WHATS A WOMAN TO DO?

I have been asked by a couple of my grown children in the last year why they never saw my husband and I arguing much.  I guess they thought it would be the same for them just because it was that way for us.  I have given this much thought. I am not a perfect wife by any means, but I sought out good advice from the Word of God and Godly wives. 

We have not had a life of no trials or sufferings, so I guess I could say I had reasons to argue. We have gone from full-time work, to self employment, to no employment.  Whether God used it as ordained training trials or from bad decisions, we have remained in love with each other and respecting each other.

When presented with trials, my mind would race and comes up with my options.  A lot of these options did not have good results, therefore leading me to the word for the answers to why this was so.  I began to read of other women that made mistakes in the Bible.  Let’s look at a couple

Let’s look at Eve and Sarai.  Eve was subtilty deceived as stated in 2Corinthians 11:3 and 1Titus 2:14. We all know the story of Eve.  Her solution to having all knowledge was to listen to the advice she received from Satan and the beauty of the fruit, lusts of the eyes.  Sarai came up with her own solution to her not baring a son for Abram.  Genesis 16:1  Which lead to her misery as well as to others for generations to come. In both cases their own options to their problems did not pan out for them or us.

Now if you think that their husbands were without fault and made great decisions you would be very much mistaken.  Abram went ahead and did as his wife suggested.  He several times passed Sarai off as his sister, which led to her put in a harem, just to save himself.  Adam also did as his wife suggested and we all know the results of that. 

To think that today situations are any different would definitely be deceiving.  We may have all the right answers to why we should do something different to come up with, but we too would be deceived.  The solutions we want are usually a lust of the eyes, or flesh.  We want something different than our present circumstances.  We want something different than the Lord has presented to us or our husbands present to us. If we think they are wrong we must rectify the situation by convincing ourselves that surely God or our husbands would want something different for us if they loved us as they say. 

In Job there was a verse that I always remembered where Job asked his wife a question.  Job 2:10  What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil.  All that happened to Job taught him humility and who he was before God.  I am sure it taught his wife humility also.  If you look up humility or humble in the Bible you will see that is where the Lord wants us to be.

So my conclusion over the years about arguing with my husband is as follows.

1.       Do not try and change or come up with solutions to your circumstances.  Leave this to the Lord and my husband.  They are the responsible ones for it. 

2.    Do not think that my situation is different than the women in the Bible and the solution I make might be better this time.

3.    Do not take any advice from anyone, NO MATTER WHAT, or WHO if it is different than the Lord’s or my husband’s decisions.  Remember that as a child of God and wife, I am under the authority of the Lord and his word and my husband only.  Not my mother, sister, brother, friend, or Pastor (glad I did not listen to advice a pastor gave me once about my husband) , etc.  They all have different situations in their lives than mine.  They are not responsible for the decisions. 

4.    Never base whether the Lord or my husband LOVES me based on what they allow or not allow in my life.  

5.     Do not base the Lord or my husband’s LOVE on whether they did not choose my opinion of a situation. They do love me and to think different is from the enemy. 

6.    When a decision is made I should cheerfully support my husband as his help mate. 

7.     If it goes badly to not look back and point the blame, but to encourage my husband with my love for him as God has intended me to do.  Just like I would want my husband to do when I make mistakes.

I am not speaking here of a husband that physically abuses their wives, but of a husband who loves the Lord and is seeking to do what he thinks is right.  Remember my human husband may not be right (He is not God), but that God works all things out for good to those who love Him.  Yes, you may suffer, but it is much better to suffer together than to be at odds and live with anger.

RESULTS - The other day my husband thanked me for staying with him during all the circumstances that have led us to living in a 16ft trailer.  This only increased his love for me and me for him.

Nana

USING ANTIQUES IN THE KITCHEN

I so enjoy using antiques in my kitchen.  I feel like the use of them would have put a smile on the previous owners face.  All the hard work they did in the kitchens years ago.  Preparing food from scratch and satisfying their families and friends.  I now do a lot of  homemade cooking from scratch.  Some of our health problem require we do not eat certain preservatives that are in some food items.

Also I do not put these antiques in a dish washer.  I wash them by hand when I use them.  Dishwashers can strip the antiques of their colors.  Our ancestors washed these by hand.

This item is like the one my grandmother used to put bread in.  It is called a bread box.  This was not hers, but I found one just like it.

Here are some of the containers that store in this old bread box.

The toaster is sitting on an antique tray.  It sure comes in handy holding all these kitchen items.  It catches the crumbs from the toaster.  The cup is an antique also.  As you can see I am using it to hold the measuring spoons.

The small red and yellow containers were used to store things in the refrigerator.  I remember my grandmothers having these.  I put butter in the red container.  The yellow one is empty right now.  The salt and pepper shaker are also antiques.

These small refrigerator containers are great for storing small things.

I keep tooth picks in this container.  I like using them for testing baked goods.

These bowls sit on my counter top.  I use the blue one a lot, as there is only my dear husband and me.  I have used the large red one when raising bread.  

This large dish rack is an antique large one.  I have not seen one this large.  Dishes were of course washed by hand as the dish washing machines were not the norm then.

These small crocks I have kitchen utensils in.

These cream pitchers now hold utensils that I use in the baking section of my kitchen.

As you can see these old jars now hold cookies for snacking.  The lids I did paint.  A lot of them were old Best Food mayonnaise jars.

This older jar that has a canning seal and lid on top holds my peppermint tea.

I actually use these bowls in my baking section of the kitchen.  The jars up above hold Splenda Blends.

These are older recipe boxes.  These recipes boxes are colorful and a lot of fun to use.

Actually using these for recipe boxes is a lot of fun.  I put my recipes that I use weekly in them.

Last but not least, we use the old clock.  It is a lot of fun working with and by these antiques. Surrounded by objects that remind me of the past, not to mention just fun to use.

"THE LORDS" TRUCK LOAD

Some years back we were in a situation where our saws were not working. We did not have the money to do anything about it. I do not know why because of the years, but we had no way of having wood for our stoves that winter. The only source of heat at the time was our wood stoves.

We had no idea what we were going to do. I remember telling the Lord that we needed some means of getting wood. That he was the only one that could help us.

My hubby and my son decided one day after my prayer (which I had not told anyone) to take a different route home. If you ask them why they say they do not know why they did. The road was under these huge electric lines. There was a crew there cutting up juniper and putting it through a wood chipper.

My hubby and son asked them if they could have the wood they were cutting and they said yes. We think they were very relieved to not have to spend the time putting it through the chipper.

We brought truck load after truck load of wood home. We were not the only ones. While we were getting these loads a few others found out about it and they were supplied wood also free.

That wood lasted us a few years. The Lord always answers our prayers and when he says yes to a prayer, it is over and aboard what we have asked for.

The problem is Christians have to stop saying the word “I”. In other words we need to stop saying I can do this, or we can do this. We need to remember everything comes from the Lord and look to Him only. Of course we have to do our part. We still had to go get that wood and split it etc. But it is an attitude of looking to him for even the biggest or smallest thing in our lives. Not getting anxious about how “We” can do this but how will the Lord provide this so we can do it. We also have to realize He is God almighty and when we ask, we know He says yes or no and be satisfied with the answer. Look to Him for the way He wants our prayers answered. I so have to remind myself of this time and time again.

This picture of this truck is planted in my mind. There are so many pictures of how the Lord provided for us and still does. ASK the Lord for the answers!