Morning Cuppas With Glenys

Your precious wings of freedom!

So recently we have been praying for a family member who has just undergone a transplant surgery. Due to privacy issues, I am unable to disclose anything further.

I can disclose that this surgery carries enormous risks. During and especially after, there are dangers such as organ rejection and infection.

Chris and I have been praying with my family that this life saving surgery be successful. So far, so good. Apparently the first 48 hours are critical in regards of organ rejection.. It's been nearly that now.

As is our custom, we prayed a prayer of thanks for the successful operation and also for ongoing recovery with no rejection etc.

It was during such prayer that we realised that in order for our family member to have another chance of life, someone had to die to donate the organs to give that other chance.

We prayed a prayer of thanks to God for putting it in to someone's heart to be an organ donor. We also prayed for that person and his or her family as they grieve their passing.

It is a sobering thought... waiting in quiet desperation for someone to die so that another may live. There are so few organ donors out there and the list of needy people far outgrows the list of donors.

I have considered becoming an organ donor, however my state of health makes me ineligible to donate.

Chris and I are grateful for whoever donated their precious organs. What a selfless act of love.

It is almost as if they were saying, "I will have no use for these wings now, for I will have the greatest of freedom."

So we now say with grateful reverence, "Thank you for this gift!" And we bow our heads as our loved one also gratefully accepts them-and thank you for your precious wings of freedom!

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24

The litany of everyday life

An encouraging excerpt from: Margret Kim Peterson.

"God is the creator and has given [us the] privilege of imitating and participating in God’s work as creator.

God ... started with chaos and ended with a...beautiful universe.

Housework is all about bringing order out of chaos.

That heap of damply repulsive clothes on the bathroom floor turns into stacks of neatly folded clean laundry in a matter of hours...

a table piled high with junk mail, school papers, and forgotten socks turns into a table neatly set for a meal...

a sack of potatoes ...turns into a dish of mashed potatoes ...

Housework is never "done" in the same sense ... that God's providential involvement in the world is never done." (End of excerpts)

To sum up: We keep house because we love our families. And we won't be all done today. We will wake up again tomorrow, and receive the gift of another day, and the privilege again, of honorable work to fill our hands. We take care of our families, who love and appreciate us in return.

True, some things are more fun to do than others. Making cookies may be more fun than cleaning toilets. But we still clean the toilet. And we don't fall into self pity over it. We even make a game out of it, and it actually can be fun.

After all, every person on earth has parts of their job that are unpleasant and would be avoided if possible.

As homemakers, we are privileged to be servants of all, and Jesus tells us, "The greatest among you is the servant of all".

He himself demonstrated, by subjecting himself to death on the cross for our sins. From Mothers Are At Home

Blessings, Glenys

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

She chose the best

When reading the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:40, many people think that Jesus was rebuking Martha in a negative way. But I don't believe this is so. He in fact, was liberating her from her perfectionism and showing her that there is more to life than just the mundane.

You may recall that Martha was busy serving and preparing the evening meal, whereas Mary was simply enjoying listening to Jesus. Martha was doing an important job, as do we wives and mothers when we manage our households and serve our families. We all know that preparing three meals a day, washing and ironing, cleaning and tidying the house, as well as caring for those of our household- and even extended households sometimes, is mundane. But no one would suggest it wasn't important. So Jesus wasn't undermining its' importance, but He was saying that putting the things of the LORD first is a better way.....

Have you ever thought about how we can so easily get too involved with the practical aspects and lose out on the social and spiritual side? I often plan to make time for Bible reading, or playing with my grandchildren or spending time with Chris, only to find that I have found something else to do. I need to prioritise my life.

So, we must look at the Titus 2 order of priorities- love God, love your husband, love your children, then be a worker at home! This layout of priorities also emphasises the importance that our husbands be our first priority after God! That means my children are second to the needs of my husband. To clarify- that does not mean if a child is crying or needs something that we don't attend to them. It means we defer to our husband and put his wishes before our children's.

Often times we get so busy serving our husbands and children that we overlook enjoying them! Take time to enjoy the other important things in life, your children: they will grow up fast, and this season will be short! Leave the household chores that aren’t urgent to the childrens’ nap times, and spend time enjoying them while they are awake! Make time for your husband. He will be happier for it, you will feel more fulfilled and your children will have a happier home life because you have a good marriage!

And remember to spend time with God, for He is our firm foundation. God wants us to enjoy our life. Let us then be balanced and live under His Umbrella of Protection. For in Gods' Divine Order, we will find the balance we need for the other important things.We need to tend to the mundane things like housework, but we see that Jesus says it's important to tend to our spirit too. So choose the best!

But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. Luke 10:40

What does God say about the housewife?

All of us Christian wives who are seeking to live life according to God’s Word, are bombarded by feminist teaching and other unscriptural advice. We are further alienated from our sisters who work part-time because society sees them as contributing whereas it portrays us as parasitic!

So great is the attack on us, that often we sit scratching our heads and wondering if they could be right. As in all things, we would do well to seek what the Word of God says.

I have compiled some feminist and ungodly views and I have answered them with the Word. As always, we see the Truth of a housewife’s value in God’s sight is revealed in His Word. I am sure you can find other verses such as Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 that show how God feels about our work in the home.

Feminist and worldly view

“A parasite sucking out the living strength of another organism…the housewife’s labor does not even tend toward the creation of anything durable…. Woman’s work within the home is not directly useful to society, produces nothing. The housewife is subordinate, secondary, and parasitic. It is for their common welfare that the situation must be altered by prohibiting marriage as a ‘career’ for woman.” The Second Sex, 1949 by Simone de Beauvoir
Isaiah 3:11-13 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.

“[The] housewife is a nobody, and [housework] is a dead-end job. It may actually have a deteriorating effect on her mind…rendering her incapable of prolonged concentration on any single task. [She] comes to seem dumb as well as dull. [B]eing a housewife makes women sick.” — Sociologist Jessie Bernard in The Future of Marriage, 1982.
Proverbs 31:27 “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat of the bread of idleness.”

“[As long as the woman] is the primary caretaker of childhood, she is prevented from being a free human being.” — Kate Millett, Sexual Politics, 1969.
Proverbs 31:28 “Her children arise and call her blessed…”

“[Housewives] are dependent creatures who are still children…parasites.” — Gloria Steinham, “What It Would Be Like If Women Win,” Time, August 31, 1970.
Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes

“[Housewives] are mindless and thing-hungry…not people. [Housework] is peculiarly suited to the capacities of feeble-minded girls. [It] arrests their development at an infantile level, short of personal identity with an inevitably weak core of self…. [Housewives] are in as much danger as the millions who walked to their own death in the concentration camps. [The] conditions which destroyed the human identity of so many prisoners were not the torture and brutality, but conditions similar to those which destroy the identity of the American housewife.” — Betty Frieden, The Feminine Mystique, 1963.
Psalm 127: 3-5 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

“[A]s long as the family and the myth of the family and the myth of maternity and the maternal instinct are not destroyed, women will still be oppressed…. No woman should be authorized to stay at home and raise her children. Society should be totally different. Women should not have that choice, precisely because if there is such a choice, too many women will make that one. It is a way of forcing women in a certain direction.” — Simone de Beauvoir, “Sex, Society, and the Female Dilemma,” Saturday Review, June 14, 1975
Titus 2:4-5 “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”

[I]f even 10 percent of American women remain full-time homemakers, this will reinforce traditional views of what women ought to do and encourage other women to become full-time homemakers at least while their children are very young…. If women disproportionately take time off from their careers to have children, or if they work less hard than men at their careers while their children are young, this will put them at a competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis men, particularly men whose wives do all the homemaking and child care…. This means that no matter how any individual feminist might feel about child care and housework, the movement as a whole had reasons to discourage full-time homemaking.” — Jane J. Mansbridge, Why We Lost the ERA, 1986.
1 Timothy 5:14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

We who make marriage and home our career usually do so at great personal expense. It is much more difficult to make ends meet on one wage and it is often made more difficult because of society’s general view of the stay at home wife and mother. We become unwise when we look at our life's work in service to God and family through the world's eyes, not God's. We must bring our thoughts into captivity of Christ....

In order to grasp the freedom and beauty of being a full time homemaker, we must come back periodically to the Word. Only in doing so will we see the true value of our calling in Christ, Who Himself came as a Servant to redeem us...

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: Philippians 2: 7

Because God doesn't want you there.

Lately I have been battling chronic health issues. My fatigue has hung around me like a wet blanket.

My pain levels are so high that I cannot function properly and this makes it difficult to think clearly, hence I have not posted any new blog entries for quite some time.

I've now entered yet another phase of my life- injecting insulin twice daily to control my Diabetes type 2. As with any new treatments, I feel a bit apprehensive.

In truth, I have been thinking that I will not have many more days of productivity and this makes me afraid.

Walking the path of illness is often lonely and I vascillate between coping with it and struggling.

I have memorised Deuteronomy 31:6 as it speaks to me as a promise from the LORD Himself, and I lean on it daily.

It is comforting to know and more importantly, to remember that God is with us in all our troubles, not just health issues. He will never leave us nor give up on us.

When I am afraid, I bring this verse to mind and try not be discouraged.

He is for us. With us. Behind us. In front of us. Always.

His Word is true, and that has stopped me from entering the darkness of The Pit of Despair, because God doesn't want you there.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake. -Deuteronomy 31:6

The depth of His integrity

integrity

/ɪnˈtɛɡrɪti/

noun

1.
the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
"a gentleman of complete integrity"
Similar:
honesty
uprightness
probity
rectitude
honour
honourableness
upstandingness
good character
principle(s)
ethics
morals
righteousness
morality
nobility
high-mindedness
right-mindedness
noble-mindedness
virtue
decency
fairness
scrupulousness
sincerity
truthfulness
trustworthiness
Opposite:
dishonesty
2.
the state of being whole and undivided.
"upholding territorial integrity and national sovereignty"
Similar:
unity
unification
wholeness
coherence
cohesion
undividedness
togetherness
solidarity
coalition
Opposite:
division

It is uncharacteristic of the love God has for His people, that believers will be terrorised and punished alongside those who don't love Him in the Great Tribulation... Let scripture speak to us of God's great love for us... and His integrity and holiness

"Far be it from You to do such a thing— to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous & the wicked R-treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” - Genesis 18:25

Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Malachi 3:16-18

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Revelation 3:10

Does this sound like a God Who would allow the righteous to be tormented in the Great Tribulation? I don't think so... Instead this God will gather His people safely to Himself and eat with us at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

To believe that Jesus would allow His Bride, the Church to be traumatised and beaten along with those who are the object of God's wrath, is to not understand the Love God has for His Children, His holiness or the depth of His integrity.

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. -Psalm 91:14-16