Stewardship...

I have been thinking about stewardship for a while now. I have wondered what it really entailed. Does it just mean that we are to tithe our money or is there more to it than that? I have decided that there is much more to it.

I think that whatever God has given us we are to be a good steward of. He has so richly blessed us and we should take care of what we have.

Our Husbands should be:

• Well loved
• Honored
• Well fed
• Well dressed
• Well cared for

Our Children should be:

• Well loved
• Well dressed
• Disciplined
• Mannered
• Clean
• Well fed

Our homes should be:

• Clean, in order and used for His purpose. Entertaining His family, providing a safe haven for your family, meeting the needs of your family
• In good repair
• Lawns kept clean & mowed
• Porches swept and in order

Our vehicles should be:

• Kept clean and in good repair

Our pets should be:

• Cared for properly
• Fed

The land we own should be replenished and cared for.

Our jobs should be done as if He is our boss and we are working for Him. We should be loyal, diligent, prompt, efficient, and just plain hard working.

Our finances should be guarded, our tithe should go to our local church. Even our time should be well spent. No, I don't mean that we should always being doing some great thing, even He rested on the 7th day. Getting rest is part of being a good steward. Because He gave us these earthy bodies and eating right and rest are 2 of the things these bodies need. But do we really need 3 hours of TV a night? Maybe one show a week would be good enough.

These are all things that God has given us and we should do our best for Him. That includes

Even as I sit here typing this blog I am being convicted of things that I am not being a good steward of. Things God has blessed me with that I am not taking care of. And it has really come to my mind that I don't have time to take care of some of the things I own like they should be taken care of. So I am thinking that maybe I don't need these things. If I don't have time to take care of them, do I have time to use them? Our camper is one of the things that comes to my mind. I have a 1977 Avion, it is really cool and I like the idea of having it; but we have used it once in the last 6 years. I really don't enjoy camping as much as I did when my children were little, so why am I keeping it? Surely there is someone that would get much more use and enjoyment out of it than we are.

There are so many other things that I have that aren't really important and aren't being used or cared for as they should be, so why do I have them? I think it is really time to get rid of some things.

I know that sometimes money is tight and things can't be repaired as soon as they break and sometimes your trash is going to blow over on the neighbors lawn. Things happen. But I feel as God's children, people are going to find as many faults with you as they possibly can, why give them more ammunition?

So if you're interested in 1977 Avion, let me know. I think I will be getting rid of a lot of things in near future. Getting my house in order, spending more time taking care of fewer things, working on being a good steward.

I wish you well,
Mae

1 Timothy 2: 9-10

These verses seem to be hard for younger women to grasp. They have been raised in the time after Women's Lib. I really don't think the older women have done us any favors and I believe women in general are more unhappy since we have become so "equal." I personally believe that we would all be much happier living as the Lord intended for us to live.

9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 But (which becoming women professing godliness) with good works

This verse does not mean that we should go around looking drab and unkept. It just means that we should be modest. We are not to dress to make other women jealous or men other than our husbands notice us. It doesn't mean that you can't wear jewelry or have a nice hairdo. We should all look nice, clean and well kept. We just shouldn't have things hanging out that make other women's husbands see things they shouldn't. When I was younger my mother would not let me out of the house if skin was showing anywhere between my neck and my knees. It would drive me crazy. I had this shirt that I loved, but when I sat down my back would show. My back, not my belly button, or cleavage, my back. I couldn't understand this at the time, now I do. Men's eyes are naturally attracted to skin. It makes their minds wonder, and we should not dress in a manner that attracts that kind of attention.

We should also not dress to make other women envious. Gold and pearls do not add anything to my person (I do like gold and pearls and I have some) but, when I wear them, it is not to make others jealous. I know some women who always have to have new jewelry or the latest most expensive clothes they can find, and sometimes it is just to make other women "eat their hearts out." You know, we have all heard it, "So and So will just eat their heart out when I show up in this." Trust me, self respect is much more rewarding than so and so eating their heart out.

When we start dressing to make others envious, it means that we are envious of others and what they have. The "green eyed monster" isn't attractive on any one. It really turns us into the most unattractive people on earth. How can we be beautiful if we are caught up in jealousy?

When you get dressed for the day it is a good idea to look in a full length mirror. Bend over, sit down make any movements that you will be doing while you are out, in front of the mirror. If things are hanging out, maybe it would be better to change clothes. I personally can't stand clothes that I have to fiddle with all the time straightening bra straps, pulling shirts down or up, drives me crazy.
I am not one to wear dresses all the time, I do wear pants and jeans. My point is, no matter what you wear, you should dress decently. Dress in a manner pleasing to God, professing godliness.

Mae

What Do You Deserve?

In our struggle to save money, cut back and be frugal I have noticed and enemy lurking about. The feeling of entitlement. I work hard, so I should be able to buy what ever I want, when ever I want it. Where did that feeling come from? We all know where it came from. Marketing. That is what good marketing does. It makes you feel like you deserve what ever you want. I can't begin to number the ads that I see on TV that tell me I deserve the best. I deserve a certain product, because it will make me feel better about myself or at least look better. I have lately even heard people I know saying "I felt like I deserved it, so I went out and bought it." It really took me aback to hear that come out of some one's mouth who by their own mouth admitted they were having money problems.


I work with people who stop at Starbucks 3 or 4 times a week for coffee, go to the dollar store on their lunch hour and spend 20-30 dollars on junk and then complain because they need money before the next pay day. They go get a pedicure during lunch hour (I really like pedicures but one a year is all I allow myself and not always even that one). Managing their money is the furthest thing from their minds until they realize they've spent it all and don't know what they will do until pay day rolls around. These kind of habits cause us to be slaves in a sense. Slaves to money and debtors. Is that what we all deserve, or do we deserve something better? Freedom.


Freedom of knowing that we have a warm home, a loving family, good food on the table, practical clothes on our backs, a dependable car that gets us where we need to go, and enough money in the bank to tide us over if something happens. Freedom from worry, a little peace of mind, some tranquility in our lives, when we don't have to worry about what material things we think we deserve. How about a saviour who loves us and meets all our needs. Could we find more security anywhere? I don't think so. The one thing we deserve the least is the best thing we have and the last thing we turn to fulfill our needs. He offers peace of mind, tranquility, love, comfort, security and best of all it is all already paid for. Jesus paid for us all to have these things, all we have to do is accept his free gift of salvation. What more could we want or need.

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Proverbs 31:30

Getting Ready...

for the weekend. My New Years resolution a couple of years ago was to quit wishing my life away. You know, wishing it was Friday on Monday. So far I have been able to, for the most part, stick to that resolution. I am still happy when Friday rolls around and today is no exception. I am ready for the weekend. That is when I get to stay home and nest.

Women have it their make-up to want to nest. God designed us that way. The best time of my life was when I stayed home with my children and watched them grow into the fine young adults that they are now. And I can't wait until I can retire and stay home again.

This weekend I plan to cook some chicken in the crock pot. I want to make chicken & dumplings and have enough left over to make chicken and rice or a chicken casserole later in the week. We will have left over chicken and dumplings for our lunches next week. I think I may make some honey wheat bread in the bread machine and do some baking.

Tomorrow morning will be spent cleaning and doing laundry. I hope we have a day without rain, it would be nice to hang the sheets on the line.

I need to do the throw rugs this weekend. Every other weekend I wash them and hang them on the line to dry, then on the off week I throw them in the dryer of fluff to beat the loose dirt out of them. This method sure saves on the wear and tear and keeps them nice and clean.

Winter clothes need to be brought downstairs and washed. Summer clothes need to go upstairs. Sandals need to be put up and winter shoes and boots bought out of storage. I usually clean and polish my shoes before storing them for the season. But the ones that have been stored will need to be dusted for sure.

My office has an herb garden and a few weeks ago, I picked some rosemary and dried it. I have a pint of rosemary leaves. Today I cut some more to use fresh and some sage, and it looks like unless we get a frost I may be able to get more. It is a wonderful feeling to get fresh ingredients for free.

I hope you enjoy your weekend.
Mae

She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. Proverbs 31:16

Fun Day

Even though it is a rainy, yucky day, it has been a fun morning this morning. Our office is putting on a program called Farm Frenzy. It is a program for Teachers of 2nd and 3rd graders to bring their class to and they are taught where their food comes from. It has different stations they go to for a lesson, i.e. Dairy cows, Beef cows, Pizza Garden (all the vegetable ingredients for a pizza), Poultry, Sheep, Goats, Pigs, and then on a hay ride to the Farmers Market where they are taught about other vegetables and given an apple. This morning when I got to work, some of the volunteers were not able to make it, so 2 of us secretaries got to go down and be tour guides. We took the children from the bus to the different stations. It was a lot of fun even if it was cold and wet.

We are expecting about 3 inches of rain today and tomorrow. Hopefully, it will pass by the weekend and we can get some things done outside.

Gas and oil have been ordered and should be delivered in the next couple of days. My thermal window curtains for the bedroom came in and are hung. I keep the heated mattress pad on my bed all year. I get cold some nights even in the summer. It has been used every night for the past several nights. I think it is one of the best inventions I own. It keeps your feet warmer than the rest of your body and it's better than an electric blanket. It warms your bed before you ever get in it and then if you get a little warm in the night you can throw of you blanket and still be warm. It is a wonderful thing.

My son has finally started his own business. He is a plumber and it has taken him a lot of work to get incorporated and his license all done. We are very proud of him and pray that his business will be a success.

She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. Proverbs 31:15

Once Again

It has been far too long since I blogged. My treatments are going well, except they seem to give me a headache that last about 36 hours. Oh well, I guess you just can't have everything.

The weather here is starting to turn cooler, and I am getting the house ready for winter. I ordered some heavy curtains for the bedroom windows. We still have older windows in our bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. In the past I have used the plastic film over them that you blow with the blow dryer until it shrinks. But by the middle of winter it seems to start peeling off. So this year I have decided to put thermal curtains on the ones in the bedroom. The bathroom window, I am thinking of trying to put some heavy material on the back side of the curtains I use for that window. I usually only have a valance on that window, but I do have curtains that match. I think I might just make them heavier by adding another layer of fabric to them. I haven't decided what to do for the kitchen window yet.

I need to get a new rug for the living room. When I got the new furniture, the one I had didn't look very good with it. I moved it into the dining room. Now I am afraid that the floor will be pretty chilly in the winter if I don't have something on it. So I am shopping for a new one. I would like one that is very plush and warm.

This weekend I need to remove the cushions and pillows form the furniture on the front porch and give it a good sweep down, before winter. We need to get the pool cover on and the umbrella and cushions from the back patio put away.

I hope you are enjoying your fall.

Mae