Biblical Womanhood

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5:31 p.m.

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Help Us Write a Book

The latest news here is that Mom began work on a new book last week!

Her topic is “true beauty” from a biblical perspective. She wants to help women see through our culture’s false standard of beauty and false promises about beauty, so they might be free to pursue a beauty that is attainable, enduring, and precious in God’s sight.
 
I get to help her with this project, and we want to ask for your help too.
 
For us, book writing involves a whole lot of talking. We bat around ideas, consider all the angles, and even have a friendly debate or two.
 
And we want you to join our book conversation! We’ll post questions, and we’d be so grateful if you’d write in with your thoughts. (Please note: we may use your first name, so let us know if you want to be anonymous.)
 
So, are you ready to help us write this book?
 
Here’s our first question:
 
What questions or struggles do you have that you would like to see addressed in a book on beauty?
 
Please contact us or leave a message on our facebook page and tell us what you’re thinking.
 
And can we also ask you to pray? Our hearts desire is that God be glorified in the process and content of this book. You’ve prayed us through one book already and we’d be most grateful for those prayers again. Thank you friends!

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2:10 p.m. Afternoon Nap

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11:57 a.m.

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1:55 p.m.

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10:20 a.m.

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Praying Work

Nicole’s post from last week reminded me of what my long-time friend Nancy Loftness calls “praying work.”
 
Nancy’s a woman who loves God’s Word, loves to pray, and deeply cares for people. When she found that she didn’t have time to pray for everyone she wanted to pray for during her morning quiet time, she came up with a plan.
 
She thought about her regular chores that didn’t require any thinking or talking—such as ironing, cleaning the bathroom, or driving by herself—and she turned those into times for prayer on behalf of friends, family, members of her church and the unsaved. Praying work.
 
Just imagine how many requests Nancy has brought before the throne of grace while in her car or working around her house!
 
Consider your week: what tasks can you turn into “praying work”?
 
“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers...” Ephesians 5:16
 
“No man can do me a truer kindness in this world than to pray for me.” Charles Spurgeon

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12:23 p.m.

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9:45 a.m.

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12:46 p.m.

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9:02 A.M. Telling Mom-Mom A Story

Evangelism Jitters

What if I say the wrong thing?

What if I can’t answer her questions?

What if I totally botch the conversation?

These were just a few of the fearful questions swirling around in my brain last week as I anticipated 1:00 PM on Thursday. This was the time I had arranged to meet with an unbeliever who wanted to ask me questions about God.

Come Thursday morning I “happened” to check a blog I occasionally read and here was the post for that day:

Election Fuels Evangelism

And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision,  “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. (AC 18.9-11)

Election and evangelism work together.  God had chosen many in Corinth – he called them “my people” – though they were not yet saved.  Because they were elect, God told Paul not to fear but keep proclaiming the gospel.  Far from producing apathy, God’s sovereignty fueled Paul’s evangelism.

God has people all around us that he sees as saved.  Let’s go on speaking and not be silent.

My apprehension immediately lifted.

This woman’s salvation was not dependent on me. God is the one who saves.

I simply needed to speak.

So speak I did. I certainly wasn’t eloquent. In fact, I don’t think I did a very good job.

Yet my deficiencies didn’t seem to diminish this woman’s interest. Even though she didn’t put her trust in Jesus Christ, she’s responding. She’s seeking.

Sitting in Starbucks that Thursday afternoon, my heart thrilled to think that perhaps she is one of God’s elect. And however feeble my effort, I know God was with me—he gave me grace to speak and not be silent.

The 52home Project

Today we’re excited to launch The 52home Project here at girltalk.

Every weekday for the next 52 weeks, Janelle will post a picture of ordinary life—our ordinary lives—as seen through the lense of her camera.

Ordinary is where we all live most of the time. And yet our mundane, repetitive days are full of enduring work. Homes are being built. Families are being knit together. Little souls are being shaped for eternity.

The tedious is, in fact, momentous—when done for the sake of Christ: “…so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” (Titus 2:10).

This truth can get lost in piles of laundry and dirty dishes. We need help to see the glory peaking out from behind the ordinary.

Our hope is that you’ll see your own ordinary, yet glorious life in these pictures. That you’ll glimpse the faithfulness of God that undergirds his faithful ones. That you’ll see reflections of the eternal in the everyday.
 
“So teach us to number our days that we will get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12

11:55 a.m.

Why Not “Why?”

When we suffer, our first question is often “Why?”
 
Why me? Why this? Why now?
 
These are the questions Karen Sunday wanted to ask when she was recently diagnosed with cancer. But her husband, pastor David Sunday, encouraged her to ask some different questions:
 
Who are you, Lord?
 
What do you want to teach us about Yourself?
 
and,
 
How do you want to use us for Your glory?
 
Read about this pastor’s loving counsel to his wife in the midst of severe suffering. And please pray for this godly couple.
 
May God give us all grace to ask these God-glorifying questions.
 
The Right and Wrong Questions to Ask When You Get Cancer
 
On Suffering and Asking Who, What, and Where—Not Necessarily Why

When the Going Gets Tough

“How do you keep going with these disciplines when it is tough?” Dawn asked us last week:

“I really wanted to try it out but circumstances have only served to discourage me. The alarm waking my 3 year old so I spend the whole 'quiet time' is spent trying to settle him and stop him disturbing the others, then both we both have a harder day because of the extra tiredness. How do you keep on? I am convinced it is a good thing but feel like I am letting my whole family down because I am tired and so discouraged. Sorry just wonder if I am the only one who can't work it out.”

You certainly aren’t the only one! All four of us know exactly how you feel! With small children, it is hard to do anything consistently. The only thing predictable about our days is that they are unpredictable! But here are a few ideas (all from Mom) that we’ve found helpful:

1. Change What You Can – Small, practical changes can make a big difference. Consider potential solutions like buying a quieter alarm clock or placing it where the kids are less likely to hear it. I’ve even set my phone alarm to ring and vibrate and then slept with it under my pillow! My husband and I have run “tests” to see what noises in the house (walking on hardwood, flushing toilet, opening closet) sound loudest in our kid’s rooms. And training our children to read books on their beds until a set time each morning has made a huge difference. However, some problems aren’t so easy to solve, that’s why it’s good to…
 
2. Have a “Plan B“ – If your ideal plan doesn’t work out, have a back-up plan in place. Plan “A” might be to meet with God before the children wake up; but if you’re up half the night with a sick baby, you need sleep in the morning! Plan “B” may be to read God’s Word and pray during your children’s naptime.

3. “Do What You Can”- If both “Plan A” and “Plan B” fail (which may happen often with small children!) then do what you can. Read this great story from Donald Whitney about how one mother’s hunger for God’s Word led to some creative solutions. Liberating and inspiring!
 
4. Try Again Tomorrow – Even if you only rise early two times each week you are doing more than if you never tried at all—that should encourage you!
 
5. Preach the Gospel to Yourself – This will lead to joy. God is not more pleased with us on the days we rise early or less pleased with us on days when we sleep late. We are accepted and approved because of Jesus Christ.
 
Finally, as Mom is fond of reminding us: this is a season. It will pass all too quickly and the three year old who wakes up early will be a thirteen year old who you can’t get out of bed in the morning. Until then, remember that God’s grace is more than sufficient (2 Cor. 12:19). He daily bears us up, and promises that "as your days, so shall your strength be" (Ps. 68:19, Deut. 33:25).