"Because He Bends Down To Listen..."

I'm a mom.  I have three precious, precocious little ones under the age of five.  What does that mean?  Well, my days are filled with screaming, crying, whining, and shouts of "MINE!" and "She's touching me!"  Don't get me wrong.  My days are also filled with giggles, songs, chants of "I love you, Mama", and lots of snuggles.  But the screams?  They happen daily. (I have a two year old.)

As my husband and I have grown in parenting knowledge and experience, we've figured out what those screams and cries mean.  We can usually tell the difference between the "I want that!" scream and the "I'm hurt!" scream.  Sometimes we ignore the former.  Why?  Well for two reasons: 1.) We want our kids to learn to work some of those things out for themselves, and 2.) If we got up for every scream we'd never sit down. (Have I mentioned that we have a two year old?)

One thing our kids know is this: if something's really wrong; if they are hurt or scared, Mama and Daddy will come running - right away, without hesitation - to find out what's wrong.  But its hard to get a two year old or a four year old to verbalize what's wrong when they're sobbing - or screaming - so what do we do?  Probably the same thing you do: we bend down and put an arm around them or one of us will sit down and place them in our lap.  Then we softly try to calm their cries and give them a safe place to voice their pain or fear.  Did you know that's just what God does too!?!

Psalm 116:2 (in the KJV) says,

"Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, 

therefore will I call upon him as long as I live."

But there's another translation of this verse that REALLY brings God's fatherly love into full light. The New Living Translation says,

"Because he bends down to listen,    

I will pray as long as I have breath!"

"Because He bends down to listen..."  Did you see that!?!  God isn't disinterested or half-hearted.  He loves you as a father loves their child - because you ARE His child!  So when you're in pain; when you're hurting or scared, He bends down.  He comes down close to you and listens.  He takes time to comfort you and gives you a safe place to voice your pain or fear.  He bends down to listen.  What an AWESOME Heavenly Father we have!  And oh how He loves us!!!

"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” - Ro. 8:15 (NLT)

How To Destroy Your Husband - Step 2

Last month I started a series called "How To Destroy Your Husband."  (You can check out step 1 of this series HERE.)  Step 1 was on criticizing your husband in public.  Step 2 is similar - humiliating your husband in public. 



The picture above is an attempt to start things off with a little humor, but humiliating our husbands publicly is serious business.  Many women would never "disrespect" their husband in public, but they are quick to tell a "hilarious" story - where their husband comes off looking stupid or inept.  Its so easy to do - especially if we are more concerned with getting a laugh (or "likes" on Facebook) than we are with our husband's feelings.  And its so much easier these days - with the invention of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.  Often, we post things instantly - without thinking. 

How To Destroy Your Husband - Step #1

WARNING: This blog post is written from a biblical perspective. If you do not agree with the biblical view of marriage, this post may be hard to handle. But read it anyway. You never know what you might learn. :)



Before I start this post, let me just say that I hope you understand that the title is sarcastic. - At least, its partly sarcastic. I don't want to teach anyone how to destroy their husband. I'd rather help you learn how to build them up! We're systematically destroying and defeating our husbands, and many of us don't even realize it. That's why I decided to write this series - in the hopes that it will help you with your marriage - and me with mine!

Let me also say that I am FAR from perfect in this area. Far. FAR. F.A.R. I mess up in this area ALL the time. In fact, I've fallen short several times while writing this series - and I'm only on Step One! I confess all of this so that you will hopefully realize that these posts come from the heart.  So let me give you some "Easy Ways To Destroy Your Husband" -

"Mama, I Wanna 'Hep Oo'..."

If you're the mom of a toddler, you've probably heard these words a million times - "Mama, I wanna 'hep oo'."  I hear it every day - when I'm doing laundry, dusting, vacuuming, or making beds.  When I'm cooking, getting the mail, or clearing the table.  When I'm loading the dishwasher, taking out the trash, or changing the baby. - "Mama, I wanna 'hep oo'." 



Fathers Are Great!

Its Father's Day today.  Have you hugged your Daddy?  Or called him to wish him a Happy Father's Day? Well, in the spirit of the holiday, I thought I'd say a little bit about the 3 best Dads in the world! -

 

"Dumb and Dumber Build a Cow"

My little one and I finished the book of Exodus this morning (on our "journey through the Bible")!  We were very excited!  With 40 chapters - reading approximately one chapter per day - it took us more than a month!  But what a blessing!  We both learned SOOOO many things!!! 

One passage that really stuck out to me was Exodus 32: 1-10.  You may remember it as the story of the golden calf.  If you aren't familiar, let me "nut-shell" it for you. - Moses was up on the mountain receiving the law from God Himself.  He'd been up there for more than a month and while he was gone, his brother Aaron was in charge of the people.  But the people began to worry - as they were prone to do - that Moses had been gone too long.  They began to wonder if something had happened to him.  And they began to doubt God.  So they came to Aaron and told him to make them "gods who will go before us."  (Here's your "Dumb.")

Now remember that the Israelites had been living in Egypt for quite some time, so the idea of "just one God" was a little new to them.  The Egyptians worshipped many gods.  So Aaron came up with a "brilliant" plan (note the sarcasm).  He would combine their worship of the One True God with the pagan images that they were used to. He told the people to bring him all their gold and he fashioned it into a golden calf and said, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."  Then he made an altar to the calf and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord." 

What an interesting couple of statements!  First he gives the credit for getting the Israelites out of Egypt to this idol that he fashioned.  Are you kidding me???!!!???  Aaron knew VERY WELL Who was responsible for their escape from Egypt!  And then, in an attempt to "marry" their knowledge of the true God with the pagan worship they were familiar with, he built an altar to the calf and proclaimed, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord."  (Lord in this verse is the Hebrew word Yahweh - the proper name for the One True God.)  I guess Aaron figured he was being smart by making a false idol but saying he was worshipping the Real God.  (Here's your "Dumber!")

"The Holy Spirit Is My Seat Belt"

As I mentioned before, this is not my first foray into blogging.  I started blogging a couple of years ago.  Anyway, while looking at some old posts from my original blog, I came across this post.  Since this post was about Proverbs31, I thought I'd share it again here:


Sunday, January 9, 2011-
"MAN! was God teaching me today! This morning didn't start off great.   In fact, I started this morning off with a fight with my husband.   Basically, I wasn't being very submissive.   Of course, my haughty heart didn't want to admit that at the time.   After the fight, I decided to have a seat and read my Bible.  (You know, while I was patiently waiting for God to show my husband how he was wrong.)

Welcome!!! :)

    

     Welcome Everyone!!!  This is not my first attempt at blogging.  Some friends and I have a cooking blog called The Proverbs31 Cook.  We started that blog because we wanted to be able to share our recipe ideas, menu plans, etc.  Of course, the name for that blog - as well as this one - Comes for Proverbs 31 and the description of the "Excellent Wife."  I think that every Christian woman aspires to be that kind of woman - in the way we care for our children, the way we love our husbands, the way we take care of our homes, the way we serve others, and most importantly, the way we follow Christ.

     I had begun to add other things to the blog - like product reviews of some of my favorite kids products and ideas for inexpensive crafts you can do with your kids.  I decided, however, to leave that blog as simply a recipe blog.  After all, it is called The Proverbs31 COOK!  ;)  So, I have moved my product reviews and craft ideas over here - The Proverbs31 Mama. 

     So what will this blog be?  Well, I hope it will become an instrument, a tool, to help you (as well as me) as you seek to become the kind of mother whose "children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also and he praiseth her." (Proverbs 31:28)  I hope you'll find ideas for teaching your children about Christ, ideas for loving and serving your children better, ideas for loving and serving your husbands better, and encouragement as you travel that Proverbs 31 road.

Do I have all the answers?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!  I didn't name this blog "The Proverbs31 Mama" because that's what I think I am.  I named it that because that's what I desire to be.  I hope you'll join me on this journey.  May God bless it!  :)


If you like my posts, PLEASE join my blog under the "Followers" section. It would mean SO MUCH!!! :)