didn't get back to it.  My husband has been downstairs and working on redoing wiring for the playroom. We are also going to move my oldest daughter downstairs to the craft room our youngest daughter to our oldest daughter's old room, and making a guest room/mommy room in our youngest daughter's old room. Then they playroom will house my exercise stuff as well as games and my books along with a small desk for me to work.  All of this will be happening throughout the rest of the year.  My husband said that his timeline has us ready to begin moving the girls to their new rooms by June. That means he plans to have the wiring run, we have to get someone to sheetrock and float the walls, and then we have to paint, and then get some carpet - I am opting for some berber so we can have some warmth and support for my knees while exercising. So all in all, we will slowly be redoing all of our rooms this year. I wanted to do some work so I guess I can say I am ultimately thankful for the basement flooding because I am getting some projects done that I had wanted to do. I am just beginning to get tired of the mess in my entire home.


Happy 2013!