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by Cheryl S. from Virtuous Daughters, December 2003~Volume 3, Number 9 Darling Virtuous Daughters,
Would you like to give a gift really special this Christmas? Well, I have a challenge for you. It is a gift that you will give someone, yet they will never open it. It is the gift of Jesus' love! by Tiffany S. from Virtuous Daughters, December 2017/January 2018~Volume 17, Number 5 Dear Sisters,
…I was recently thinking about this Christmas season. Ever since my siblings and I were young, our mom encouraged us to think of something we could give to the Lord at Christmastime. This might seem like a simple tradition, but it has been helpful for me to ponder...what can I commit to the Lord during the new year? by Gina L. from Virtuous Daughters, February/March 2019~Volume 18, Number 6 "Panning for Gold" Proverbs 31 Study Series Part 23 What will you be remembered for after you breathe your last breath? It is a sobering and difficult question. Will it be your stylish clothing or your quick wit? Will it be your wall of accomplishments or your trophies of praise? Will it be your pile of possessions or your pretty hair? Probably it will be none of those things, but rather something related to who you are on the inside. But how does this inner character manifest itself outwardly in a life? We can't see inside and know what the heart and mind of a person is. Most often we see the inner workings of the heart by the outer workings of the hands and mouth. Yes, it is often your good works that show your good heart—a heart made good by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Ruth, Tabitha, Priscilla, Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Lydia, Sara, and Phebe were all known for their good works. In fact good works can be used of God in a great way. Besides giving you true, enduring beauty, your good works also give God glory. What a high privilege and joy, and yet there is more too that God speaks regarding good works. Come, let us find the path the Virtuous Woman walked before us as God speaks to us the truth about the purpose and plan He has for our lives, for our works are writing our epitaph.
by Gina L. from Virtuous Daughters, April/May 2018~Volume 18, Number 1 "Panning for Gold" Proverbs 31 Study Series Part 18 ~Proverbs 31:27~ The other night we were having a discussion about something our pastor mentioned recently. It was quite shocking. He was talking about people being thirsty for the Lord and got into a topic about paying attention in church. It turns out he was once at a church where--and this is a true story, believe it or not--a lady got out her nail clippers during church and began to clip not her fingernails, but actually her toenails during the service! Can you imagine that? It got our family later into a discussion about how hard it must be to preach when people don't even look at you and are noticeably distracted. It plays out this way: the pastor is preaching about God's wonderful grace and he looks out and people are checking their phones and their watches, looking around the room, putting on lip balm, fumbling for a piece of gum or a mint in their purses, yawning, or even reading the commentary notes in their Bibles from a passage he isn't even preaching on. I think you can often tell a lot by watching where a person is looking, where they fix their eyes, and not just in a church setting, but in life in general. Now obviously, one can pretend to look somewhere with their eyes while their heart is looking somewhere altogether different, but God sees where we look with both our heart and our eyes and it is a telling picture.
Today there are many places that women can look. The world has a large assortment of dazzling ornaments ready to grab the eye. Some look on social media with an almost religious devotion of time, checking it incessantly as if a treasure was soon to be revealed there. Others look to fashion and clothing and clearance sales for items they need about as much as a dolphin needs a new set of flippers. (Unfortunately, I have bought my share of clearance “flippers”!) Still others look to entertaining books, music, TV, movies, decorating websites, etc. Some are just constantly looking at their phones and texting friends far and near to exchange the latest news....a sort of modern way to go “from house to house.” Yes, you can be in your own house physically, but out of it mentally and emotionally. Other women are not so “narrow minded,” and they are looking to the world's wisdom, desiring to acquire the knowledge to understand lofty philosophies and “new” ideas, ever learning but never knowing truth. Some well-meaning women look for fulfilling experiences to show their great devotion, trying to get behind every cause and join every group, ever looking outward. But a great majority of women, in reality, are looking inward—at themselves—at their opportunities, their accomplishments, their ideas, their feelings, even their own holiness or lack of it. But where do we find the Virtuous Woman looking? She is shown rejecting idleness and self-absorption and looking instead to the needs of her family. by Gina L. from Virtuous Daughters, December 2017/January 2018 & February/March 2018~Volume 17, Number 5 & Volume 17, Number 6 "Panning for Gold" Proverbs 31 Study Series Part 17 ~Proverbs 31:26~ The other day I changed my youngest daughter's sheets and bedding and decided to take off the rail that attaches to her mattress. Her mattress is on the floor because she has been known to roll so much in her sleep that she can roll off the end of the bed at times. I wanted to see if maybe she had outgrown the need for the bed rail and had stopped her rolling. I suppose I should have known better because I see her in all different positions in her bed at night, but I still persisted with my plan. As the night wore on, it was evident she still needed her boundary to keep herself safely and securely in bed. Before long, I found her half off the bed. I moved her back on, telling myself I would attach the rail the next day. Soon, though, I found her all the way off and figured that that moment was a good time to put the rail back on. After securing her boundary, I lifted her into bed, where she stayed nicely until she awoke the next day.
When I lay down in my bed that night, it was with a new appreciation for that boundary--the bed rail--which held my sweet daughter so securely. In fact, I had peace because the rail was back on. It made me think of the need for a boundary, a rail, a gate for our mouths to hold in our words. I remember David asking God, "Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips." (Psalm 141:3) There are times I have done the same thing to the gate of my lips like I did with my daughter's rail that day. I didn't use it. Perhaps I didn't remember its great need, thinking maybe I had outgrown its use, and other times I just was not mindful to employ it, use it, or reestablish its worth and need. But we never grow out of the need to set a watch over our mouth and keep the door of our lips. In fact, Scripture says the tongue can't be tamed, though the wildest of animals can. (James 3:7-8) Wisdom involves staying within boundaries and also realizing the need for them. Gates save lives....if they are mindfully attended and shut at proper times. Likewise, we are wise to refrain our lips, spare our words, keep our mouths, study to answer, and bridle our mouths. (Proverbs 10:19, 17:27, 21:23, 15:28, 39:1) And yet, wisdom is not only found in the shutting of the mouth. It is found in the opening of it too. The Virtuous Woman knew this, for she is praised for the opening of her mouth with wisdom. |
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Encouraging Young Ladies to Grow in the Lord Jesus Christ
"Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all."~Proverbs 31:29
"Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all."~Proverbs 31:29