Category Archives: Being a Mom

>Changes Can Be Beautiful -thoughts on homeschooling-

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>Changes come into our lives every year, every day; changes do come and we must have eyes to see the beauty they bring.

We have been homeschooling our children for 10 years now and several changes have happened along the way. Today while I was enjoying teaching my little one, I saw from afar my oldest children taking their online classes and thought of these changes and how much they used to scare me when I  thought about them 10 years ago and how the Lord has faithfully removed them  and has helped me see the beauty in each one of them.

I want to write this post to encourage those families who are today where we were 10 years ago. These words are for you:

Don’t fear the changes; God is faithful indeed!

Choosing curriculum seems like an titanic task; there are  too many options, actually, too many great  options; but you want to know a little secret I have learned along the way? When I did not know of all those great options out there and I prepared my classes from scratch; we learned a lot, had a blast and built great memories. My almost 17  years old son still likes to see his old binder with all his notes and drawings; my 14 yo son remembers everything we did together… My daughter recalls every single project we made together… they still love to talk today about all the books we enjoyed together.

And then the day came when I saw all those great and different options and I wanted to use them all, so I bought some resources that we never used, and returned some others that were not as nice as they sounded. So here is the secret…

Don’t try to change what is already working for you today. 

No matter how wonderful the rest of the options seem to be, take a deep breath, and if what you are doing with your kids is already working, then don’t change to try something else.

Some of the things that used to scare this mama who struggles so much with Math and has survived  all these years using the “rule of three” for every single math problem in her life, were the ones you can easily imagine, “What are we going to do with Algebra, and Science and Logic?”  My kids grew and changes came and the day arrived when we were ready to tackle those; what did we do then?

The Lord walked ahead of us, and the Lord brought to our lives (literally) something we did not know about… a way out to all our fears through such season of changes: A great online school with lots of friends included and teachers that have influenced our children to live godly lives.

Yes, this is a greater miracle than what you might think because, just in case you have forgotten, we live in Mexico and are Mexicans! And here, in our country, very few families homeschool their children and we don’t have Christian schools either. So changes did come and the Lord gave us a way to walk through them and also gave us eyes to see the beauty in them.

Alteration… yes, that word that my fiends at three chose for the photo play this week has me thinking…

We have had to alter our initial plans several times; it never occurred to us the option of an online school for example, but through each change, we have seen how the Lord has always been ahead of us preparing  the doorways we would need to walk through.

So, my friend, if you are to change anything this year in your homeschool, be sure you don’t change just to have the other option that seems super great if what you are doing is working in your family; but at the same time know that changes will definitely come, sooner or later, without you even noticing them; and when they come remember that the Lord has been walking ahead. He is our faithful Father.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

 Lord, teach us to see that changes can be beautiful!

Note: The second picture on this post is “playing” at You Capture. 
This week’s theme is “Doorways”

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>Thinking of You, Sweet Baby

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When you only have one sister and she lives in another country, and she is pregnant for the third time and you have never seen her holding a baby in her womb. 

You feel the distance. 

You wish you could have wings to fly to her and hold her hand and look at her eyes and hug her. 

Isn’t this what sisters are for? 

Aren’t these moments those we need each other the most?

I think of you in the morning, sweet baby.
Isn’t it you we have been dreaming about for years?
You are in a safe place right now,
No one can hurt you where you are being woven,

where you Creator is crafting a master piece.

The song you hear all day long is your mama’s voice.
Isn’t it beautiful?
Her prayers for you rise early every morning,
and her last words at night are blessings upon you.
She is preparing a place for you,
she loves colors and fabric, and needles, and thread,
Her hands are working in delight
so you will find a place to rest your precious little head.
With her hands she sews, but with her heart she wovens
prayers and prayers, and tears fall down.
You, precious baby, will be born in sin.
Who can deny it?
We all were born death.
Your mama fears the Lord and she knows this truth well.
But fear not, little one,

for Your Redeemer lives!

And mama and papa will teach you the Truth.
They will day and night, when you raise and go to bed,
teach you the Scriptures that will make you wise unto Salvation.
Listen to them, even from now.
The Sovereign One has chosen to place you in this God-fearing home.
Fear not, little one, mama will pray for you day after day;
her trust is placed on the One who is mighty to save,
who has conquered death and has risen again,
and whose hand is not short to save.
My little one, mama will hold you with such tender care,
she is preparing all for the seasons to come.
In the Spring she will plant the seed of the Word in your heart,
In the Summer she’ll wait for the Lord to send showers
and make His Word yield much fruit in you.
During the Autumn, when leaves fall and all seems to die,
she will raise her eyes to the hills and now that you will stand firm.
The winter will come, but she will not fear for she knows the Lord
will hold you tight.
I think of you in the morning, sweet baby.
Isn’t it you we have been dreaming about for years?
I love you!

Today I am grateful for the children born in Christian homes and for godly parents who diligently teach the Word of God to their children.

>A Song Book for Children

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>Looking for a good book of poems for children, I asked Grace and Truth Books (on Facebook) which books they recommended; they suggested few and I bought three, one is a song book for children and the other two are poetry books. (I will tell you about the poetry ones later this week, they are beautiful!)

This is what I found, a treasure indeed that was first printed in 1713, Divine and Moral Songs for Children by Isaac Watts; compiled, arranged, and edited by Carris J Koscher, from the Old Path Series.

I read on the introduction, (which is very interesting), that this book  “is the pinnacle of Puritan literature for children”

This is not a simple book with songs, it is a book that teaches biblical truths. “It will help bind parents and their children into a working faith that will give a cohesive strength to the basic of any society:  the family.” this is a book, that as you can well imagine was wherever the Mom’s Bible was, because as the author of the introduction says, in those days “it was not the responsibility of the Sunday School, or the Grammar School, but of the parents” to teach their children the Christian Religion.

The author of this great introduction, goes on to compare what children read before 1776, with what children read today (1975) in order to stress the importance of this small book of Divine songs. You will certainly enjoy reading her thoughts on this, just look at this:

“The homes (in those days) were happy and harmonious, and children were considered as a joyous blessing from the Almighty and treated as such. It is true that children read lengthy sermons, memorized Scripture and knew by heart the basic tenets of Christianity and were present and quiet in church on Sunday, but the results of this type of child rearing made children responsible, productive and happy. The stark contrast to the child of today is shocking in the extreme.” 
“Divine and Moral Songs for the Use of Children by Isaac Watts is exactly the type of book children need. It takes great and eternal truths and places it on the level of a child’s understanding. It will give children a positive Christian faith, and in working out its implications in their lives, responsibility, and leadership, will be developed more readily. It will serve as a bulwark against modern heresies and lay a sound foundation for later development…
The purpose of Watt’s songs is to educate for maturity. It is maturity this world needs, godly maturity.Isaac Watts assumed at all times that it was the duty of an adult to equip a child with a mature faith capable of conquering the world. Education which falls short of that is irrelevant and non Christian”

So, we happily opened the book, and we decided that first song we will learn by heart is  Song II, Praise for Creation and Providence, my oldest children will play the piano and we will raise our voices to praise Him in Spirit and in Truth.

I already put this little green book by my Bible, it is a treasure that I want to give to my children.

Some of the titles of the songs are these:

Praise to God for Our Redemption

Praise God for mercies Spiritual and Temporal

Praise God for the Gospels

The Excellency of the Bible

Praise God for Learning to Read

Heaven and Hell

The Advantages of Early Religion

The Ten Commandments

Our Saviour’s Golden Rule

And so many more…

Aren’t these things what we long to listen our children sing about?

Today, Lord, I am so grateful for godly people who have worked hard to preserve Christian literature through the years.  I want to thank them by making use of the books they worked hard to publish again, I am sure they would be very happy to see that!

I am so excited about this, in our home we will start today , will you join us?

I will give away one of this books for your family to enjoy; just leave a comment and we will announce a winner this coming Saturday. (USA, Canada and Mexico only)

This post is also linked to Raising Homemakers

For some strange reason I cannot upload images from my computer, 
so I will try to come later and add my pictures.  Done 🙂

Remember that starting on December 1st, I will be hosting every Wednesday on December a celebration here…We will be Celebrating the Incarnation; you are invited to come and link to your post; share what this amazing doctrine means, how do you keep it the main thing during the season, share with us the goodness!

>The Fruit of Her Hands – Part Three-

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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?

Chapter Five. Contentment

“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.

Related Posts:

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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>The Fruit of Her Hands -Part Two-

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When the lights go off, I open my book to read, and I think of my day and in all the areas I need to grow more into my Lord’s likeness.

Pondering about His holiness, studying Philippians and tasting sweet drops of honey from this book, have me writing a lot on my journal.

How can you be a great wife and mother?

Nancy stated it clearly, we need to be “good Christian women”; and how can you be such a “good Christian woman” if you haven’t met a Holy God in the quietness? “How can I meet Him, the Holy One, and not be crushed”? you might say; it is only through Jesus Christ, through His saving power that we can come confidently before Him and find grace.

And Paul says,

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4: 4-7 ESV

What a joy! Through Jesus, we can come and meet the Holy One and  pray and pour our heart in prayer and supplication at His feet, only to find peace; a perfect peace that is able to guard our hearts and minds in Christ, while we pursue our calling: being the good woman God wants us to be.

Chapter 3. Respect

“Let the wife see that she respects her husband” Eph. 5:33

Respect, is a verb, we  need to “do respect”. Four words that the author emphasizes in her definition of the word are:

1. honor
2. esteem
3. deference
4. courtesy

In this chapter Nancy teaches that respect to our own husband is a command from God; and she points through out the pages, different practical ways on how we can show respect for our husband.

What about a “respect letter”? Yes, this is different than a “love letter”, it involves more. It says more, it builds more.

Respect involves lots of things that can be done. It is more than a nice feeling towards our husband.

“Do not share your husband’s weaknesses, problems, blunders, sins, poor decisions, or failings with anyone. It is disrespect if you do. He is not perfect, we all know that. But when you share unwisely, it does two things: it causes you to disrespect him more, and it causes the hearers to think less of him, too. Sharing problems is totally unproductive unless you are talking to someone ina position to help you. (i.e., your pastor).”

The author reminds us that if we have sinned by not being respectful we need to repent before the Lord, ask our husband for his forgiveness and then we will be ready to  “take concrete steps to respect and build up our husband”

Nancy goes on to explain to us how 1 Peter 3: 5-6  can be applied in a day to day basis,

“For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands,  as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.”

Four things we must note  as on how to “adorn” ourselves:

1. We are to trust God (v.5)
2. We are to be submissive to our own husbands (v.5)
3. Do good (v.6)
4. Be unafraid (v6)

For the sake of space and time I won’t talk about each one of these (I encourage you again to get the book and read it all, believe me, it is worth doing it!) but one if the things that stand out for me is this: Trust God.

Here is where doctrines found us “in the kitchen”, if we say we believe in God’s Sovereignty, then we must not complain or have a critical spirit against our husband.
 
Nancy says it well,

“Trust in God is a great protection from fear because we see God in complete control of our lives. The more a woman studies the Word and comes to understand God’s character, the easier it becomes to trust in Him. Submission frees a woman from many fears if it is rendered in an atmosphere of faith and trust in God”

Ephesians 5:33b says,

“let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

Again, we are reminded that respecting our husband is one of the holy duties we have before the Lord. We are to examine ourselves, these questions are good starting points:  Am I respecting my husband on the way I talk to him and on the way I talk about him? 

“Remember that respect and submission are not what your husband requires of you, but what God requires of you”


Being respectful covers different areas of our lives including our finances. On this, I will share some of Nancy’s words:

“When you are tempted to criticize your husband (and you will be), when you want very much to ‘let him have it’, pray for love–‘Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins”(Prov. 10:12). Turn to the Lord for comfort, strength, silence!”

Some times being respectful means being quiet, and this last part of the chapter is addressed to women who are married to an unbeliever or a man who does not lead his family in a godly manner.

“Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—” 1 Peter 3:1-3

 Quoting the author:

“”Flaunting your spirituality is not being quiet. (“I hope he sees that at least I am reading my Bible, even if he isn’t”) What he needs to see is your sweet and courteous attitude, not how many books you are reading or how many prayer meetings you attend each week. Leave the results to God…You are to be obedient  to God regardless of the results.”

Chapter 4.  Principles and Methods

OK, I now I took a lot of space and time to write about  the previous chapter, so I will use few words to talk about this one.

“A Christian woman must learn to think biblically; she must derive her basic principles of living from God’s Word… if we learn to think like Christians, we can discern between worldly and Christian principles”

Not so hard right? Just abide in the Word!

In this chapter I learned that I should NOT criticize (even in my heart) what methods this friend or that family follow; what matters is the principle behind the method, and not the method per se.


“We ought to rejoice in a common commitment to biblical principles and in a variety of methods God’s people employ”

How true is this!

We tend to judge our fellow brothers and sisters (or children and husband) on how they like to do things and we get mad and are hard on them… we should not. Methods are not God’s principles.

Let His grace abound as we grow in our Christian life.

Get the book at Monergism

The Fruit of Her Hands- Part One – My comments are found here.

Nancy Wilson blogs at Femina

If you know someone who speaks Spanish invite them to join the conversation around this book at  Delicias A Tu Diestra Para Siempre. My friend Faby, is our guest blogger and she is a joy to be around.

>The Fruit of Her Hands -part 1-

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The Fruit of Her Hands, Apples © Pixels and Stories

Today is our first day of getting together to share our thoughts on this encouraging book, The Fruit of Her Hands, by Nancy Wilson. I am glad you are here, grab a cup of coffee and let us encourage one another; “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” Hebrews. 10:24.

This book opens with a short forward by Douglas Wilson, but it is there that I see the key to understanding how are we to fulfill our duties, our God given role in our home; he says,

“When two people are so compatible, it is very easy to coast on the strength of the natural affection. The problem with this is that it becomes easy to neglect the  essential thing in a good marriage, which is reliance on the grace of God”

This is the starting point, reliance on the grace of God.

So, I would suggest, before tackling the rest, to consider if we have been trying to be the woman God has called us to be on our own strength. Maybe you have read several books on how to be a better woman, mom, wife, but it seems that you are not walking forward; well, this is the starting point in our Christian calling, reliance on the grace of God every day, all day.

Chapter One. A Woman’ s Orientation to Marriage

Nancy opens the book with a Bible verse that shows us, like on a mirror, our sinful inclinations, 2 Tim 3:1-6.

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,  treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, ” ESV

Everywhere we see it, it is clearer in some scenarios, but is hidden in others: Love yourself, love money, live for pleasures.

We are easily deceived. We are women, just like Eve.

The author mentions two areas in which the modern woman has been”led away by her own lusts”

1. From her God-given domain. (the home)

2. From her God- ordained responsibilities. (her husband and children)

Instead of pursuing these, women today are pursuing freedom and happiness. The world has offered up these as “rewards” to all those who are willing to forsake their God- given domain and responsibilities.

The second aspect this chapter deals with is “A Home With a View”, what does this mean? First and foremost having a biblical view of our husband.  Mrs. Wilson says,

” A woman must cultivate a very high view of her head both the position God has given him over her, as well as the authority God has given him”

 Yes, we have learned that we should submit to our own husbands, and that we are called to be home-centered, but what about this:

“Women have often been vulnerable to deception, and frequently they are self-deceived. The woman who sacrifices her own home, while teaching othe women to be respectful and submissive wives, has been deceived and is deceiving others…she has torn down her house with her own hands (Prov 14:1). By the time she recognizes the trap she is in, it is often too late”

Nowadays, we don’t have to be outside from our homes to be absent from our homes. Where are you all day? Are you in your home really? What about the time we all spend behind this screen?

Let us be careful on how we manage our time “at home”. Let us be women of our home!

Chapter Two. Walking With God

This is I guess, why I love this book so much. It is a book that goes beyond giving you good tips on how to be a godly woman. It challenges Christian women to STUDY the Word of God.

Studying the Bible, not only reading it and crossing out our “One-Year Bible Reading chart”, is what we must do. We must walk with God in prayer and in the Word. What a challenge! But isn’t this our calling as wretched sinners saved by a Merciful God?

I like how she says this:

“Not all women are natural students. It takes discipline to read the Scriptures.”

And she carries her argument on to say:

“Christian wives tend to leave the ‘fat books’ and theology to their husbands. While this may look “submissive” to some, it is actually disobedience. It is not enough that we know Proverbs 31, Ephesians 5, I Peter 3, and I Corinthians 1 and 14. We have to know more than how to be a good wife. After all, our first calling is to be good Christians, and if we are good Christians, we will be good wives and mothers…”

The second issue Nancy Wilson deals with in this chapter is :The Woman and the Serpent.

Eve was deceived in the garden, and we are daughters of Eve; we can fall in the lies of the devil pretty easily.

The author mentions some of the lies we women fall into:

1. The popular idea that our problems are all our parents’ fault.

2. We are not responsible for own faults.

3. We should search back into our past to resurrect old hurts and wrongs (“to be healed”).

What are the antidotes against all the devil’s lies?

* Asking ourselves: “What does the Bible says about such and such issue?”

-No wonder why is it SO important that we study the Bible diligently.-

* Going to our husband first.

*Not sharing our spiritual problems with all our friends. The world tells us that speaking out is always beneficial, but I agree with the author when she says, “Sometimes talking about it [our problem] just makes things worse”

“In many situations, it is no wonder we don’t know what to do -we aren’t in the Word. How can we know what God requires if we are not reading what He has written (Deut. 8:3)?

“Stay away from  the books {and I -Becky- will add blogs…} that get you look inward instead of away from yourself to Christ. He is all-sufficient for all the problems a married (or single or widowed or divorced) woman might have (Heb. 8:1)….

And finally, pray that your mind will not be led into deception and corruption, but will stay, remain, and dwell in the simplicity that is found in Christ” 

But this is meant to be a conversation, the coffee is ready, my sister brought some cookies and we are here to share… what do you have to say?, What books have helped you grow in your Christian life?, How do you find time to study the Word and set apart a time to pray?, What are those lies that still try to penetrate your heart regarding your God given domain and responsibilities?  If you did not read the book, please, feel free to comment as well… no worries!

Leave a comment or a link to your post (in case you decided to blog about these first two chapters).

Are you just coming in? Maybe you want to catch up with our reading and join the conversation. Learn about our reading schedule here.

You can follow the conversation in Spanish too! Visit us today at Delicias a Tu Diestra Para Siempre.

Related posts:


When Light Meets Daily Life II
Thoughts For Wives
Yes, I Will Open the Box

Marriage and Wine (at the former blog)
One +One = One (at the former blog)


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