Category Archives: Homemaking

Because We Love Friends

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This is true, we love our friends.

Friends who cry with us, friends who need that we cry with them.

Friends who listen and friends who need to be listened to.

Friends who laugh and others who need our laughter.

Friends who encourage and others who need encouragment.

Friends who support us in prayer, friends who need our prayers.

Friends.

We women are especially willing to engage in deep friendships, we love to talk and encourage others and just be friends; but as I teach my daughters about friendship, I need to go deeper and teach them, really teach them, about this issue which can build them up or tear them down.

I have seen this, I have been at a Starbucks by myself trying to read a book and suddenly the conversation besides me  calls my attention. A group of women, all loud, all “friends”, and their words are only words that destroy their husbands and children. It is almost like a competition to see which one of their husbands is the worst, the meanest, the less preapared, and the least affectionate.

It is true, these women are probably not Christians, but I have also seen this particular way of conversing around a table in which the women around it call themselves Christians. The difference? They do exactly the same, but add the words “Please, help me pray for my husband or my children….”

Mary, a woman who found favor in the eyes of the Lord, learned from the beginning a valuable lesson that we, women who fear the Lord, must learn; the Bible says that  “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart…” (Luke 2:19)

Who are our friends? What do we talk about around a coffee table? Is it about the weaknesses of our husbands or children? Are we gossiping in the form of  “prayer requests”? What is in our heart? Let us pray to the Lord and ask Him forgiveness if we have done this.

Every time we open up the secrets of our home over a coffee table, we are walking away from wisdom, away from prudence, away from understanding; in the book of Proverbs 2: 9-13, we read:

“For wisdom will come into your heart,
   and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
  discretion will watch over you,
   understanding will guard you,
   delivering you from the way of evil,
   from men of perverted speech”

Women dress up beautifuly to meet with their friends, yet they often forget what the Bible teaches about a woman who is not discreet:

“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout
   is a beautiful woman without discretion.”
Proverbs 11: 22

I want to teach my daughters all these and now that they are young, they are already learning that it is not Biblical to talk about their parents’ or brother’s mistakes in the company of others. They are learning that certain things need to be kept inside our home.

If you are really in a desperate situation, don’t go over to a coffee table, go first of all to your husband, and then go to an elderly woman in the Church in whom you know you can trust.

Friends,  godly friends are a gift from God. I have been greatly blessed with many women in my life who love God and love their families so much that they do not come to our coffee table to tell the me all about the sins of their husbands and children. They honor them, they are grateful, they build wisely, and walk in prudence. For this I am thankful.

“Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets,
but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.”
Prov 11:13 ESV

I have also learned that if I want to honor my husband and our relationship, I should come always to him first. He is my Beloved, he is my best friend, he is the one who holds my hand in the night. I should never choose oher friends over his friendship. Whenever I share about a personal struggle with a friend, he knows about it. He is never left out.

My friends have helped me be a better wife, a better mom; they have encouraged me to good works, to grow in my sanctification, and for this I am grateful. 

We insist to our children about the importance of choosing excellent friends, godly friends? Do we hold the same standard for ourselves?

Do we choose wisely?

I pray I will always do.

“Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets;
 therefore do not associate with a simple babbler”
Prov 20:19 ESV

“The righteous chooses his friends carefully
but the way of the wicked leads them astray”
Prov 12:26 ESV

May you find today beautiful opportunities to bless your friends.

The pictures were taken in a trip with my best friends, my husband and my sister with her husband. We had a wonderful time. It was a gift indeed!

A book which helped me grow into the woman I am now is this:

The Fruit of Her Hands

 
sign up here and read along! 
We will start the conversation Tuesday, October 12. 
Don’t miss it!

This post is linked to Raising Homemakers

Do You Know Someone Who Speaks Spanish?

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If you have been here before, you already know that English is not my first language; I am sorry for all the grammar mistakes that still jump out here and there more often than I even realize. Thank you for your patience and grace.

Spanish is my first language, and if you know someone who speaks Spanish too, you should invite them to visit the place my sister and I have been creating.

Delicias A Tu Diestra Para Siempre

This is our place, “At Your Right Hand are Pleasures Forevermore” (Psalm16:11) a place where we gather to sow and glean, to share recipes and creative ideas, it is a place where we talk about homemaking and homeschooling in Latin America, we also share about our love for our husbands and our family. This is a place where we love to talk about Reformed Theology, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Salvation by grace through faith, about the Bible and the Doctrines  that it teaches. We love to share His goodness.

You are more than welcome to join us and fill your basket with words that God willing, will bless you and your family.

Share the goodness, be welcome!

    Delicias A Tu Diestra Para Siempre

Keeping up Family Worship

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It is the husband’s responsibility to lead the family worship, however, we, wives,  are called to be his perfect helpmate.

How can I help my Beloved with this task?

I can help him by preparing our home, our children, the room, the table. Just as the Shunamite prepared her home to receive the servant of the Lord, Elisha, with a bed and a table, a stool and a candlestick. (2 Kings 4:10), so we need to prepare our home for our family worship.

While our husband is away toiling and fighting against thorns and thistles, what are we doing to receive him and have everything ready for our family worship? Is our home in peace or our husband walks through the door only to find out complaints and bitterness? As he walks through the door, what are the first words he hears from me, sweet words of life or words that taste bitter and are hard to swallow?

We ought to prepare the heart of our home, as well as the table and candlestick.

Let us have all the Bibles ready; let us make sure that all the children have whatever our husband wants them to have at hand. We want to avoid all the unnecessary running around the house to find the one missing Bible or book. We should also have our little ones ready; I like to give my little one her night shower before our family worship, just because I do not want to feel “the pressure” of having to give her a shower when it is late! (You know how we, moms, choose to worry about simple things like this one!).

Some families like to make every reunion around the family table  memorable and special by lighting up some candles (nothing superstitious here, I am just talking about creating a beautiful ambiance); I love this idea, but it might not be the best option if you have little ones who would fall asleep! Ask your husband what would he prefer. My husband likes to turn on the lights after dinner so we can follow our Bible reading better.

Take a closer look at what you can do to prepare your home to receive your husband after a long day of toiling, and how you can help him direct a peaceful and joyous family worship.

Pictures taken at my friend’s home as she prepared her home for her family and guests. Thank you, my dear friend, for your kind hospitality. I love you!

Greek Myths and Homemaking

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A repost from the archives- with a little makeup-

We have been having so much fun, it is just She and I, the older ones are still up north.

We have had a wonderful time reading, cooking, coloring, doing math, visiting the fire station, going to the post office and even searching for a book that was “hiding” in a different shelf. (Raggedy Ann)

I have been reading to her for the first time many myths of the Greeks and it has been great to see her beautiful, dark eyes glow as she hears these stories…but she keeps asking me, “mama, but this, this didn’t happen, right?”

I am so grateful to be there to assure her that even though they seem so realistic on the way they have been told, these are just stories, they did not happen. (And I am grateful to homeschool, I can’t even imagine how in a non-Christian school she would be taught that the stories from the Bible are Myths also)

At the same time reading all these myths has given me a great opportunity to see how well she knows the doctrines, the teachings of the Bible that we have taught her. Little girls must be trained to discern even from right since they are young and tender if we want to raise women who will be  godly homemakers.

When we read how Apollo drove his chariot, every day to give sunlight to the earth, I asked her, “What does the Bible say about this?”, “How do we know that this can’t be true?” 

When we encountered Pandora’s jar, I asked her, “What does the Bible teaches us about the evil? Where does the evil comes from?” She knew well that the devil is the origin of all evil, and it came into the world when Adam and Eve sinned, she also recalled that the solution to sin was not a simplistic hope, but Jesus.

When I teach my daughters how to cook and bake I am teaching them skills to help them grow into godly homeakers.

When I teach them to be modest and discreet, I am teaching them to purspue their Biblical calling.

When I teach to discern good from evil in our daily reading routine, I am teaching them about both, homemaking and their Biblical calling.

Isn’t is wonderful to be there, to teach, to guide our little ones in the way they should go?

I love being here, I am grateful for this great opportunity.

I am linking this post to this beautiful blog….