Raising Godly Women

I have two girls. My goal in this life is to raise them to be godly women. I know there is a lot of information out there to help me to do just that. There are blogs, and more blogs, websites, books, seminars, bible studies, the list goes on forever.

Do you ever think there's too much help? Like so much help it actually makes something simple seem very complicated? That's how I feel sometimes. I think that I seek to do good and to do better and I seek help from all available means. My heart is in the right place and my motives our pure gold but my tool box is crowded.

How was raising godly women done in the past? How did Eve raise her children? How did Mary's mother raise such a pure and blessed woman that she was chosen by God to bear Jesus? Did they have classes? Mom's groups? Beth Moore? I don't think so. I think it was much easier. I think the way, although narrow, is straight...simple.

Titus 2: 3-5 says:
The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.


I'm not saying there isn't a place for help or advice, but if in the midst of all the help, if I find myself lost in the how-to's, I need to remember that my greatest resource will always simply be God's Word.

It may not lay it out step-by-step but I think there is a purpose in that. I think not having all the tips and tricks allows me to make raising my children my own undertaking, a more REAL effort and fulfillment of God's plan. Every woman is different and every plan God has for their life is unique. We need to embrace the individual tools he has already given us and KEEP IT SIMPLE!!!

If I need help, PRAY, READ, RELY ON GOD.

Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Dear Lord,
My prayer is simple, my request is simple. In your tender, loving way, as I seek Your kingdom and its righteousness, fill me with Your Holy Spirit and show me the way to raise my children. O LORD, in Your mercy, light the path with Your Word that I may teach my daughters to walk in holiness.

A Wife Who's Kind

This morning I got a link to the blog Grace Full Mom and she had an article called "A Kind Wife." In the article she tells of how she wrote down a list of things she could do to make her home better for her husband. The list had things like home-cooked meals, home-made bread, clean house, washed and ironed clothes, etc... . She wanted her husband to rank them most important to least important. Her husband, in reply, said none of that stuff really matters if when he came home at the end of the day she was frustrated, tired and snippy. All he wanted was A KIND WIFE. Yes, the chores need to be done, but don't work yourself so hard that there is no joy and kindness left for your husband and children.

I think this is very profound. How hard, I try everyday to be as perfect as I can be and get everything, and more, done. I am always trying to do more to please my husband and I need to realize that above all these things that I am trying to accomplish, the most important thing is to be a loving, happy, and kind wife and mother. <3

Proverbs 31:26 says: She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

Even though the proverbs 31 woman isn't idle (v.27) she isn't overworked either, or tired, or angry, or stressed. I know I will never be 100% proverbs 31 but I also know that in this life there won't be any who come to perfection. Only Jesus was perfect. Each day we just need to lean on the Lord and try to live our life as a homemaker in a way that pleases God, and I know that being kind is very pleasing to the Lord.

I will end with a challenge: don't just be kind, be kinder than necessary. If you want to overachieve or go that extra mile in anything, it should be kindness.

Meal Planning

I finally did it. I have begun planning my meals after going through the daily battle of asking my husband what he wants and him dying of starvation while I figure something out.

So far there have been some days where I have gone out for dinner or decided to make a dish for him that he wanted that was different from what I had planned. That's the beauty of it--it's not rigid. You can swap days or skip days depending on whats going on. I like that because sometimes I fly by the seat of my pants or something comes up and I need flexibility.

Having meals planned has also helped my grocery shopping IMMENSELY because I find I am spending less and my shopping is more focused. I didn't realize how much meal planning would help but I hope I can stick with it.

I found a grocery list template on google search from PracticalSpreadsheets.com. They have two available. One has the "staples" on it and one is blank. It looks like this:

 

When I downloaded it and opened it in Excel, I changed the color green to a light grey so I wouldn't waste color ink. I also may have changed a section name or two to make it fit my needs better but over all I am LOVIN' IT!!!

They also have a WEEKLY MEAL PLANNER spreadsheet that I think I'll use too that looks like this:



With this template I am also changing the color to white and grey and am changing the sections to: Lunch, Snack, Dinner, and Notes. Breakfast is always either pancakes or cereal. If I do something new for breakfast it would be so infrequent that I wouldn't plan for it.

I hope that these tools will help you get organized. I couple minutes of planning will save hours wasted.