Noble Character, A Noble Calling

Proverbs 12:4 "A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones."

Shew, that is a gut shot isn't it? We have the ability to adorn our husband as a crown, yet in the same sense, we can be rotting his bones. Wow, whoa, and what does that mean? There are many verses in the Bible dedicated specifically to women. We should take it as a personal challenge to find them and know them, and put them into practice ASAP. This verse stuck out to me today because when I think of proverbs talking about women, in my mind I jump right to 31...but this is Proverbs 12. And this particular verse is plopped right down in the middle of 27 other verses speaking generically. However, if you want to look at the entire chapter you can take it personally, wives. Take it VERY VERY PERSONALLY. The first verse talks about correction. "If you love correction, you love knowledge. If you hate correction you are stupid." It's very blunt. I take that personally. When we buck the constructive criticism of friends or our husbands or even the outright conviction of the Lord, we are STUPID. He said it, not me. To be tender to the correction of God's hand as he speaks to us through his Holy Word and our husbands and the Holy Spirit is to love wisdom and knowledge. To honor God with our lips like we are called to in such a high standard in verses 6, 13, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23 and 25 -- To do the opposite, God detests. He DETESTS! How are you speaking to other people? How are you speaking to your kids and your husband? How are you speaking ABOUT your kids and your husband to your friends? How are you speaking of your other friends? Are you "offering a kind word to lift up?" v.25 Or do you "blurt out your annoyances at once?" v 16. These verses are a great starting point to changing into a wife of noble character. Other verses in this chapter emphasize our need to be dilligent at work, not lazy, verses 10, 11, 24, 27. I picture myself at home...ask yourself, are you busy at home? Are you helping your husband? It's the one job you were DESIGNED FOR. It's written on your DNA to help him. When you don't, he suffers and you suffer. Are you rotting his bones? Ouch! This is tough stuff. Are your kids secure? Are their needs met? Or are you off doing your thing putting you first not serving your family? Can you recognize the little areas where you can be Prudent, Trustworthy, Righteous, Truthful, Honest, Wise, Fruitful, Good? This is God's will for you in Proverbs 12.

Read Proverbs 12. Pour over the Lord's wisdom for us. Cling to the promises that he will bless you for desiring His goodness -- His discipline which leads to knowledge and righteousness. And if you still love folly and the things that are not in line with God's commands...ask Him to help you mourn your sin and move in a direction toward sanctification. The fact of the matter is that we are not good. Romans says "None is righteous." So, how are we these things then that Proverbs 12 wants us to be? How can we be like a crown VS. the alternative - decay? It starts with a dramatic heart surgery. Forsaking yourself and all the "fun" of this world and laying it down at the feet of Jesus at the cross. Then, He does an amazing reconstructive surgery on you. You have a soul that is no longer dead but alive for all eternity, and you will also have the ability to no longer be a slave to your sin but to righteousness. The "fun" things will appear what they really are, foolishness and a death sentence. You can stop being "quippy" at your husband. You can begin to respect him like you are called to. To help him like you are called to. To honor him when you are in public in such a way that your character sets you apart and is like crowning jewels. Because of your behavior, your husband's name will be praised. It is a noble NOBLE calling to be a wife. And to be a wife that the Lord wants you to be is one who is reverent and calm. Peaceful and quiet. Not boisturous. Not gossipy. For Heaven's sake, NOT GOSSIPY. Kind, serving, putting your husband and children before yourself. Are you doing all these things? Or are you rotting the bones? Isn't that a horrible way of thinking about it? But it's God's way. His standards are HIGH. It is not something to be coasting through. Do not be luke warm. Take your calling as a wife seriously. Take it personally. Stop wearing your annoyances on your sleeve. Stop being lazy at home. Stop being mouthy when you are in public or responding to your family. "For without a single word from you, you can win the heart of your husband for Christ." I Peter 3:1

I wrote this blog today for me. If no one in the world reads it but me, I am weaping as I look at what is on this page b/c I have so far to go as a wife and a woman after God's own heart. I want to be these things. This challenge I have put on myself. If you read and are blessed and challenged PRAISE THE LORD that his word is so sufficient to convict and to save. But if no one else sees this, I see, and God knows I see, and I am grateful that he cares enough to put this calling out on me. This noble calling. Praise His Holy Name!

Here are the sweet ones I've been called to serve!

With a heart of purpose,

Andrea Gayle

Invisible Mom

I cannot take credit for what I'm about to share, but it HAD TO BE SHARED! I am currently in a mentorship with the woman who I would consider to be my spiritual ideal of Biblical Womanhood. She passed this on to me based on a conversation we had during our session this week. It was just what I needed, and I want to preface this by saying to you dear Moms out there reading this: please take your job as a mother this seriously: you, dear Mom, are in charge of someone else's life. It is a NOBLE CALLING!

"The Invisible Mom"

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?, What's for dinner?'I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe.I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. 2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was Almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there...'As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

--Author unknown

Attached are pics of the two that I've been entrusted to pour into for the duration of their lives!Have a blessed day! With a heart of sincere purpose, Andrea