Exercising Temperance

I've spent a lot of time realizing that I've made food an idol - I turn to it before I turn to God and that is wrong! Will there be more people in hell over gluttony than other, seemingly gross sins?  Makes you think.  I'm not saying that all obese people are sinning, I'm just realizing in myself that I sometimes turn to food for comfort instead of God and I occasionally eat to excess.  I guess that is a public confession of my faults.  I didn't get 40 pounds overweight from exercising temperance!


Php 3:19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

The scripture is in the context of referring to the enemies of the cross.  The part where it says "whose God is their belly" really makes you think.  It could be talking about the sensual appetites of the flesh and it very well could be referring to self-indulgence (gluttony) and those that worship food and their appetites.  Then in Romans 16:18, the Bible talks about serving your own belly.  Have you ever really thought on that?

Here is Henry's commentary on the verse:

Whose God is their belly. They minded nothing but their sensual appetites. A wretched idol it is, and a scandal for any, but especially for Christians, to sacrifice the favour of God, the peace of their conscience, and their eternal happiness to it. Gluttons and drunkards make a god of their belly, and all their care is to please it and make provision for it. The same observance which good people give to God epicures give to their appetites.

In the Christian world, not much attention is given to gluttony, as most don't want to define it because they may be guilty of it, but we should:

Gluttony - excess of eating or drinking; greedy or excessive indulgence

So when I eat the whole pie, isn't that excess of eating?  Or is it also when I eat 2 slices, which is more than I need?  Why do we think that we are never gluttonous and since when can we decide what is excess and what is not?  It is, what it is.  We can't get around it, gluttony is a sin, just as adultery is.  Gluttony brings with it consequences - obesity, knee/back/joint problems from holding excess weight, organ problems from excess fat pushing against them, heart problems because it has to beat faster the larger you are, and on and on.

If we can't control our eating and always eat to excess, we need to ask forgiveness and then start exercising temperance; self control, which is a fruit of the Spirit of God living in us.

Homekeeping Skills to Learn

Being a homekeeper isn't just not working outside of the home, its having a job at home!  We are managers of our homes and just like our husbands need to keep up with their skills and add new ones to make themselves better, we do as well.  In a perfect world, every young woman would enter a marriage with a wealth of homekeeping skills that her mother taught her.  However, today we have a society where mothers, even mothers that were homekeepers, are not teaching their daughters skills that matter.

My mother worked and didn't have or take the time to teach me homekeeping skills.  I didn't know how to cook, do laundry, clean and definitely not any of the extra skills like sewing or canning.  When I got married, I didn't even know how to boil an egg!  That was just 11 years ago and I've spent the past 11 years teaching myself.  Think of how much time of my life I could have saved, had those skills been taught to me as a daughter, because my mom knew how to sew, can, garden and many other skills.  Not only do I want to prepare my daughter fully for the homekeeping role, but I also want to help other women out there who read this blog.  I want to save you time by sharing what I've learned and am learning, in hopes to make you a better homekeeper.

There are a list of skills that I want to accomplish.  You can be an unskillful homekeeper all your life or you can develop these skills and be more efficient in your homes and be able to teach your daughters.
  1. Cooking/Baking - this isn't involving processed, boxed food, this is talking about real cooking.  The first few years of my marriage, I was a Hamburger Helper Queen.  I finally taught myself how to cook and then, in the past few years how to cook healthfully.
  2. Homemade Foods - this is really a sub-category of the above.  Once you understand how to cook and bake, you should learn how to make things homemade.  This also falls into the sixth category below of health because homemade is just better than processed junk!  Learn to make bread, condiments, homemade snacks and desserts.  Not only will you save your money while developing a skill, you will benefit you and your family's health!
  3. Cleaning - believe it or not, this is a skill!  Everyone has their level of cleanliness but how to clean is a skill you need to learn.  How to mop, vacuum, disinfect, etc.
  4. Time Management - this is probably the best skill to learn because even if you knew all of the skills, if you can't manage your time, your life will be chaotic.
  5. Meal-Planning - learn how to make a meal plan and menu.  Don't just haphazardly try to figure out dinner at 4pm!  Be prepared weeks in advance and rotate meals to suit your family's preferences.
  6. Purchasing Goods - you need to understand how to purchase goods - food, clothing, furniture, etc.  Learn the skill of shopping wisely for all the purchases for your home.  Use a list, or else, you may find yourself forgetting things or buying too much.
  7. Teaching - you may be wondering why I have teaching here, well EVERY mother is a HOMEschool teacher.  You should be teaching your kid daily the skills of life, but most importantly the Bible!  Learning how to teach to your child at each stage is crucial!  If you can't reach them, believe me, someone else will.
  8. Health - you need to know how to have proper health for yourself, your husband and your children.  Read, read, read!  Don't just depend on a medical professional for your family's health, know what to do in an emergency and illness' that don't require a visit to the clinic.
  9. Gardening - learn how to garden.  Not only will you be able to give your family the best possible nutrition from fresh produce you grew and save money, but its therapeutic and eases stress.  It's also a great science lesson to teach your children about plants.
  10. Make-Your-Own - learn how to make your own cleaners, beauty products, tinctures, laundry detergent, etc.
  11. Organizing/Decorating - decorating provides a place of pleasure and comfort and organizing saves time and sanity!
  12. Hosting - learn how to be a good host!  As Christians, we should all be hospitable but as homekeepers, we should also learn how to treat our guests.

This list is of skills I plan on learning or mastering over the next few years:
  1. Sewing
  2. Canning
  3. Crafting
  4. Alternative Therapies/Herbs 
  5. Soap-Making
  6. Quilting

Look What the Lord Has Done!

He healed my body!!  I had a scare this past weekend with severe pain in my lower back/abdominal region and my pelvic area.  The pelvic pain started the Tuesday before this past weekend and lasted four days and then the back/abdominal pain came late Saturday night.  By Sunday, it was really bad and I went to the walk-in clinic at our doctor's office.  The doctor thought it may be appendicitis and if the pain got worse, I had to go to the ER right away and they don't take any chances - they just open you up and take out your appendix.  She also thought maybe it could be cysts or complications with polyps in my colon I had a few years ago.

I kept asking God........why!?  why!? why!?  It seems that my whole life has been one crazy medical issue after another and I didn't understand why my youth had to spent in such a way.  I guess I started feeling sorry myself lol.  Then I thought, as I have many times, that maybe God is judging me or something from something I did in the past.  That is the devil though - he loves to make us feel like we deserve illness and disease.  I was pretty down.  So I started reminding myself of all the MANY times God has healed me and all the things He has blessed me with and I started praising God!

I wasn't going to church that Sunday night, if anything I thought I was going to go to the ER to have my appendix removed because the pain had increased and I was nauseous.  However, with about 20 minutes before we had to leave, I popped up out of bed and went to church.  I was in pain as the service begin and then the Spirit of God started moving and others started shouting and dancing.  I wanted to, I felt it but there was a nagging thought that if I did I might have the appendix rupture right there.  Well, I told God that I was in His house and I'm in His hands!!  I started dancing and praising God!  Then after we sat down, the pain was pretty bad and the thought came that I shouldn't have done that.  I kept shooting down these thoughts - satan - and trusting God.

At altar call, I prayed so hard and told God I wasn't letting go till He touched me!  I felt God touch me!!  The pain went away!!  Then on the way out, my husband came up from the altar and said to me "Bev, God healed you!"  I've never seen him so full of faith and there was no doubting in his words, he was telling me I was healed, thus saith the Lord.  He told me he felt God touch me, even though he was at the altar and I was in my pew, he felt it and he knew.  WOW!

On the way home, I started having pain again.  I asked my husband why I was having pain, he told me just to keep having faith that God touched me and I did.  Then on Tuesday, the pain got worse but I kept shooting down the doubts and praising God.  I had my ultrasound yesterday and got the results today.  Turns out, it wasn't appendicitis but it was a cyst on my ovary.  However - the best news - the cyst had somehow collapsed recently!!  I know when it collapsed - it collapsed Sunday night as I was praying and God touched me!!  He did it!!  Praise the Lord!!

So now, all is well and the doctor/nurse was excited too and said my pain should go away because the problem is gone.  The only one not excited by this news is satan - he really wanted me down, he is trying to prevent my life and goals from happening but he can't stop God!!  God is a healer and I'm sharing this with you all to encourage you in faith and to uplift the name of the Lord!!!