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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)

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