Faith & Hope

(I think that is the name of an old TV show with Kelly Ripa...but that is not the topic at hand today.)

This is actually something I've been thinking about lately as I've been studying 1 Peter and I wanted to share...(from the MacArthur commentary on 1 Peter).

"Faith and hope are the two-fold blessings of redemption in God.  Faith enables believers to trust God for necessary grace in the midst of life's present circumstances, struggles, and anxieties (5:7, Ps. 5:11, 31:1, 37:5, 56:11, Prov. 29:25, Isa 26:3, Nah. 1:7, Phil. 4:6), and hope enables belief in future grace to be revealed for them in heavenly glory (Ps. 146:5, Acts 23:6, 24:15, Rom. 5:2, 8:18-25, Gal. 5:5, Titus 2:13, Heb. 6:11, 15)."


So maybe you could think about that today, and praise the Lord!

5) The Honor of Working at Home

Titus 2:4-5 is very clear, "...so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored." Yet, this seems to be interpreted so many different ways by so many believers, truly trying to please the Lord with the way they live their lives.  Being a homemaker is offensive to some, outdated to others, and to others still it is the greatest joy!  There is only one correct interpretation of this verse, and I do believe that to be that a woman's place is in the home...even a working woman with no husband or children should cultivate a love for the home.  In the short amount of time I've been a full-time stay at home wife and mom I've had many people say, "It's so nice that you can do that..."  Implying that it is a nice option I've been afforded.  Praise the Lord, He has provided for me to stay at home without greatly altering our style of living.  But my "choice" to stay home with Maggie is something that I am actually called to - not just as a seminary wife, or a future pastor's wife, but as a believer!  When family or friends see homemaking as a burden, an unnecessary sacrifice, or even to the other extreme as a luxury, it becomes all too easy to "succumb to worldly thinking rather than viewing my profession as the Bible portrays it - a high calling from God."

 

In this chapter Carolyn Mahaney writes, "What we need is a biblical perspective.  For in God's economy, homemaking is a high and noble calling...By 'working at home' we can present the gospel as attractive to unbelievers.  Our homes can actually be a showcase for the gospel!"  How awesome and daunting is that!  It is my ultimate goal, as a homemaker to create an environment for all who enter to think of Jesus Christ, to be refreshed, encouraged, and happy.  Playdates, Bible studies, recipe parties, new neighbors, friends, family, you name it - there are countless opportunities to share the gospel and encourage one another in love and good deeds in the home!  And as a wife, that's my job!  

Think back to the beginning...why was Eve created in the first place?  She was created to be Adam's helper!  "We are to be our husband's helper (Gen 1:26-31, 2:7-25; 1 Cor 11:8-9)...She is called to the work of ministering to him.  He is oriented to the task, and she is oriented to him."  God ordained it to be so in the garden!  A huge part of my glorifying God on this earth is to serve my husband, family, and home.  Careers, trends, traveling, "me time," etc. are not a part of the plan.  Nothing is wrong with many of those things, but the calling is the same for all women.  Especially as wives and mothers, our lives should be centered around our husband's and children's needs - everything else can fall into place after that. 

Some think that as a stay at home I don't get to exercise my skills or interests.  First, I'd say that I actually don't have that many marketable skills :)  And secondly, it is a true joy and "skill" to love the home and manage it excellently.  I cannot wait for the day, Lord willing, when I am that super organized, cool wife/mom who has the menu ready, the cleaning all scheduled, and the calendar worked out, helpful projects lined up, and her hair done!  Maybe I'll never get there, but that is certainly a goal to which I attain.  Since staying at home, I've found a new love of cooking (and I am going to post 3 new recipe blogs asap!  The Wauhop's have been feasting on some delicious new dishes these past few weeks!).  I get so excited each week to plan out my menu and try something new.  Ask Robert, I'm always so excited for him to get home and try whatever I've been working on that day.

Honestly, I think that I have got the BEST JOB in the whole wide world!  I mean seriously, my child is gorgeous and sweet and so much fun!  My husband is the greatest man ever and my very best friend.  My house/apartment...well, I'm on my third one in three years and although it's nothing too special, but it's our home and I'm so thankful for it!  So much joy can be found in working at home.  Working at home is hard and dirty at times, it's tiring, especially when new babies come onto the scene, but I find it to be super rewarding and fulfilling - and even fun!  Either way, though, it is what God has called me to do.  And in His will there is great joy!  So, that's what you'll find in the Wauhop household - great joy!  The saying goes, "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" and I really think that is pretty true.  As the mom, I set the tone for the home.  If I begrudgingly do my chores, make the meals, attend to Maggie's schedule, etc - well, home isn't Robert's or anyone's favorite place to be.  So, if you struggle with this area, when I struggle in these areas: PRAY, BE THANKFUL, and be in the Word!  The Lord is kind to provide the grace to obey and to be delighted to do so!

Ps. 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."  

P.S. - If you still aren't convinced...listen to this sermon from Johnny Mac!

3) The Safety of Self-Control

Chapter 4, third blog post in this series of seven... This chapter obviously deals with self-control.  It is commanded in Scripture, a fruit of the Spirit, and something that is not super easy (at least for me)!  But, the good news, as Carolyn Mahaney writes, "[I]f Scripture requires self-control from every Christian, it is obviously attainable...whenever God gives a command , He also provides the grace to obey it."

She starts by talking about things we enjoy, our appetites, which, sadly, includes sin!  Sin indwelling and originating in our hearts makes self-control so difficult (along with any other God-glorifying action!).  She addresses eating and sleeping to the glory of God, which seem so mundane, but are areas in which many women lack self-control.  Martha Peace, too, has something to say on the issue of sleep , "...Once a young wife begins getting up earlier than her children and her husband, she will cease to be a 'night person.'  She will be tired at night and go to bed at a reasonable hour so she will be there to serve her family the next morning."  Yikes!  I am definitely guilty of wasting time when Maggie is in bed and Robert is up late doing school work just "online window shopping" - which, there is absolutely nothing wrong with...until I grumble as I get out of bed in the morning because I'm still tired!  Obviously, though, I take this with a grain of salt and know that late and early mean different things for different people; but, I still thought that this was helpful and a goal to certainly strive for - namely, being prepared each morning to serve my family with joy!

Next, she moves on to our thoughts and feelings.  This section was super helpful!  2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to "take  every thought captive to obey Christ."  It's so obvious and simple, but so profound, "Sinful thoughts and sinful feelings lead to sinful behavior.  Therefore, we dare not  ignore these faculties, but we must exercise self-control in them."  I listened to a fabulous sermon years ago by this dear author's husband, CJ Mahaney from Resolved 2009, entitled The Troubled Soul (and I would encourage you to listen to it).  In this he talks about talking to yourself versus listening to yourself...Martin Lloyd-Jones says it like this, "Most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself."  Those sound sort of like the same thing, I know, but there is a huge difference between allowing our thoughts to run wild and preaching the truth of Scripture to ourselves!  I find it so easy to become greatly overwhelmed by a small thing; a little issue becomes magically compounded by 85 things that happened last week and/or what might happen next year!  Suddenly, God is not on His throne and He certainly doesn't care about me and what I'm going through!  FALSE!  Carolyn writes, and I so agree, "Time and time gain I had to stop, pray, confess the sin of anxiety, and seek to replace my sinful thoughts with the truth of God's Word...I needed to 'talk' to myself: There is always enough time to do what God has called me to do (Matt. 6:25-27).  God's grace is sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9). He is with me, and He will help me (Isa. 41:10).  He does care (1 Peter 5:7)."  We can exercise self-control by "rejecting your sinful thoughts AND speaking truth to yourself" (emphasis mine).  It's the classic put off and put on found all throughout Scripture!  

It is so important for me to remember that my "feelings are not authoritative," but at the same time they are real indicators of what is truly in my heart!  Just because I feel something doesn't make it true.  Yet, feelings are a gift from God, and they were given primarily so that we could enjoy and glorify Him!  They are such a great gift - feelings enable us to really enjoy all of our other gifts from God, like our wonderful families and food and sleep!  God is so kind; it is His Spirit that works in us so that we can glorify Him through our feelings and through our self-control!  Praise the Lord for His goodness; it is never-ending!

2) The Blessing of Loving My Children

To me, one of the weirdest things in the world is that I'm a mom. CRAZY! I have been a mom for almost 5 months - i guess for much longer if I count my pregnancy! This has definitely been the most difficult and amazingly awesome and very sanctifying time of my life! I'm tired and busy and ridiculously happy; I'm in love with my little family - big time! Robert and I are always saying to each other, "Can you believe we're parents? We have a baby!"

This was a great chapter! So again, looking to God's Word and Titus 2, women are instructed to love their children. Just like with our husbands, this is phileo: it is not just my job as a mother to fulfill my responsibilities, but to take great pleasure in my children. I so want to be one of those super fun moms, not who talk incessantly about their kids as if the earth was lucky to have them, but who thoroughly LOVES mommyhood and little laughs and crafts and carpools and game night and forts and feels the immense blessing of children every day! Thankfully, that is all part of my role as a godly mom, and I am excited to try and fulfill it with God's help and to His glory.

There is nothing in my life that has required greater sacrifice than being Maggie's mom. I say that with the utmost humility and the great realization that I fail so often. And she is just a baby; I just have one baby! I hear the actual hard stuff is yet to come, plus adding future kids into the mix (exciting and terrifying!). Carolyn Mahaney writes, "Because mothering requires constant sacrifice, the temptations to resentment, complaining, and self-pity are always close at hand. But such selfishness will quickly sap the strength of our love for our children." I've seen this be true in my life multiple times throughout these last few months. When Maggie doesn't nap all day and I have no idea what I'm doing; is she eating enough, did I do the right thing by going in to her or letting her cry it out, and I haven't slept...and it gets really easy to fall into sin. These are the times that I need to remember that fighting my own sin is the key to loving my children and serving my family! Remember, "Our speech and actions are shaped by our thoughts." On hard days, the motivation behind loving Maggie needs to be the promotion of the gospel. Which is why it is so awesome that "we can draw from God's grace and receive His help to cheerfully lay down our lives for our children," because I am definitely inept on my own.

As I read this chapter I was overwhelmed and convicted. I suddenly knew Maggie was going to grow up - soon - before I was ready for her to... and the next few nights of waking up to feed her in the wee morning hours were a joy. Then I got over it and fell back into my sin. No, I'm just kidding, but seriously - sin, selfishness, self-pity, these things will be a constant temptation that I must be fleeing and actively fighting against as a mommy/as a human being. My life is Christ's, and He has called me to be a wife and a mother - so now, more than ever, my body is not my own, my time, my talents, my everything is about serving this amazing family with which the Lord has blessed me. And I'm so excited to do so!

Knowing that Maggie's exposure to the gospel and most everything else in life starts with me, during the in and outs of daily life is a huge responsibility! I am grateful and humbled by this, God's calling for my life. J.C. Ryle urges mothers to ask this question before everything they do, "How will this affect their souls?" No one will have a greater influence in Maggie's life, most likely. Carolyn Mahaney shares some thoughts from another mother:

"I seldom feel like much of an adventurere - standing in this kitchen, pouring cereal into bowls, refilling them, handing out paper towels when the inevitable cry comes: 'Uh oh, I spilled.' But sometimes at night the thought will strike me: There are three small people here, breathing sweetly in their beds, whose lives are for the moment in our hands. I might as well be at the controls of a moon shot, the mission is so grave and vast." (emphasis mine)

So, as I get a little emotional and close out this rather lengthy post...Carolyn Mahaney writes, "What greater privilege could we possibly have in all the world than to lead our children to the Lord? ... Though the mission is grave and vast, God's grace is greater (2 Cor 12:9)." Can I get an Amen?! I love you, Maggie Grace, and cannot wait to love you for the rest of your precious life!

Coming Soon: A 7 Part Blog-Series

I'm reading a new book!  In fact, I'm already half way done with it.  It's been so refreshing and I want to highly recommend it if you have not yet read it.  The book is Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney.  She is so easy to read - so encouraging and edifying, yet equally convicting! She writes with such a good balance and is so personable.  

The book is subtitled, "Seven virtues of a godly wife and mother," making it extremely applicable for my life right now.  There is nothing that I desire more than to be a godly wife and mother.  So, I was excited to jump into the book, and it has not disappointed.  The book is an exposition of the Titus 2 woman, "Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored." The book is broken down into nine chapters, the first and last being an introduction and conclusion.  This middle chapters are centered around seven virtues: the delight of loving my husband, the blessing of loving my children, the safety of self-control, the pleasure of purity, the honor of working at home, the rewards of kindness, and the beauty of submission.  These seven things are referred to by Paul as "what are good" for us to know as younger women who want to honor God's Word.  "Consider the loveliness of a woman who passionately adores her husband, who tenderly cherishes her children, who creates a warm and peaceful home, who exemplifies purity, self-control, and kindness in her character and who gladly submits to her husband's leadership - for all the days God grants her life.  I dare say there are few things that display the gospel jewel with greater elegance"(Carolyn Mahaney, p29). What an awesome and ambitious goal! 

So, starting this week and into the future I want to do a 7-part blog series, one on each of the chapters. I'm so excited to share what the Lord has been teaching me for both the accountability on my part to be not just a hearer, but also a doer; and hopefully, maybe to even encourage another wife or mom or friend!        

Valley of Vision

God the Source of All Good

The heavens declare thy glory,
The earth thy riches,
The universe is thy temple;
Thy presence fills immensity,
Yet thou hast of thy pleasure created life,
and communicated happiness;
Thou hast made me what I am, and given me
what I have;
In thee I live and move and have my being;
Thy providence has set the bounds of my habitation,
and wisely administers all my affairs.
I thank thee for thy riches to me in Jesus,
for the unclouded revelation of him in thy Word,
where I behold his Person, character, grace, glory,
humiliation, sufferings, death, and resurrection;
Give me to feel a need of his continual saviourhood,
and cry with Job, ‘I am vile’,
with Peter, ‘I perish’,
with the publican, ‘Be merciful to me, a sinner’.
Subdue in me the love of sin,
Let me know the need of renovation as well as
of forgiveness,
in order to serve and enjoy thee for ever.
I come to thee in the all-prevailing name of Jesus,
with nothing of my own to plead,
no works, no worthiness, no promises.
I am often straying,
often knowingly opposing thy authority,
often abusing thy goodness;
Much of my guilt arises from my religious privileges,
my low estimation of them,
my failure to use them to my advantage,
But I am not careless of thy favour or regardless of
thy glory;
Impress me deeply with a sense of thine
omnipresence, that thou art about my path,
my ways, my lying down, my end.

Thoughts on Thanks

A few excerpts from Choosing Gratitude:

"Gratitude is...a choice that requires constantly renewing my mind with the truth of God's Word, setting my heart to savor God and His gifts, and disciplining my tongue to speak words that reflect His goodness and grace - until a grateful spirit becomes my reflexive response to all of life"

It is interesting, yet so true, to think of gratitude not as a feeling, but a command and a discipline! Thinking this way makes my thankfulness a much bigger issue throughout my day!

"The true glory and the transforming power of gratitude are reserved for those who know and acknowledge the Giver of every good gift and who are recipients of His redeeming grace"

How true. We overlook God's common graces to all, every day! What an even greater tragedy to neglect His gift of salvation which is unimaginably great! We - I am truly so blessed. My God is so good! Thank You, Lord!

FYI

It's FEBRUARY!!!!

So, I am LOVING Choosing Gratitude! Robert brought it home for me last night and I read the first thirty pages...I can already tell it's going to be amazing - and so convicting! I wrote out a few quotes on 3x5 cards to put up at my desk at work, but forgot them on my night stand. I'll share them when I bring them tomorrow, hopefully!

But, on another note - John MacArthur will be speaking at Liberty University next Friday, Feb. 11! I am shocked, so excited, and bummed I won't be there. But, for those of you still in that woderful Burg, DON'T MISS IT!

Secondly, I was thinking that as I was recommending these books, I'd also like to let everyone know that if you have a ".edu" email address you can sign up on Amazon and qualify for free 2-day shipping! That is such a good deal! I am way more inclined to on-line shop when free shipping is in the mix!! (Speaking of free shipping check out this fun website - ASOS. I think the jewelry and sale section is pretty bomb!)

Lastly, I'd like to recommend another book, When Sinners Say "I Do". When Sinners Say "I Do" is about the blessed gift of marriage between two sinners - which every marriage is. Now, I'm still newly married and pretty much think Robert is the bees knees! But this book was so helpful for me in seeing the sin in my life and how that affects my marriage. It has also been key in forming a godly perspective on forgiveness and "absorbing the cost" - you have to read the book to find out all about what that means! I went through this book with Mrs. Busenitz (a wonderfully godly woman, wife of Dr. Irv Busenitz and mother of Dr. Nate Busenitz from the Master's Seminary!) after I joined HS Staff and couldn't do SemWives anymore. Our time together, coupled with Dave Harvey's wise words really cemented the importance and impact of When Sinners Say "I Do"!

i love book?!!

So several months ago I was on a huge reading kick...I'm getting ready to start another one, hopefully - beginning with the book Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Lee DeMoss! It has been highly recommended to me, and I'm planning to start reading it this week.

But, several months ago I read a few great books that I'd like to highly recommend. Today, I'm promoting Comforts from the Cross by Elyse Fitzpatrick.



Comforts from the Cross is such a great book - ENCOURAGING and CONVICTING and SO COMFORTING! It really blessed me, and was especially pertinent for the time I read it. The Lord is so kind! Also, it's so easy to read, because it's set up as a daily devotional. There are thirty-one "chapters," about five pages each. I read one each morning and it was wonderful! Comforts from the Cross is literally one of the best books I've ever read. In fact, I think I'll read through it again this March!