I found these sites on Modesty from a friend. I am not saying that I have looked over them again and again to see if I love them, but what a refreshing outlook on modesty (for once)!
Also some fantastic music we got in the mail last night:
http://www.gettymusic.com/USA/Products.asp?id=407
And an amazing parenting tool:
http://www.gingerplowman.com/products.html
(see Wise Words For Mom)
Here is my ode to SWI if you will. Current and former students were asked to write down their fondest memories of the program and what it meant to them and what follows is my letter. I hope you enjoy!
A wise man (or perhaps woman) once said: “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” In regards to the Seminary Wives program, I am certain that there is much truth in that statement. The recent months have found my family and I in new surroundings with new people and new challenges. But I am so blessed to say that, due to SWI and the woman it turned me into, I left Louisville as a different woman.
My first seminary wives classes were in August of 2004. I took Essentials and Embracing Femininity in my first semester. I was so incredibly excited as I had heard so many wonderful things about the program and, as it turns out, what I had heard was only a drop in the bucket as to what I would actually glean from the program. I was so impressed in those first few weeks at the kindness other women (both student and staff wives alike) displayed. The portrait of Biblical womanhood that I found before me was inspiring, yet intimidating at the same time.
My first staff wife memories were of Mrs. Mohler and Mrs. Ware. Mrs. Mohler introduced herself to me and when she asked me my name, I knew she really cared. Now that I look back on it, she was practicing the five “S’s” (see, stand, smile, shake, say). The next time I saw Mrs. Mohler was walking up to the second floor of Honeycutt. I smiled and said hello and she remembered my name! This blew me away. If a woman who meets as many persons as she does a year can remember my name, then what excuse do I have not to make an effort to remember the ones I meet?
Mrs. Ware is a gem in every sense of the word. She has such a sweet spirit and the utmost beauty of a true Godly woman. In that first semester, my oldest son had been sick quite a bit and each and every time I missed class, Mrs. Ware would call to see how I was and if everything was okay. I was so blessed by her phone calls. One afternoon she even drove by my home to drop the notes off to me! In this busy world we live in today you don’t find that trait in many women.
As time passed and courses were completed, I found myself growing. One may ask what evidence I have of this growth. Strangely enough, the more I find myself growing into the type of woman that I know that the Lord would have me to be, the more criticism I meet, especially among fellow believers. As my perspectives have changed on various issues (marriage, children, modesty, time mangement, among many others), I am faced with more opportunities to tell those around me who don’t understand why I live the way I do why it is that I do live that way. Oh how I am thankful for that!
As for memories, they are endless. However, one particular incident will forever remain the most “near” to me. In the fall of ‘04, 8 months pregnant and not so “together,” I headed off to the latter half of Essentials. Upon my arrival into the parking lot of Honeycutt, something struck me: my notebook wasn’t with me. I thought and thought and completely recounted my walk from my apartment to the car. I had the diaper bag. I had the 10 month old. I know I had the notebook. Now where was it??? As I walked up the stairs to place my lil man in the nursery, it hit me: the roof of the van!!! “Oh no!,” I thought to myself. “Could it still be there? Would it even be useable if it were?” This and a million other questions plagued me until I returned to the van and, of course, it was gone. As I recounted the story to friends and they laughed- hard- they said that I needed to tell Mrs. Mohler and that she would understand. I spilled myself to Mrs. Mohler in quite the panicky state and when I finished sharing the details with her she…laughed. Why was everyone laughing? I had good notes in there! I thought I had been so irresponsible and all anyone could do was laugh? When she finished laughing, she said: “Mandy…you can’t make up a story like that. I have to believe you.” And she ever-so-graciously replaced my notebook for me.
Well…the “seminary bubble” has popped (quite prematurely I might add- my husband was only two years into his program) and the Lord has led us to a strange and asthmatic place (for me at least- we are nearly 7000 feet above sea level) known as New Mexico. My husband is the youth and children’s minister here and it has been a bit of a challenge. Being away from all that I knew and loved for the first 25 years of my life has been quite the adjustment. God is faithful, however, and His sovereignty has manifested itself in so many different ways since we packed up and headed west. God has used this new journey in my life to bring me into a time of testing that I am slowly seeing as the ultimate refining process that must take place to bring me to a higher level in my walk with Him. And it is during these “darker” days that I have remembered SWI. I remember the lectures I listened to many times that addressed the joys and challenges of being a minister’s wife. At the time, I remember tuning myself out to an extent thinking “my husband doesn’t even want to be a minister. How in the world does this apply to me?” I find it funny now that I retained much more of those lectures than I thought I did at the time. God had other plans for us and what He plans is always so much better than what we plan for ourselves.
SWI has been so practical in our ministry here! Some of those ways include:
1. How to handle conflict- boy was Mrs. Hatfield ever right!
2. How to juggle my children’s schedule around a very busy and demanding church schedule- Mrs. York nailed this one on the head one evening in Essentials.
3. How to remain content in struggles and, better yet, in one’s “dark night of the soul”- Mrs. Beougher’s insight was crucial for me during this time.
4. Mentoring, mentoring, mentoring!!! I told my husband when we first arrived in our new church home: “These women need to be mentored! And I am too young to mentor. I need to be mentored!” to which he replied: “Maybe your seminary wives classes have brought you to a point where it is your turn to mentor.” I feel so unequipped at times, but there is such a need for truth in our new church home and, while it is hard not to get discouraged, I am making every effort to turn that discouragement into a desire to reach the women of my church with the truth of who God is and who they are in Christ and how that should affect their marriages, families, choices, etc…
5. Did I say time management?! I have a schedule on my kitchen these days that breaks down mine and my three sons’ days down to the minute. It is essential, it is crucial, it is the only way there would be even an ounce of productivity to my days. The wisdom and practicality that a woman finds in Redeeming The Time and the freedom that results from that easily makes it the most crucial SWI class that I ever took.
These are just some, among hundreds, of the lessons that I walked away from SWI with. I am thankful to Mrs. Mohler and EVERY staff wife for their efforts and truly God-given gifts that they pour into this program. I thank Mrs. Mohler as well for her vision and the sincerity that she shows to each and every student wife. Mrs. Mohler- I am convinced that, although you may never see each and every fruit of your labor, hard work, and love displayed this side of Glory, you have stored up countless crowns that you will one day lay at Christ’s feet. You are truly a picture of service and Christ radiates from you!
On a lighter note, I am not a late night talk show host, but I have compiled a Top Ten List of how you know “You Might Be A Seminary Wife…”
You Might Be A Seminary Wife If…
1. Your husband’s children’s sermon on the topic of obedience includes all the children rising to their feet and shouting: “ALL THE WAY, RIGHT AWAY, WITH A HAPPY HEART!” (You’re smiling Mrs. Logan!)
2. On that same note, you get very frustrated with your husband if he uses the word “behave” when correcting your children or counts to three to get their attention=)
3. Even more on that same note, you have found yourself standing at the cash register in WalMart for 20 minutes refusing to leave until your child says “I’m sorry” for growling at the cashier when she said “Hello.”
4. To this day, your greatest prayer time comes while folding your laundry! (Thanks Mrs. Cheong!)
5. You find yourself not allowing your own children to clean up after themselves because they aren’t organizing the toy bin quite the same way that Mrs. Walker said would save the most space.
6. You start 5 out of every 10 sentences to your husband, mom, doctor, drive-thru window greeter, etc. with “but Mrs. Mohler said…”
7. You categorize every scantilly-clad woman that you see into a category, like “Clueless Claire” or “Seeking-approval Sally.”
8. You find yourself writing thank you notes for EVERYTHING. I once found myself starting to write a thank you note to someone who let me bring dinner to them! I wanted to thank them for allowing me to serve! (I’m nuts, I know!)
9. You will never hear the phrase “pardon me” again without thinking of Christopher Mohler and his fantastic, even when asleep, manners.
10. And finally, you cry when you think about how you have most likely attended your last Spring Celebration!
I pray that the Lord will continue to greatly bless and increase this ministry that is so crucial to the minister’s wife. I am so thankful for my time in SWI and I pray that my memories of the program will remain as fresh in the years to come as they are this very day!
Have you heard of him? If you have, then you are laughing as you read this. Am I right?
If not, then you are missing out on a great Christian comedian.
I was first introduced to him at a bar b q back in Corbin. David and I were laughing so hard we were crying. There is not an ounce of vulgarity to his comedy and it is obvious that he loves the Lord.
I should warn you that there is quite a bit of sarcasm in his act so if you are not a fan of sarcasm then you may not enjoy him. We enjoy him because the bulk of his sarcasm is related to the Politically Correct movement.
You can find his cds on iTunes and his cds and dvds at most Christian bookstores. Enjoy!
against fleshly desires. Namely, spiritual success.
Mr. Chambers once again brought me to a critical time of self examination in My Utmost For His Highest yesterday morning. He had this to say:
“Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor is it sin. The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live.”
He goes on…
“Jesus told us not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice…Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others’ lives until they are totally yielded to God.”
And then, if what he already said was not probing enough:
“Unless the worker lives a life that is totally “hidden with Christ in God”, he is apt to become an irritating dictator to others, instead of an active living disciple. Many of us are dictators, dictating our desires to individuals and to groups. But Jesus never dictates to us in that way.”
In a sense, this passage is a strong exhortation (as well as challenge) to battle against my desire to succeed spiritually. I never thought of it that way, but this is exactly what I have been doing. My recent battle against discouragement concerning the Bible study I am leading this summer was just that: a desire for spiritual success. And while my motives were right in that I want to see the women in my church grow in Godliness and rebuke satan and the lies he tells us, my motives were also impure in their desire to be “seen” and to be in a “high” position.
My goal is this: to remember that God is working through me and through Him people are changed. It is none of my doing. And my greatest prayer is that I will do what I do in order to bring Him glory, not me.
A Godly friend recently came to me in sisterly love and brought an important issue to my intention: my blog may not be as private as I had originally thought it was. My technologically- challenged mind was not as aware as I should have been. In the event of this information being brought to my attention, I was also reminded that I need to be more careful about the things I mention regarding mine and my family’s ministry.
While my close friends know my heart and my intention to bring glory to the Kingdom, whether it be through my words, my actions, and my contributions to my husband’s ministry (among others), others may take what I write in other ways.
Let it be said: My heart’s desire was to never speak ill of our congregation. Neither was it to harm or defame my husband’s current ministry position and future ones as well. My family has two blogs. Our first is public and mainly a means to stay in touch with family and friends. Our (Well…my) second is wordpress, which I thought to be very private. WordPress has always been an outlet for me. If you have never been in a ministry position before, it is hard for one to understand the loneliness that can come with it. The feeling of isolation can be gripping at some times. WordPress has just always been a way to share my fears, concerns, hurts, and humor with others. As time has passed and I have linked up to other sites, I have made it less private and that is my fault.
For the record, I pray that I will be more discerning in the future and more respectful of this modern age and the capabilities for anyone (and I mean anyone) to have access to my writings.
To end on a bright note: me and my boys (minus one) bullriding away in Colorado Springs=)
Veggies:
Fruits:
It’s a big day for me! I crocheted today for the first time. I am the newest menber of FBC’s prayer shawl minstry. What an awesome ministry it is! I first came to know of such a ministry when the ladies presented me with a prayer shawl the week I had my gallbladder removed. How it works is that you choose a lady/family in the church that has a need and crochet a shawl according to the need she has. Mine was green and green typically stands for healing, hope, protection, and peace. Other colors have other meanings. I love my shawl. It is important for me to remember that the shawl has no power itself LOL, but I instead choose to remember the prayers that were poured into it while it was being made!
What a great ministry it would be for your church as well!
I guess that’s not the point of Easter anyway, but it is always nice to wear sandals and a spring-y dress. I am going to be wearing black on Easter. How nice!
Tomorrow is our “He Is Risen/Resurrection/Jesus is Alive” party! I have bought the cupcakes, balloons, and streamers. Noah is really looking forward to it. I am excited as well. At least we’ll have the snow to go with the white theme LOL.
Anyhow, anyone interested in how I found Sammy this morning? (Look no further if you get grossed out easily)
Yeah, pretty gross, I know. He has been having lots of nosebleeds lately. I don’t know what the deal is. Maybe the altitude here?
On another note, something to brighten your day:
Ahhh!!!!! How gorgeous is he? And people wonder why I want 10 of them LOL
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.
O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.
In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.
To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.
What a day for the believer! This day, characterized by so much sorrow and darkness, was never a question mark. God Himself knew what had to take place on this day for the redemption of the sin of mankind. And oh I am so glad He did it! 2 Corinthians 5:21 says: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” What hope the believer has in that very verse. My prayer for this day is for all unbelievers. I ache for them to know the peace and hope that this time of the year brings.
We put so much emphasis on Christmas and what a blessed day it is. But without Christ’s death and, more importantly, His resurrection, there is no hope for any of us. Let us celebrate while we also reflect on the day our Savior paid our price.
Managing editor Jamie Cain for www.intouch.org also writes:
Tried and convicted of blasphemy by the Jewish council, then of treason by a cowardly Roman judge, Jesus now staggered toward the cruelest form of execution ever devised.
Bleeding from the scourging He received from the Romans soldiers, a crown of thorns pressed onto His head and a robe tossed around His shoulders, He carried His cross through the streets of Jerusalem.
He suffered too from the emotional pain of absolute isolation. In the early morning hours of Friday, Judas, one of Jesus’ trusted companions, betrayed Him to His enemies. The rest of the disciples had abandoned Jesus too, fleeing into the olive trees to avoid capture. And Peter, huddled with strangers in the high priest’s courtyard, denied he ever knew Jesus.
As a result, Jesus stood alone before judge after judge, bearing their condemnation, slurs, and abuse in silence. We know, however, that God’s plan to redeem mankind required a perfect sacrifice. Jesus’ eyes were on the death He had to die and its glorious result.
Death is a reality we all must face, and yet we do our best to ignore it. We naturally prefer to focus on living, not dying. But God wants us to understand some important spiritual truths about death.
Scripture says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”(Romans 5:12).“One man” refers to Adam who, along with Eve, broke the only command God gave them: “But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17 NIV). They were driven away because of their disobedience. As a result, their intimacy with God was broken, and they faced physical death in their future.
Because of sin, our mortal bodies will die, too. (Romans 6:23) There is no escape unless Jesus returns while we’re still alive. Spiritual death, which is the separation of a person from God, resulted from the first sin. As Adam’s descendants, we are born into that state—“dead in [our] trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). We remain spiritually dead unless we unite with God through faith in Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:22)
By receiving Jesus Christ as Savior, we’re reconciled to our heavenly Father, and we are guaranteed eternal life with Him. (John 3:15) Followers of Christ do not need to fear death. While our bodies will die, we’re promised everlasting life in heaven. The cross has transformed death. Once an ending of life, it’s now a doorway opening into Jesus’ presence.
I am going to become a NANC counselor! Maybe not at this moment, but when David called to order the stuff to get his certification going this morning, they talked to him about the special for couple certification. We think it may be more than I can handle right now so David is just going to order for him right now and I am going to look at his paperwork when it gets here and see what the demand would be. It seems pretty intense. If later on I decide to do it they will still honor the couple certification process.
I am really excited. David speaks to other ministers on the importance of being NANC certified. He is passionate that it is something EVERY minister should be certified for. And it is a wonderful ministry for the minister’s wife as well!
I love watching David grow in his faith every day! This move and ministry opportunity has been such a blessing to us. A painful blessing, but blessing none-the-less.
