>
I am so enjoying the conversation with you, my friends. Thank you for reading along and tell me, isn’t this book, The Fruit of Her Hands by Nancy Wilson great?
“If we would have peace in our souls, we must maintain a war against our favorite sin and never leave off until it is subdued” Thomas Watson
“While sin in others is often blatant and obvious to us, our own sins are sometimes disguised. Because we don’t see them for what they really are, we can trick ourselves into fighting and confessing the wrong sins altogether.
One such sin is morbid introspection…” (p.69)
This is the way this chapter starts; it is a great and important chapter to read because we are so blind and so many times we “fail to see that we are responding to self-accusations, and not to the Holy Spirit”, as the author says. Have you been there?
I have.
I have been in that situation when you just feel you are the worst mom, wife and daughter, that you don’t cook great recipes, don’t quilt or sew, and you feel so far from the Proverbs 31 woman. Did you notice those little words: “feel” We are reminded in this chapter that we need to dismiss “those vague accusations grounded on nothing more than vague feelings” and “which are not objective sins”.
O this is so true, so true!
We know that we should not walk by feelings and yet we fall into the trap. Nancy Wilson says it well,
“Remember, it is God’s Word that is the standard, not your feelings -good or bad, late or early. In the light of day it is easier to see your weaknesses, call for grace, confess your sins, ad thank God for His love and forgiveness. Like other sins, the sin of introspection can become a habit”
The chapter goes into a different direction and now the author talks about the big lie of the world today: live fit and healthy, “for only the healthy and fit have fun”.
When we believe this lie, we become hostages of fear.
“for the Christian, there should be nothing to fear in this…review your theology to deal with these fears. Sound theology is the cure for fear. Consider that God is in complete control of His entire creation. Do you believe this?” (p.74)
Again, this is why I love Nancy’s books. Her counsel goes right to the heart of the matter, where are you grounded? What do you believe? This is one of the reasons we ought to encourage one another to read big books, theology books, to the study of the Word. We must abide in the Word, in the whole counsel of God not only in some verses here and there taken out of context. O, how I love the Word of God!
The 7 closing words of this chapter are powerful, read them twice and think about them:
“Do not be afraid, but fear God.”
Chapter Six. Duties of Homemaking
This is also a very powerful and practical chapter, in which Nancy reminds us that our calling has to do with the things that fill our days, such as diaper changing, doing dishes, cooking, kissing foreheads, and listening to our beloved ones.
And because God himself has called us to do this “all the mundane things {we do} are sanctified, holy, purposeful, and honoring to God, and {we} shall offer them all to Him” (p.75 I tweaked the text and wrote it on 1st p. pl present tense)
She talks about hard work, about being joyful while we pursue our calling. She encourages us to learn how to manage our households (I Timothy 5:14) but she also addresses the sin of idleness, the sin of “having to know”.
Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. (I Tim. 5: 13 -14)
From the text I made up these questions that can help me examine myself:
How do I use my time?
Am I being idle behind this screen?
Am I wandering from one blog (house) to another “just because”, just to visit? -and here, I would like to add a little more; next time you browse your favorite sites, blogs, etc, try to think and jot down 5 things you learned during those visits. Can you do that? Be careful, I have noticed that sometimes I have had to answer to this question in a negative way. Most of the time we are skim reading; maybe we will be more blessed if we use that time to read a book, or pray, or read the Word, or memorize more verses, or sit besides our son just to hug him.
Can I afford spending all this time visiting?
“A woman’s God-given duties must necessarily be neglected to carry on such extensive visiting”
This chapter closes with a great encouragement:
“…our homes should be practical extensions of what we believe to be true about God and His world and demonstrate that it is all under His ownership”
What is it in your heart today? What did you learn in these two chapters?
Let us encourage one another to be godly wives and moms.
The Fruit of Her Hands -Part One-
The Fruit of Her Hands -Part Two-
Ten Reasons for Contentment at Femina (“Here are ten reasons why we should find contentment, found from the matchless works on the subject by the Puritan ministers Jeremiah Burroughs and Thomas Watson”)
Keeping up family Worship.
A Mom and a Wife in the Making
El Fruto de Sus Manos -Parte Tres- (en español)
**************************************
Daily On My Way to Heaven 
>Gracias Becky por bendecirme con tus palabras… siempre dispuesta a aprender!
LikeLike
>Diane, you are more than welcome to jump in the conversation even if you are not reading the book. I love to hear what you have to say.Nohemí, I disagree with your perception on what the author says about dead and sickness. She says that we should not fear dead and sickness, however, God uses these as means to teach us and sanctify us.She says on p.73:"Obviously nothing can keep all sickness and disease away for good. We are all going to die of something. But for the Christian, there should be NOTHING to fear in this" The author then quotes Rom 8:35, 38 and after that she keeps on saying: "When Christian women get sucked into the fear trap, they are forgetting this important truth, as well as some other important ones.. Review your theology, to deal with these fears. Sound theology is the cure for fear…He will work all things for good, and this includes sickness,disease and death"I learned when I was young in the church I grew up that sickness was never to be accepted as part of God's plan; 6 years ago the Lord opened my eyes, and now I know that God is Sovereign and that He does allow sickness and suffering. It is written in His Word, we see it every day; but we have His promises to help us walk through those valleys. His grace abounds in the darkest hour.Nohemi, I like what you mentioned about teaching our children from the beginning not to be busybodies. Yes! And don't you think that because we are naturally so self.centered instead of asking ourselves: "Is this something that is going to change my life in a positive way?" We should ask ourselves "Is this going to glorify God?"Nohemí, thank you for coming here once more and be willing to share your thoughts. I so appreciate you visiting this place! Thank you! Dear Lisa, thanks for jumping in the conversation. It is so true what you say…He should be always our standard!I am grateful for each one of you, dear friends. I look forward to our last coffee time to talk about this book next week.Under His shadow,
LikeLike
>I just shared a conversation this morning with two friends in which we reminded ourselves that God's Word is the standard, not our culture, not our feelings, and not our legalistic self righteous standards! Thanks for the additional reminder here.And thanks too for sharing the questions you ask yourself. Though you are SO getting in my business, I thank you for the healthy dose of conviction–it is the Lord's kindness to me to bring me to repentance!
LikeLike
>WOW! so much to learn and re-learn!About our physicale bodies: Yes, christians shouldn't fear dead and accept sickness as part of His Divine Plan, (easier said than done!).What the media does is to point out our flaws, weaknesses, to make me feel needy and buy their products in order to be "complete and happy". But true happines is found only in Christ.We need to teach our children to be busy, not busy-bodies, there is so much to do!! Teach them while young.I felt very encouraged to know that my God is being pleased by the chores and running around with the kids, He delights in this, is not just mundane stuff.I like what Becky mentioned about the computer, phone, etc. We need to ask this: Is this something that is going to change my life in a positive way? We do need to choose our friends, however it's so hard to find the 'right one'! Remembering that my husband is my BFF!Blessings to my sisters, I don't know most of you, but feel connected in spirit!Now, back to my chores…Nohemi.
LikeLike
>Becky, I feel like I'm sneaking in the back door here because I'm not reading this book. I am however enjoying and learning from yours and everyone elses comments.Blessings to all!
LikeLike
>Luma, Thank you for joining the conversation. Yes, I agree, we should live by faith and never by our fears or feelings. Only standing in the Word will help us fight those two giants.Emily, that is exactly why I wanted to read this book again. As I change, as my children and marriage grow, I see things I did not see at first. (6 years ago when I read this book)Blessings!
LikeLike
>The chapters on contentment and homemaking put a lot in perspective for me 7 years ago. It's been so good to review them!
LikeLike
>Hi Becky, good to meet you. I'm glad that this book is blessing you. I would say the overriding thing to take away from this chapter is the fear issue. Women are particularly susceptible to fear and unfortunately, we end up making many decisions out of fear than out of faith. This can be devastating to a Christian woman. Whether it's in our parenting or our housekeeping or our relationship with our husbands or any area of our lives, our faith should be what is driving us. I look forward to the rest of the chapters.
LikeLike
>"Perfect justification!" What a promise! And again, Elizabeth, isn't is about knowing our sound Doctrine well? I just love it!I am so happy you shared about the difference between entertaining and being hospitable. How true is that. Un abrazo para ti.
LikeLike
>As I continue to read, I am struck by the manner of strength from which the author writes. She is a no-nonsense kind of woman, the salt of the earth. May God bless her. Two thoughts I will share, the first from the Contentment chapter. The author wrote:"When confronted with your sins and failings, look to Christ and thank Him for a perfect justification." (p. 71)A perfect justification. How I just love that! It ends all argument and sings to my soul! And from the Homemaking chapter, the thought that blessed me was: "She can seek to make her home beautiful to please God. The pagans may want to impress one another, but the Christian can delight in Christ." (p. 84)It was a good number of years ago now that my husband had turned to me and said, "We don't want to entertain people, we want to be hospitable." And what that meant for me in particular was NOT going to vast amounts of expense and trouble to make a gourmet feast our guests might not like as much as a dressed down meal of homemade soup, sandwiches, and a hot cup of coffee. And he taught me that having people in our home is about honoring THEM, and thereby honoring God. It makes such a difference. And then people are truly nourished from within and without. Looking forward to the next reading!Con mucho gusto,-E
LikeLike
>Hollie, I too thought of your "tiredness" when I read this chapter about of contentment. I am so glad God cares for His own! Take courage, my friend, and seek Him early! :)Thank you for joining the conversation.
LikeLike
>This is a wonderful book! The chapter on contentment really opened my eyes to things. I give in SO much to self-accusations. It seems like every line in this book has either been encouraging/convicting for me. I'm so glad you introduced me to this book. The next chapter was great too. Again, I never had the mindset of thinking as our homes, vehicles, and such as simply on loan from God. It seems like such an obvious concept now, and a very motivational one.Good point on the online time questions. I was pondering this just last night … is my blog glorifying God? This is the question I want to ask myself with every post.
LikeLike