2009 at 9:57 am | by Carolyn Mahaney
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood
I was in bed with a stomach virus one morning and wanted to distract myself from how miserable I felt, so I turned on the Today Show.
Co-Host Ann Curry was interviewing two moms who recently wrote a book entitled Getting to 50/50. The point of the book is this: A woman can have a great career, a great marriage, and be a great mother—all by getting her husband to share equally in the responsibilities in the home. Thus the title, Getting to 50/50.
These two authors were very pleasant and gracious. They were not the militant, angry type who can easily offend many. And they weren’t men bashers; in fact, they seemed to want to pursue a loving relationship with their husbands.
And yet, the premise of their book is in direct contradiction to Scripture, which assigns men and women equally important, yet different roles (Gen. 1:26-27, 2:18, 21-24; 1 Cor. 11:7-9, 1 Tim. 2:12-14).
These women believe that there is no difference or distinction in the roles men and women are assigned. They want men to take on fifty percent of the woman’s role and women to assume fifty percent of a man’s role. Their assertions fly in the face of God’s creation design and mandate—and they do it all with a smile.
After watching the interview, I turned the TV off. Instead of distracting myself from how sick I felt, now I felt sick and depressed!
Millions of people watch this show. And no doubt, many of the women watching were convinced of the rightness, the wisdom, and the attractiveness of these two woman’s assertions.
“The days are evil” it says in Ephesians 5:16. And this form of evil is attractive and persuasive.
We are living in days where biblical womanhood is being assaulted and undermined by feminism. Over the past fifty years, the ideology of the feminist movement has so permeated our culture and even the church, that today many of its tenets are simply assumed and accepted.
That’s why we blog about biblical womanhood.
We want to help women discern the evil of feminist ideology gift-wrapped in pleasant and appealing words. We want to encourage women to receive God’s grace and strength to fulfill one hundred percent of the role to which He has called them.
2009 at 11:19 am | by Carolyn Mahaney
Filed under
Homemaking Recipes
My sister Helen lives in Florida so I don’t get to see her that often. But last week, she and her husband came through town and we got to spend several, delightful days together.
Breakfast was at my house, and together with my mom and other sister Janice, the women of my family had great fun talking, laughing and reminiscing around my kitchen table. Helen’s husband, Steve, was a great sport to endure hours of family stories—you know, the ones that are only interesting if you were there?
So that I could spend as much time as possible with my sister, I chose breakfast menus that allowed me to make most of the meal the night before. This meant little preparation and minimal cleanup in the morning.
I thought you might enjoy these recipes from Helen’s visit. They are perfect for company, but also for a delightful, relaxing vacation breakfast with your family.
TUESDAY BREAKFAST MENU:
Caramel Apple French Toast
Bacon
Coffee and Juice
Caramel Apple French Toast:
(Meredith Huspeni)
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup butter, cubed
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 – 3 large tart apples, peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 slices day-old French bread (3/4 inch thick)
In a small saucepan, cook brown sugar, butter and syrup until thick, about 5-7 minutes. Pour into an ungreased 13”x9” baking pan; arrange apples on top. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, milk and vanilla. Dip bread slices into the egg mixture for 1 minute; place over apples. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake uncovered at 350* for 35-40 minutes.
WEDNESDAY BREAKFAST MENU
Breakfast/Brunch Bake
Cheesy Hash Brown Potatoes
Fresh Fruit platter
Poppy Seed Tea Bread
Coffee and Juice
Breakfast/Brunch Bake
(Betsy Ricucci)
1 lb. sausage
6 eggs
2 cups milk
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
6 slices favorite bread, cubed
10 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
½ teaspoon salt
Saute sausage; drain well. Beat together eggs, milk, salt and mustard. Layer bread cubes on the bottom of a 9”x13” baking dish. Next, layer the sausage and then the cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the top. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350* for 45 minutes.
Note: instead of sausage, you can substitute with 1 pound of cooked bacon pieces or ½ pound of cooked ham, cubed.
Cheesy Hash Brown Potatoes:
(Karen Carr)
2 (20-oz.) packages Simply Potatoes shredded hash browns (refrigerated, not frozen)
½ cup chopped onion
1 cup (8 oz.) shredded cheese
1 ½ cups sour cream
½ cup milk
¼ cup butter, melted
Salt and pepper to taste
Grease a 9”x13” baking pan. In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, place in baking pan and bake in preheated 350* oven, uncovered, for 45 minutes.
Poppy Seed Tea Bread
(Nancy Royer)
3 cups flour
2 ½ cups sugar
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons poppy seed
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ teaspoon butter flavoring
1 ½ teaspoon almond extract
Preheat oven to 350*. Mix all the ingredients in the order given with an electric mixer. Pour batter in 3 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake for 50 minutes at 350*. Remove onto racks and glaze while warm.
Glaze:
¼ cup orange juice
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon oil
Melt all ingredients in a saucepan. Prick loaves with a toothpick and pour the glaze over each.
2009 at 2:36 pm | by Nicole Whitacre
Filed under
Fun Stuff Friday Funnies
The Friday Funnies have always amused us. I don’t mean the jokes (although they have made us laugh too), but the fact that the Friday Funnies are a fixture on our site about biblical womanhood.
We never expected to become a clearing-house for every cute kid story and clean youtube video, email forward and blonde joke. I mean, don’t get me wrong, we’re happy to do it, but it wasn’t part of the original girltalk master plan. Oh, wait, that’s right, there wasn’t a master plan. Nevermind.
Anyways, as I was saying, the Friday Funnies just kind of happened. We ran a contest for cute kids stories, but long after the contest was over, the funnies kept rolling in. And they’re still coming. For four years now, we’ve signed off every Friday with one of your jokes.
Well, recently I discovered why the Friday Funnies belong on a site devoted to biblical womanhood, and are, in fact, a strategic and vital part of our efforts to encourage women. (Generally, I recommend you figure out why you are doing something before you do it every week for four years; but in this case, it turned out we were on the right track all along.)
So today, instead of a Friday Funny, we want to share the profound purpose for the Friday Funnies. It comes from scholar and historian Paul Johnson, in his book, Creators:
“One of the most important [forms of creativity] is to make people laugh. We live in a vale of tears, which begins with the crying of a babe and does not become any less doleful as we age. Humor, which lifts our spirits for a spell, is one of the most valuable of human solaces, and the gift of inciting it rare and inestimable. Whoever makes a new joke, which circulates, translates, globalizes itself, and lives on through generations, perhaps millennia, is a creative genius, and a benefactor of humankind almost without compare.”
To be fair, I’m not sure Dr. Johnson had bad women drivers or confusing grocery lists in mind when he wrote this, but he’s right about one thing: every Friday your funnies lift our spirits for a spell.
What’s more, as Dr. Johnson goes on to explain (and here’s the kicker!): “[W]omen, whose lives are harder, need jokes more than men and make them more often.”
Our lives are harder (and pity the poor man who tries to tell us otherwise!), so we need jokes more than men and make them more often—every Friday, in fact.
Happy Friday, everyone,
Nicole
for Carolyn, Kristin, and Janelle
2009 at 3:01 pm | by Carolyn Mahaney
Filed under
Series Girltalk Book Club
My husband receives a lot of books to review, and the ones for women he passes on to me. Recently this book, Womanly Dominion: More Than A Gentle and Quiet Spirit
by Mark Chanski, appeared on my desk.
The title intrigued me, but the subtitle deterred me.
“What? More than a meek and quiet spirit? Why would I want something more than what Jesus declares to be beautiful in His sight?” (1 Peter 3:4).
I wasn’t interested. I wasn’t going to read it.
But then I flipped to the back cover and saw endorsements from men and women I greatly respect—men and women whose teaching is solid, biblical, complementarian
Hmmm….I thought. Maybe I should check out this book after all.
Well, I’m so glad I did.
In Womanly Dominion, Mark Chanski fearlessly tackles practical and tricky questions related to a woman’s calling; yet, his biblical perspective, winsome style, and inspiring examples make this thought provoking read a pleasurable one as well.
That’s all I’m going to say for the moment—my goal today is simply to entice you to read this book for yourself.
To that end, let me give you just a sample of what you’ll find. In speaking of Abigail in the Bible, Mr. Chanski explains:
“There’s a time for a woman to resignedly sit back and wait for the Lord to change her husband’s mind. And there’s a time for a woman to assertively rise up and take matters into her own hands. Abigail knew how to tell time” (p. 77).
Now are you intrigued? Do you want to learn how to exercise womanly dominion and “tell time” like Abigail did? I hope so.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover” is wise advice, to which I would add: “Don’t judge a book by its subtitle either!”
2009 at 2:56 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw
Filed under
Fun Stuff Girltalkers
As the new site was taking shape, our kids were busy growing up (one of the few things kids seem to do without being told!). The photo album—along with everything else on the old site—was terribly out of date; and since you asked, I was happy to pull out my camera and give you a fresh look at the little faces that fill our world with delight.
This little face isn’t so little anymore. Two days from now, Andrew will graduate from the third grade. Hard to believe he was only five years old when we started this blog! This young man loves the Lord and respects his parents. We want all the other cousins to be like him when they grow up. Keep praying for them!
Energetic. Silly. Joyful. Loud. That’s Liam. One of the highlights of his year was watching football games with Pop-Pop on Sunday evenings. He’s hoping to sign with the Redskins as soon as he’s old enough, and uses the front yard as his training camp.
Did you know that chinchillas can see in the dark? Jack does. This little guy loves to read and learn and always has new facts to stump the family. Look for him at the National Spelling Bee in a few years. But he’s already won the “best big brother” award for the way he looks after his little sister, Tori.
At five, Owen is the youngest of the boys. He might appear quiet and sweet, but he can hold his own with his older brothers. He loves to play legos in the corner by the hour, and he makes Kristin proud by cleaning them all up perfectly when he’s done.
Caly is the drama queen whose days are full of dollhouses, dressups, and teaparties. She loves to do “hardworkings” with Daddy in the garden, make sandcastles in her “Timmy the Turtle” sandbox, and mother on her baby sister MJ.
This face says it all. Tori’s our “sweet girl,” always showing off the grins and handing out the hugs. But watch out—this future girltalker is tough! She’s even managed to bring Liam to tears and will fearlessly take on any cousin who has something that she wants (usually food!).
Last but not least there’s baby MJ or “Emmy” who at eight months is crawling everywhere these days. She’s as sweet as they come except when she’s screaming because I’m not getting her food fast enough. What can I say, she’s my girl?
2009 at 12:15 pm | by Carolyn Mahaney
Filed under
Biblical Womanhood
My girls and I want to thank you for all your encouragement about our new home. We’re so glad you like it!
We’ve thought a lot lately, as we’ve worked on this new site, about why we do this—why we blog about biblical womanhood. Today we received an email from a young woman in Belgium. She is a fresh reminder of why we try to do our measly bit. “I so much enjoy girltalk…” she writes:
“I try, in some ways, to pass on the joy of submitting to God’s Word and being a biblical woman around here. But until now, I am quite alone in this, except for my mom.
The few young people in church think that passages such as 1 Timothy 2 are woman-unfriendly, tied to the culture back then. At a recent conference I attended, the few sessions directed to women were all advocating for egalitarianism. I felt sad, of course
In a friendly way, I try to paint the picture of [biblical womanhood], but until now, no one has followed in that path. But I will try to be a faithful woman of God’s Word and hope others will want to become like that too when they see me living it out.
So once again thank you so much for taking the time to blog your wise counsel and adventures!”
We want this young woman to know that she is not at all “alone in this.” We want to encourage her to continue to be faithful to obey God’s Word and keep “living out” biblical womanhood. Most of all, we want to remind her—and all of you—of the hope, strength and encouragement to be found in Jesus Christ.
And you all do the same for us. Your encouragement spurs us on, your passion to obey God’s Word inspires us, and your example of biblical womanhood humbles us.
So thank you for taking a seat at our kitchen table and joining in the conversation. It’s such a blessing for us to have you here (and more fun too!). Most of all, thank you for doing your measly bit to “adorn the gospel of God our Savior.” We are grateful.
2009 at 1:00 am | by Nicole Whitacre
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Filed under
Biblical Womanhood
Hi! Welcome to our new home. We’re so excited to show you around the place.
As you can see, we’ve got new wallpaper, new pictures on the walls, and each room is full of girltalk resources that we hope will serve you.
On our home page, the picture of Caly enjoying “Sweet Summertime” is a doorway to fun and useful ideas for your summer.
Just below that, you’ll see the most recent post from our Current Series. What—you didn’t know we were in the middle of a series? Last week Mom began to answer the question: “Why do we blog about biblical womanhood?” We’ll pop in and out of this topic in the days ahead.
We love to read almost as much as we love to talk, and you’ll find our latest Recommended Reading on the front page as well. A review of Womanly Dominion is coming later this week.
Head on over to the Resources room and you’ll see a directory of Blog Posts. Now you can actually find that article you’re looking for!
You’ll also find a collection of Books and Audio messages. Our stuff is there and we’ve also created a library of biblical womanhood essentials.
And, we’re excited to now offer new girltalk Series PDF’s for personal use or group discussion.
Finally, we hope you’ll visit the Contact Us room often and send us your comments and questions. Oh, and if you want to follow the conversation on facebook or twitter you can do that now too. Your thoughts are a vital part of the girltalk discussion, so let us hear from you!
The main wing of the girltalk site is now complete but we’ve got a few additions coming in the days ahead, so please keep checking back.
Thanks for the new girltalk website actually goes to two talented guys: Phil Gallo and Ryan James. If you think anything is beautiful or well-organized, it’s thanks to them. Anything you don’t like so much, you can blame on us.
Our humble prayer for this new site is that in all our girl talk we “may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” (Tit. 2:10).
Our sincere hope is that you’ll feel like our new home is your home too.
So grab your drink of choice and have a seat at Mom’s kitchen table. Let’s talk!
