The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood Part 6

Last time, we had the opportunity to study the life of Rebekah from Genesis 24. We discovered that not only was she a stay-at-home daughter, but she was also certainly deserving of the title “polished cornerstone”, due to her godly service and productivity in her father’s home. We studied Leviticus 22:13, as well, and learned that not only is stay-at-home daughterhood normative in the Scriptures, but God also outlined a system by which abandoned women who had lost their husbands would also be cared for and protected.



Today, we will study the lives of numerous other stay-at-home daughters. Before we do so, however, I want us to quickly learn from the lives of sisters-in-law Ruth and Orpah, whose stories also clearly outline the order described in Leviticus 22:13-the practice of divorced or widowed women returning to live with family members.

Ruth and Orpah

In Ruth 1:5, we read that both Ruth’s husband, as well as Orpah’s, died while they were living in Moab. In verse 8, their mother-in law, Naomi, admonishes them to, “Go, return each to her mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.” Noteworthy is the fact that, following the death of their husbands, Ruth and Orpah were told to return to live with their families. Why would this be if they had not been living there up until the time they married? If they had been on their own as daughters today are, then they would simply return to that lifestyle. Clearly, as in the examples given in Leviticus 22:13 and Genesis 38:11, daughters not only remained with their families until marriage, but they also returned to their family’s dwelling after the death of their husbands. At no time were they out on their own, independent from the protection, oversight, and provision of their parents.

This continuity in Scripture continues on through the account of Ruth and Orpah. In verse 15 of Ruth 1, we discover that Orpah has indeed chosen to return to her childhood home. Ruth, however, no longer desires the false gods of Moab and has no desire to return to her childhood home, for she now knew the one true God and desired to be with His people. So, what did she do? Did she decide to purchase her own dwelling, begin a career, and live on her own? By no means! Rather than going to live with her parents in the pagan city of Moab, she desired to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, as she returned to the godly city of Bethlehem (verses 16-17), and to take up residence with her there. So, we see that neither Ruth nor Orpah lived a solitary life following the deaths of their husbands. Orpah went to her mother’s house, and Ruth went to live with her mother-in-law.


This account represents not only the existence of the deep love and care which the Lord has for women who have lost their husbands, but also makes clear the design of stay-at-home daughterhood which God has set forth. It is a beautiful illustration of the glories of God’s wisdom and grace in providing women with a safeguard and means of protection and care. As I’ve expressed before, what a loving and caring God we serve!




Now let us turn to a study of the lives of other stay-at-home daughters mentioned in the Bible!

Rachel

We are first introduced to Rachel in Genesis 29, when Jacob arrives at her father Laban’s home. Previously, in chapter 28, we read of Jacob leaving (again, sons leave, but daughters are given!) home to find a wife among the household of Bethuel. Genesis 29:9 makes it clear that Rachel is residing at home, caring daily for her father’s sheep. She, being a grown woman, not only lived at home with her father (verses 9, 12, and 19), but was also diligent in making him and his household productive and fruitful. She was under the care of her father, caring for his sheep, until the time of her marriage. Rachel, like Rebekah, was clearly a stay-at-home daughter who worked with a servant’s heart to further the assets and industry of her household. She, too, served as a polished cornerstone!

Leah

Next in our list of stay-at-home daughters mentioned in the Bible, we come to Rachel’s sister, Leah. Leah was older than Rachel, but due to the fact that she was yet unmarried, she was dwelling in her father’s house along with her younger sister (as is made clear by verse 23; note-by referencing this verse, I am intending to simply show the fact that Leah was at home with her father; I do not, however, approve of the sin that takes place in this verse!). We are not told very much regarding Leah’s day-to-day life in her father’s home, but it does become clear through the reading of Genesis 29 that she was provided for by her father both prior to her marriage and at the time of her union with Jacob (verse 24; please note, however, that I am by no means advocating Laban’s sin of fooling Jacob and allowing polygamy! While he is to be commended for providing for and caring for the needs of his unmarried daughters, he was definitely not perfect!). While the passage of Genesis 29 leaves a lot to be desired in the areas of purity and honesty, it does represent to us the fact that, Biblically, daughters were expected to remain at home until marriage, and fathers were to lead, protect, and provide for them until they married.

Zipporah and her Sisters

To complete today’s study of Biblical stay-at-home daughters, we will turn to Exodus and learn from Reuel’s (also known as Jethro) daughter and Moses’ future wife, Zipporah, and her sisters.

Exodus 2:16,18 reveal that Reuel, the priest of Midian, had seven daughters, all of whom were living under his roof and caring for his flock. Not one of these daughters was pining away in an ivory tower in her father’s home, wasting her time, just waiting for Prince Charming to come. Neither were they feeling sorry for themselves, that they were living at home with Reuel rather than “out in the world”. Likewise, not one daughter complained of drudgery. Rather, each one was actively serving her father and furthering the welfare of his household. Again, they were living examples of faithful, dutiful, polished cornerstones! In verse 21, Reuel gives (there’s that word give again!) his daughter Zipporah to Moses, and so the transition from a submissive and industrious daughter-at-home to the status of wife and homemaker, is a smooth one.

As an additional note, I want to mention the fact that Reuel’s protection and care for his daughter Zipporah did not completely end when he gave her to Moses. Yes, Zipporah now had a new head and a new provider, but when the time came for Moses to leave to fight against Amalek (Exodus 17), Moses sent his wife to her father’s home (Ex. 18:2) to be cared for there during his absence. Here is another example of Leviticus 22:13 in action-when a woman’s husband leaves for one reason or another, she is not left alone, but is rather cared for again by her family at home, just as she was prior to marriage. Another beautiful example of this is that of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and his wife Anna. Prior to marriage, Anna dwelt with her family in their homestead, Cottage Home.1 After they were married and the time came for Jackson to leave in order to fight in the War Between the States, Anna went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Page. Mr. Bill Potter, in his excellent work Beloved Bride, recounts what happened next, “In May [of 1861], pursuant to his [Thomas’] wishes, she closed up their Lexington home, sent the family servants to ‘good homes among the permanent residents,’ and moved back to Cottage Home in North Carolina.”2 While some might call this being treated like a doormat and child, I believe that Stonewall held in his heart such a tender, caring, protective love for his beloved wife, that he desired for her to be cared for and protected well while he was away. What a blessing this must have been, ladies! Just like Moses, Jackson did not want his wife to be alone worrying while he was away in the War. Rather, he wanted her to be surrounded with family and friends, and cared for lovingly during this difficult time while he was absent.

In Conclusion

And so concludes our study of stay-at-home daughters in the Bible! As you can see, not only was stay-at-home daughterhood commanded (Num. 30) and referred to (Ps. 45:10,13; 144:12, 1 Cor. 7:36-38), but the Lord also provided us with examples of women living at home until marriage.



As was evident through this study, great blessings are to be had when family dynamics are conducted in such a way as to have adult daughters remain at home until marriage. Just as the glories and blessings of this practice are both numerous and evident, however, so are the dire consequences which often follow an unmarried daughter’s departure from home. We will be addressing this next Friday, when we study the tragic account of Dinah.



*Please note that I am not saying above that a divorced or widowed woman is necessarily living in sin if she lives alone. More on that later, in an upcoming article!



Footnotes




1. Bill Potter, Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife, (The Vision Forum, Inc.) pg. 14



2. Ibid. pg. 41

A Whirlwind of Activities!

Just when one thinks that they know what the future week may hold, the complete unexpected occurs! :)


As you can tell from my most recent post before this one, I had every intention upon posting the next stay-at-home daughterhood article last Saturday. Well, needless to say, that did not happen. Much occured this past week, which I will share more on soon. However, I am currently working on that very article, and should be able to post it by no later than tomorrow. Daddy has had to work quite a bit more lately, so his schedule of when he's able to read over the articles has changed. Therefore, I should be able to post it sometime tonight perhaps, but if not, for sure by tomorrow.


Now that my picture procedure is up and running again, I can't wait to show you some pictures of our snow from last weekend. That will be coming soon (I have to save them to the computer first!), as will pictures from a delightful tea a friend of mine had Tuesday in honor of her birthday. Stay tuned! :)

Next Stay-at-home Daughterhood Article Coming Tomorrow!

This week's article is currently being rewritten and expanded and will therefore be posted tomorrow! :)

Please check back then. Thank you for your patience!

Praise the Lord! :)

I was conducting some research on my blog just now, trying to come up with a way to fix my picture problems. Well, as I was doing so, I came across a new and improved way of editing posts. While reading about it, I discovered that it also pertained to adding images to posts. Thinking that if I  "installed" this new editing feature that my problems would be solved, I did so and, by God's glorious grace, can now post pictures again! Yay! :)

Now scroll down to see a darling picture of Andrew and Winston that I've been wanting to post so badly, but couldn't due to my picture issues! :)

Too Cute for Words! :)

Yes, they really were both asleep! :)

The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood Part 5

Before we go on to learn from the life of Rebekah in Genesis 24, there is one last passage I want us to quickly study.

Leviticus 22:13

This passage proclaims the following: "But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof." I find this passage to be important, for at least two reasons, when it comes to defending the Biblical doctrine of stay-at-home daughterhood.

First, notice the phrase as in her youth. As we discovered in part 2 of this article, the phrase "in her youth" refers to the average marital age, a time, in this case in a woman's life, when she is likely to get married. This phrase does not refer to a little girl; it clearly pertains solely to adult women. In this verse from Leviticus, we see that up until the time of this woman's marriage, she was in her father's home. She was not, as I have reiterated numerous times in previous articles, out on her own providing for and protecting herself and serving as her own independent authority. She was clearly, according to this verse, living in her father's home under his care until her marriage. Being widowed or divorced, she does not return to a life of independence (for she had had no such life to return to!), but rather to her former life under her father's roof.

Second, notice where the widowed or divorced woman resides. This grown woman lives in her father's house! Today, many would see this as weird and needless. However, this practice of a woman who no longer had a husband returning to her father's home as in her youth was common for centuries in our own country! If a woman who was left alone without a husband no longer had a father who was living, she would go to live with an aunt and uncle, brother, or some other relative. The principle was that she was not to be left alone to care for herself. She was to be protected and provided for, so that she would not be under the Double Curse! This is precisely what we see in Leviticus 22:13. Genesis 38:11 reveals that this was a common occurrence in the lives of abandoned women. They went to live with their fathers, just as they had before their wedding day. This is illustrative of the fact that God, in His perfect wisdom and loving design, has so ordained matters as to keep women, whatever their age, under protection, provision, and care. What a loving God we serve!

Lest we think that this was solely an Old Testament practice, let us turn to John 19:26-27 and see how Jesus felt about this issue. This passage proclaims, "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved [meaning John], he saith unto his mother, 'Woman, behold thy son!' Then saith He to the disciple, 'Behold thy mother!' And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." When He made this proclamation, Jesus was hanging on the cross, knowing that His death was imminent and He would no longer be there to provide for and protect his mother (for, even after He arose from the dead, He would soon be ascending back into Heaven, thus leaving her alone). Understanding this and desiring to keep Mary provided for and protected, he ordered John to take care of her. From then on, not only did he provide for her needs, but she lived in his home. Again, the principle of women not being off on their own, but rather being provided for and protected is seen, this time through the example of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Evidently, this practice is by no means one that was abolished with the coming of the New Testament, nor is it to be done away with or disregarded today. The protection of women is still high on God Almighty's list of important doctrines, and the practice of women being protected and never being out on their own is one which He desires for us to continue today.

For the last few weeks, we have had the privilege of studying quite a few wonderful verses pertaining to the glories of stay-at-home daughterhood. Now it is time to see stay-at-home daughterhood in action!

The Life of Rebekah, Stay-at-home Daughter

Not only are the Scriptures replete with passages proclaiming and commanding stay-at-home daughterhood, God has also graciously given us examples of stay-at-home daughters in His Holy Word. Through studying these women of God, we are able to acquire a glimpse into the dynamics of stay-at-home daughterhood and are provided with valuable lessons as to how a daughter at home is to conduct herself and spend her time.

We are first introduced to Rebekah in Genesis 24, where we read that Isaac is ready to be married and his father Abraham sends out a servant to find a godly woman for him to marry. The servant meets Rebekah at a well and is blessed by her servant's heart. Verses 23 and following make it clear that this young woman is still living in her father's house. For example, when asked by the servant about the home, she knows the condition thereof (she is not living off on her own and in need of asking her father about the current condition of the household before she can answer!). She speaks of them (including herself in the family residing in that home) being happy to lodge the servant there, and in verse 55 we see that her family wanted her to remain at home a couple more days before travelling to her future husband's home. It is made evident throughout the chapter of Genesis 24 that this unmarried woman was at home with her family, in her father's household. Again, she was not off on her own, independent, and doing her own thing, as so many unmarried daughters are today!

We will touch on this in a future article, but I want to quickly address Rebekah's daily life in her father's household. She clearly did not consider it a life of drudgery or slavery to be at home with her father, despite the fact that she was a grown woman. Rather, she was joyfully dedicated to serving her family and those around her and intent upon making her household a fruitful, productive place. I truly believe Rebekah could be referred to as a true polished cornerstone, don't you?

In Conclusion

Today we have been able to study both a wonderful verse making clear the Biblical practice of stay-at-home daughterhood, as well as an account of a Biblical stay-at-home daughter. I hope you have been blessed through today's studies and that the Lord continues to reveal to you the joys and blessings of the Scriptural doctrine known as stay-at-home daughterhood!

*Please return next Friday for the continuation of our study of stay-at-home daughters in the Bible!

　
　
　
　
　

Today is the 37th anniversary of the monstrosity known as Roe v. Wade

Today marks the 37th anniversary of the passage of one of the most vicious and despicable decisions ever made by the United States Supreme Court. Since this infamous date in history, 51 million innocent human lives have been murdered. So often, we fail to realize just what a vile statistic this is-we can't even fathom how many is the huge number of 51 million precious babies.

Not only this, but no less than 120,000 babies will be murdered today, and the lives of the mothers will be terribly changed forever. Some of these women may not even survive the procedure. Others will have to live with the guilt and pain that such an action brings.

For the next week or so, due to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we'll be taking a look at this issue through various articles which will be posted on this blog.

Stay tuned!

Lots of Pictures Coming Soon......

.....hopefully! It all depends upon whether or not my picture pop-up window will fix itself! :/

The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood Part 4

Because this article series underwent a hiatus of a few weeks, I encourage you to click here to read the previous articles before continuing on with this one!

　
We have, in the most recent two parts of this particular article, studied three wonderful passages of Scripture which pertain to and proclaim stay-at-home daughterhood as God's design for unmarried women. We will now move on to study a few more passages today.

Genesis 34:9

Genesis 34:9 says, "And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you." Unfortunately, many today view this verse and others like it with great disdain, for they feel that it makes daughters out to be nothing more than things or possessions to be given and taken. However, I think this is the wrong way to view these passages; such a view fails to truly discover what these verses are teaching. It becomes clear through this verse and others (such as Gen. 34:16, 21; 36:2; Ex. 34:16; Jdg. 3:6; Jdg. 21:7; Exra 2:61; 9:2,12; Neh. 10:30; Neh. 13:25; and Jer. 29:6) that daughters were at home until marriage-their fathers gave them in marriage and they were taken from their father's house by the man who would be their husband (or, in some cases, by someone representing the future husband, as in Genesis 24). The daughters in the above mentioned verses were not out on their own, having been "given" to the world. Rather, they were right at home until the time when they were given in marriage.

Sons Leave, Daughters are Given

Throughout the Scriptures, we see examples of sons leaving their childhood homes in order to go out and find a wife. Time and time again, however, we do not see daughters leaving, but rather being given in marriage. While sons leave, daughters remain in their father's household until the time of their wedding. Passages such as Matthew 22:30 and Mark 12:25 illustrate this difference, as well, and reveal that the Old Testament principle of sons leaving and daughters being given has in no way been abolished. I encourage you to dedicate some time this weekend to studying the Scriptures (such as Genesis 24, Genesis 29, and others) and to read the accounts they provide us with of sons leaving to acquire a wife versus daughters remaining at home until marriage. For more on this topic, please refer to part 3 of this article, where Psalm 144:12 was covered and this very issue was addressed.

1 Corinthians 7:36-38

Lest we begin to think that the doctrine of stay-at-home daughterhood is taught solely in the Old Testament, let us now turn to 1 Corinthians 7. As you may know, the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 7 is dedicated to the subject of marriage. Verses 36-38 say, "But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them marry. Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, doeth well. So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better." A better translation of "his virgin" would be "his virgin daughter", but even without that precise wording in the passage, the wording of these verses and context of the phrase "his virgin" reveal to us that Paul is speaking here of a man and his virgin daughter. Clearly, in a situation such as this, a father had made a vow to the Lord to keep his daughter from getting married. If his grown daughter desires to marry and he permits this, he is not sinning, despite the fact that he kept not his vow (vs. 36). Having uncovered these facts, there are two lessons for us to learn from these verses.

First, notice that not only does the father have the authority to give his daughter in marriage, but he also has the authority to forbid her from marrying (the same is clear in Numbers 30, as well). This is a gracious safety net which the Lord has mercifully provided for the well-being of daughters. Women are by nature emotional creatures, and when a woman is interested in someone, it can be all too easy for her to overlook the flaws this person possesses. At times, there are dangerous and destructive flaws in young men which only a father who is emotionally detached from the young man can see. So, first we see that a father has the authority to determine whether or not his daughter will be allowed to marry.

Second, notice the words "keep" and "given". These signify the fact that a daughter is expected to be in her father's household if she is unmarried. She is not to be off gallivanting on her own, fending for herself and acting as her own authority and provider. God's design is that an unmarried woman live in her father's house until marriage. If she marries, she will then be given to her husband and will leave her father's household in order to make a new home with her husband. If she does not marry, however, then her father keeps her-she remains in his household. It is evident through these verses that the unmarried daughter has not been given away already by being surrendered to the world to live on her own, as so many of today's daughters are!

In Conclusion

For many years, the words "Who gives this daughter in marriage?" have been asked by the minister at the beginning of a wedding ceremony. While they once meant something and carried with them Biblical significance, today they are, for the most part, little more than empty words. While they still signify Scriptural teachings and the remnant of a Biblical worldview, they are empty because the vast majority of today's brides have already been given away, not to a husband, but to the world. Oh, that the church of Jesus Christ would have her eyes opened to the beauty of this question and once again hold fast to the wise and loving practice of stay-at-home daughterhood!

*Please return next Friday for our study of the stay-at-home daughters of the Bible and what we can learn from their lives!

Picture Problems.....

I've been having trouble lately trying to upload photos to my posts. When I go to click on the upload photo button, the window that usually pops up won't. Are any of you having this problem, as well? Do you know how to fix it? Thanks! :)

The End of a Trip......and the Beginning of a Giveaway!

I don't have a long time to be on here currently, but I did want to hop on over to say that, first of all, we're back safely from our trip to visit family in Texas and Arkansas. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone, and the Lord greatly blessed us with safety throughout our journey.

Second, I have an exciting announcement to make. My friend Jasmine is hosting yet another wonderful giveaway on her blog. The prize this time is a copy of the new DVD project by the Botkin family entitled Homeschool Dropouts. I am so thankful to the Lord for this new endeavor, as it addresses an issue which has been on my heart for some time now, as well. When you study the homeschool movement of the 1980s, you discover just how much our parents fought for the liberty to homeschool their children. Now, the baton is being passed to us-the homeschooled children of these great men and women. Will we continue on with a vision of victory for homeschooling? Or will we, as so many have, drop the baton and refuse to go on? Through researching and writing for this blog and simply observing many of the homeschooled young women in my local homeschool group, one thing that keeps bombarding me is the fact that, sadly, the vast majority of female homeschooled seniors are not preparing for homemaking, motherhood, and homeschooling. Instead, they are planning to go off to college and prepare for careers-careers which, if not ended once their children are school-aged, will prevent them from homeschooling. It's a sad epidemic which is plagueing the homeschool movement, a movement begun, largely, for the express purpose of parents being able to spend more time with their children, build a stronger family unit, and instruct their children in the ways of the Lord, that they, too, might homeschool their own one day and continue the mission of high education and Biblical discipleship.

Clearly, if we-the second generation of homeschoolers-do not purposefully prepare now for the high and noble task of homeschooling our own children one day, the liberty our parents fought for will be lost.

For more information on Homeschool Dropouts, the newly-released DVD produced by the five Botkin children, please click here.

To enter the giveaway, journey on over here.

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Speaking of projects, be sure to check back, as I will be announcing my very own project soon! Hint: it has to do with the printed page. ;) Feel free to leave your guesses in the comment section!

Greetings from Arkansas! :)

Busyness and Thank-Yous! :)

Hello, everyone! How are you? Did you all enjoy a beautiful and memorable Christmas with your families? I sure hope so! I also pray that through the joys and fun of decorating, making Christmas cookies and candies, wrapping gifts, unwrapping gifts :), etc., we remembered the greatest and sadly, most overlooked gift of all-our merciful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who came to earth, died and rose again that we might have everlasting life. Glory be to God!

I'm sure all of you are just as busy as the rest of us, and are feeling as if time is simply flying by! That's the way we've been feeling lately! :) As you've all probably noticed, I'm taking a break from the stay-at-home daughterhood article series right now, due to this busy Christmas season, along with the fact that we will soon be out of town visiting family in Arkansas and our old home state of Texas. For these reasons, there will not be a stay-at-home daughterhood article posted until Friday, January 15. So, mark your calenders now and be sure to join us for the continuation of this series! If you have been unable to read the past articles, I encourage you to do so now during this little break from the series!

I now want to publicly thank some dear young women who have supported me in amazing ways. I have been so very, very blessed by ladies who have read my article series and who are posting about it on their sites, in the hopes of telling more and more people about it, so that they can read it, too. That means so much to me, and I therefore what to publicly mention the three that have done so and encourage you to learn from their great website ministries, as well!

The first young woman to link to my series was Erica over at A Still Small Voice. Miss Erica is such a sweet young woman with a great website! :) I have benefitted greatly from her writings since I first came across her site when she mentioned that she had linked to me, and I'm sure you will, as well. Please go take a look at her site! And, Erica, thank you so much for linking to me; that was sweet of you!

A huge thank you to Miss Courtney and Miss Katie from Stay-at-home Daughters! This is a really awesome site owned by two wonderful young women who are dedicated to being godly daughters. I was so blessed to discover that they had posted about my series on their site. Please go take a look at their great work!

Last, but by no means least, Miss Sarah Kanz, a 33 year old stay-at-home daughter, deserves a big thank-you. She, too, has supported my series in a special way. I have learned so much from Sarah since I came across her site via Stay-at-Home Daughters a couple months back, and I am thrilled to say that she will be joining us near the end of this series. She has agreed to be interviewed and to impart to us the wisdom she has aquired through her years as a joyful and faithful stay-at-home daughter.

Again, thank you so much, ladies, for spreading the news about my series! May the Lord greatly bless each one of you!

And, thank you readers, for sticking with me every step of the way. May God bless you with a wonderful New Year!

The Sufficiency of Scripture Conference was a success!

Praise the Lord! The Sufficiency of the Scripture Conference, held this past weekend in Kentucky, was a resounding success! We wanted to attend, but were unable to do so. Praise God for what He is doing, however! If you'd like more information about the conference or would like to order the messages from it, please check out these links:

http://ncfic.org/conferenceaudiopreorderIC

http://ncfic.org/conferenceaudiopreorder

http://www.facebook.com/NCFIC?ref=ts

If you'd like to enter a giveaway of the CDs, please click here. Hurry; the giveaway ends tonight!

PLEASE be in prayer for my great-grandma and great uncle right now!

More details to follow.....

Thank you!

The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood Part 3

Last Friday we studied a most important chapter of God's Word, Numbers 30. We discovered that this is a passage which so eloquently reveals to us the Lord's plan for daughterhood. It is now time for us to delve into further passages pertaining to the God-given roles and sphere of unmarried daughters.

Psalm 45

This psalm is a beautiful portrayal of a royal wedding, a wedding which is symbolic of our Lord and His chosen people (I encourage you to read the entire psalm, but again, for our purposes today and due to article length, we will only be addressing certain verses of this passage). In this wonderful account, we see that a royal daughter is marrying a great king, and through this story, I believe there are two lessons for us to grasp.

First, in verse 15 we see that this young woman is entering into the king's palace to be joined to him in marriage. At the very time when she is entering this royal home, she is admonished to, "Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house" (vs. 10). Now, because this psalm is ultimately dealing with those the Lord has saved and the relationship they have with Him, we should interpret this verse as meaning that when we are joined to our Savior through His blessed salvation, we are to forget our old ways, old passions, sinful desires, and habits which are at odds with our new life in Him. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that this psalm is also referring to an earthly wedding, and so there are principles concerning family life for us to consider as well. Notice at what point she is commanded to forget her father's house. Is it when she reaches some magical age and goes off on her own, to be independent and autonomous? By no means. Rather, she is never admonished to forget her own people and her father's house until at the precise moment when she is entering the royal palace to unite with the king in marriage. Likewise, it is noteworthy to see what she is told to forget. Is she told to forget her independent life out on her own and her apartment? No! She's told to forget her father's house, thereby implying that she is in his palace (remember-her father was a king, as well!) up until the time she leaves to marry her future husband and to begin a new life in his palace. Verse 10 is in this psalm for a reason-it presents a picture to us of where a daughter is residing leading up until the time of her marriage. This interpretation is in keeping with Numbers 30 and other passages of the Scriptures (such as 1 Corinthians 7:36-38, which we will be studying next week) which present to us a picture of stay-at-home daughterhood.

Second, notice verse 13: "The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold." Commentators such as C.H. Spurgeon and Matthew Poole believe this verse to be referring to the fact that she is all glorious within, meaning that she has great inner beauty and strength of character. They also view verse 13 as addressing the fact that she is all glorious within the palace, a phrase which the NKJV adds to the verse in italics. Therefore, one of the clear meanings of this verse is that she is all glorious in her father's house (please note that it is likely referring to her father's house and not her husband's as the next two verses speak of her entering her future husband's palace to be wed). Not only is she not a drudge in her father's house (the sphere where she is up until her wedding day!), she is glorious within the royal palace! She is attractive and productive there. In fact, it is glorious for her to be in this sphere! It is a good thing that she is in her father's palace; it is not something to be shunned! She seems to be content in this sphere and is praised for being so. If she were a couch potato who heartily wished to be removed into some other home or sphere, she could not have been referred to as being glorious within the palace. Rather, I believe that this royal daughter knew well the fact that this was her God-given place and rejoiced in the thought of residing and working in this sphere which the Lord had prepared specifically for her. She was not pining away for Prince Charming or wishing she could lead an autonomous life out on her own somewhere. No, she was glorious within the palace! It would not be a glorious condition if this unmarried woman were off on her own, in her own home, independent from her family. She is glorious in the palace, partaking joyfully of the protection and authority it lovingly provides for her.

Also, from a study of the entirety of Psalm 45, it becomes clear that verse 13 could also be used to refer to this woman's future life as the wife of a great king, as commentators agree. She is glorious within his palace, for she is a true Proverbs 31 woman. Therefore, we see from verse 13 that it is glorious and noble for a woman of any age to be in the important, influential sphere which the Lord provided specifically for her-the home.

So, before continuing on to another verse study, let us recap. First, we saw in verse 10 that this royal daughter is in her father's home until marriage, and that upon the arrival of her wedding day is told to forget her former home. Second, we saw in verse 13, that prior to her wedding, this daughter was glorious within her father's palace. Verse 13 did not say a thing about her being glorious elsewhere, but expressly stated that she was glorious in the royal palace. Besides this, she is also glorious in that she has great inner beauty and is graced with upright character, and will likewise be glorious in her future husband's home.

Psalm 144

Now we can turn to another of my favorite passages, Psalm 144. This is one which we will be referring back to numerous times throughout the remainder of this series, so I will not address every detail of it here. However, it is a verse which most certainly needs to be addressed in this current article, because it, as well, provides us with a glimpse into God's plan for unmarried daughters.

Psalm 144 is a beautiful and eloquent psalm as well, and holds many similarities with Psalm 45. For example, Psalm 45 speaks of a woman being glorious within the palace, while Psalm 144:12b speaks of an unmarried daughter's role in the family palace. Likewise, while Psalm 45 speaks of the Lord and His relationship with His people, Psalm 144 outlines the many blessings enjoyed by a family who follows after the Lord and obeys His commands. I encourage you to read this psalm in its entirety, but for our purpose today, we will simply focus on verse 12, which says, "That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace." When addressing the subject of stay-at-home daughterhood, this verse is a very noteworthy one for several reasons.

First notice the differences between sons and daughters. They and their roles are not the same, nor should they be. The family who has been blessed by God has sons who are characterized by one certain set of traits and daughters who are characterized by another. Sons are referred to as plants grown up in their youth. God desires for young men to act as men-not as immature little boys. Now, what do mature plants do? They send out their seed. The seeds of the plant do not remain in the "home plant", so to speak, but are dispersed, much as arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior are dispersed (Ps. 127:5). These young men grow up and one day leave home to make a living for themselves, to search for and marry a wife, and to begin a family of their own. In other words, they leave. Remember this fact next week when we address the subject of sons leaving, but daughters being given!

Contrast the role of sons as plants with that of daughters. Daughters are referred to as "corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace". What is a corner stone and what are its roles and responsibilities? For millennia, pillars have been used to, in essence, hold up palaces and other structures. They were literally what kept the buildings from collapsing. Without the presence of pillars, the structures would have fallen to ruin. In his dictionary of 1828, Noah Webster describes a pillar as being "a supporter, that which sustains or upholds, that on which some superstructure rests". As one can see, a building's pillars served a crucially important purpose. Is it not amazing that daughters of the King are likened unto pillars? We know that daughters are called on to be pillars, but what are they to uphold? Verse 12 says that they are to serve as the kind of corner pillars which would support a palace. It is clear that the palace to which this verse is referring is the family home-our parents' household. Therefore, daughters are given the special role of literally upholding, stregthening and serving the home. This role is a crucial one which has been wisely given to them by Almighty God Himself- a role which, if not fulfilled properly, will result in the destruction and ruin of the household. Daughters are to help make their homes productive, hospitable, strong, comforting, welcoming havens. Clearly, therefore, the unmarried daughter is to be in her father's home, helping to fashion that home into a beautiful, thriving place and striving to make the household a more unified, thriving, loving unit. The Lord has given unmarried daughters a huge responsibility-a responsibility that simply cannot be obeyed or fulfilled if the daughter is not in the home she is called on to strengthen. Just as a palace without pillars will soon crumble and fall to ruin, so will a family whose unmarried daughters are not in the home, serving as pillars fashioned as for a palace. If daughters are not in the home, but rather off on their own somewhere, the household will begin to fall apart. The family will become less and less productive and will begin to lose some of its strength, productivity, and godly influence. It is therefore crucial that they remain in the home until marriage, faithfully submitting to and joyfully living out, the role of stay-at-home daughter which the Lord has ordained and fashioned for them. Families and homes whose unmarried daughters are busy about the home, seeking to make home life as productive and joyful as possible are described in verse 15 of this beautiful Psalm: "Happy is that people, that are in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord."

In Conclusion

Today we have had the privilege of studying two beautiful psalms which portray so eloquently the wonderful design God has fashioned for the home and for the lives of unmarried daughters. This design is not to be taken lightly, which we will discover even more in future articles. Next week we will continue to study passages of the Scriptures which portray stay-at-home daughterhood as God's plan for daughters. Following this, we will, the week after that, study daughters of the Bible and glean wisdom from their stories as to how we as unmarried daughters are to live our lives.

A Homemade Christmas!

As many of you may know, my dear friend Emily Rose came up with a great idea entitled A Homemade Christmas.

Also, as many of you know, I operate a home business sewing and selling tea cozies. As my contribution to A Homemade Christmas, I wanted to share with you my 4 new Christmas tea cozies. They make delightful home decor and add a cozy touch to Christmas tea time. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas

Gingerbread Christmas

Country Christmas

Christmas Poinsettia


For Christmas last year, Mama made me a Christmas tea cozy (which became the inspiration for my home business), that made my Christmas tea that year all the more special!

To join in on the homemade Christmas fun, please click here!

My List of 1000+ Gifts......Part 2!

To learn more about Multitude Monday, please click here. I'm beginning my journey of dwelling on and listing out the 1000+ things I'm thankful for. Here are numbers 11-20:

11. Dear friends and godly mentors in the blog world, such as:

12. Jasmine

13. Anna Sofia and Elizabeth

14. Hannah

15. Breezy

16. Emily Rose

17. Sarah

18. Blair

19. Jocelyn

20. Their blog posts and kind e-mails are such a great blessing.

What are you thankful for today?

A List of the Current Stay-at-home Daughterhood Articles

Due to the fact that many are traveling, shopping, visiting with family, putting up Christmas decorations, etc. today, I will not be posting the next article in the stay-at-home daughterhood series, as I'm sure many will not be taking the time to visit blogs today. I do, however, want to provide for you a convenient list of the current articles in the series, so that you can easily read any of the past articles that you may have not yet had a chance to go through.

Introduction to the Stay-at-home Daughterhood Article Series

Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design, and Purpose for Womanhood Part 1

Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design, and Purpose for Womanhood Part 2

Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design, and Purpose for Womanhood Part 3

Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design and Purpose for Womanhood Part 4

The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood Part 1

The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood Part 2

I hope you all had a very memorable and happy Thanksgiving yesterday! Due to the business of the holiday, I have been unable to respond to the most recent comments I've received regarding this series, but rest assured that I will definitely respond soon. Thanks for your patience and understanding! :) God bless!

Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation

Whether one agrees with Lincoln's politics or think he was way off base, I think we can all benefit from reading his 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation.

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward, Secretary of State

He's so correct in that America has been blessed beyond measure, yet we have forgotten the One Who has blessed us. We have trusted in our own wealth, our own fortunes, our own "might", that we have forgotten that everything we receive comes from the hand of the Father. If it weren't for His great blessings to us, we would have nothing. As is so often the case, great material wealth is the predecessor to great spiritual poverty, and that is precisely what we are experiencing in America today. We have forgotten God. On this Thanksgiving Day 2009, may we repent, turn from our wicked ways, and cry out to Christ for forgiveness and newness in Him. May we commit to never again trust in what we can do ourselves, but realize that each blessing we receive is from His hand. Lastly, may we remember that the same One Who gives, also at times takes away. Therefore, let us be ever grateful for each day and each gift He so graciously bestows upon us.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

7 Random Things....

My dear friend Jasmine posted 7 random things about herself today and tagged any of her readers who would like to the same thing. I thought it'd be fun, so here goes! :) Oh, and if you're reading this, then consider yourself already tagged!

1. I'm a fan of the Texas Longhorns' quarterback, Colt McCoy. He's a very outspoken Christian who is not afraid to give glory and praise where it is due!

2. I love to read and have often been caught reading while brushing my teeth. :)

3. I still don't have my learner's permit. There have simply been other things I've wanted to do than spend my time reading the drivers' handbook. ;)

4. I would very much like to live on a farm one day, and am into Victorian-style farmhouses, with big wrap-around porches.

5. I'm currently working on a book project! :) More about that later.....

6. I was terribly scared of having my baby teeth pulled. For me, it was pure torture, and I NEVER would have pulled my own! I sure hope I marry a man who doesn't have a problem with pulling teeth, because I do not think I'll be able to pull my children's!

7. Mama pointed out to me that on Sunday, December 6th, I'll be the exact same age as she was the Sunday she met Daddy. They were married a year later, and have been married 20 years. :)

Now, what are some random thoughts about you?

Rejecting the Twilight/New Moon Saga

The Twilight saga is seemingly taking over the world. What should we, as Christians, think about this phenomenon? How should the Biblically minded Christian view the Twilight books and movies? Are they ok, innocent fun? Or are they dangerous and destructive?

One thing for which I am so thankful this Thanksgiving season is godly friends who are not afraid to take on the controversial hot topics of our day. Friends who bless me so much through their astute observations of what's going on in the world around us (and sadly, what's going on in the church today!).

Three of those friends are Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin and Jasmine Baucham. These ladies have taken on the Twilight subject head on, with a goal to uncover the dangers thereof and to give an answer Scripturally as to why we should avoid these materials.

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Please read this great article entitled How Twilight is Re-vamping Romance by the Botkin ladies. They uncover the existence and dangers of emotional pornography and issue forth to us a sound, Biblical perspective on all things Twilight.

Next, please read a great article by Miss Jasmine Baucham entitled Abstaining From the Madness. She makes some great and much needed points, as well, as do many of the commenters who have left their thoughts.

I hope these articles bless you as they have me, and spur you on to rejecting Twilight and its dark influence and messages. Not only that, but I pray that you will stand up for the Scriptures and reach out to others and urge them Scripturally to reject the lies and evil intentions of Twilight, as well.

May God bless you as you strive to follow Him.

My list of 1000+ Gifts.....Part 1!

The other day, I came across a great (and very thought-provoking) post on my friend Breezy's blog. A woman had gotten the idea to begin on her blog a list of 1000+ gifts and blessings from the Lord which she is grateful for. In this Thanksgiving season (and beyond!), I think it would be good for all of us to really take the time to sit, be quiet, and ponder all the many, many blessings our merciful Lord has bestowed upon us.

I believe that so often we just give the Thanksgiving season merely a token nod. "Yes, we should count our many blessings", we say. But how many of us really take the time to do so? A subject I'm very passionate about (and there are many! ;) ) is slowing down and taking the time to be still and know that He is God. With that, comes the realization that we are nothing! Yes, we're created in the image of God and with that comes great worth. However, we are sinful, depraved, wretched human beings. Every one of us! With this knowledge, is it not amazing that our merciful Lord gives us the very air we breathe, let alone all the countless blessings we receive-and take for granted!-each and every day?

With that, I encourage you to join me as I ponder each Monday the many gifts and blessings bestowed so mercifully upon me by my gracious Lord. I know each of you has been blessed beyond measure, as well. So I encourage you to consider beginning your own lists!

Without further ado, here is my first group of great blessings which I am so very thankful for (and so unworthy of!).

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I am grateful for:

1. The fact that the Lord even created me and gave me life-simply an amazing thought!

2. My salvation-I have Christ's righteousness imputed to me, and now stand in God's sight redeemed. How blessed is this salvation!

3. My family! My loving, humble father is such a blessing. My mother has such a big, caring heart and derives such inexpressible joy through being a wife, homemaker, and mother; she daily makes it clear that there is simply no place she'd rather be than right here at home with us day in and day out. I am honored to be their daughter! My deep-thinking, very loving, joy-bestowing brother, Andrew. Being his sister is sheer joy each and every day.

4. My home! Not only do I have shelter over my head, but I have a warm, homey, inviting home to live in.

5. My pets. :) My sweet doggie Winston and my interesting cat Piper (named after John Piper) are such gifts. Observing their escapades and mock fights throughout the house each day brings such joy and fun to my life.

6. This season. The Thanksgiving and Christmas season is always so special. There's nothing quite like the feeling of this time of year! :)

7. My church! The Lord has brought us to be a part of a wonderful, intimate family of families. What a gift!

8. warm tea or hot chocolate on a cold winter's night

9. a rolling fire on a frigid night! :)

10. Christmas decor that adds such a festive touch to our humble abode.

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Please join me next Monday for my next list, and please really do consider making your own!

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? What blessings has this past year brought you? How has God been so good to you? I'd love to hear all about your gifts and to share in your joy!

The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood Part 2

*If you have not yet read the previous articles of this series, please click here to do so before continuing on.
　
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We discovered last week that even if God had not, in His Word, provided for us specific passages relating to the roles and duties of unmarried young women, we still would see, through observing the roles God has fashioned for women, that it is only proper that a young woman live at home with her parents until marriage. After all, she is a female, so why not prepare for (in the case of the roles of wife, helpmeet and mother) and live out now (in the case of being under the leadership, provision and protection of a man) the roles and responsibilities given to females? So, our main discovery last week regarding the Biblical case for stay-at-home daughterhood was that God provided for us a foundation for the doctrine of stay-at-home daughterhood when He issued forth to us His teachings regarding the roles of women. Our gracious God has, however, provided us with numerous passages on the topic of unmarried adult daughters as well-one of which we will be studying in detail today. Through the course of the following few weeks, we will continue to come into contact with other passages relating to the topic of unmarried daughters and the subject of what pursuits, and in what sphere, they are to spend their time.

Numbers 30

The first passage of Scripture we will study is the beautiful one of Numbers 30. What a rich treasure of teaching on Biblical daughterhood (and Biblical family life, for that matter!) this chapter presents to us! Through the reading of this passage, we can't help but discover the reality of the special love and special place our great God has in His heart for women, the weaker sex. He has provided a gracious design of special protection and provision for them. This chapter of the Bible reveals that a female's protection and a father's and husband's authority and leadership are of paramount importance in the sight of God. I encourage you to read the entire chapter of Numbers 30; but for now, we are simply going to focus on verses 2-9 which proclaim:

"2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. 3 If a woman also vow a vow unto the LORD, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth; 4 And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand. 5But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth, not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand; and the LORD shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her. 6And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul; 7And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. 8But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the LORD shall forgive her. 9But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her."

This passage of Scripture is one of the most eloquent and beautiful examples in God's Word of the fact that His design for the lives of unmarried daughters is that they live in their father's homes under their protection, provision and leadership until they are given in marriage. Some view this passage as one that simply proclaims that if an unmarried daugther in in her father's house, then he should exert authority over her, and that it is not expressly presenting a picture of stay-at-home daughterhood, or the precepts thereof. However, I think the truths of this passage are much richer and go far deeper than this notion allows. There are numerous points I would like to make regarding this chapter.

First, as you can see, a man is required by God to fulfill each and every vow and oath he has made, regardless of how unwise, detrimental, or rash it may have been. Our Savior in His abundant grace and mercy has provided a special blessing of protection and "a way out" for females, however. Women are, simply by nature, more gullible and rash (take the example of Eve, for instance), and so we sometimes find ourselves in uncomfortable and damaging situations due to our rash utterances, agreements, oaths and vows. The Lord is so gracious and forgiving, though! If a daughter or wife finds herself in an awkward or damaging situation due to some agreement or promise she has unwisely made, the Lord has so designed matters that her father or husband can reverse that vow-he is now responsible to the Lord for the oath or rash agreement, and the female involved is now mercifully released and forgiven, for her protector has overruled her-she is no longer required to fulfill that oath. The grace and mercy of the Lord shown forth in this beautiful passage amaze me! Women are more emotional beings, whereas men are more logical. This is how God has so designed us (these characteristics correspond perfectly with our roles!), and in so doing has provided women with a covering-a protection fashioned and ordained by the Almighty Himself! Why would any daughter want to be out from under the precious protection and authority that the Lord has lovingly placed over her and designed especially for her?

The Grave Importance of Vows

Lest we begin to think lightly of vows and fail to understand just how amazing our Lord's teachings in this passage are, let us study for a moment the dire importance of oaths made unto the Lord. The teachings and implications of Numbers 30 are simply astounding when one studies Ecclesiastes 5:4-5:

"4When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay."

Clearly, the Lord places a huge importance on vows and the keeping of them. Vows and oaths are very serious utterances which are not viewed lightly by God. When a person makes a vow, he is not only binding himself to the person to whom he has vowed, but ultimately to God Himself, as well. This is precisely why vows are so important and are not to be taken lightly-they are promises one has made in the sight of Almighty God. We read that it is better not to make a vow at all than to vow and then not pay. In fact, our God views the vow-maker as a fool who is not pleasing to Him if he fails to carry through with his promise. Yet Numbers 30 teaches us an amazing truth-despite the huge importance in God's eyes of vows being kept, there are two things of even greater importance in the eyes of God: 1) the leadership and authority of a father and husband and 2) the protection, care, and security of a wife and daughter. In God's eyes, these roles are crucial and of more importance than the keeping of vows. Is that not amazing? Does this not provide us with a glimpse into the heart of God as it pertains to the lives of unmarried daughters? This eye-opening passage shows that it is of paramount importance in God's eyes that a female be under the protection and authority of a man. Numbers 30 shows the importance God places on this. Christians, we must strive to obey and live out this passage! However, it simply cannot be lived out and obeyed as it should be if an unmarried daughter is off on her own, independent from her father. If our Lord's teachings, as presented in Numbers 30, are to be fully embraced and lived out in day-to-day life, an unmarried daughter must be in her father's home until marriage-she simply cannot be on her own. This chapter leaves no room for "in between time" where a daughter is on her own, separated from and void of her father's full protection and authority between the time when she finishes her secondary education and when she finally gets married.

Some would attempt to point out that when Numbers 30 refers to the daughter in her father's house, it uses the words, "in her youth", striving to imply that this means that this passage before us is only referring to female children and married women-not grown daughters. There are a few points I would like to make in response to this argument, as well as to the argument outlined above which says that this passage is not teaching that unmarried daughters are to live at home until marriage, but simply that if they are at home, their father is to exert authority over them. I pray that this presentation would be a blessing to you.

Various Observations on the Text of Numbers 30

1. Notice the Context

Knowing the context of a verse, rather than trying to take a word or phrase from its context, is crucially important. Notice verses 5-7 of Numbers 30: "5But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth, not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand; and the LORD shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her. 6And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul; 7And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand." Notice the end of verse 5 and the beginning of verse 6. This woman goes directly from her father's authority and protection to that of her husband. There is simply no in-between time between verses 5 and 6. This daughter is never autonomous or separated from her family. She is, quite frankly, in her father's home until she lives in her husband's home. This is precisely what is seen in the context and the wording of these verses.

2. The word "woman"

When this passage refers to the daughter under her father's roof, it uses the word "woman". Numbers 30 is clearly not referring to a female child, but rather an unmarried adult daughter-a woman. Our Lord does not desire for His Word to be mysterious and unable to be understood. He has laid out His precepts in a clear fashion and they are to be taken literally. The Scriptures mean what they say and say what they mean. Thus, our Lord could have ordained that this passage said "little girl", "female child", or "maiden" (a word which usually refers to a young lady) if He were speaking of young girls. That is not the word presented in this passage, however. Instead, the word woman is presented, thereby showing that it is expressly referring to an adult daughter. In addition, little girls would not have been making vows, which further illustrates that our Lord is referring to adult daughters.

3. "In her youth"

Interestingly, the precise phrase that many attempt to pull out of its context in order to support their view, actually proves them to be wrong. Many take this phrase and say that it proves that only little girls are being addressed in the verses dealing with daughters. However, this kind of phrase is a common one in the Scriptures, and refers to the normative age of one who is getting married. In other places of God's Word, the terms "of his youth" or "in his youth" refer to the time of marriage or procreation. For example, consider Proverbs 5:18: "Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth" (see also Malachi 2:14-15). Likewise, Psalm 127:4 says, "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are the children of the youth." Through study of these verses, we are presented with the true meaning of the phrase "in her youth" as presented in Numbers 30- an unmarried daughter who is of marriageable age is under the direct care and protection of her father until marriage. In speaking of the phrase "in her youth", in verse 3, Mr. Poole writes, "In her youth; and this clause is added not by way of restriction, as if virgins in their riper years were freed from their parents' jurisdiction, and at their own disposal, (which undoubtedly they are not,) but way of addition, or amplification..." (2)

4. "In her father's house"

Verses 3 and 16 speak of an unmarried daughter being in her father's house. Some, when addressing this passage, say that an unmarried daughter can be under the authority and protection of her father while living on her own somewhere. However, I beg to differ. This passage is not simply referring to a father's authority, provision and protection over his daughter. Even if it were, it would still imply that in order for a daughter to be fully under her father's care and leadership as outlined in this verse, she would need to be in her father's house-not somewhere separated from him and fending for herself. Rather, this passage shows unequivocally that, according to the law of God as presented in this chapter, an unmarried daughter is living in her father's house until marriage. Likewise, a father would not be able to hear his daughter's vows if she was separated from him in location, which further expresses that she is to be in her father's home. Speaking on the phrase "being in her father's house" in verse 3, Puritan Matthew Poole (1624-1679) writes, "Being in her father's house, i.e. under his care, power and government, which she is whilst she continues in her father's house, being a virgin, as appears by the opposition of a married woman, ver. 6, and of a widow, and divorced woman, ver.9, and by this phrase of being in her father's house, for when she marries, she is removed into her husband's house, Ruth i.9." (1)

5. The status of a divorced or widowed woman

Very noteworthy is the fact that the only women not under the authority of a husband or father is a divorced or widowed woman. A woman in this position is in charge of her own vows. Thus, the unmarried adult daughter is not to be on her own, for the only group of women that is to follow through with their own vows, no matter what, is the women who are divorced or widowed, as they are their own authority. The unmarried adult daughter, therefore, is not to be on her own fending for herself!

6. Adult daughters are addressed

If one holds to the notion that an unmarried adult daughter is free to be out on her own, autonomously fending for herself and being her own authority, separated from the direct authority, protection, and provision of her father, then why is this group of female not addressed in Numbers 30? If the verses pertaining to daughters are only referring to little girls, then why does God not address the group of women who are unmarried and have never been married? Did God forget about them? Here we have a passage addressing the roles of women who are in each stage of life. So, if one believes that the verses pertaining to daughters is addressing only little girls, then one comes face to face with a problem: God forgot to address unmarried adult daughters! However, I think it is rather clear that God did not fail to address this age group and status of women. Rather, He clearly addresses them in the verses speaking of daughters in their father's houses. According to Numbers 30, adult daughters who are unmarried are to be under their father's roof. This is what Numbers 30 is teaching.

"Yes, but that is Old Testament Law!"

I believe we have outlined and expressed the fact, from Numbers 30, that God's design for an adult, unmarried daughter is for her to live in her father's home until marriage. However, some, even if they do believe that this is what Numbers 30 is clearly setting forth, are unwilling to abide by this passage, as they view it as Old Testament law which no longer is to be obeyed, especially not by New Testament Christians. However, there are a few points I would like to quickly make regarding this argument, as well. First, the Old Testament laws pertaining to sacrifices are fulfilled in Christ, and no longer have to be obeyed by us, for Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of our sins. Likewise, the ceremonial laws, laws pertaining to feasts, special days and celebrations, etc. are no longer binding either. Paul writes in Colossians 2:16, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of a new moon, or of sabbath days." However, the Old Testament moral law is still binding to this day. Included in this is Numbers 30 and its teachings, for this passage refers to the roles of men and women and to Biblical family dynamics-topics which are unchanging in God's Word. Second, there are passages in the New Testament itself (which we will study in the coming weeks) which speak of unmarried women living at home until marriage. Clearly Numbers 30 is a portion of Old Testament law which is still binding on the followers of God today and thus is to be obeyed.

In Conclusion

In closing, I pray that you have been blessed through this study of Numbers 30. This chapter is a wonderful, yet often overlooked, ignored, and misunderstood one. It is of just as much importance today as it was in the day it was first proclaimed. God has ordained by His wisdom, love and grace, that an unmarried, adult daughter remain in her father's home until he gives her in marriage. This design is not made in order to try to enslave her, treat her like a child, steal opportunities from her, or any such thing. Rather, it is made so as to strengthen the family (and as a result, the church and society as a whole, as well!) and to lovingly protect the women involved. Our God knows our weaknesses, knows our need for protection, care, and security, and so has fashioned our unmarried years and our roles so as to keep us in a sphere of great importance, safety, and productivity: the home! Blessed be the great name of the Lord!

Footnotes:

1. Matthew Poole, Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Whole Bible Vol. 1: Genesis to Job, pg. 327 (Hendrickson Publishers, 2008)

2. Ibid.

Any thoughts?

Though you all seem to be very interested in the stay-at-home article series (for which I am very thankful!), I'm sure there are other topics you would like to see covered here. Some time ago, I began Question and Answer Week, where you could ask me questions and then I would post my answers for everyone. I'm going to begin doing this again, in the hopes of better serving each of you and answering any questions you may have.

Perhaps you are in a different boat and instead of having a question, you would simply like to see me write about a certain subject. Please let me know what you would like to see covered here in the next few weeks.

Thank you for your input!

The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood Part 1

If you have not yet read the first articles in the stay-at-home daughterhood article series, please click here and do so now.

For centuries, the cultural norm here in the West was for a daughter to remain under her father's roof until the time when she was given in marriage. This becomes evident through a study of history and through an observance of the books, laws, and other works produced through the ages in the countries of the West (America and the United Kingdom being especially noteworthy). These works portray the cultures of these countries as they were years ago and reflect the fact that stay-at-home daughterhood was once a popular, common-place, and even expected way of life for unmarried daughters.

For example, in Jane Austen's famous novel Emma (published in England in 1816), the central character, 21 year old Emma Woodhouse, joyfully spends her unmarried years in her father's home. She makes it clear time and again throughout the novel that she could not be happy living anywhere else, but rather delights in serving her father and caring for his needs. Likewise, we see in Pride and Prejudice (another of Miss Austen's books, this one published in 1813) that characters Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have five unmarried daughters (who range in age from 15 to 22 when the novel first begins), all of whom are living at home with their parents. This was typical! It was the norm that unmarried daughters would remain at home, caring for the needs of others, furthering their educations, etc. until the day they married. This is how family life operated at that time. Whether a family was Christian or not, during that time period, the family held to and functioned according to Biblical teachings on the subject of the role of unmarried daughters.

Changes for the Worse

This slowly began to change, however, with the advent of feminism and the "women's rights" movement. Now daughters were being told that they could not possibly be happy or productive at home (I think, however, that Emma Woodhouse proved that wrong, don't you?). Daughters began to be brainwashed into thinking that they were succumbing to a life of victimhood, slavery, and inferiority to men if they continued to live and work in their parents' homes until marriage. Slowly (at first!) but surely, daughters began to buy into these lies and in response, left their homes and families in pursuit of college educations and independent careers. Rather than delighting in the work and sphere of womanhood and diligently furthering their educations while remaining in that sphere, women began to seek the roles and responsibilities of men. Through doing so, they began to lose pieces of their distinct femininity. They began to give up the unique glories of womanhood as created by God in order to trade them in for the life of the double curse and pseudo-manhood. With the coming of the radical, militant feminism of the 1960s came an even greater reduction in the number of young women remaining at home until marriage. From the late 19th century to today, the number of stay-at-home daughters has been dramatically reduced. No longer are unmarried daughters who are joyfully and productively living at home a common sight as they once were. Instead, the rise of feminism brought with it a new occurance.

Today, following high school graduation, unmarried females are expected to leave home to pursue an independent job or college education. They are being surrendered to the world by their families, thus becoming cut off from the care, provision, authority, protection and leadership of their fathers. Young women are, in startling numbers, being shipped off to colleges, and following their college graduation, are then expected to find a home and job of their own, independent from their families and their father's roof, care and counsel. As Mr. Voddie Baucham has so truly and aptly put it, these young women are being surrendered to the wolves to fend for themselves and to take on lives as pseudo-men as soon as they reach that magical age of 18.

Many view this now common occurrence as "progress" that frees those "poor female victims" from the leadership, provision, security and protection they were under as children. Others do not hold to such a radical stance on the subject, but they, as well, support this way of life for daughters, for they view it as a way to "broaden a young woman's horizons and opportunitites".

Sadly, there is just as much confusion in Christian cirlces today regarding the roles and responsibilities of unmarried females as there is in the world. Countless Christians are so caught up (as I once was!) in the culture and its teachings that they have given little to no thought to the question of what a newly-graduated young woman should spend her time doing. They've simply bought hook, line, and sinker into the lies of this world which proclaim that the college and career lifestyle is the only acceptable one for young women. Unfortunately, they also hold to the belief that the lives of their unmarried daughters can and should look exactly the same as that of their sons, with no uniqueness between the professions and pursuits of the two genders. Very few Christians today in an age of relativism and Biblical illiteracy have the slightest idea that there may be a better way for daughters, and even fewer take the time to study God's Word to seek to discover what God Almighty has to say on this subject. After all, many hold to the idea that God does not even address this topic, but rather just leaves us to our own wisdom, plans and desires. Nothing, dear reader, could be further from the truth God has provided for us in His Word everything we need in order to live lives of godliness in Christ Jesus.

What Sayeth the Scriptures?

So if our Lord has not left us to ourselves to attempt to discover what unmarried women should be doing, just what does He, in His holy Word, say on this important issue? If we were to set aside our culture and its teachings, and we instead searched the Scriptures diligently and obeyed what we saw taught there, then which example of daughterhood would be normative for Christians? Would it be expected that daughters would be led, provided for, protected, cared for, and sheltered in their father's home until they were given in marriage? Or would it be normative for daughters to, once they turned 18, be shipped off, void of any protection whatsoever, into a dangerous, destructive, ungodly world to be educated and influenced by it? As Christians, all we have to go by in life is God's holy and inspired Word-it is unchanging and is to be our roadmap for life, being constantly obeyed and lived out daily by us. So, dear readers, I invite you to join me as I search the Scriptures for the answer to these very important and timely questions on the subject of daughterhood.

The Roles of Women and How They Pertain to Stay-at-home Daughterhood

As discovered in the previous article (entitled Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design, and Purpose for Womanhood), God fashioned woman into a being unique from man and gave to her unique roles which can be outlined as follows:

• Women are to be helpmeets to their husbands
• Women are to be mothers
• Women are to be homemakers (keepers at home)
• Women are to be under the authority, protection, and provision of men

Through studying the roles our Lord gave to women, we are provided with a glimpse of what unmarried women are to spend their time doing. In fact, the roles given to women are the very foundation upon which stay-at-home daughterhood is built. After all, what should a daughter be doing, but preparing to be a woman and to one day take on the roles and responsibilities of womanhood?

Each of the special roles God designed solely for women is directed towards her home and family-each one! Therefore, is it not clear that, in order to prepare for these roles, unmarried women should remain at home with their families? If a woman's place, according to God's Word, is in the home, then it follows that the place God desires unmarried women to be is in their homes with their families, preparing for the very roles they will be called on to fulfill when they have their own households.

For example, let us address the role of homemaker for a moment. Just as young men should prepare for the vocations, roles, and responsibilities they will have later in life, so should young women! As we would expect a man who wants to be a lawyer to attend law school (or acquire a law degree online!) or to apprentice under a lawyer, so we would expect a woman who is called to be a homemaker to prepare for that high calling. We would by no means expect a young man who desires to be a lawyer to work towards becoming a doctor! We also would have little respect for the man who desires to be a doctor, but is too busy to prepare for that vocation because he is immersed in engineering studies. Likewise, we should not expect a young woman, with a calling from God on her life to be a homemaker, to be preparing for or pursuing a different vocation. So, if God has commanded women to be homemakers (which He certainly did, as we discovered a couple weeks ago), it would make sense for them to prepare for that high calling by remaining in the best training ground and place of apprenticeship available for future homemakers-the home!

Let us now consider the role of helpmeet. This is by no means a responsibility that should be taken lightly. It cannot be fulfilled without much training, as each of us is born as a selfish human being who does not desire to truly serve, help, or strengthen others. Nor are we born knowing how to do so! These characteristics of a Biblical helpmeet must be learned and practiced. Therefore, would it not make much more Biblical sense for a young woman to remain at home with her parents, striving to help and serve them and learning to bend her will to theirs, rather than immersing herself in the college and career lifestyle, both of which provide little to no training for how to be a godly, visionary helpmeet? After all, a young woman's unmarried years are great gifts. For one thing, they prepare her for her future life as a wife, mother, and homemaker. Why, then, do so many advocate a young woman leaving home and preparing for the roles, responsibilites and vocations given to men rather than those given to women? No college or career can prepare us for the offices of helpmeet, mother, homemaker, and submissive, dependent woman. Colleges may offer classes in home economics, but no courses are offered in Godly Motherhood 101, How to be a Helpmeet, or How to Submit to Your Husband. If God desires for women to be helpmeets to their husbands, then it goes without saying that this is something a young woman should plan and prepare for, and the best place to prepare for this role is in the context of the home and family-the sphere where a married woman and helpmeet will spend the majority of her time.

Likewise, as we saw last week and are going to discover in future articles, women are to be under the protection, provision and authority of men. We see that in Numbers 30 and other passages. This, then, would also lead us to say that the place designed for unmarried young women to thrive is the home, under the protection and authority of their fathers.

If God created roles and responsibilities for women which are centered on home and family, then what makes us think that He would support and condone us when we, as young women, leave the place He has so lovingly and wisely designed for us in order to pursue plans and vocations outside the home? The home is the place designed by God for women, so would it not follow then, that this is the place unmarried and married women alike ought to be? Unmarried women are not a different kind of woman. Yes, they are unmarried. But simply because they are unmarried does not mean they are left to assume the roles of men-they are still very much women whether married or not, as marital status does not determine your gender or your roles.

Even if our Lord had not placed passages in His Word which specifically address the very subject of the God-given sphere, duties and roles of unmarried daughters (which we will see in the coming weeks He did do!), it would be clear through His teachings on the roles of women alone that unmarried daughters should remain at home under the care of their fathers. After all, a young girl is in a sense a mini-woman. She is not a man or a pseudo-man. Therefore, she is to prepare for womanhood! If a woman's place is in the home, then a young woman's is, as well.The place God has designed for unmarried women is the home-not the workforce or the dangerous college campus (this is a highly unpopular stance today, but bear with me through the remainder of this series as I appeal to the Scriptures for support of my belief in this area!).

In Conclusion

As we have seen, womankind is given the sphere of the home and family in which to operate-all her unique roles are centered on the home and family. This knowledge alone should lead us to assume that God's place for unmarried young women is also in the home with their families. However, our great God did not leave us simply with this knowledge-although it would be enough to defend stay-at-home daughterhood as a Biblical doctrine. In addition, He also placed in His Word verses pertaining to unmarried women, their roles, duties, sphere, etc. We will be studying those beginning next Friday (Lord willing). Until then, study the Word and immerse yourself in the glories of womanhood in preparation for the next few studies we will be undertaking.

God bless you, and may He use these articles to encourage you, strengthen you, and edify you in your great privileges and duties as women bought by Him (1 Cor. 6:19).

New Article Coming.....Tomorrow!

Daddy usually reads over my articles on Fridays, but as he had to work longer today and had a meeting at work (which is very rare!), he has not been able to read my article and give me the ok to go ahead and post it. Therefore, I will be posting it (Lord willing) tomorrow instead.

Sorry for the delay!! Thank you so much for your patient understanding! :)

Thank you, followers! :)

I'm always so excited to discover that new people have decided to follow this blog. I was amazed when I discovered through the course of one of my most recent polls, that during the time the poll was open, over 70 new people had visited this site. Praise the Lord! That's exciting. :)

I would love to get to know you better, so would you please leave a comment telling a little bit about yourself and describing how you came across By His Grace and For His Glory?

Thank you, readers, for being so interested in this blog! I'm so thankful for everyone who links to me, follows this blog, and takes the time to read these posts. It's quite a blessing to serve you through Christ. I pray that this site would be a great blessing to each of you!

Recommendations, anyone?

My desire for By His Grace and For His Glory is that it would glorify God and serve and minister to its followers. I'm always striving to come up with new ways by which I can better serve you, my faithful readers. So, I'm asking for your input! :)

Are there changes that you think should be made here to make things smoother, more God-honoring and more productive? Should there be changes in the look of the blog, etc. that would make it more homey and inviting? If so, please leave a comment now or drop me an e-mail. I'm all ears and would love to hear from you! :)

God bless!

What's Coming in the Stay-at-home Daughterhood Article Series!

Due to a few unforeseen events, and thus a change of schedule, I will not be posting a stay-at-home daughterhood article today. However, I didn't want to leave you without a post on the subject, and so want to share with you what you have to look forward to in the next few weeks! :)

Next Friday, Lord willing, I will be posting part 1 of The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood. This article will likely be comprised of two, perhaps three or more parts, and will thus cover the span of two or more weeks. Through the course of this particular article, we will study the passages of Scripture which address the topic of unmarried women living at home until marriage. We will also cover Scriptural examples of stay-at-home daughters, as well as examples of young women who did not follow the Biblical plan for unmarried women. I think this article will be quite eye-opening!

Once the above mentioned article is completed, I will be moving on to an article entitled Why Stay-at-Home Daughterhood is so Important to God and Why the Enemies of God Wish to Destroy it. This article will address the topic of why daughters remaining at home is so crucial to the health of the home and family (not to mention the Church and society!). I will also address the history and teachings of various movements and worldviews such as feminism and socialism, explaining why each one is so set upon destroying the practice of stay-at-home daughterhood. This article, as well, (which will likely be posted in various parts) will likely be quite eye-opening!

Following the posting of this article, I will move on to address the subject of The Father's Home- a Safeguard for a Daughter's Purity. In this article, I will cover why the safety of a daughter's purity is largely dependent upon her relationship with her father and her secure place in the home.

Once each of the above articles is posted, I will be moving into the topics of college and higher education, what a daughter is to do at home, what a daughter should do if she has an abusive father, etc.

I'm so excited about the upcoming articles and pray that you are, as well. Please take time this week to spread the word about this series and read the previous articles if you have not yet done so.

Thank you for your interest in this series and may the Lord richly bless you!




*Exact titles of above mentioned articles subject to change!

Please return next Friday for the next article in the stay-at-home daughterhood article series.

How great is our God!

I don't know about you, but so often I find myself rushing here and there, not taking the time to sit quietly before the Lord and to just relish Him and His creation. The Lord shows me over and over the folly of this, and I always find myself heartsick when I realize that I've done it yet again. God has created us with a desire for Him; as some have said, "There's a God-shaped hole in all of us". That's so true. We were made to honor, glorify and delight in Him, and yet so often, we strive to fulfill our desires, our plans, and our schedules.

Now is the perfect time to repent of this and turn to our Lord for forgiveness. Autumn is probably my favorite season (although God has created a unique beauty in each one!). Here in mountainous Tennessee, God has painted our terrain with the most beautiful reds, yellows, golds, light greens, magentas, oranges, browns, and the list goes on. There is a mountain behind our house, and there's nothing like coming home after a day of busy errands to see that beautiful, exquisite example of the creativity and greatness of our God. This mountain is currently (although the leaves will be gone all too soon) adorned in the most radiant of colors. And to think-He has painted it this way for us! He didn't have to create all the colors He did. He didn't have to provide us with this breathtakingly beautiful creation. But He did, so that we might see His glory displayed each and every day.

Please, don't fall prey to all the hustle and bustle that this time of year brings and lose sight of the little blessings all around you! Delight in the Lord and breathe in all the beauties of His creation. Thank Him for His goodness, and rest in His love. Don't rush ahead to accomplish the next thing on your to-do list. Instead, take some time to simply glory in Him! Immerse yourself in His Word and surround yourself with the beauty of His handiwork. Maybe you'll want to go outside to be surrounded with the Autumn beauty and take your Bible with you for a special time of study. Be creative with these times and make them special.

I gaurantee that you won't regret it! :)

HAPPY REFORMATION DAY!! :)

Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design, and Purpose for Womanhood Part 4

*If you have not yet read the previous portions of the stay-at-home daughterhood article series, please do so now, by clicking here, before you continue on. Thank you! :)

The following is the final portion of this article! Next Friday we will, Lord willing, move into addressing and studying the Biblical case for stay-at-home daughterhood.

~~~~~~

The subject I will be addressing today is so very, very important. I know I've proclaimed that same sentence in the three parts prior to this one, but it is so true! Each and every one of these four roles of Biblical womanhood are direly important and lead to the health and vitality of families, as well as the furthering of Christian dominion. In a way, however, I believe the case could be made that the specific role we'll be studying today is the foundation upon which the other three are built and given strength. If this foundation is not upheld, embraced, and delighted in Biblically, all else will crumble. The hope of pursuing the other three responsibilities will be darkened and depleted if this one-which was also instituted in the Genesis, the book of beginnings!-is not obeyed and lived out in a God-honoring fashion. Because of its depth of importance as well as the lies, hatred, and misrepresentations hurled against it today, this is a topic which could easily take up the space of a completely separate article series (which may show up here on this blog sometime in the future!). Due to this fact, I will not even attempt to delve into the depths and widths of this beautiful role at this particular time. I will be addressing it further in the next article we'll be undertaking by God's grace, which will be "The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood". However, I do want to attempt to present to you at least a portion of the riches of this design of womanhood, as created by our Lord. May it serve to ignite in you a love for God's vision of womanhood, and may the Lord use it to develop in you a thirst to delve into a Scriptural study of this topic for yourself.

A Woman is to be...

...under the provision, protection and leadership of a man.

As I stated above, this is-quite sadly- a very hated concept in our current culture. When someone brings up the topic of a man's responsibility to lead, provide for, and protect his wife and daughters, our culture-and sadly, the Church!- has been instructed and fashioned to respond with hatred, misunderstanding and vast misrepresentation.

On the one hand, you have those who say that there is no such thing as "male headship". By proclaiming this, they basically say that there is no need for men. This may seem like a radical proclamation, but that is nonetheless the thought which under-girds the "no headship" worldview. They are proclaiming-whether they mean to or not-that there is no need for men. After all, men and women are exactly alike, so why have both?

On the other hand, there are those who utter the dark and unBiblical words that women are to be doormats, nothing but slaves, held under lock and key in the dark basement of the home, and not to be given honor and respect. They-perhaps unwittingly-are embracing the enslaving dangers and heresies of Islam and are abusing women in a terrible manner.

However (glory be to our great God!), the Scriptures provide us with a picture of what the true relationship between the sexes ought to be. Our Lord and Maker reveals to us His loving heart and perfect ways as they pertain to Biblical manhood and Biblical womanhood. We see in Genesis and elsewhere in Scripture that God had ordained male headship and female submission-and did so prior to the Fall! The Fall did not bring about male leadership and female following. The only change in these roles that the Fall brought about was that now, due to our sinful natures, women desire to rule over men and men at times rule in a domineering, unloving fashion.

Indeed, it was not the Fall which brought about male headship and female "dependence". It was our all-wise, all-loving God Who ordained these wonderful, complementary roles. And I'm so glad and thankful that He did!

The Dangers of "Equality"

Feminism would have us believe that prior to the advent of the Women's Rights Movement, women were enslaved victims of domineering, disrespectful, power-hungry men. However, this simply is not the case. Were there men prior to this movement who dishonored and mistreated women? Of course-there have been since the Fall! However, it was much less common. The Declaration of Feminism even remarked in November 1971, that "all of history must be re-written in terms of oppression of women"! Rather than alleviating abuse towards women, feminism has instead brought about mistreatment of women on a massive, tragic scale! I was made aware of this terribly sad truth yet again through the reading of an article that was featured in our local newspaper just three days ago.

The article spoke of the horrible rape of a 15 year old girl in the San Fransisco area. Following a high school event one night not long ago (I believe it was reported to be a school dance), the young woman exited the school building and was attacked by a group of young men ranging in age from mid-teens to early twenties. They preceded to abuse and rape her-for two hours. As horrific as this alone is, the article went on to say that this was not the most gruesome portion of the story. What makes this event a hundred times worse is the fact that a large group of people gathered around the site. Not to help her, though! Rather, they simply stood there and watched as this poor girl was terribly abused. For two hours! Undoubtedly there were strong young men in this group of on-lookers. They no doubt could have banded together- they even numbered more than the attackers!-to defend and protect this young woman. Did they do that, though? Did they step in as men in the Titanic era would have, to defend, honor and protect her? Of course not-because men are not trained to do that today! Why? Because feminism has so maligned males into thinking they're good for nothing that now they believe it. Now they don't see any reason to defend helpless women. After all, feminism has, in the same manner, proclaimed to females that they ought to be "just one of the guys". Feminism has taught countless women and young girls that they should act like men, dress like men, think like men, do the work of men, heap upon themselves all the responsibilities of men, be "tough" like men, etc., for that's "true equality"! Do you see, however, where this sort of unBiblical indoctrination has gotten us? We were once a nation which bravely and dutifully proclaimed the teaching of "Women and Children First!", a nation which took great pride in defending, providing for, cherishing, and honoring women. We are now a nation that views women as men.....and treats them as such, slapping them on the shoulder, slamming doors in their faces, leaving them to fend for themselves, and the list goes on. Women have for decades now cried that they want "equality" (meaning that they want to be like men!). However, now that they've acquired it, they're not happy! Who could be when stories like that of the girl mentioned above take place day after day, thanks to "equality between the sexes"?

In great contrast to worldly pictures of equality, there is indeed an aspect of equality between man and woman which the Lord lovingly developed- that of equality in His sight. We are equal in worth, in dignity, and in the fact of our both being made in the image of Almighty God, the Maker of heaven and earth. What better equality could there be? The Lord created men with special roles and responsibilities fashioned solely for them, and because of this, they enjoy a special uniqueness among the Creation. Women are blessed in this same capacity, for they were issued roles and responsibilities which only they can enjoy and delight in. The uniqueness of man and the uniqueness of woman are kept safe in God's economy. However, man and woman lose their uniqueness and purpose when they are morphed together into one entity as they so often are today. Let us forsake the unfulfilling, fake, deceiving "equality" of today, so that we might enjoy and benefit from the glorious equality which God offers to us!

Man as Provider, Protector, and Leader

As alluded to in the previous installments to this article, man is ordained by God to protect, provide and lead his wife and unmarried daughters. We see in Genesis that while man is to provide for his family, his wife is to be a homemaker (and we daughters, homemakers-in-training!). Numerous passages of the Bible (some of which we will cover in next week's article) proclaim the duty of men to protect and defend their families-a role which represents the love of Christ for His Bride, the Church (Eph. 5:25, 28-33). Women are created as the "weaker vessels" (1 Peter 3:7) and are to be guarded and kept safe by men. And lastly, man is commanded by God to lovingly and wisely lead and exert authority over family, church, and state (Eph. 5:22-24; Numbers 30; 1 Cor. 14:34; 1 Tim. 2:11-14; Tit. 2:5; Is. 3:12; Ex. 18:21; Deut. 1:13). We will delve into this truth further, particularly as it relates to a man's protection and provision of and authority, over his unmarried daughters. We will be looking at and studying many of these passages beginning next week, with an article entitled "The Biblical Case for Stay-at-home Daughterhood".

In Conclusion

I pray that this article, "Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design, and Purpose for Womanhood", has served to endear you to the joyous, productive, fulfilling, highly important roles God has given to women. When we, as daughters of the Almighty, embrace and delight in obeying our gracious Lord and accomplishing what He has instructed us to do, we not only begin to greatly enjoy the fruits of such a life, but we also become an example to young women everywhere and a light in the midst of a dark and dying world. May we delight in and study the truths of God's unchanging Word, immersing ourselves in what He has to teach us. And may we live our lives in such a way that would cause those who see us to glorify our Father which is in Heaven!

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*Return next Friday for the next article in the stay-at-home daughterhood article series! Until then, please delve into God's holy Word and the truths which we have discovered through the course of this current article, in preparation for next week's study. God bless you!

Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design and Purpose for Womanhood Part 3

*If you have not yet read the first 3 articles in the stay-at-home daughterhood series, please do so now by clicking here before continuing on! Thank you!

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We have now come to the third part of this article, where we will be able to study yet another most important role graciously bestowed solely to woman by her Creator, Almighty God. This is a sorely misunderstood and belittled role, yet one which is crucial to the health of families, churches and societies. Without a woman fulfilling this critical role, the home, church and state are each weakened, deprived and drained of life. In this fact lies the truth which must spur us on to recapture the beauties of Biblical womanhood, putting into practice a role and responsibility which is designed not only for our comfort and protection, but for the furthering of God's Kingdom and the glorifying of His name. Without further ado, let us now delve into a study of this role.

A Woman is to be...

...a homemaker.

This is by no means a popular notion in many western cultures today. Homemaking is now seen as a waste of time, something which does not require special knowledge or preparation in order to complete successfully. Being a homemaker is viewed as a sad, enslaving, drudge-filled, unimportant excuse for a vocation. However, while many harbor these beliefs in their minds, our Creator God holds to a far different view regarding homemaking, and it is to His way of thinking which we must submit. We must embrace the high calling of homemaker which our all-wise God has so lovingly given to us (Titus 2:5). Just as our God views homemaking as a work of art which is of lasting importance, so should we. The Designer of homemaking has fashioned homemakers into women who exert a mighty, unparalleled influence on the world around them and upon the generations yet to be born. Let us, too, strive to view homemakers and the art of homemaking in the same glorious light!

It is oftentimes so easy for us to succumb to the world's expectations for females and to believe its terrible lies about and deceptive caricature of God's plan for the lives of women. However, we must refrain from doing so, dear sisters in Christ! We must stand strong on the sure foundation of God's Word, realizing that as homemakers and homemakers-in-training, we are among the most powerful and influential women in the world! We may be relatively few in number today, but because the Sovereign God of the universe is our Lord and Master, we have great power on our side and are given special dominion duty. We will influence the course of history through our faithful, dutiful, visionary work in our homes. The atmospheres of our homes, the training of the children, and encouragement and help of the husband residing there will have a tremendous impact on the future. We must never underestimate the power of influence God gave to us women when He commanded us to be homemakers! The Lord created the home to be a place of dominion work, love, joy, hospitality, creativity, education and training, evangelism, praise and worship of God, commerce, and industry. Our gracious Heavenly Father has chosen to bestow upon woman the high and glorious responsibility of working in and guarding this important sphere. This is a special opportunity, and one which all women should delight in and thank and praise God for, rather than placing the responsibility on others and spending time in an independent career which affords not the same fulfillment, impact or accomplishment.

If we were to succumb to the independent, autonomous careerism of today, we would be guilty of handing over dominion of the world to the enemies of the cross of Christ. Therefore, dear daughters of God, I urge you to relish your high and blessed calling and to not fall prey to the lies of the one who will do whatever it takes to keep you out of your homes. Mrs. Elizabeth George writes on this topic in her book, A Woman's High Calling, "Precious sister-in Christ, God in Titus 2:4-5 is sounding forth His high calling to you and me as His women "to be homemakers". True, we live in the world...but, dear one, we are not of the world (John 17:15-16). We are not to live as worldly women live. We are not to be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2). We are not to focus on what worldly women focus on. We are not to seek what worldly women seek. No, as God's women and as women who desire to live godly lives, we are to focus on being homemakers, home lovers, and workers at home." 1. (emphases in original)

A homemaker? What is that?

We have discovered clearly that it is God's will for His women to be homemakers, but what exactly does it mean to be a homemaker? Surprisingly, there are varying definitions in circulation today of a word which ought to be defined rather easily and quickly-it should be a "no brainer"! Despite these various supposed definitions, only one counts and should truly matter to the woman of God-the one which the Holy Scriptures proclaim clearly and unequivocally. Despite the confusion generated by the worldly definitions which abound, we have the opportunity to know exactly what the heart of God is on the topic of homemaking and what is His perfect and beautiful definition of "homemaker".

The Greek word translated "keepers at home" in the KJV is the word (in some manuscripts) "oikouros" (a compilation of "oikos" which means "a house, dwelling" and "ouros", meaning "a keeper or watcher") 2., thus indicating that the Christian woman is called on to be in her home, watching over it (Prov. 31:27a) guarding over it, and keeping it from all ungodly influences and ideas. Other manuscripts of Titus 2 contain the Greek word "oikourgos" (which is translated "homemakers" in the NKJV). The word "oikourgos" is constructed from two words-"oikos" (which we noted above means "a home or dwelling") and "urgos", which is from the root word "ergon" which carries the meaning of "to work or be employed". 3. Thus, put together to form the word oikourgos, we discover that, through the inspiration of God, Paul is commanding women to be, literally, employed at home, working at home, and guarding and watching over the home-a very lofty task! Thus, God's definition of homemaker and the phrase keeper at home is the same traditionally held by the masses-a homemaker is one who remains at home, diligently working there, as opposed to out in the workforce at an independent career.The phrase in the KJV makes this clear-women are not simply commanded to be keepers of the home, but rather keepers at home. They are to be employed at home, that the Word of God be not blasphemed (Tit. 2:5).

A notion prevalent today, especially in evangelical feminist circles, is that Paul is not commanding women to work at home full-time, but rather he is saying that he wants them to make sure they don't neglect the home. "Paul is simply commanding women to pay careful attention to the home and to make it one of their top priorities," they say. However, while it is true that women are to pay careful attention to their homes, the remainder of their belief is by no means faithful to the evident and literal meaning of the Biblical text. Paul did not, when writing Titus 2:5, choose a Greek word which carried the meaning, "to focus much attention on the home". This would have been an easy thing for Paul to do, if this was his (or, ultimately, God's) meaning or what he was wanting to teach. After all, Greek is a very detailed language! Instead, however, he chose, under the inspiration and guidance of God, a word which means "to be employed at home" (as opposed to being employed outside the home).

There is a second common notion which abounds today regarding Paul's meaning, which states that Paul is simply making it clear that it is a woman's duty to dedicate a little time each day to work inside the home. If this had been Paul's intention (which, according to the Greek text itself certainly was not!), there would not have been need for such a command. All women-even the most radically feministic, dedicated career women perform some manner of work in their homes, whether it be making a sandwich, rinsing out a kitchen sink, or rearranging furniture. Not only would such a command have been rendered useless, but there especially would not be needed the sobering phrase "that the Word of God be not blasphemed". This notion, as well, simply cannot hold up under the true teachings of God's holy and unchanging Word.

Despite the above false notions, Paul is clearly revealing to us in Titus 2:5-as he did in 1 Timothy 5:14, where he speaks of the roles God has given to abandoned women (4.)-that God's special place for women (the place He chose and prepared perfectly as her own highly important sphere to keep, care for, guard, and work in) is the home! He is boldly and unequivocally setting forth a picture representing the fact that God created a difference of roles in the family and division of labor in the Kingdom of God.

Beginning at the Beginning...Again!

As we did in part 1 of this article, we need to turn again to Genesis, the Book of Beginnings, this time in order to further study the division of labor God has created within family and society. The existence of a difference of roles between men and women, particularly pertaining to who is to provide for the family and who is to work at and care for the home, was a fact once commonly believed and embraced among Christians and non-Christians alike. A century ago, the vast majority of mankind knew what God's Word proclaimed in this area. They may or may not have all agreed with it and embraced it, but they were aware of it nonetheless. This is illustrated in the account of the 1873 U.S. Supreme Court case Bradwell vs. Illinois, where Justice Bradley proclaimed, "The paramount destiny and mission of woman are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator. The civil law, as well as nature herself, has always recognized a wide difference in the respective spheres and destinies of man and woman. Man is, or should be, woman’s protector and defender." The Justices in this case further stated unequivocally, directly drawing and quoting from Genesis 3, that women were called on to be keepers at home and that men were called on to be the heads of their homes. This is what the U.S. Supreme Court once believed! How far our country and its leaders have fallen from God's Word!

So, what did the judges involved in the above mentioned Court decision see proclaimed in Genesis 3? Why did they believe that according to this chapter women were commanded and fashioned, by their Creator, to be keepers at home? Let us turn to this passage to find out!

Genesis 3 begins with the sad account of man's rebellion against God and the Fall which has affected all mankind through the passing down of sin and destruction. Following the act of explicit disobedience to God in the Garden, man and woman each received a curse as a punishment for their disobedience and insubordination. These curses were different, however, and reflected the differences which were infused into man and woman at the time of creation.

The man's curse was as follows: "And unto Adam He [God] said, 'Because thou has hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I command thee saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herbs of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.'" (Gen. 3:17-19) The curse on man pertained to his responsibility to provide for the needs of his family. The curse was not that he would now, as a result of sin, have the responsibility of caring for and protecting his family-that was God's design for men from the beginning (1 Tim. 5:18). Rather, the curse was that now, instead of his work and duty of providing for his family coming easily to him and always being enjoyable, he would now work with great difficulty-he would now have to suffer through back-breaking work full of hardships and challenges.

Let us, now that we've grasped the curse released on man, focus on the curse issued to woman. Her curse is given and proclaimed by God in Gen. 3:16, "Unto the woman He [God] said, 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.'" The meaning of this curse is commonly misconstrued today. The feminists would have us believe that the curse means that woman would be cursed with children and that she would have to be in subjection to her husband as a result of the fall. Neither notion is Biblical or faithful to this text. 5. The curse is that child-bearing would now be an excruciatingly painful ordeal, and that woman would now, rather than joyfully submitting to her husband's leadership, would desire to rule over her husband and take over their God-given role of leadership, having a great disdain for the headship of man. In other words, the curse given to woman was tied to her family-her husband and children. While man's curse had to do with his role to provide for his family, woman's curse had to do with the people she was with day in and day out and her role to care for them in their home. Her curse is solely focused on her family. There is something very noteworthy here and that is the fact that woman is never commanded or issued the responsibility in the Scriptures to provide for herself. That role is given solely to the man, while the roles to women have to do with caring for and serving her home and family. However, countless women today are subjecting and enslaving themselves to the double curse. They are struggling with the curse given specifically to them as women, but they have also heaped upon themselves the curse given to man. Along with suffering under painful menstrual cycles, labor and childbirth, they are rejecting their lovingly God-given role in the home as well, for the purpose of entering the workforce and having an independent career. This is very sad, and yet it is embraced and praised in many Christian circles today. What makes this yet more tragic is that while women are willfully and blindly subjecting themselves to a life of the double curse, men can never do so! Men have only their own curse to deal with. Because they cannot bear children, they cannot encounter or deal with the woman's curse in addition to their own. Women only can struggle and suffer under the double curse, and many today are doing so-while we cheer them on. What a tragedy and an indictment upon us as Christians! God created one set of roles and responsibilities for men and another entirely different one for women, which, when fulfilled, harmoniously work together for the good of both. This is what Justice Bradley and his colleagues grasped in the 1873 case mentioned above. So may we grasp it and strive to save our sisters from the lack of fulfillment and destruction of the double curse so prevalent today!

The Home-Hardly a Cage!

Some reading this article may assert that the literal interpretation of Titus 2 puts woman into a cage, and binds her to a life of slave-like drudgery in the home. Nothing could be further from the truth! John 10:10 states that our gracious God came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. How does this precious truth relate to Titus 2 and the woman's role in the home? God has placed His daughters into a sphere which provides them with protection, shelter, security, a place to develop and put to use fully their talents and gifts to the glory of God, and a sphere which has been designed so as to exert a great impact upon the surrounding world. The godly, visionary, diligent homemaker and guardian of the home is an extremely dangerous entity to Satan and his minions, for she builds up her husband and trains her children. Truly, a home without a homemaker is like a man without a helpmeet. A husband benefits greatly from his wife's faithful work in the home and her obedience to her God-given role (Proverbs 31:23). Likewise, children desperately need their mother at home, caring for them, loving them, and training them. Many studies (which we will address in a future article) have shown the devastating effects which a life of daycare and after school care exerts upon children. These children need their mothers! Faithful homemakers are not only providing much-needed security and love to their children, but are shaping, forming, training, and teaching the future men and women of the world! Talk about abundant life! The worker at home has an abundant, productive, fulfilling life indeed! You see, commanding women to work at home is not a means of "caging and enslaving women". As sisters Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin have written, "Women were designed by God to be the happiest, most fulfilled, most productive, most appreciated and most honored as homemakers. No other career can come close to the importance of homemaking. Most other careers actually undermine God's order by cheating women out of their first and best calling and taking civilization in the wrong direction. This is because homemakers are so central to guiding and shaping civil society. When women leave that domain to pretend to be men, it's not just silly, it's detrimental to a woman's life and her culture." 6. These words carry such truth. God blessed women greatly when giving them the home to guide, work in, and care for.

Rather than desiring to give us abundant life as Christ did, however, Satan comes to kill, to steal and to destroy (John 10:10). This truth is evident in the mission of Satan to drive women from their homes into lives of wage slavery in the workplace. Rather than leaving her to work in a safe and secure place, serving family and visitors alike, he wishes to push her into an independent career, serving people who hardly know her, don't love her, and care little for her best interests. Let us not buy into Satan's lies any longer, but rather return to-or prepare for, as the case may be-the life of great productivity, ministry, joy, excitement and adventure which can be found through working at home.

Don't Fail to Plan!

There is a saying which goes, "Failing to plan is planning to fail". Too many young ladies are wasting their unmarried years, which should be some of the most fruitful years of their lives (1 Cor. 7:34), in trivial pursuits, rather than putting them to great use preparing for the life of the godly woman. Homemaking is not a vocation composed of simply folding laundry, vacuuming the floor, and working through a pile of dirty dishes! True homemaking Proverbs 31 style requires much work, a servant's heart that is dedicated to ministry, expertise in many areas, intelligence, Scriptural knowledge, and purposeful, Biblical, dominion-minded vision. Biblical homemaking is by no means something we are born knowing how to do! We are naturally sinful, selfish creatures and the last thing we tend to desire is to pour our lives into the lives of others. I will elaborate further on this topic in a future article, but suffice it to say that we as young ladies have a special role to fill in our current homes and must diligently prepare for the important roles we will be responsible to fill in our future homes!

In Conclusion

I pray that this article served to give you a glimpse (though it be imperfect and incomplete) of the mercy and greatness of God in commanding women to work at home. It's my heart's desire that we would strive to save our fellow sisters from the life of the double curse by revealing to them as well the height, width, and depth of the great work known as homemaking. I also hope and pray that the young ladies reading this would feel encouraged, and that they'd be spurred on to fine tune their homemaking skills, and to learn what it truly means to be a keeper at home. Lastly, I pray that this article would serve to impress upon you the great impact and influence the godly keeper at home exerts upon the watching world!

In closing, I want to leave you with the beautiful, eloquent words of Baptist pastor William H. Felix (1838-1912), as written in his work, "The Work and Sphere of True Womanhood":

"Woman's work is foundation work for society, for the state, for the kingdom of Heaven. In the homes of America are born the children of America; and from them goes forth American life. Who has the hand upon these springs of life? Woman. These children of American homes go out with the stamp of these homes upon them, and only as these homes are what they ought to be will these children be what they ought to be. ...Woman may think her sphere and work are limited and contracted, but in this she never found in a graver mistake. In the home she is imprinting herself upon the man; in him she builds up society, in him she builds up the state, in him she legislates, in him she executes, in him she rules. She makes man what he is, so far as human power can operate. Yes, if she never does anything else but "nurse babes,' she can do no grander work. May God impress upon our women the high, heavenly, holy duty of rearing the children of our country, and making our homes places of joy and comfort. Alas! for the state! if our women are to leave the work of our homes and run hither and thither in search of larger rights and larger powers." 7. (emphasis my own)

Lastly, dwell with me upon the articulate words of former President Theodore Roosevelt, as proclaimed in a speech given on March 13th, 1905:

"No piled up wealth, no splendor of material growth, no brilliance of artistic development, will permanently avail any people unless home life is healthy...unless the average woman is a good wife, a good mother, able and willing to perform the first and greatest duty of womanhood, able and willing to bear, and to bring up as they should be brought up, healthy children, sound in body, mind, and character, and numerous enough so that the race shall increase and not decrease. There are certain old truths which will be true as long as this world endures, and which no amount of progress can alter. One of these is the truth that the primary duty of the husband is the home-maker, the breadwinner for his wife and children, and that the primary duty of woman is to be the helpmate, the housewife, and mother...Into the womans' keeping is committed the destiny of the generations to come after us...The woman's task is not easy-no task worth doing is easy-but in doing it, and when she has done it, there shall come to her the highest and holiest joy known to mankind; and having done it, she shall have the reward prophesied in Scripture; for her husband and her children, yes, and all people who realize that her work lies at the foundation of all natural happiness and greatness, shall rise up and call her blessed." (emphasis my own) 8.

Please return next Friday for our 4th and final part of this article!

Footnotes:

　

1. Elizabeth George, A Woman's High Calling, pg. 237 (Harvest House Publishers, 2001)

2. W.E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White, Jr., Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments pg. 309 (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1996)

3. See, for example, http://www.raptureready.com/faq/faq259.html and Martha Peace, The Excellent Wife, pg. 72 (Focus Publishing, Inc., 2005)

4. I'm aware that the word used in our English Bibles in 1 Tim. 5:3-16 is "widows". However, as John MacArthur points out, "The English word widow describes a woman whose husband is dead. The Greek word chera ("widow") includes that meaning, but is not limited to it. It is an adjective used as a noun, and means "bereft", "robbed", "having suffered loss", of "left alone". The word does not speak of how a woman was left alone, it merely describes the situation. It is broad enough to encompass those who lost their husbands through death, desertion, divorce, or imprisonment. It could even encompass those cases where a polygamist came to Christ and sent away his extra wives". (courtesy of The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 1 Timothy, pg. 196 published by the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1995)

5. Children are not to be viewed as curses, but rather as the great blessings they truly are (Ps. 127:3-5). The phrase in Gen. 3:16 referring to the cursed woman's desire for her husband has to do with a desire to rule over him and to take his leadership role; it is not a sexual desire as some like to claim. Nor does it somehow prove the false notion that male headship is a result of the curse. Notes John MacArthur, "Just as the woman and her seed will engage in a war with the serpent, i.e. Satan, and his seed (vs. 15), because of sin and the curse, the man and woman will face struggles in their own relationship. Sin has turned the harmonious system of God-ordained roles into distasteful struggles of self-will. Lifelong companions, husbands and wives, will need God's help in getting along as a result. The woman's desire will be to lord it over her husband, but the husband will rule by divine design (Eph. 5:22-25). This interpretation of the curse is based upon the identical Heb. words and grammar being used in 4:7 to show the conflict man will have with sin as it seeks to rule him." (The MacArthur Study Bible (NKJV) pg. 21 (published by Word Publishing, 1997)

6. Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin, So Much More: The Remarkable Influence of Visionary Daughters on the Kingdom of God, pgs. 108 and 109 (The Vision Forum, Inc., 2005)

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

More Giveaways! :)

I discovered today on Mrs. Brookshire's blog that there are currently two new giveaways going on for Emily and Breezy's Daughters of His Story paper dolls!

Click here and here to find out more and to enter!

I received my paper dolls in the mail yesterday, and was so amazed by how sturdy they are and by the intricate detailing thereof. Mama and I were commenting on how neat it was to have been able to see, while visiting the Brookshires last month, the original drawings and how they had grown and changed over time. While they were beautiful from the beginning (Breezy is very talented!), the finished product is just breathtaking!

Don't miss out on these great giveaways!

Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design and Purpose for Womanhood Part 2

*If you have not yet read the first 2 articles in the stay-at-home daughterhood series, please click here and here to do so now before continuing on with this one. Thank you! :)



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Two weeks ago, we discovered what the first calling was that God gave to women, that of being a helper to man. It is now time for us to discover another one of the high and glorious callings God has given uniquely and solely to women.

A Woman is to be...

... a mother.


Before we proceed with our study of this high and glorious calling, I want to make it clear that I do not believe all women are called to be mothers. Nor are some women sinning by not having children. God has sovereignly chosen to call some women to a life of remaining unmarried, while others are married but are barren. However, this is the exception to the rule, and unless you are given the gift of singleness or are barren, it is highly likely that you are called to be a mother.


The very first command the man and woman were jointly given in the Garden of Eden after the creation of Eve was to "be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth" (Gen. 1:28a). I believe the fact that this is the first command they were given jointly-and the first command Eve ever received-proves rather clearly its weightiness and the importance of this subject to the heart of God! The Lord later issued forth many other commands, but this was the very first one ever heard by the ears of man and woman together. Isn't that amazing? The Lord, now that the first couple was finally together, could have given them any number of commands. He chose, however, that the very first one would be that they were to have children and thus multiply greatly.

Not only is this command the first one issued to the couple in the Garden, it is also important to note what commands follow this one. After being commanded to have many descendants, God tells Adam and Eve that they are to: "subdue it [the earth]: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." We noted in part 1 of this article that the Dominion Mandate is linked closely with the Great Commission. Both commands make it clear that men and women are God's ambassadors on this earth and as such, are to take dominion of it for Jesus Christ. However, would this have been possible if Adam and Eve had never procreated? Or, let's say they did have numerous descendants, but that the members of the early church did not. Would dominion in the name of Christ have continued? It's highly unlikely. God could have saved other Jews at the time of Christ, and thus carried on His Christian dominion for a short time, but if these Christians didn't multiply, either, the ambassadors of Christ on the earth would quickly die out again. God has so ordered His creation that the way mankind is to succeed in taking dominion over the earth and spreading the light of Christ's gospel over the face of it, is by having children. This may seem surprising to some, but it is nonetheless the way God has ordained matters. We see this beautifully laid out in Psalm 127:5 which says, "Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them [children]: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." The phrase "speak with the enemies in the gate" literally means, "subdue or destroy the enemies". Christians are called to be fruitful so that their dominion in the name of Christ can continue on mightily, and so that they might destroy the dominion work of Christ's enemies. One Christian couple can only accomplish so much dominion work themselves and can only crush and thwart so much enemy dominion. But if they have many children and grandchildren-which the Bible refers to as blessings from God-just think of the dominion work a godly family can accomplish by God's strength and grace!

I know I'm likely going to open up a can of worms with what I'm about to say next, but I believe it to be Biblical truth and therefore feel that I must share it with you. The man and woman were not just told to have children. Rather, they were told to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth! In other words, they were commanded to have many children, a command which is reissued time and time again throughout the Scriptures. But why? Why is it so important to the Lord that husbands and wives have large families? Because this is how a couple's Christian impact in the world is continued and built upon down through the centuries. As noted above, we alone would not be able to have nearly the impact of dominion and evangelism. But when we have progeny, then we, by training them up in the ways of God, are able to continue and further the work of Christ down through the generations, as children and grandchildren accomplish far more for Christ's kingdom than their ancestors did. Nancy Campbell articulated this fact clearly when she wrote, "One of the biggest threats to the devil is husbands and wives who understand God's revelation for marriage and who will bring forth godly offspring for His glory. The devil is frightened of the godly seed, for it is they who will destroy his works in this world. The enemy knew that God would need an army in this hour to fulfill His great purposes. He knew that if he could diminish God's army, he could thwart God's plans. It is the strategy of Satan to minimize the holy seed. The sad thing is that the Christian church has unconsciously fallen into this trap. As Christians in the last few decades have decided to have fewer children, they have limited the power of God on earth. God's plan is to fill the earth with His glory. God calls the increase of children our 'glory' (Hos. 9:11)."1.

Satan understands well the importance of Christians being fruitful, and I believe this is the reason so many today-even many Christians-have bought into the lie that a family should have no more than 2 or 3 children-if that. Satan has successfully whispered the lies, not only to the world but to Christians as well, that children are too expensive, the earth is overpopulated, we were never supposed to have large families, it's unhealthy to have many children, etc. These are vicious, child-hating lies which the enemies of God have spoon-fed to us for far too long! Christians, rather than seeing through these falsehoods and obeying the Word of God, have fallen prey to the wiles of the Adversary. Consider with me where this kind of thinking has gotten us. Church attendance is dropping dramatically and families are falling apart. I won't go into all the destruction we are now seeing, as I have referred to that already in part 1. However, suffice it to say that this once Christian nation is falling ever faster into the abyss of sin and damnation. I believe this can be directly linked to the lack of on-going Christian dominion, which can in turn be linked back to the lack of large Christian families dedicated to the work of Christ. I understand that some couples are barren, while some have health conditions that may have followed the birth of previous children which keep them from being able to have more. The Lord, for some reason or other, has simply chosen to only bless some couples with 2 or 3 children. However, what we see in many Christian circles today-the lack of large families-is not due largely to health conditions or infertility. Rather, it is linked directly to people cutting off their seed. While many wouldn't admit this, it shows a disdain for children when one cuts off the ability to reproduce. Some may ask what right we have to tell fellow Christians that they are commanded by God to have large families. I understand this notion, but Christians are commanded to proclaim God's Word to the lost as well as to their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. If Christians do not step up to the plate and lovingly show fellow Christians the heart of God when it comes to the subject of having children, then we will be guilty of lessening the dominion work of Christ on this earth. Thanks to a disdain for children and the lack of surrendering every aspect of our lives to God-including the number of children we have-Christianity is not having the impact it is called on to have. Instead, Islam is taking its place. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. According to one website, "Islam is growing about 2.9% per year. This is faster than the total world population which increases about 2.3% annually. It is thus attracting a progressively larger percentage of the world's population."2. (emphasis my own)

Mr. Voddie Baucham, a nationally known pastor, conference speaker and author (and the father of my dear friend Jasmine!) has conducted extensive research on this very topic. He writes, "With a birth rate hovering around two children per family, a biblical worldview rate below 10 percent, and about 75 percent of our teens leaving the church by the end of their freshman year in college (using the more optimistic estimates from Chapter 1), it currently takes two Christian families in one generation to get a single Christian into the next generation"3. This should astound us! Compare this information with the fact that, "The birth rate a society needs to break even and not start to disappear is 2.1 babies per woman. Anything less than that, the culture disappears in a matter of three generations or more. The math can’t be argued. No culture has ever survived once it reached the breaking point 1.3 babies per woman. Now let’s take a look at this globally. United States birth rate is 2.1, New Zealand 1.9, Canada 1.5, Germany and Austria 1.3, Russia and Italy 1.2, Spain 1.1. Now let’s take a look at some Muslims countries. Afghanistan 47.02 per 1000 people, Albania 15.08 per 1000 people, Niger 7.46, Mali 7.42, Somalia 6.76, Afghanistan 6.69,Yemen 6.58. I think you can start to get the idea here. Muslim populations are filling up the birth shortfalls all throughout Europe and have already started taking over the European culture. They are imposing Sharia Law on old Europe already and very soon, the Europe we know will be gone. The thing about this is the Muslim culture does not assimilate themselves to whatever country they live in. They change the culture of the host country. We’ve already seen this."4. This should wake us up indeed, and prove just how far we've fallen from God's standard of Christian dominion. This is due (in large part) to our disdain for large families and our rejection of the command to "be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth." It is time we fall on our knees before God, asking His forgiveness for our rejection of what He refers to as a reward and "a heritage" (Ps. 127:3).

Before continuing, I want to make it clear that if you have been guilty of the sin of rejecting children or having a disdain for them, there is great forgiveness in Christ! This article is not meant to judge you, but rather to proclaim the glorious, joy-filled truths of God's Word to you. As an example of His forgiveness, I would like to share with you the testimony of my own family. I was born 3 years after my parents were married. My mother had been on the birth control pill until they felt the time was right to have a baby. Shortly after I was born, my father underwent a procedure so as to cut off the chances of my parents having any more children. Around the time I was 5, my parents began to desire another baby. My father went in to have his surgery reversed, and they were soon blessed with my precious brother, Andrew. After his birth, my father returned to the doctor to have the procedure done again, so as to prevent any more children from coming. My parents went on like this for years, thinking nothing of it. They were content with their son and daughter. However, during the end of 2006/beginning of 2007, the Lord began convicting my parents of their sin of rejecting God's blessings. In May of 2007, my father went to have his surgery reversed yet again. In the past two years, my parents have not been blessed with more "arrows" (Ps. 127:4). They may never be. But they now have a peace in their hearts. They know that they have repented and are now living in obedience to God and His Word. I am very proud of my parents and their willingness to make things right in the midst of a culture which disdains such actions. So, take heart! God will forgive you just as He graciously and lovingly forgave my own dear parents!

Being a Mother, Helping a Husband

As I touched on briefly in part 1 of this article, by being a mother, a woman is helping her husband and fulfilling her role as his helpmeet. I believe there are numerous ways by which having children can be seen as being a help to one's husband. First, mankind was commanded to be fruitful and multiply-a task which man alone clearly could not accomplish. He needed a helper in this responsibility. Second, by having children, a family's wealth is actually increased-not decreased-if the children are industrious and dedicated to furthering the wealth of the family. This family can then in turn be a greater blessing to others, and will have more resources to use in furthering dominion. Third, as stated above, man's dominion work is hindered when the command to be fruitful and multiply goes unheeded; this God-given work flourishes and advances, however, when many children are born to a Christian family that is dedicated to training and preparing them for spiritual warfare.

What a Blessing!

Ladies, God has granted to us a great gift in providing the ability to mother children-arrows for His kingdom! The magnitude and greatness of this privilege cannot be overestimated. This, however, is not a task to be taken lightly! The way we train and raise our children will dictate the future of the world. Someone once said that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. How true this is! We musn't view child-rearing as a menial task for which we need no special preparation. Satan would like us to believe this lie, for it can lessen our ability to successfully take dominion, but we musn't heed his deception! The Kingdom of God depends upon us being faithful to the high and glorious calling of nurturing, nourishing, training, loving, educating and preparing many arrows for Christ! Young ladies, we must see the importance and beauty of this life work, and must use our unmarried years fully and joyfully prepare for this calling (this will be addressed in more detail in a future article)! Motherhood is by no means a stifling work as militant feminists would have us believe! Rather, it should be viewed as a way in which we can greatly impact the world for Jesus Christ. What service to those in need we will be able to accomplish alongside our future children (should the Lord so bless)! Over and over in the Bible children are referred to as great blessings, and God's people are commanded to bring forth mightily. What a privilege we have as women! How wonderful that the Lord has given us the ability to greatly impact the course of history, and to train up the future men and women of the next generation. What a glorious vocation, and an important and exciting lifework which must be taken very seriously!

Conclusion

In closing, I would like to share with you the following beautiful words of wisdom:

"Every normal woman is equipped to be a mother. Certainly not every woman in the world is destined to make use of the physical equipment but surely motherhood, in a deeper sense, is the essence of womanhood. The body of every normal woman prepares itself repeatedly to receive and to bear. Motherhood requires self-giving, sacrifice, suffering. It is a going down into death in order to give life, a great human analogy of a great spiritual principle." (emphasis my own)

~Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me be a Woman 4.

Please return next Friday, when part 3 of this article will be posted, and we will delve deeper into the roles God has graciously given to women!

Footnotes:

1. Nancy Campbell, Be Fruitful and Multiply: What the Bible Says About Having Children, pgs. 37-38 (Vision Forum Ministries, 2003)

2. http://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_numb.htm (Use Christian discretion when viewing this site!)


3. Voddie Baucham, Family Driven Faith, pg. 174 (Crossway Books, 2007)


4. http://americaspeaksink.com/2009/01/muslim-birth-rate-taking-over-the-world/ ( I am not familiar with this gentleman, so please use Christian discretion when reading his other material. He is dedicated to conservative values it appears, but be careful nonetheless!)

5. Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me be a Woman, pg. 53 (Tyndale House Publishers, 1976)




*For further reading on this topic, I highly recommend two wonderful and in-depth books by Mrs. Nancy Campbell: Be Fruitful and Multiply: What the Bible Says About Having Children and The Power of Motherhood: What the Bible Says About Mothers

Exciting Updates on the Stay-at-home Daughterhood Article Series!

Hello, ladies! I hope this day has been a great one for all of you so far.

As I promised yesterday, today I'll be sharing with you some exciting updates about my current article series. So, without further ado, here goes! :)

I mentioned in the introduction to the series that I'll be posting, near the end of this project, several interviews with young women dedicated to stay-at-home daughterhood. Well, my dear friend Jasmine Baucham has already excitedly agreed to provide us with an interview and a glimpse into her life! Also, Blair and Claudia Brown and their sister Kelly Bradrick are excited about this project and may very well allow me to interview them, as well, if time allows, which I really appreciate! We may also be able to enjoy an interview with my friend Miss Jocelyn Dixon of A Pondering Heart and Feelin' Feminine. I'm currently working on lining up further interviews, as well. This is a really exciting time, so please pray that the Lord would direct this whole interview process.

There is something else I've been wanting to announce to you, and I thought today would be a good time. At the very end of this series, I will be hosting numerous giveaways of God-honoring books, CDs, and DVDs which will encourage and edify you young ladies as you embark on your journey to Biblical womanhood. So, be sure to tell others about those, as well!

Before I close, I want to give all glory and praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the work He has conducted in my heart and life and for the grace, strength and encouragement He has provided me with through the first weeks of this series. I grew up disliking writing very much. During the past 2 years, however, the Lord has changed my heart and given me an exciting passion for ministry to girls and young ladies through the venue of the printed word. I'm so thankful, in awe of my Lord, and excited to see what He has planned for the future of this ministry.

Also, I want to publicly thank my dear, wonderful mother and father. Mama has served as editor during this project, and I'm thankful that she will continue on in this work throughout the remainder of this series. She is a very talented editor, and is always quick to pick up on any spelling and grammar errors there may be in my articles. She also helps so much with providing me with ideas to help various parts of the articles flow better. She's amazing, and I'm so thankful for her help. This series would be impossible were it not for her. I'm also so thankful for Daddy's help, input, great points and oversight. He also has edited the articles so far here and there, and I'm excited about working with Mama and Daddy further throughout the course of this project.

I hope you ladies (and any gents that may be here) have a wonderful weekend and blessed Lord's Day!

No stay-at-home daughterhood post tomorrow! :(

As most of you know, I have a home business making and selling tea cozies. Mama and I will be at a local holiday craft fair this Saturday, with my cozies available for purchase. Because of this, I've been incredibly busy this week sewing cozies. The vast majority of my time besides this sewing has been dedicated to school work. This has, quite unfortunately, left me no time to really sit down and produce the part 2 article this week. I was going to try to still work on it as best I could so that it could be published tomorrow, and thus be on schedule, but Mama suggested that I simply wait until next Friday to post it, thereby giving me more time to dedicate to writing it. It pained me to delay the writing/posting of part 2, but I did see the wisdom in her decision. Therefore, the next stay-at-home daughterhood article will be published not tomorrow, but rather next Friday, October 16th.

Between now and then, I will be answering comments I've received on my last two posts that I have not gotten around to answering yet, so be sure to check those out!

Despite the lack of an article tomorrow, that day will not be without a post pertaining to stay-at-home daughterhood! :) I will be offering some exciting updates tomorrow about the series that you won't want to miss, so please be sure to come back for those!

Also, during this week break, please do continue to pray for the series, and assist me in this work by spreading the word about it!

Thank you all so much for your help and support! I'm sorry for the delay, but thank you so much for your patient understanding!

*Also, please pray that the sale would go well Saturday! :)

Please welcome the Daughters of His Story Paper Dolls!!

As I mentioned here, my dear friends Breezy and Emily Rose Brookshire have just completed, by God's amazing grace, a wonderful project: the Daughters of His Story Paper Dolls Collection. I'm so excited about this great ministry and the impact it will have on girls and young ladies-the future wives, mothers and homemakers of the next generation! The dolls are now available for purchase on Noble Rose Press, the beautiful site talented Emily designed as a store for their projects. Through Saturday, October 10th, Breezy and Emily are offering their paper dolls at a special introductory sale price, so hop on over to Noble Rose Press and take a look! I've already place my order, and am so looking forward to adding these dolls to my collection of hopechest items! :)

Also, the Brookshire's friend Sarah Mae is offering a giveaway of these dolls, so be sure to go to her blog and enter!!

Thank you for supporting my dear friends in their dominion endeavors! Please continue to spread the word about their home business, and may these dolls serve as a great encouragement to you and your family!

Beginning at the Beginning: The Lord's Beautiful Plan, Design and Purpose for Womanhood Part 1

*If you have not yet read the first part of this article series, please click here and do so now, before reading on.





Before we approach the subject of stay-at-home daughterhood head-on and form a defense thereof, I believe it imperative that we first begin at the beginning. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, I believe we should step back and discover from God's Word what exactly womankind's job description is-why woman was created, what she is to do, what high callings Almighty God has given to her, etc. This valuable study will provide us with a beautiful portrait of womanhood which will reveal just why stay-at-home daughterhood is so important to the heart of God and to His plan for women, and how it fits into His design for womanhood.

The Book of Beginnings

If we're going to "begin at the beginning" with our study, what better place to start than in Genesis, the Book of Beginnings, where woman first made her debut in this world?

To begin our overview of the purpose for woman, we must turn to Genesis 1 and 2. Genesis 1:1-31 gives us an awe-inspiring description of God's work of creation. For six consecutive days, the Lord added, stroke by stroke, beautiful new designs to His portrait of creation. On day 6, man, the crown of God's creation, was formed and fashioned into a being in the image of Almighty God Himself. Genesis 1:27,28 tells us that mankind, consisting of man and woman, was created in God's image, and as such, were to be His ambassadors on this earth by multiplying greatly and subduing and taking dominion over that created earth and all contained therein. Chapter 2 of Genesis, which, for our purposes we will be focusing on now, tells of the creation of Eve with much more detail than chapter 1 gave us. Chapter 2 provides us with a description of the home God fashioned for the man and woman (the Garden of Eden); tells us that God commanded Adam to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; and then presents to us the very reason why woman was created. God had given Adam the duties and responsibilities of tilling the ground (Gen. 2:5b,7), tending and keeping the garden (Gen. 2:15), naming the animals (Gen. 2:20), and, as noted previously, taking dominion of and subduing the earth and multiplying greatly, thus filling it (Gen. 1:28). Adam was given many jobs to do, but was without a helper to aid in these or a companion with whom to share stories of his accomplishments. Genesis 2:18 says this: "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.'" Prior to the end of each day of creation, God had looked over what He had made and declared it to be good. On day 6 however, after creating Adam and commanding him to not eat of the tree of knowledge, He declared it not good. There was nothing wrong with this creature, Adam, but there was something missing. Adam was alone, and this was not at all a good thing. Here, in verse 18 we read of the main reason God created woman.

Woman is to be.....

A helpmeet to man.

Eve was created to be a helper to Adam. Prior to her creation, Adam was surrounded by a beautiful, perfect world full of rushing waterfalls; the pleasing aroma of fresh flowers; animals of every kind, size and shape; mouth-watering foods-everything he could ever want, right? Wrong. Despite the beauty that surrounded Adam on every side, he was neither happy nor fulfilled. Each animal had its mate, but Adam was left without such a companion-alone in a breathtakingly beautiful garden with no one to share it with, no one to refresh or comfort him after a day of tending the garden, no one to praise God with him or to rejoice with over the magnificence of the garden. God saw Adam's incompleteness and loneliness and knew exactly what he so desperately needed. Adam needed a helper, a completer, a companion. He needed a creature equal to himself and made in God's image as he was, to share his life and burdens with. Our gracious God knew this, and so caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. While he slept, God took from him a rib and used it to fashion a woman, a glorious helper for Adam (Gen. 2:21, 22). Now, why didn't God simply form Eve of the dust of the ground as He did Adam, instead of going to the trouble of putting Adam to sleep, taking a rib from him, and using it to create a woman? I think He chose this method of creating woman for several reasons. First, I believe He did so to portray the fact that while Eve was equal to Adam, she was not the same as him in all ways, nor should she be. Second, I think our God chose this method of creation so that Adam could wake up to a beautiful, satisfying surprise. Imagine the rush of joy, relief and excitement Adam must have felt as he awoke and saw woman for the very first time! He expresses his bliss at the sight of his helpmeet in verse 23 of chapter 2, forming the first poem ever written. Third, I love Matthew Henry's explanation of the creation of woman: "That the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved."1.

Genesis 2:21 and 22 is not simply a beautiful account of the creation of woman that is to be read and then forgotten. Rather, this is a passage which holds such rich truths about the duty and purpose of woman. Woman was not made to be on her own, autonomously doing her own thing, as she so often does today. Sadly, many women have rejected one of the most important reasons for their very existence and have en masse neglected their duty to be helpers to their husbands. We would likely be shocked if we knew just how many men there are out there today who, thanks to feminism, find themselves in the same plight as Adam prior to the creation of Eve. They are burdened with difficult, overwhelming duties and plans and they have visions seemingly too big to come to pass. Think of all the great things these men could accomplish if they simply had capable, strong, godly, visionary, supportive helpmeets at their side, cheering them on in their endeavors and helping them every step of the way! Instead, many men today find themselves crippled, for they are without the strength or encouragement needed to accomplish big, great things. Someone once said that behind every great man, there is a great woman. This person had realized something vital to the health of a society and had tapped into knowledge that sadly, very few people-even Christians-possess today. As you've probably noticed, America is suffering terribly from a widespread epidemic. Of what does this epidemic consist? It comes to us in the form of a massive shortage of strong, godly men in the homes, churches, and gates of America. We are bombarded on every side with a sad scene full of an abundance of weak, wimpy, lazy, visionless men who seem to be good for very little. What do you think is the reason for this? I would submit to you that America's lack of strong, manly leaders directly correlates to the lack they have of competent, productive helpmeets to cheer them on towards ever greater plans, accomplishments and victories. Men with big visions usually have wonderful helpers and companions with big visions waiting in the wings ready to encourage and strengthen them. How much more transformed could the above described men of America be if they simply had helpmeets who believed in and prayed for them consistently? God created man to need woman. He had been given his duties; he now needed someone to spur him on with encouragement and respect in order for him to have the gusto needed to heartily accomplish his God-given tasks. In her book Free to Stay at Home: A Woman's Alternative, after addressing the creation of woman, Marilee Horton writes, "From the first, man had the potential to run as fast, jump as high, and sing as well as he ever could. But God made him with an ego that needed a cheerleader, and so with the advent of the female factor, he wanted to jump higher and run faster."2.

There is no magic pill that can be taken for the malady plaguing America and robbing her of godly, masculine leadership. Rather, God must do the work. He must once again raise up godly women who take their high calling as helpmeet to a man seriously and seek to fulfill it with great joy, dignity, pleasure and devotion, for such a time as this. Wives must strive to be the visionary helpmeets our God desires for them to be, and mothers must strive to train their daughters to be virtuous helpers to their one husbands one day. Young ladies (that's you and me!)must begin now to prepare for the high calling of helpmeet by studying God's Word to discover what a helper is to do for her husband and how she is to treat him. We accomplish this task by watching and learning from women older than ourselves (Titus 2:3-5), who are seasoned helpmeets, and by being a help and comfort to our fathers, the most important men in our lives (this we will address further in a future article!).

We have now established the fact that woman is to be a helper to man and that man needs his helper. Now we need to answer the questions, "What is she to help him with? Is there something specific she is to help him do? If so, what?" For the answers to these important questions, we must again refer back to the Book of Beginnings. We already discovered in Genesis 1:28 that man was given the following commands and duties by God Himself: "....be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth". A similar duty is issued forth in Matthew 28:19-20: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.". As the Lord's ambassadors, man is to take dominion of the Lord's creation for the benefit of mankind and seek to evangelize the lost throughout the world. Being fruitful and multiplying (which we will touch on further in the next article) is one of the ways in which man is to fulfill his duty to subdue and take dominion over the earth in Christ's name, for by producing many children and bringing them up in the Word, they are able to have further impact on the world and ensure that this dominion and evangelism will continue, Lord willing, on down through the ages. This responsibility given to man to take dominion over the earth is so vastly important, and obedience to it is crucial. Equally crucial to this, is that each Christian man have a visionary helpmeet by his side, encouraging and assisting him in this vitally important work. Oh, the power of a godly helpmeet! It cannot be overestimated and must not be underestimated! A man cannot fully, in victory, take dominion over God's creation by himself-he must have his helper. Is it any wonder then, with the exodus of women from their husband's side to a life of autonomous living, that America, once a strong Christian nation, is now in the shambles she finds herself? Young adults are leaving the church in alarming rates; teen pregnancies are skyrocketing; well over 50 million babies have been murdered in the name of selfishness since 1973; more than half of all marriages end in divorce; homosexual "marriage" is being legalized; families are falling apart; sexually transmitted diseases are at an all time high; churches are operating according to unBiblical standards; women are largely surrendering the needs of their families to others so that they can selfishly pursue their own careers and lives apart from God's commands; our government is saturated with ungodly rulers; America's children and youth are squandering what could be their most fruitful years in trivial pursuits instead of accomplishing, with the strength of Christ, great things for His Kingdom; and the list could go on and on.

Real Life Examples

How do we know things would likely have been different at this time in our history if wives had been godly and encouraging helpmeets to their husbands and spurred them on to accomplish great works for the Kingdom of God? Because history proves this to be so, and provides us with examples of just such a scenario! One of my favorite examples of a godly, visionary helpmeet encouraging and supporting her husband and his mission is the lovely account of Jonathan Edwards and his wonderful wife Sarah, as recorded in Elizabeth Dodd's great book, Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. This awe-inspiring read shows us just how much a man can accomplish and what a mark he can leave on society, when he has a faithful, praying helper! Something we must remember about the Edwardses, was that they lived during a time of moral decay. Church attendance was low, the amount of drinking and profanity was high. This is precisely the time for which our Lord fashioned Mr. Edwards, and he went on to be one of the leading pastors of The Great Awakening. The wonderful woman by his side unceasingly supported, served and strengthened her husband, which enabled him to evangelize many souls, edify fellow Christians, and research for and write a long list of books that have touched and changed many lives, having a great impact on countless pastors and laymen both then and now. Through Sarah's help and influence, Jonathan Edwards was able to rise to prominence, and remains to this day a household name in many Christian families. As you can see, being a helper to one's husband is far from an enslaving position of second rate importance-it is an adventure crucial to the heath of one's country and the church. On the vary topic of being a helpmeet, Mrs. Dodds relates the following heart-warming account of Sarah Edwards, "Sarah had most of the responsibility for [their] property. She saw that the garden was planted, that the hired man had his instructions for each day. They used to tell in Northampton how once Edwards asked, 'Isn't it about time the hay was cut?' To which Sarah mildly replied, 'It's been in the barn for two weeks'."3. Sounds like the Proverbs 31 woman! Because Sarah was a competent, godly, productive helpmeet, Jonathan Edwards was able to fully trust in her. This cleared up much of his time, for he knew that his estate and children would be cared for by Sarah's able hands. This allowed him to worry about other things, namely the work of the ministry. It is highly doubtful whether Jonathan would have been able to have the impact on the world that he did, and continues to have, had it not been for Sarah!

Before closing this article on the fact that woman is to be a helpmeet to man, I want to bring to your attention another example of a truly godly helpmeet. Susannah Spurgeon, the wife and helper of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, took great delight in being her husband's helpmeet. She once wrote, "My whole time and strength were given to advance my dear husband’s welfare and happiness. I deemed it my joy and privilege to be ever at his side, accompanying him on many of his preaching journeys, nursing him in his occasional illnesses, his delighted companion during his holiday trips, always watching over and tending him with the enthusiasm and sympathy which my great love for him inspired. I mention this… simply that I may record my heartfelt gratitude to God that, for a period of ten blessed years, I was permitted to encircle him with all the comforting care and tender affection which it was in a wife’s power to bestow.”4. Wow! Here was a woman who took her role as helper to her husband very seriously, and who knew the great impact such help could have! She didn't complain because she wasn't in the lime light. Rather, she delighted in her husband receiving all the praise. Charles Spurgeon remains one of the most famous English-speaking preachers, and like Edwards, continues to have a major impact on countless people even to this day. He rose to prominence, but not in a day of revival and reform. Rather, he rose to the pastorate in a day of moral and spiritual decay, and was used by God to lead a reformation in England. It was not uncommon for him to preach up to 10 times a week, and over 10,000,000 people heard him preach. He also founded a pastor's college and an orphanage, and wrote a long list of books. Would all this have been possible if he were constantly weighed down with worries of what was going on at home? I think not! Behind every great man is a great woman, and behind this great man was a wonderful woman named Susannah who delighted in and took great joy from her role as helpmeet.

In Conclusion

Young ladies, take heart! America may be decaying all around us, but so were Northamton during the time of Edwards and England during the time of Spurgeon. Sarah and Susannah did not despair when they looked at the sinful culture around them. Rather, they took full advantage of an opportunity to change it for Christ's sake by helping their husbands and advancing their godly ministries. May we prepare now to go and do likewise!

Please return next Friday, when we will take a look at the other important roles God designed specifically and solely for women!
~~~~~~~~~~

Footnotes:

1. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, pg. 10 (Hendrickson Publishers, 1991)

2. Marilee Horton, Free to Stay at Home: A Woman's Alternative, pgs. 49-50 (Word, Inc., 1982)

3. Elisabeth Dodds, Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards, pg. 36 (Audubon Press, 2004)

4. Charles Ray, The Life of Susannah Spurgeon, pg. 173 (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2006)

Tag; you're it!

I came across this tag today on my friend Breezy's site, and decided to post my own on here. Enjoy!

Here are 10 facts about myself:

1. I started ballet at the age of 4, and quit at 6 when my brother was born. I was also once a ballroom dancer but quit lessons, after being very convicted by the Lord, 2 years after I started.

2. I'm completely terrified of spiders! I can't even go near them to kill them, as I'm afraid they'll jump on me. :/

3. I can't stand green peas!

4. I had surgery for slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) in May of 2003 (at the age of almost 11) and had a screw inserted into my hip.

5. I've never been a very athletic person, but over the years have enjoyed playing basketball, volleyball and-of all things!-flag football occasionally. I wasn't that great, though, and was never on a team.

6. I've been homeschooled all my life and skipped second grade. Also, speaking of school, I went to get my senior pictures taken last Monday! :)

7. When I was really little people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I would reply, "A mommy and a cooker!".

8. I'm currently working on a very exciting project that I hope to, Lord willing, announce soon!

9. My hair was once waist length, and at that time I got 10 inches cut off and donated it to Locks of Love (a group that takes the hair and makes it into wigs for cancer patients)-it was then shoulder length after that.

10. My mouth is rather small, so I had to get my wisdom teeth taken out back in January 2007 before they were even through the gums.

If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged, and be sure to leave me your link so that I can read your answers! :) Have fun!

Introduction to the Stay-at-Home Daughterhood Article Series

*The following is the first installment in this series; a new article will be posted each Friday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What was once so natural and almost universally accepted and practiced, has become an enigma. Today, it's even a fighting phrase for some and even a picture of enslavement. What is this hated and misunderstood topic I speak of? Nothing other than what we refer to as stay-at-home daughterhood. As we will discover through our study, this concept of Biblical daughterhood was one that was once widely popular and seen as perfectly normal, safe and wise. What changed, and why? How did we go from the mindset of full support of stay-at-home daughterhood to one of sincere hatred at the very thought of it? We will uncover the answers to these questions as well as many others throughout the course of this series.

In this brief introduction, I want to quickly address various issues pertaining to stay-at-home daughterhood. What I want to begin with is the question that I'm sure is on the minds of many, and that is-just what is stay-at-home daughterhood? For years, I had never heard of such an idea, and I know there must be countless other young ladies who are currently in the same boat I was. They have either never heard of stay-at-home daughterhood, or have heard the phrase but don't know what it's referring to. There are many misrepresentations alive today concerning this doctrine, so I want to shed some light upon stay-at-home daughterhood's true nature, thereby clearing away some of the chaos and confusion that abound when this topic is raised. Some entertain the thought in their minds that this belief is one that was specifically designed to enslave young women, and that a stay-at-home daughter is a mindless, wimpy, mousy young lady who is chained to and slaving over a hot stove all day long. They seem to think that this poor daughter never sees the light of day, but is instead locked away in a dungeon-like basement in the family home, ruled by an overbearing and abusive father. While this portrayal may seem rather humorous (and very outlandish!), there are some who truly believe this is what we are referring to when we speak of stay-at-home daughterhood. When you begin to fully grasp this fact, and realize that these people, because of their misunderstandings, are seeking to lead others away from the beauties of Biblical daughterhood, the above notion loses all its humor rather quickly. While this is one notion some have regarding this doctrine of daughterhood, others think that stay-at-home daughters are alike in all respects to stay-at-home wives and mothers, in that they take over and replace all aspects of their mother's work and influence in the home, and in so doing, become a sort of second wife to their fathers and mother to their siblings. Neither of these notions is based in reality or Biblical teaching. While some daughters may live in one of the two scenarios mentioned above while at the same time call themselves stay-at-home daughters, these portrayals are not faithful to the picture of stay-at-home daughterhood found in the Bible.

We must be careful when we newly discover a Biblical teaching on daughterhood (or any other subject, for that matter!), for we too often take passages and run with them, forming legalistic and unBiblical thought patterns. Stay-at-home daughterhood is a valid, Biblical and beautiful doctrine, but must not be taken so far as to morph the daughter into a wife and mother or to enslave the daughter by putting her into the status of a second class citizen. When followed and practiced Biblically, stay-at-home daughterhood is a wonderful blessing by which a daughter is able to fully exercise her God-given talents while remaining in the protective realm of her father's house and striving to do all within her power to bless her family and others who enter that home.

Simply put and Biblically speaking, stay-at-home daughterhood is the belief that an unmarried daughter is to remain in the home of her father until the time when she is given in marriage by him. I can already see some of you who have never before heard of this doctrine incredulously raising your eyebrows. This is a common reaction, but a sad one as well, for this practice used to be viewed as a "no-brainer", so to speak. It was once simply assumed that a grown, unmarried woman would enjoy life in her father's home, filling her days with hospitality, productivity, industry, projects dedicated to ministering to others, and various accomplishments in her God-given, womanly work. What a contrast this expectation is with the one all-too-common today that if you're a high school graduate you must immediately be ushered off to a college or full-time job somewhere! It is a relatively recent notion-and a sad and destructive one at that- which says that if a daughter is in her father's home until she's married, there must be something wrong with her, or her father must be a brute who wants absolute, totalitarian control over her. Neither could be further from Biblical truth, and it is high time that we as Christians become more Biblically literate when it comes to the question of what a young woman is to do between her high school graduation and her wedding day. Instead of succumbing to the world's teachings and today's cultural norm with unquestioning, blind obedience, we should be actively seeking to know the heart of Christ when it comes to issues pertaining to a daughter's life. We are to be in this world but not of it. However, too many Christians today are not actively seeking God's will on the subject of daughterhood, but are rather following after the world and its ways, visions and plans for today's daughters. Christians today aren't even bothering to second guess the world's expectations and priorities. So, it is time for God's people to step up and start discovering for themselves what God's Word teaches daughters to spend their valuable, God-given time doing. And second, once they discover God's thoughts and commands on this topic, must seek to proclaim these truths to others. Clearly, feminism has attempted to tarnish and obscure the shining, radiant truths of God's Word (which is the true liberator of women!) in the hopes of somehow giving females "a better life". It is beyond time that the dust and filth which feminism has showered on the beautiful portrait of daughterhood which the Scriptures present, be brushed off and that the ancient truths of Scripture be raised up once again! That is just what I'm seeking to do through this series.

To present to you, statistically, just how far we've regressed when it comes to what we believe an unmarried young woman's role is to be, consider these reports:

• In 1946, more than 90% of young women ages 15-24 lived at home with their parents
• According to a survey conducted in a bridal magazine c. 1970, 67% of young women lived at home until marriage
• In 1995, 30% of young women remained at home until marriage
• According to the 2000 census, 20% of young adult women lived with their parents
• In Britain, during the second quarter of 2008, only 18% of women aged 20-34 still lived at home with their parents**

I read somewhere that during the first years of the 20th century only between 3 and 5 percent of unmarried young women lived away from their parents. Contrast that with the 2008 report from Britain, which says that 82% reside away from their parents! Do you see how far we've come? While feminists would see this downward spiral in the number of unmarried women living at home with their parents as progress, the Biblically-conscious Christian should view these statistics as tragic regression.

You may be thinking, just why did the percentage of women remaining at home until marriage drop so dramatically? Well, it is my goal to answer this as well as many other questions pertaining to stay-at-home daughterhood through the course of this article series. I believe it is imperative that we as Christians understand the history surrounding the decline in the number of stay-at-home daughters so that we may better know how to combat the lies and sly plans of those who oppose Christian family life. Throughout this study, we will be covering such topics as:

• What is God's design for womanhood and how does stay-at-home daughterhood pertain to and correspond with it?
• Where in the Scriptures is stay-at-home daughterhood taught and presented?
• Why is stay-at-home daughterhood so important?
• What effect did feministic philosophies have on stay-at-home daughterhood and why?
• What about college and higher education?
• What about a young woman taking a job outside the home?
• What is a stay-at-home daughter to do with her time? What are her roles and responsibilities?
• Can a stay-at-home daughter truly be productive and further Christ's kingdom while remaining at home?
• What are some ways that a young woman can earn money without leaving the protection of her home?
• What are some ministry ideas for a stay-at-home daughter?
• What if a young woman has a father who no longer sees the importance of protecting her, and wishes to send her off on her own? What is she to do?
• What if a young woman has an abusive father?

We will also be joined in our study by several young women who are committed to joyfully remaining at home under their father's authority and protection until the day they marry. I will be conducting several interviews with these various ladies over the next few weeks, in the hopes that they will serve to be an encouragement to you, and serve as a picture of just how happy, exciting and productive the life of a stay-at-home daughter can be!

So, whether you are a committed stay-at-home daughter who just needs a dose of encouragement, or someone who is passionately against stay-at-home daughterhood, or someone somewhere in between, this article series is for you!

I pray that the Lord would bless you richly through the reading of this series, and that He would open the eyes of those who need their eyes opened, and would encourage and strengthen those who need edifying. In order to see the impact of this series on those who read it, I put a poll on my blog a couple months ago, asking my readers to please vote in response to the simple question: What are your thoughts on stay-at-home daughterhood? The poll was responded to with 186 votes and the following are the results I received:

• It's 100% Biblical and such a blessing--88 votes (47%)
• I don't see it taught in the Scriptures--48 votes (25%)
• It enslaves young women--39 votes (20%)
• I don't fully understand what it is--20 votes (10%)
• It's weird and wacky--11 votes (5%)
• I've never heard of it--8 votes (4%)

At the end of the series I'm going to reopen this poll. While I understand that not all of those who voted in the poll the first time around will necessarily come to my blog and vote again, while at the same time new people who did not vote in the first will vote in the second, I still hope to attempt to see what effect the series has had on the way some of my readers view the subject of stay-at-home daughterhood.

Throughout the course of this series, I would appreciate your prayers! Please also spread the word as much as you can! Thank you all for the part you are having in making this project a success! May all glory, honor, and praise go now and forevermore to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

** Statistical Information courtesy of research conducted on Google

Snapshots from Daddy's Birthday

This past Thursday, September 17th, was Daddy's birthday. Here are some photos of the celebration. :)

Andrew and I tend to make cards for Daddy, but we happened to find some we really liked instead. Here's the one Andrew picked for him. :)

The two most important men in my life. :)

This is the card I picked for Daddy

Daddy talking to Andrew about one of his gifts. :) He received a CD set of Doug Phillips reading Poems for Patriarchs

Daddy blowing out his musical candle! :) This is the 2 layer chocolate cake with chocolate icing he requested.

Enjoying precious fellowship with the Brookshire family!

We were so excited and blessed to be able to spend time with the dear Brookshire family while in Indiana! Daddy and I had met Mr. Brookshire and his sweet daughters Breezy and Emily Rose at this year's Vision Forum Father Daughter Retreat. While speaking with them, we discovered that, amazingly, they lived only about 20 minutes down the road from my great-grandparents! We had also visited the Brookshire's church before without realizing they went there! This time while in Indiana we were able to visit their church again, and they were so kind and hospitable that they invited us over for lunch afterwards. It was so wonderful to see them again (and to meet their wonderful mother!). This fun time made Mama's birthday even more special. A memorable day of fun, much laughter, and encouragement was enjoyed by all!

Breezy, myself and Emily Rose-special kindred friends!
The men- Mr. Brookshire, Daddy and Andrew

Mr. Brookshire and Daddy enjoying a good conversation!

Goodbye 'til next time! (this picture got out of order :( )

A group of likeminded Christians enjoying joyous fellowship together

My dear friend Breezy and the Brookshire's sweet family dog Bentley (who is also very obedient, I might add!)

Mr. and Mrs. Brookshire, Daddy and Mama

Mrs. Brookshire and Mama- two precious, godly women who delight in being wives, mothers and homemakers!

For more photos from our time with the Brookshires, please click here!

**Special note: the Brookshire sisters have just completed, by God's grace, a wonderful new project that will be featured in and available through this year's Vision Forum family catalogue (which is due out soon!). This wonderful work will, I'm sure, serve to encourage, edify, teach and strengthen the sturdy, godly, feminine, submissive, and visionary wives, mothers and homemakers of the next generation! For more information, please click here (and be sure to spread the word)!

Fun, fun, fun in Indiana!

Here are more photos from our time in Indiana. Enjoy!

My dear Papa (my great-grandfather) makes the best grilled hamburgers!
Fun-loving Nanny!

When Andrew discovered that he was finally the same height as Nanny, he was so excited!

Daddy and Andrew having fun as usual! :) I just love it when they wear their matching shirts!

Mama and Nanny enjoying a dice game

Me, Mammy, and my great-uncle Glen (who is SO much fun, as well!)

Me, dear Mammy, and Andrew

Me and my precious Mammy. She is such a godly woman and a wonderful role model for me. She radiates with kindness, femininity, hospitality, love for Christ, motherly love, and modesty. Her submissiveness, meek and quiet spirit, and the fact that she delights in being a woman are always so evidant. She truly is a delight to be around, and I'm so blessed to have her as my great-grandma!

Me and Glen...having fun as always!

Our vacation was a wonderful one, filled with fun and special memories. Lots of games were played, good talks were had, yummy foods were made and consumed, etc. We're very thankful for the time the Lord allowed us to have, and hope that you enjoyed this little glimpse into it! :)

Mama's birthday in Indiana

Well, these pictures came up out of order....I hope you'll bear with me! :)

Mama's birthday was Sunday, September 6th, and thus she was able to celebrate it in her favorite place....Indiana! She was able to visit with both great-grandmas (who both made her very yummy cakes!), which made for quite a happy day!

Andrew and I gave Mama the jewelry for her birthday, not knowing that Nanny (my great-grandma) had purchased this top for her. Look how well the earrings and top match! :) That was quite a pleasant surprise.
Mama and Nanny :)

The tasty pineapple upside down cake Nanny made for Mama

Mama and her not so little boy on her birthday (reading the card he made for her!)

Daddy, Mama and Mammy (my other great-grandma). Mammy made her a beautiful, moist applesauce cake. She is a very creative woman-she even put icing flowers on the cake!

I do believe it was a happy birthday, don't you? :)

On the road.....to Indiana! :)

As some of you may know, my family and I left for Indiana on Friday morning, September 4th to go visit my great-grandparents (and some dear friends, as well!). The following are some pictures I took in the van on the way to beautiful Indiana farmland! I hope you enjoy.... As most of you probably know by now, I'm a major sucker for sky photos (I have over 60 on my camera right now!), and simply couldn't resist capturing these two works of art on camera!
Isn't our God a master designer?

My sweet brother Andrew and I

We have much fun together, I assure you! ;)

A precious picture of Mama and Daddy that captures the beauty of their godly marriage. On occasion, especially on long drives, you can catch them silently holding hands. :) Sweet or what?

Yes, I adore my sweet, silly brother!

Get your vote in now!! :)

The long awaited stay-at-home daughterhood article series will, Lord willing, begin this Friday, September 25th!! You have only 3 days left to vote in the poll- please do so and spread the word about the series. I also eagerly welcome your prayers for this project!

God bless you this week,
Rebekah

The Importance of the Bill of Rights

*The following was written for a school assignment. I decided to post it here in the hopes that it would quicken you to fight for your blessed freedoms against those so intent upon destroying America.

Patrick Henry was a very wise man who understood the fact that, without a bill of rights, the U.S. Constitution would not necessarily be a liberty-preserving document. He refused to even support the proposed Constitution at the time when such a bill was absent from its pages, for he knew the sinfulness of man's nature and the desire man has to control others and usurp authority. He distrusted the proposed Constitution, for he felt that under it, America would quite easily fall into the hands of a monarch yet again. Mr. Henry knew something that many Americans today do not: without the addition of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution, there could not be still in existence "the land of the free", the United States of America.

The Founding Fathers undoubtedly fought hard for our freedom. During the Revolutionary War, they endured frigid winters, hunger, and a lack of sufficient clothing. Many of them bled and died so that we might have the blessing of living free. They also framed the Constitution for the sake of their posterity-us. Just how are we thanking them today? By referring to religion (the term our Founders used for Christianity) as incompatible with the realm of the civil government and politics. By crying out for separation of church and state and for the outlawing of Christianity, rather than for freedom of religion. By calling the second amendment and the bearing of arms unconstitutional. By ruling our government in such a way that we are supporting its takeover by foreign nations and philosophies that are bent on America's destruction. By calling abortion acceptable under the phrase "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". That's how we're thanking our Founding Fathers for the many and varied sacrifices they made for us! Shameful? That would be an understatement!

We are taking the Bill of Rights and turning it on its head today. We are sticking out our stubborn necks against our Founders and rejecting the blessed freedom they paid so dearly for on our behalf. Today, Americans are blindly rejecting the rights which their ancestors held as dear and precious, the rights that separated them from the countries of mourning, slavery, trepidation, abuse, dictatorship, darkness, and sadness. Our ancestors viewed the Bill of Rights as a gift from God that proclaimed the blessings He had given to us in this new country. Just as it would be shameful for Christians to reject their Christian liberty, so it is shameful for Americans to reject their God-given national liberty! That's exactly what we are guilty of doing today, however-rejecting what our Founders referred to as "the blessings of liberty".
Just how important is the Bill of Rights? Could we get along allright without it? Would we be truly free in this nation without it? Is the Bill of Rights overrated? I think not! In fact, just as Patrick Henry did, I know not! The Bill of Rights that the Lord has blessed us with is precisely what separates us from Communist China, from Islamic Iran, and from the former Soviet Union. Without this Bill America would quickly be reduced to a nation of concentration camps and dictatorships. Instead of joy and capitalistic industry would be wretched sadness and socialism. Instead of freedom, independent living, and peaceful sleep at night knowing we live in a free nation, would be chains, slavery, torment, and the dread of living another day in such dreary circumstances, combined with the fear of actually facing death at the hands of a dictator and his minions. America is separated from China by a thin line of, first of all, the blessing of God, and secondly, the Bill of Rights.

All around us here in America are politicians intent on destroying the Bill of Rights. They prowl about in the dark of night, working silently to erode away our freedoms and our God-given privileges. They are crafty God-hating men and women who receive their joy from ruling and controlling others. These powerful workers are dedicated to destroying the United States of America and all she has stood for in the past. While these politicians are working hard, incessantly striving to reach their idolized goal, the majority of Americans are helping them by remaining in a state of slumber, disinterested in what is going on about them. Americans are their own worst enemies, and unbeknownst to them, are actually serving the very people who are working so hard to destroy them. The politicians striving to overtake America by destroying her Bill of Rights would not be as successful as they are becoming if it weren't for lazy Americans who are keeping their eyes shut and their ears deaf. Because we Americans take not the time to observe what is going on around us, to educate ourselves as to what our government is working on, and to fight against those who are attempting to control us, we are handing over our freedoms bit by bit without so much as a fight.

It is high time that we, the descendants of the fighters in the War for Independence, took on that revolutionary spirit and set out to defeat King George III yet again. Wake up, America! Fight back against those who want to take away your precious freedoms! Make the Founders proud in the way that you bravely resist the socialists' deeds of darkness. Wake up, America, before it's too late-before your Bill of Rights is nowhere to be found!

Stay-at-home Daughterhoodhood Article Series Delay :(

I hate to be the bearer of bad news this morning, but the release of the first article in the stay-at-home daughterhood series has been pushed to Friday, September 25th, 2009. The time between my arrival home and today was going to be spent on putting the finishing touches, etc. on the first article. However, I've been distracted and preoccupied due to the terrible news received Monday about a family in our church. While I know this delay is a huge letdown to all of you as well as to myself, I feel that I would be letting us down all the more if I attempted to just go through the motions with the article, without really putting my heart and my best into it when my mind is on other things. I want this series to be the best it can be to God's glory, and I feel that if I had attempted to prepare the article for release today, it wouldn't have been the best it could be. I'm so sorry for this unexpected and unforseen problem and postponement. I had so wanted this series to begin on my father's birthday (today). I know, however, that God's will is best, and His timing perfect. This way, at least you'll have more time to vote in the poll and spread the word about the series! God is good, and has a good plan for this project. To God alone be the glory!

Please continue to pray for the family at church!! This is such a sad and awful situation, and they really need prayer at this time! Thank you!

Updates, a Reminder and Prayer Requests

Hello, all! My family and I returned yesterday evening from a truly delightful trip to Indiana to visit my great-grandparents. While there, we were able to have lunch and enjoy a great time of fellowship with some of my dearest friends, Breezy, Emily and the rest of their family. A great time was had by all (more on that later!), and the Lord was so merciful in granting to us traveling mercies on our journey back home. As always, a wonderful visit with family ends in an emotional departure. But God is good, and I'm so thankful for the precious time we were able to have together.

As most of you know, Lord willing, the first article in the stay-at-home daughterhood series will be posted this Thursday, September 17th. Also, please note that there is limited time available to vote in the poll that is associated with this project, so please do vote while you still can! Please continue to keep this series in your prayers, as well! That is greatly appreciated, I assure you!

While driving home yesterday, Mama discovered that there were 2 messages on her cell phone from our pastor. They sounded very urgent, and upon calling back, we were told something that we never ever would have expected. I don't feel at liberty at this time to reveal all the details (especially not on the public venue of a blog). However, I am pleading with you that you would please pray for a family in our church. Something has happened that has sent us into complete shock and disbelief. Though you don't know all the details (nor do we at this time!), please don't allow that to cause you to underestimate the importance of keeping this family in your prayers. If, in the future, I feel that I can share more with you all, I certainly will. But for the time being, I would so appreciate your prayers! They mean more than you know! We know that the Lord will bring good out of this situation, but we truly are wondering why it has happened. 'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, though! God is good, and will bring good out of this problem. Thank you so very, very much for your faithful, caring prayers and concern!

Also, there is a friend of mine from church who was injured recently during football practice. He had to have surgery for torn cartilage in his knee, and at this time, we are unsure whether or not his cartilage will heal. Please pray the the Great Physician would work wonders, that his recovery would not be too painful, etc.

Thank you all so much for your love and prayers. What a joy it is to have readers like you! The Lord truly has blessed me through you all, and I pray that he will use me to be a blessing to you in return.

God bless you,
Miss Rebekah

A Plea to the American Unbelievers of Today

*The following was written for a school Bible/writing assignment, but, with the knowledge that some of my readers profess to not be Christians, and are thus unsaved, I felt that the Lord would have me post this on my blog as well. May it prove to be a blessing to all who read what's contained herein.

A Plea to the American Unbelievers of Today

The vast majority of you claim to believe in God. However, what do your actions say? Do they agree with and support your words? By no means. Some of you even go around claiming the name of Christ, but to no use. You claim it in vain. You are filled with carnality and are thus the enemies of God, not the friends thereof. I would submit to you that the belief you claim to hold is not a belief in the One True God, but rather a belief in the gods who are a figment of your imagination. Most of you do indeed believe in a god or gods, but none of these will be able to help you on the coming Day of Judgment-you will be left in your sins if you do not turn from them now unto the true and living God.

You rely on your made up gods and religions in the hopes that one day you'll be found worthy to enter heaven. These false gods of yours do not exist and will therefore be of no assistance to you on that day when you find yourself at the judgment seat of Christ. Woe to you who believe in these false gods! Woe to you because there is no hope whatsoever for you. That is, unless you turn from these fantasy gods to the One true God and His Son Jesus Christ.

You all go scurrying about in an abyss of relativism, chained by confusion and chaos. All this worrying and arguing about what truth is could easily be avoided if you simply turned from Satan, the author of confusion, to Christ, the author of all true knowledge. Fear of Christ is the beginning of knowledge, but not one of you possesses true knowledge, for you do not fear Christ. You must repent of your sins and turn to the Savior. God has revealed Himself to you through your consciences, His creation, and His Word, but you have ignored each and every one of these signs from Him. He will not be patient and kind to you forever. One day, He will turn from His lenience to His wrath and will subdue each of you and your sins. On that great Day of Judgment there will be no chance for any of you to repent of your sins and turn to the Savior. That chance only exists today, in this moment, as you don't know what the next day or even the next hour may bring. Your only hope is to be found right now as you listen to my words. When I am finished speaking to you, your time of hope may be finished as well. You have but a moment to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in faith. Your life is but a vapor and will soon be gone, and if your life ends before you turn unto Christ, your soul will forever be lost. Jesus is showing to you His tender mercies in allowing you to hear His truth today. Do not resist these mercies, but rather cling to them. They are your only hope of salvation.

Now, as I close, I plead with you, I beseech you, to not turn away from your only chance to be saved. Turn not your back on this loving Savior Who died on the cross to save sinners such as you. Do not choose to spend eternity in hell; choose rather to spend your eternity in paradise, in the presence of the God Who shed His blood to save all those that would believe. Rich peace and joy that passes all understanding would immediately fill your souls if only you would surrender them to God. Please do not turn away from His offer of salvation. Today is the day of salvation, today is the appointed time. Turn not away.

The Current Status of the Long Awaited Stay-at-Home Daughterhood Article Series

I have been amazed by the response I've received to the stay-at-home daughterhood poll I posted. I'm excited that there are so many of you out there who are taking an interest in this subject and who are willing to vote in the poll to let me know what's on your mind regarding this topic. The answers to the poll I've so far received have been very revealing and interesting, to say the least! I'm very encouraged by all of you who have voted letting me know that you find stay-at-home daughterhood to be a great Biblical blessing. However, my eyes have also been opened all the more, through this poll, to the fact that there are many out there who (as I was 3 years ago) have never heard of stay-at-home daughterhood nor have any idea what exactly it means. Others don't, themselves, see it taught in the Scriptures, while still others who have grown up with feminism and have bought into its carefully packaged lies have the belief that stay-at-home daughterhood somehow enslaves young women and deprives them of reaching their full potential and prohibits them from using their gifts and talents fully for the glory of God and good of others. Clearly, feminism has attempted to tarnish and obscure the shining, radiant truths of God's Word (the true liberator of women!) in the hopes of somehow giving females "a better life". It is high time that the dust and filth that feminism has showered on the beautiful picture of daughterhood that the Scriptures present, be brushed off and that these anctient truths be raised up once again!

As you can probably detect, I am very passionate and excited about this series and the truths it will reveal. However, as I've prepared for this series and as my vision for it has grown, I have become increasingly aware that apart from Christ, I can do nothing. I could do all the research in the world and attempt to write eloquently of the joys of stay-at-home daughterhood, but if I did not first seek His face and His blessing and His vision, desire, and purpose for this series, then it wouldn't matter how nicely I wrote or how much work I put into the articles-the result would be the same-fruitlessness and a lot of wasted time. The Lord has been convicting me and opening my eyes to the fact that even though I'm the one striving to write this series, I am nothing. He is the One with all the power, glory and might. He alone has the ability to change people's hearts and to open their eyes up to the truth. I am merely an insignificant young woman with many faults and failures whom the Lord has graciously decided to use as an instrument in His hands to, Lord willing, bring about change in the lives of girls and young women who are in desperate need of the glorious truths He has to offer. It is for that reason that I am freshly and anew dedicating this work to the Lord, praying for His direction and for His hand to be upon it, to bless it, and to allow it to bring about much fruit, and to graciously give me the words to write and the lessons to share. For I am weak, but He is ever strong.

As I have dedicated increasingly more thought to this article series, I have found the Lord changing the meager ideas I had for this series in the beginning, and suppling me with more and more ideas and vision. In fact, just the other night, the Lord graciously gave me yet another article idea to be included in this series! :) I'm constantly amazed by the hand of God-how He takes our insignificant, little ideas and transforms them into tools for His hand-tools to carry out His plans and to bring Him glory. Just when I think that I've come up with all the article ideas to be included in this series, He intercedes and reminds me that His grace is sufficient and teaches me to not rely on my own finite strength or knowlege, but to rather seek His face, His truth and His plans!

Through His grace, my vision for this series has increased and so has my preparation (i.e. research, study, writing, editing, etc.) for it. During my time of increased preparation, I need your help. I'm asking that you would please do the following for me:

• First and foremost (and by far most important!), please be in prayer for me! In preparing for and writing this series, I am in need of much wisdom, which only comes through Christ (Col. 2:3). Please be in prayer that I would be given much needed wisdom, humility and grace as I undertake this work that I pray would be a blessing to many young ladies who are in desperate need of direction and godly vision in their lives. As I said previously, unless the Lord's mighty hand is on this series and He blesses and directs it, it will be worthless. So, please do pray for me, that I would feel the Lord's presence and that His loving hand would guide me, that I would receive the wisdom needed to write exactly what needs to be written for edification and enlightenment and that the Lord would bless my efforts with an abundant harvest of fruit! Please also pray that I would constantly be reminded that I am merely God's servant, an instrument in His hands, and a worker for His kingdom that always needs His strength and blessing in order to accomplish wonderful things for His cause. Finally, please pray that the Lord would begin even now to prepare the hearts of those who will read this series, preparing them for what they will hear and discover, and that He would open the eyes of those who will find themselves reading this work. Please intercede before the throne of God above that if there are misconceptions that the readers have regarding stay-at-home daughterhood, that they would be addressed and refuted, that eyes that need to be opened will be, that problems and difficulties people have with this doctrine would be taken care of and cleared up. No matter what I write in this series, I, myself, will not be able to bring about any positive change in those who will read it. Only the Lord God has the ability to do that. So, please pray that He would do just that and that His will would be done.

• Please spread the word! Be sure to tell others about the approaching release of the stay-at-home daughterhood series. I want as many as possible to be able to read this series, and each of you can take a special part in helping to make that happen! Please tell all the people you can about the upcoming articles. Make mention of it on your blog our website by linking to By His Grace and For His Glory, e-mail young ladies you know who would benefit from this series, and be sure to tell your friends and family about it! I so appreciate all of your efforts to make the coming series known!

• Please submit questions and comments you may have regarding stay-at-home daughterhood! There will be a special Q & A session towards the end of this series, so please begin submitting your questions now. You can do so by leaving them in a comment at the end of this post or by e-mailing me at living_for_my_Lords_glory@hotmail.com (please note: there is no appostrophe in the word "Lords", as hotmail does not allow this sort of punctuation in e-mail addresses). I look forward to hearing from you!

• Submit your testimony! I would love to hear from you stay-at-home daughters out there! What are you doing with your time as a stay-at-home daughter? Share a testimony about your change to stay-at-home daughterhood, or perhaps tell of how you've always been taught about stay-at-home daughterhood since you were a young girl. Share with us how stay-at-home daughterhood has been a blessing to you and your family and what you have learned through it. I would also love to hear from women who are married and perhaps mothers now, but who were stay-at-home daughters prior to marriage. Please share your wisdom with us and tell us how stay-at-home daughterhood helped to prepare you for your current life as a wife and mother. You can submit these testimonies the same way you would a question or comment, and I look forward to sharing these with the rest of my readers near the end of the series!

• Please vote and share your thoughts! As many of you know, there is a poll on the right side of your screen asking you to share your thoughts on stay-at-home daughterhood. If you have already voted in this poll, thank you so much! I appreciate your input! If you have not voted yet, I highly encourage you to please do so! As you may have noticed, I have increased the number of voting days available for this poll. This is because I want as many people as possible to vote in it before the release of the article series, and because the release date has been pushed back a bit due to increased writing and preparation, I wanted to make sure you had ample opportunity to vote as you anticipate the release of the first article in the series. Please feel free to comment in the comment section or send me an e-mail and elaborate on your vote. Explain why you voted the way you did and what your thoughts are. I would love to hear from you!

• Submit suggestions for consideration! Do you have an idea for the article series that you think should be included? Perhaps you have written an article on this very subject and would like to see it included in the series. Please submit your articles and ideas! I would be happy to consider them for involvement in the series!

Why Friday, September 17th, 2009?

As of now, unless the Lord surprises me with different plans, the date set for the release of the first article in the series is Friday, September 17th, 2009, which is my Daddy's birthday! Why the 17th? I am planning for this to be the release date for several reasons:

• First of all, due to increased writing for this series, more time is needed before it can be publised here.

• Secondly, I will be out of town from September 4th through September 13th and did not want this trip to interfere with the series. A controversial subject like this tends to generate a lot of conversation, which is good. However, if I were to begin posting articles in this series prior to my absence, that absence would interfere with me being able to be a part of the conversation and would thus prohibit me from being able to answer questions or concerns you may have while I'm gone. Therefore, I felt that the wisest thing to do would be to delay posting of the articles until after I return, which will also allow me more time to work on and polish them, and more time for you to be able to vote, spread the word, send in questions, pray for the series and all it involves, etc.

• I also think it's only fitting that the first installment in this series be published on the birthday of the man whose home I will happily remain in until I am given in marriage by him. :) This series will be dedicated to my dear father, George.

Once the first article is released, a subsequent article will be posted here each Friday until the complete series has been released.

I'm so excited about this project and pray that you are, as well! Thank you very, very much for all your prayers and support! May the Lord richly bless each of you!

Semper Reformanda (always reforming),

Rebekah

*photo courtesy of art.com

A Beautiful Portrait of the Father Daughter Relationship

The following are the lyrics to a new song from Point of Grace entitled, King of the World. It's a beautiful picture of the joy, love and delightful times that can be had through the precious father daughter relationship. It also stresses the importance of never taking our time with our Daddies for granted! Time goes by so very fast, and before we know it, we'll all (Lord willing) have homes and families of our own-we will be living with our dear fathers no longer. So take every moment of every day as a young maiden in your father's household and make the absolute most of it with your father, who is your God-given protector, provider and leader at this time of your life as an unmarried daughter. All of our fathers are no doubt imperfect, but we musn't allow their short comings to blind us into dishonoring them, ignoring them, pushing them away, or disrespecting them. By doing so, we would miss out on some of the most precious memories of our lives. So, drink in the lyrics of this beautiful song and then run and give your Daddy a big hug and a bright smile! :)

King of the World

Spinning around on the tops of his feet

smile of the angels could not be so sweet

wide blue eyes and piggy tail swirls

she's her daddy's girl

'cause he knows the jokes that always make her laugh

takes her for ice cream instead of her nap

at the end of the day by the light of the moon

they turn up the music in their living room

and she yells,

"dance me, dance me around till my feet don't ever touch down

there's nothing better than being your girl and if i am your

princess then daddy you are the king of the world"

its funny how life moves in circles of time to think so long ago

that face was mine houses get smaller we take different names

but some things in life stay the same

"dance me, dance me around till my feet don't ever touch down
there's nothing better than being your girl and if i am your
princess then daddy you are the king of the world

some day she'll go off and find a life of her own and marry a good

man and make a happy home until she comes back and sees with

those same eyes what time can not disguse she walks through

the door with that look on her face cuz daddy's brown hair has

all turned to gray they talk for hours they cry and they laugh

watchin' old movies and thinkin' back time goes by just as she turns to go she

says hey, daddy, how 'bout one for the road

dance me, dance me around till my feet don't ever touch down

dance me, dance me around till my feet dont ever touch down cuz theres nothing better than being your girl oh theres nothing better than being your girl and if i am your princess than daddy you are the king of the worldking of the worldsmile of the angels could not be so sweet

Updates and Thank Yous!

Hello, all! I hope the Lord is blessing you greatly this week.

I would like to begin by sincerely thanking each and every one of you that have voted on the polls on the right side of your screen. Thank you for letting your voice be heard, and for helping me in my research process. For those of you who have not yet voted, please do! I would like to encourage you to vote in each of the polls to your right.

Secondly, it's time for some updates. As I said when I first posted the polls, once the days for voting have run out, I will begin posting articles in my stay-at-home daughterhood article series, after which I will open a new poll to see how the results may change after the release of my series. Research and reading for my series is currently being conducted. I don't want this series to just be a presentation of someone's opinion. I want it to be a thoroughly researched and studied coverage of a beautiful theology that I believe is close to the heart of God and is revealed in beautiful words and through beautiful pictures in the Word of Almighty God, the Bible. I'm seeking the wisdom and knowledge of those who are older and wiser than I who also love this doctrine and have researched it and believed in it far longer than I have.

Please pray that the Lord would have His hand on the writing of this series and that He would richly bless it and use it to open the eyes of many people to the precious truths of His Word.

Also, please begin sending your questions in on the subject of stay-at-home daughterhood, as one of the last installments of this series will be a Q & A session between all of you and me. Also, Lord willing, I will be posting interviews will other godly ladies of the faith who have a heartfelt love for the doctrine of stay-at-home daughterhood. If the Lord wills, this set of interviews will include interviews from daughters who are still unmarried in their father's homes and also ones from married ladies who have already made the transition from living in their father's homes to living in their husband's homes. I'm really excited about these articles and am sure you will be as well!

I'm really looking forward to the publishing of these articles on By His Grace and For His Glory. But I am very well aware of the fact that I can only do this work through the strength of Christ and by His grace, as His servant. I pray that all the glory would go to Him and Him alone.

To God be the glory, great things He hast done!

May you feel His presence this weekend and always.

No, readers, I have not forgotten about you!!

Hello, all! :)

I just returned last Monday (June 1st) from a wonderful trip visiting family. I left on May 9th, and so was gone for a little over 3 weeks. It was my intention to prepare some posts prior to leaving so that they could be scheduled to be published while I was gone, but, as you can see, I was unable to do so. The time leading up to my trip was filled with studying for tests, packing, etc. It was a busier time than I thought it would be, so time for blogging was nonexistent!

I missed you all, and I greatly missed writing for this blog! My trip, though, was wonderful. I went to Indiana to visit my great-grandparents, great-uncle and various other family members and then traveled down to Arkansas to visit my grandmother. We all had a wonderful time, and the Lord taught me so much during this trip-some of which I hope to be sharing with you soon! I'm so thankful the Lord allowed me to have this time with my family. It was so special. Let me encourage you all to never ever take a moment with your family(especially those members who are getting up in years) for granted! The Lord, through this trip, showed me yet again just how short life is, and the fact that I don't know how much longer I have with my grandparents. Life is so precious and musn't be taken for granted. Rather, live every moment of every day to the fullest for His glory!!

Last week was very busy as we tried to get back into the swing of things after our vacation, and so far, this week is no different! I'm currently making a lot of tea cozies for a sale our local homeschool group is putting on this weekend. I'm greatly looking forward to it, but preparation for it is keeping me rather busy!

I must go now, but pray that all is well with each one of you! God bless you richly this week!

Input and help requested! :)

Hi, all!

I'm looking for a great apricot pie recipe. Do any of you have one you could share with me that you recommend?

Thanks! :)

Please Participate!

As you can see, there are now 3 new polls up and running! Please vote in each one!

Once the days are up for the courtship and stay-at-home daughterhood polls, I will (Lord willing) be posting an article series on coursthip and the long awaited one on stay-at-home daughterhood. Once those have been published on here, I will reopen the polls and see if anyone's thoughts on courtship and stay-at-home daughterhood have changed after reading the articles!

Thank you so much for participating and letting your voice be heard!

Happy Anniversary to a match made in Heaven!

Happy 20th Anniversary, Mama and Daddy!!

Twenty years ago today, my dear parents covenanted together in marriage. Twenty years and two (so far!) children later, they grow closer each day. They've lived and grown, by God's grace, through the high times and the low ones, through sickness and health, through riches and poverty, through good and bad.

They have been an inspiration to me, and their marriage is a beautiful picture of Christ and His bride. They have such a strong commitment to one another and have thus provided my brother and I a warm, secure home-a blessing that many children today sadly do not have. The Lord has been so merciful in the life of our family-a family which began twenty years ago today (but was planned out by God before the foundation of the world!).

Thank you, Mama and Daddy, for your beautiful example and love for one another. May our gracious Lord grant you at least twenty more bright and beautiful years together!

We love you!!

~Bekah and Andy

Fun Game!

I recently came across this fun little game and thought I would post it here! :) It'll hopefully prove to be a fun way for you all to get to know me better!

~~~~~~~~~~FOOD-OLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~

What is your salad dressing of choice? The ranch dressing at Golden Corral and Ryan's! It's the best!!
What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Either Olive Garden, Fiesta Grill or the two mentioned above!
What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? My great-grandma's yeast rolls!!
What are your pizza toppings of choice? extra cheese, sausage, olives
What do you like on your toast? apple butter or peanut butter and honey
Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate!

~~~~~~~~~~~~TECHNOLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~
How many televisions are in your house? Sadly, 3! But they don't get watched a whole lot! :) Although, I must say, there are some good things to view on TV-you just have to be very selective and self-controlled with the amount of time you watch it and what you watch!!
What color cell phone do you have? Well, Mama and Daddy have a black and tan one, but I personally don't have one

Do you have a laptop? No, but with all my writing projects for this blog, etc., I hope to maybe get one soon!

~~~~~~~~~~~~BIOLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are you right-handed or left-handed? right
Have you ever had anything removed from your body? yes, my wisdom teeth 2 years ago.
What is the last heavy item you lifted? my 32 lb. dog
Have you ever been knocked unconscious? I don't think so. I hit the back of my head on the coffee table when I was a baby and had to get stitches, but I don't think I was knocked unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~DUMBOLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~
How many pairs of flip-flops do you own? 3
Last person you talked to on the phone? my Nanny(great-grandma)
Last person you hugged? my brother

~~~~~~~~~~~~FAVORITE-OLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~
Season? spring and fall
Holiday? Christmas
Day of the week? Sunday
Month? April, December or July (my b-day month!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~CURRENT-OLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~

Missing someone? Yes-my great-grandparents. But I will be able to see them in about 3 weeks! :)
Mood? Content
What are you listening to? The hum of our computer. :)
Watching? My letters appear on the computer screen.
Worrying about? nothing

~~~~~~~~~~~~RANDOM-OLOGY~~~~~~~~~~~~

First place you went this morning? the bathroom
What's the last movie you saw? Love Finds a Home(a Hallmark movie-the last one of the Love Comes Softly series)
Do you smile often? yes!
Do you always answer your phone? Well, sometimes Mama gets to it first! :) When we're really busy, we just let the answering machine answer it.
If you could change your eye color what would it be? I don't think I would change my eye color. If I had to though, it would probably be blue-I had blue eyes until I was 2, and then they switched to green.
What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? I usually have strawberry slushes at sonic and don't add any other flavors
Do you own a digital camera? yes
Have you ever had a pet fish? Well, they weren't mine personally, but we've had fish.
Favorite Christmas song(s)? Carol of the Bells, Joy to the Word, Silent Night, We Three Kings, O Holy Night
What's on your wish list for your birthday? a laptop!
Can you do push-ups? not really-I don't have much upper body strength
Can you do a chin up? no!
Does the future make you more nervous or excited? I think more excited than anything. I wonder what the future holds!
Do you have any saved texts? Mama and Daddy's cell phone has some from members of our church
Ever been in a car wreck? yes
Do you have an accent? Some people think I have a Texas accent, but I don't know if I do or not. :)
What was the last song to make you cry? "She was Watching" by Mark Schultz
Plans tonight? Playing a game with Mama while Daddy and Andrew are at the men and sons meeting at church.
Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? yes-when we were about to move here to Tennessee from Texas 4 years ago. But the Lord was so merciful-this move has been such a huge blessing to us in numerous ways.
Have you ever been given roses? Daddy's given me flowers before, but they weren't roses.
Current hate right now? The pride that's in my heart all too often.
Met someone who changed your life? Yes-my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, my great-grandmother, and Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin
How did you bring in the new year? watching the ball drop with family and friends.
What song represents you? In Christ Alone, Be Thou My Vision, and Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Would you go back in time if you were given a chance? absolutely!
Have you ever dated someone longer than a year? I don't date!!!
Do you have any tattoos/piercings? I have my ears pierced.
What songs do you sing in the shower? hymns and spiritual songs.
Ever had someone sing to you? my brother and my Daddy. :)
Do you like to cuddle? yes-with my doggy. :)
How fast can you run? not all that fast. Especially now, with my hip condition.
Have you held hands with anyone today? no
Who was the last person you took a picture of? Nicole and Laura at the Father Daughter Retreat! :)
What kind of music did you sing in elementary school? hymns and children's songs with Mama here at home
Are most of the friends in your life new or old? new
Do you like pulpy orange juice? sort of
What is something your friends make fun of you for? sometimes I laugh too much. Some people say I wear too much pink.
Have you ever ridden a elephant? no
Do you like to play Scrabble? yes!
What are you saving your money up for right now? nothing in particular at the moment
When is the last time you ate peanut butter & jelly? it's been quite a long time-I usually eat peanut butter and honey together
What were you doing at 12am last night? sleeping and possibly dreaming.
What was the first thing you thought when you woke up? I don't even remember! :/ I guess it's been a long day.

If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged!! :)

How did you find me?

Dearest readers,

It truly blesses me to know that you're reading my posts and following my blog! I would love to get to know each and every one of you!

Please introduce yourself and share with me how you came across By His Grace and For His Glory. Give me some feedback about this site, as well. This would be most helpful, as I'm always here to serve you!

So, who are you and how did you find this blog ministry?

A Young Maiden's DayBook Entry #9!

Click here for lots of DayBook fun!! :)

Today is… Monday, April 20th, 2009

Outside my window... is a new bird bath that we are just dying for cute little birds to come visit!! :)

I am wearing.... a coral and tan top with a brown peasant style, tiered skirt.

I am reading… many books at once, of course. ;) They include: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife by Bill Potter, Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards by Elisabeth Dodds(I've actually taken a short break on these three books, as I've been so busy with school reading lately!), How to Dethrone the Imperial Judiciary by Dr. Edwin Vieira (available through Vision Forum), The Justification of God: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Romans 9:1-23 by John Piper(this is one deep book!), How to Be a Lady: Useful Hints on the Formation of Character by Harvey Newcomb(this book is from 1850!), Systematic Theology by Robert Duncan Culver(I'm studying this with Daddy, but we've taken a break),etc. Daddy is currently reading to us The Genesis Record by the late Dr. Henry Morris, founder of ICR; Spurgeon: A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore(he reads this to us on Tuesday nights; this is the really great book that the men and sons of our church are currently discussing at their Wednesday night meetings) and Scetches from Church History: An Illustrated Account of 20 Centuries of Christ's Power by S.M. Houghton(available through the Banner of Truth Trust). Daddy reads this to us on Saturday evenings, in preparation for the discussion on it during our Sunday meeting with the Church. As for what books I'm reading in the Bible: Romans, Genesis and Proverbs(among other various individual passages).

I am creating… this blog post! :)

One of my favorite things…. gardens and farm land! (but I guess that's actually 2 things! ;))

For education this week… government/history, theology, writing and literature, consumer math, Apologia chemistry, valuable homemaking and motherhood skills, growing in the grace and knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A keeper at home skill I am using/learning... getting things for free at the store by using coupons along with sales ads! ;) This will definitely come in handy when I (Lord willing) am the mother of many precious blessings!

A spiritual lesson I’m learning… pride is so disgusting! I'm so tired of the pride I find creeping up in me all the time. What's worse is that I have no reason for which to be prideful! I'm just a wretch that my merciful Savior choose to redeem.

A godly character trait I plan to work on… humility!!

Scripture I am memorizing… Daddy is having us dedicate this week, as well, to reviewing our first 14 verses.

I am praying for… Various family and church requests, prayer for God's guidance as to how this blog will be arranged and led this year, His guidance as to some writing projects that I feel He has laid on my heart-I pray that He would truly reveal His will to me. Health and strength for two ladies who will be giving birth soon. Prayer for this nation!

For the rest of the week… I plan to be writing for this blog, Lord willing. I have school, will(Lord willing) be responding to the numerous blog comments and e-mails that I haven't been able to answer yet, will be busy caring for my family, deepening my relationship with the Lord, furthering my education, a doctor appointment with an orthopedic surgeon(it's next Monday, but is in the morning, so will be over by the time I'm able to do that week's daybook entry. Therefore, I though I would mention it now!), etc.

A picture I’d like to share… is this:

On November 30th of last year, Gov. Mike Huckabee and his wife Janet came to one of our local bookstores for a book signing. Here we are with Janet Huckabee (photograph taken by Daddy).

More photos from Sunday!

More squinty eyes! :)
I love this picture!!

Special thank you to Mama who made my beautiful new skirt! :)

A Young Maiden's DayBook Entry #8!

Has it really been almost a month since I posted anything on my blog? Oh, how the time flies!

Just two days after my last daybook post, my grandmother called to tell us that she would be here in two days(on that Friday). That sort of caught us by surprise, so we had to scurry around preparing for her visit. She was here through that Sunday, March 22nd. Then, from Monday the 23rd through Thursday the 26th, we had to scurry around to prepare for the 2009 Vision Forum Father and Daughter Retreat(which, by the way, was amazing!!! A post with pics from the retreat will be coming soon!). We were at the retreat until Sunday afternoon, March 29th. Daddy and I had numerous great and much needed conversations while there, which left us with only 4 hours of sleep Friday night and 4 hours of sleep Saturday night. :) So, needless to say, we had to catch up on sleep when we returned home! This, of course, messed up my days a little, so there was some time needed to get us back on track. The past couple weeks have been very busy and I've been wanting to post for quite sometime, but the opportunity never really arose until now. I'm sorry for the lack of posting lately, but thank you for the patient understanding! :)

And now, without further ado, here is this week's DayBook entry!
Today is… Monday, April 13th, 2009

Outside my window... is a hanging pot of beautiful pink flowers.

I am wearing.... a short sleeved denim shirt with a multi-colored peasant style skirt.p>


I am reading… many books at once, of course. ;) They include: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife by Bill Potter, Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards by Elisabeth Dodds(I've actually taken a short break on these three books, as I've been so busy with school reading lately!), God and Government Vol. 3: The Restoration of the Republic by Gary DeMar, The Justification of God: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Romans 9:1-23 by John Piper, How to Be a Lady: Useful Hints on the Formation of Character by Harvey Newcomb(this book is from 1850!), Systematic Theology by Robert Duncan Culver(I'm studying this with Daddy),etc. Daddy is currently reading to us The Genesis Record by the late Dr. Henry Morris, founder of ICR; Spurgeon: A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore(he reads this to us on Tuesday nights; this is the really great book that the men and sons of our church are currently discussing at their Wednesday night meetings) and Scetches from Church History: An Illustrated Account of 20 Centuries of Christ's Power by S.M. Houghton(available through the Banner of Truth Trust). Daddy reads this to us on Saturday evenings, in preparation for the discussion on it during our Sunday meeting with the Church.



As for what books I'm reading in the Bible: Romans, Genesis and Proverbs(among other various individual passages).

I am creating… my blog's 2009 Mission Statement. The Lord continues to expand my vision for this blog, so the writing of this mission statement has been (and will probably continue to be for some time) expanded! I hope to see it finished very soon, though! :)

One of my favorite things…. Vision Forum Father and Daughter Retreats!

For education this week… government/history, theology, writing and literature, consumer math, Apologia chemistry, valuable homemaking and motherhood skills, growing in the grace and knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A keeper at home skill I am using/learning... using sales ads and coupons at the grocery store! :)

A spiritual lesson I’m learning… We must be careful to redeem our time faithfully, for the days are evil. If we don't, we are stealing from God, for the time He blesses us with is really His!

A godly character trait I plan to work on…diligence!! Whether this applies to when I'm cleaning the bathtub, doing schoolwork, or attempting to redeem my time wisely, I desperately need to learn diligence!

Scripture I am memorizing… Daddy is having us dedicate this week to reviewing our first 14 verses.

I am praying for… Various family and church requests, prayer for God's guidance as to how this blog will be arranged and led this year, His guidance as to some writing projects that I feel He has laid on my heart-I pray that He would truly reveal His will to me. Comfort for a lady in our church who recently miscarried, and health and strength for two ladies who will be giving birth soon. Prayer for this nation!

For the rest of the week… I plan to be writing for this blog, Lord willing. I have school, will(Lord willing) be responding to the numerous blog comments and e-mails that I haven't been able to answer yet, will be busy caring for my family, deepening my relationship with the Lord, furthering my education, a church social on Saturday(if it doesn't rain!!), etc.

A picture I’d like to share… is this:

This picture of my beautiful mother, Angela, very handsome, manly brother, Andrew(he's just growing up so fast!), and me was taken by Daddy on Sunday. It was really bright; sorry for the squinty eyes! ;)

To participate in the Daybook fun, click here!

A Young Maiden's DayBook Entry #7!

Please join the fun by clicking here! :) Today is… Monday, March 16th, 2009

Outside my window... is a very cloudy sky! We've been having rain off and on so far this morning.

I am wearing.... my green nightgown with purple and blue flowers.

I am reading… many books at once, of course. ;) They include: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife by Bill Potter, Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards by Elisabeth Dodds(I've actually taken a short break on these three books, as I've been so busy with school reading lately!), God and Government Vol. 3: The Restoration of the Republic by Gary DeMar, Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper, How to Be a Lady: Useful Hints on the Formation of Character by Harvey Newcomb(this book is from 1850!), Systematic Theology by Robert Duncan Culver(I'm studying this with Daddy),etc. Daddy is currently reading to us The Genesis Record by the late Dr. Henry Morris, founder of ICR(he reads this to us each night, and we are so often amazed by Mr. Morris' knowledge-and we've only read 2 chapters so far! :)), Spurgeon: A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore(he reads this to us on Tuesday nights; this is the book that the men and sons of our church are currently discussing at their Wednesday night meetings) and Scetches from Church History: An Illustrated Account of 20 Centuries of Christ's Power by S.M. Houghton(available through the Banner of Truth Trust). Daddy reads this to us on Saturday evenings, in preparation for the discussion on it during our Sunday meeting with the Church. We've only read 5 chapters of it so far, but are already blown away by the glory of Christ! As for what books I'm reading in the Bible: 2nd Corinthians, Psalms, Genesis and Proverbs(among other various individual passages).

I am creating… my blog's 2009 Mission Statement. The Lord has broadened my vision for this blog, so the writing of this mission statement has been expanded!

One of my favorite things….visiting my dear great-grandparents in the farm land portion of Indiana. :)

For education this week… government/history, theology, writing and literature, consumer math, Apologia chemistry, valuable homemaking and motherhood skills, growing in the grace and knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A keeper at home skill I am using/learning...saving money and finding good deals at the grocery store! :)

A spiritual lesson I’m learning…life is not all about me! The Lord has gracious given me life so that I may serve Him. It's all about Him.

A godly character trait I plan to work on…diligence!! Whether this applies to when I'm cleaning the bathtub, doing schoolwork, or attempting to redeem my time wisely, I desperately need to learn diligence!

Scripture I am memorizing… This week Daddy is leading us in memorizing Matthew 18:20 and Hebrews 10:24-25 (KJVB).

I am praying for… Various family and church requests, prayer for God's guidance as to how this blog will be arranged and led this year, His guidance as to some writing projects that I feel He has laid on my heart-I pray that He would truly reveal His will to me.

For the rest of the week… I plan to be writing for this blog, Lord willing. I have school, will(Lord willing) be responding to the numerous blog comments and e-mails that I haven't been able to answer yet, will be busy caring for my family, deepening my relationship with the Lord, furthering my education, etc.

A picture I’d like to share… is this:

The two dear men in my life, my father George and brother Andrew.

Easter 2008

Brand New Tea Cozies Available Now from Co-z-t-treasures!

As promised, new tea cozy designs available for purchase are being added weekly! Here is this week's list of newly available tea cozies:

The English Garden tea cozy brings a beautiful bouquet of mauve, rose, burgundy, dusty pink and golden yellow flowers to your table. It's perfectly accented with burgundy ribbons and a lining of white. A bouquet that will never wilt!

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Lovely vines of white flowers and leaves on a creamy tan background adorn the Vines of White tea cozy. White lining and white grosgrain ribbon accent the cozy while tan and white beads finish the look! Would add the perfect touch to a wedding reception/bridal shower!

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The Petite Periwinkle tea cozy is a darling creation featuring tiny blooms of periwinkle, pink, and orangy-yellow with turquoise-colored leaves on a white background. It is lined in a coordinating fabric with periwinkle satin ribbon and beads to add the finishing touch. Bring the colors of spring to your next tea!

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The A Taste of Elegance tea cozy is beautifully fashioned with dusty "blush" fabric featuring an elegant swirl design. It is accented with a rich brown lining and matching brown satin ribbon, while clear and brown beads "tie" it all together! Bring "A Taste of Elegance" to your next tea!

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The Blue 'n' Lime Delight cozy is crafted of fabric featuring flowers of lime and various shades of blue on a white background. It is lined in bright blue coordinating fabric and accented with lime green ribbon and blue and white beads for the finishing touch. Add some delight to your next tea!
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Flowers of pink and leaves of green are displayed on the Happy Spring tea cozy! It is lined in matching green fabric and accented with green ribbons and "pearl" beads. Bring the joy of spring to your tea time!
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Blooms of lilac and leaves of green have found their way onto the Lilac Blossoms tea cozy. It is lined in soft cream and features creamy satin ribbon graced with green and lilac beads for the finishing touch. Bring the beauty of lilacs to your tea time!

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Click each photo to enlarge!

Please click here for more cozies available now and for more info on my home business!

Special announcements from Co-z-t-treasures:

International shipping rates are now available! Cozies can be shipped to any destination outside the US for $7.00 each ($2.00 extra per each additional cozy when placed in the same order)!

Also, my tea cozies are now available for a special sale price of $15.95 each on Etsy and Ebay, so that means that the special rate for blog readers has been reduced to $14.95 each!

Alert: Please Call Your Senators Immediately

The following article recently appeared on the website of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association:

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The Senate Judiciary Committee recently voted 14–5 to send David Ogden’s nomination as deputy attorney general to the full U.S. Senate for a confirmation vote. We have been told that the Senate will hold its vote sometime this week. We previously informed you that Ogden has been nominated by President Obama to the second highest position in the Justice Department.
Contact your senators now >>

HSLDA urges you to call your two U.S. senators and voice your opposition to Ogden’s confirmation. If either of your senators are among the five who voted to oppose Mr. Ogden in committee, we encourage you to call their offices and thank them for their principled vote. They are Tom Coburn (Oklahoma), John Cornyn (Texas), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Orrin Hatch (Utah), and Jeff Sessions (Alabama).

The most important reason to oppose Ogden’s nomination is his belief that the rules found in the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child are already binding on the United States under the doctrines of international law.

For background information on this doctrine, see Michael Farris’ article, “A Deeper Understanding of the Threat of International Law” in the November/December 2007 Home School Court Report.

This means Ogden believes that the legal rules contained in the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child are already binding on the United States, even though this treaty has never been sent to the U.S. Senate for ratification.

Homeschoolers have long understood the dangers of this international treaty, which contains the core principle that the government is primarily responsible for the education and upbringing of children, not the parents. Ogden used this U.N. treaty in a Supreme Court brief to reach the conclusion that America’s courts can overrule state law, using international law as their guidepost for constitutional interpretation. And Ogden successfully argued this philosophy to the highest court in the land.

Clearly, Ogden is a proven advocate for the harmful position that international law should be used to interpret the Constitution of the United States and be controlling over state laws.
If this weren’t enough, Ogden has a history of representing Playboy and other purveyors of pornography in high-profile legal cases. He also challenged the legality of using filters on library computers to protect children from seeing pornography. His record prompts many to question whether Ogden would enforce the nation’s pornography laws, as would be part of his job description as deputy attorney general.

The U.S. Senate needs to understand that the American public does not approve of officials who believe that international law trumps American law written by representatives elected by the American people.

Action Needed
If one of the five senators who voted to opposed Ogden’s nomination is from your state (see above), please email his office and thank him.

If your senators are not among these five, please call their offices and urge them to vote against Ogden’s nomination. You may find your senators’ contact info at the online HSLDA Legislative Toolbox.

Thank you for standing with us for freedom.

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In addition, Mr. Ogden is in full support of child pornography and even has the audacity to call it "art" and "free speech". Do not allow this man to become a high rank leader in our nation! Please understand that if you do not call your senators and tell them to vote NO to his nomination, then you are showing that you are in full support of this man. Jesus said "If you are not for Me, you are against Me". There is no middle ground whatsoever. If you don't let your voice be heard by calling your senators, then your silence is saying that you don't care that such a man is in leadership, and that you're fully fine with it. It is thanks to us Christians that have sat on our hands for far too long, that our nation is in the shape it's now in, and men like Mr. Ogden are getting nominated. It is time for us to stand up, not only for our freedoms, but also for the safety of those poor children that Mr. Ogden thinks should submit to being involved in child pornography. Mr. Ogden is also in full support of the dangerous UN treaty on the rights of the child (a post on this terrible bill is coming soon to this blog!). He is also very pro-abortion, pro-aided suicides and pro-homosexuality.

Call your senators and tell them that as a citizen of the United States of America, you are deeply concerned that such a man could become one of the highest ranking leaders of the land. Tell them to please vote NO to his nomination to the office of Deputy Attorney General. After your phone calls, please notify every person you possibly can regarding this upcoming vote(and ask that they in turn notify all they can about this), and tell them to call their senators, as well, and ask them to vote NO. We must spread the word about this!

Thank you for letting your voice be heard. God will richly bless you for your faithfulness to Him, and your commitment to the Dominion Mandate and Great Commission!

A Young Maiden's DayBook Entry #6!

Please join the fun by clicking here!! Today is… Monday, March 9th, 2009

Outside my window…the sun is shining brightly-it's actually 83 degrees outside right now!!

I am thinking…about what a glorious day it is, and how delightful it is when the windows are open(as they are now!). :)

I am wearing...a blue shirt, white cami and brown tiered peasant-style skirt.

I am reading… many books at once, of course. ;) They include: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife by Bill Potter, Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards by Elisabeth Dodds(I've actually taken a short break on these three books, as I've been so busy with school reading lately!), God and Government Vol. 3: The Restoration of the Republic by Gary DeMar, Handmaidens of the Lord (for the second time; this is an OUTSTANDING booklet on stay-at-home daughterhood) by Crystal Paine, Journey of the Heart: The Story of Janet McLean(for the second time!) by Miss Jeannie Castleberry(book 4 in the outstanding Castleberry courtship series)Systematic Theology by Robert Duncan Culver(I'm studying this with Daddy),etc. Daddy is currently reading to us The Genesis Record by the late Dr. Henry Morris, founder of ICR(he reads this to us each night, and we are so often amazed by Mr. Morris' knowledge-and we've only read 2 chapters so far! :)), Spurgeon: A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore(he reads this to us on Tuesday nights; this is the book that the men and sons of our church are currently discussing at their Wednesday night meetings) and Scetches from Church History: An Illustrated Account of 20 Centuries of Christ's Power by S.M. Houghton(available through the Banner of Truth Trust). Daddy reads this to us on Saturday evenings, in preparation for the discussion on it during our Sunday meeting with the Church. We've only read 4 chapters of it so far, but are already blown away by the glory of Christ! As for what books I'm reading in the Bible: 2nd Corinthians, Psalms, Genesis and Proverbs(among other various individual passages).

I am creating… this blog post! :)

One of my favorite things….our Friday