One aspect of bookwriting we girltalkers really dislike is the obligatory photoshoot. And today was that day. The publisher couldn’t wait any longer. So we met at my house and Mike (our designated photographer) was very patient as we tried to get that “one shot.” We thought you would enjoy looking at some of the “non-options” before we show you the winner. Hee-hee…
Hope you enjoy this collection of pictures which came to us under the heading “If women controlled the world…”
See you all!
Nicole
for Carolyn, Kristin and Janelle
When Elizabeth Prentiss was unable to visit her dear friend Carrie, who like her, lost two children, she extended the following words of comfort:
“I long to fly to you and weep with you; it seems as if I must say or do something to comfort you. But God only can help you now and how thankful I am for the throne of grace and power where I can commend you, again and again, to Him who doeth all things well. ...Dear Carrie, I trust that in this hour of sorrow you have with you that Presence, before which alone sorrow and sighing flee away. God is left; Christ is left; sickness, accident, death cannot touch you here. Is that not a blissful thought? May sorrow bring us both nearer to Christ!”
Today’s link takes us to Covenant Life Church where my dad also extends words of comfort from Scripture to those who are suffering. In this message entitled “Transformed in Trials” he considers how we can emulate the prophet Habakkuk’s example when circumstances—such as Elizabeth and Carrie’s—seem to contradict the character and promises of God.
Thanks to the good folks at the Sovereign Grace Store, this message is available as a free download through the month of March.
May these words strengthen and encourage those of you who are presently “walking through the valley.”
BOOK CLUB ASSIGNMENT: Please read chapter seven this week.
We’re not traveling far to get to today’s link. At the same women’s meeting that Mom referenced yesterday, Carolyn McCulley spoke to our single ladies about “The Walk of Faith.”
But it doesn’t matter if you’re single or married: we all need to hear this message! Carolyn draws lessons of faith from the lives of four women of the Bible: Sarah, Rahab, Rebekah and Abigail. She also introduces a dear mutual friend who is currently walking in faith as she battles cancer.
You can hear the testimony and the message and download Carolyn’s outline here.
Oh, and to encourage practical expressions of faith, the single women received a bookmark too. Here are “10 Ways to Do Good to Others” (Galatians 6:10).
Today’s itinerary takes us to Sovereign Grace Church in Fairfax, Virginia—Steve and Nicole’s church.
On a recent Saturday their women’s ministry hosted a morning for all the women of the church and Nicole was one of the speakers. Janelle and I made the 45-minute trek over to hear her message and to cheer her on. (Kristin wanted to go too, but was unable due to her schedule that day.) Nicole’s topic that morning was, “She Does Him Good,” derived from Proverbs 31:12. And of course I’m biased, but I think every wife who listens to this message will be freshly encouraged and challenged in her marriage.
You can download the message and the outline here.
Also, to complement the teaching topic that morning, the women received bookmarks with “10 Ways To Do Your Husband Good.” Here are their creative suggestions:
10 Ways to Do Your Husband Good (Proverbs 31:12)
Welcome to our second stop on our trip around the web this week!
Several weeks ago I told you about the “Modesty Survey” that Brett and Alex Harris were conducting at The Rebelution. Well, they just contacted us to let us know that the results are in. Amazing results at that! To quote Brett and Alex, “The release of ‘The Modesty Survey’ has resulted in our website receiving over 1.2 million page views in the past five days from over 60,000 unique visitors.” They also informed us that my dad’s message, “The Soul of Modesty,” has been downloaded off their site by over 2,000 families. Do I really need to say anything else? You don’t want to miss this stop!
This is an important topic for all of us to consider, especially with spring shopping right around the corner. Moms, this would be a great tool for you to use in discussing the importance of modesty with your daughters. Let’s take advantage of this opportunity to grow in our pursuit of honoring the Lord in what we wear. Click here to check it out.
Brett and Alex, thank you for all of the time and effort that you have put into this survey. You have served us all big time!
While we’ve been busy talking about family meals, we’ve also been eyeing several destinations around the World Wide Web we think you should visit. So, we’re going to play travel agents this week and suggest what we hope will be an edifying itinerary.
Today, as an addendum to our series on mealtime, we want to encourage you to check out some fantastic links on hospitality. This often under-appreciated biblical imperative is a means of extending the grace of family mealtime to fellow-church members, newcomers, and unbelievers.
First, head over to 9Marks Ministries and “go beyond lemonade and cookies” in a thought provoking article on a biblical theology of hospitality by Jonathan Leeman. You can also read testimonies from three Christian leaders (Ken Sande, Donald Whitney and Ryan Townsend) on the effect of Christian hospitality and read a book review of The Hospitality Commands
Then, click on our friend Carolyn McCulley’s website and you can read a number of stellar articles on hospitality. Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that Carolyn is well qualified to write on this subject. Here are several options on her “menu:”
Practical Questions about Hospitality
When Outreach Doesn’t Come Easily
A Single Woman’s Home: A Mission Field
Check back tomorrow as our little trip around the Internet heads a new direction.
After the unimaginably difficult death of her two little children, Elizabeth was distraught—“Empty hands, empty hands, a worn-out exhausted body, and unutterable longings to flee from a world that has had for me so many sharp experiences. God help me, my baby, my baby!”
What held her back at the edge of utter despair? Sharon James records that “She could only repeat over and over to herself something that one of her friends had said when calling on that last dreadful day. ‘God never makes a mistake.’ Somehow she clung on to that truth.”
Have you experienced tragedy in your life? The same God to whom Elizabeth clung remains faithful to this day. He has never made a mistake. And He never will.
Debbie Demi knows this to be true. Like Elizabeth, she lost a little one this past year, shortly after she was born. In the following paragraphs, Debbie allows us to listen in as she contemplates God’s character in the midst of overwhelming sorrow.
Thoughts from Mom,
My dear sweet Destiny died 2 days ago. It’s amazing how much you could love someone who did so little so much. I marveled in anything that she could do. We were excited every time she went “poopoo” on her own or turned her eyes to look at something. Her body was perfect. I marveled at her little toes and fingers and beautiful hair. She was mine, especially designed by God for me for a time such as this, and I loved her.
Destiny was a lot of work. She required medicine to make each part of her work – a medicine to sleep, a medicine not to seize, a medicine to move her bowels, a medicine to help keep food in her stomach… I cried many nights since she was born – saddened by what her future held and fearful of when her last day would come. The doctors and hospital visits were getting exhausting. I felt like I was in the 3rd watch (as it says in the Bible). I was weary – yet at the same time, I was confident that the Lord would not give me more than I could handle.
I would have never chosen this trial or any trial for that matter. The pain of losing a child is at times unbearable. Yet, by God’s grace, I was able to press into God and try to see what purpose He had in bringing Destiny into my life – because I have no doubt that God doesn’t allow anything without a specific purpose. He had everything calculated down to the minutest detail including the perfect number of her days to accomplish the purpose that He had in mind for us. He knew the exact amount of pain and emotional energy that I could handle to keep me pressing into Him – that it wouldn’t be too much that I would grow weary or bitter. I always knew and still continue to rest on the fact that He is good all of the time and not only is He good – but all things that He allows into our lives are for our good. We can’t always see how a circumstance like this could be good – yet our confidence is not in how we feel or how we see things – but in who God is.
We often think that all pain is bad and that it’s our goal to avoid it at all costs. It all hurts right now in an emotional way as a surgery to remove a large cancerous tumor would hurt physically. If we didn’t know what we were being saved from, the surgery would feel like trouble upon trouble… the incision, the bills, the recovery process… Yet, what a benefit the surgery would be: it would keep one from death; it would remove future pain; it would allow one to live life to the fullest. What’s going on in our lives at this time could be God’s way of doing surgery on our souls – we just can’t see what the pain is sparing us from or preparing us to do or how it will be used for the future. It’s all a matter of faith in a God who is faithful. A God who doesn’t allow pain for the sake of pain – but has a plan even for the pain that seems unnecessary. We just can’t see the work that He is inevitably doing beneath the surface. He’s allowing circumstances that if we could see the outcome of His plan – we would say, “Cut deeper.” May we not miss what He intends!
Destiny’s name means, “for which you were meant to do.” She accomplished what her loving Creator meant her to do on earth. Now we have the hope that she will spend eternity with Him in glory where we will be with her one day.
(Due to the significant nature of this topic, this will be the final post for the weekend. Please read chapter six prior to next week’s book club installment. May God’s comfort and love be with you all!)
My “two men” love to eat crab legs! Though it is not everyday fare at our house, it was Valentine’s Day, so I splurged. Adding coleslaw and garlic bread to the main course and then serving up ice cream for dessert (a must-have after crab legs!) made it an easy cooking night for me.
And yes the beautiful roses on the table are a Valentine’s gift to me from my dear husband. Would you believe that another dozen are up on my bedroom table? I don’t deserve this man’s extravagant love, for almost thirty-two years now. Yet my Valentine’s card to him best captures my heart: “After all this time together, I’m still smitten!”
But we’re talking about mealtime, aren’t we?
While last night’s menu was not standard cuisine, the goal and purpose of our dinner hour remains the same each evening. CJ always seeks to ask questions that provoke God-glorifying conversation and model biblical fellowship for our son.
Recently my husband has asked two questions that have generated meaningful interaction: What was the happiest moment of your day? What was the most discouraging moment of your day?
The other night, I was able to share with Chad that the most discouraging moment of my day was when I responded in sinful anger to his father. And the happiest moment was when CJ graciously forgave me. By dinnertime, CJ and I were laughing about this little conflict. Hopefully it was an illustration to Chad of the effect of the gospel on our marriage! And it was thoughtful dinnertime questions that made this conversation—and many others, possible.
But Mahaney dinners aren’t all serious. We love to make memories and have fun. Recently we have been reading from Calvin and Hobbes and Letters from a Nut—both of which have provoked much laughter.
Even though there are only three of us now, dinnertime still retains the essential qualities of fellowship and fun we enjoyed when the girls lived at home. And I hope by the grace of God that will never change.
Dinner at the Bradshaws does not always involve hats and sweatshirts, but it was a snow day and we Marylanders dress the part. The menu consisted of stromboli, steamed broccoli with butter and fresh lemon juice (yes, I do like some vegetables) and homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert (these also make for a good breakfast option if you are on the run). Caly enjoyed some delicious grapes, cheese, and goldfish crackers.
Mike and I use dinner time to catch up on our days. He loves to say, “Tell me every little detail, I want to feel like I was there.” I usually don’t have much trouble providing him with plenty of info. Dinner is also an opportunity for Mike to enjoy Caly. She has a rather early bedtime and Mike likes to take advantage of dinner to interact with her.
After we finished eating, Mike took Caly to have some “tub-time” (she could live in the bath) and I tackled the dishes. The end! Dinner is still a simple affair in our house. We look forward to more craziness as our family grows.
