Thoughts on RESPECT from my reflections on The Excellent Wife.

I thought I'd share a bit of personal epiphany from the first BBC MOMS this past Tuesday. Our speaker was Cynthia Francis and her talk was titled "The Excellent Wife." (Prov 31)

One of the sections of Cynthia's talk that stood out to me was her exhortation concerning Respect. She stated the obvious by saying that God knows us! And that He knows how important being loved is for us. AND, maybe not so obvious to us, He knows our men! He knows how important respect is for them. (she recommended the book Love and Respect by Eggerichs) Thus, the commands of Eph 5:33 are appropriate to both our needs and our husband's needs. They Need to be respected, just as we NEED to be loved. For a man, to live in a marriage without respect is like what a woman would experience to live in a marriage without love. (she paused to reflect on Ps 63:3 as an encouragement to any women who may face that)

There's NO "IF CLAUSE" for either of us. Our society definitely allows wives an "if clause" along with the idea that respect must be earned. In my notes I boiled down to this: "respectable" or not, we Honor our husbands because 1)God gave them the position as husband and 2)God commands us to honor them ::period:: not IF they Love us, or IF they deserve it, or IF XYZ from him first...

So, life application for me personally?

Well, I don't honor him "perfectly" (I know, I've shocked you, right? - haha), and Cynthia's words definitely exhorted me to want to have his heart "safely trust" in me more and more, and to want to be intentional in finding ways I can honor him better! But kidding aside, respecting Matt is generally "easy" (he makes it easy and I am overwhelming blessed!!!). BUT I don't remember the last time- or if I've ever actually- told my husband "I respect you" or something similar in words. I know this may sound Cheezy, but It occurred to me, as I processed these thoughts, that MAYBE I should. I like being told that he loves me IN WORDS-- on top of being shown. =) So I thought perhaps he'd like to hear the WORDS from me about how much I respect him and some of the reasons why... He did. It was a sweet moment.

I'm so thankful Cynthia focused on this in her talk. It was a blessing to my husband and thus to me and our marriage. There were many other noteworthy exhortations, but this was the one that played out in life-application 101 for me that same evening. Oh, to be a more "Excellent Wife!"

Context for raising children.

Contemplating a great quote from a good sermon. Gregg Harris (Rebelution boys' dad, Josh Harris' Dad) Sobering. Challenging. Praying for God's Context for raising our kiddos.

God gives children to us in order to increase the impact of our lives on this world. You realize that the greatest thing you may ever do in your lifetime is raise your children? …Whatever you may accomplish in your lifetime, as wonderful as it may be, I want to tell you something, it may be primarily CONTEXT for raising those children. And that its greatest contribution may not be what it accomplishes in your lifetime but rather the inspirational and the instructional value that is has in the life of your young people. One generation after another is affected by the passion and the obedience of faith of the generation that preceded it. –Gregg Harris

I pray we will be stirred up to be inspirational and instructive in wisdom and godliness.

Encouragement for Admitted Ignorance!

As we began our foray into the adventure of homeschooling this year, I'm reading along/ahead in the "HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY" for our...well.."Nature Study." Last year in "kindergarten" we did a bit of nature study and notebooking, but not much. I didn't have the MANUEL (mentioned above) and I wasn't committed to throwing myself into it all either (I blame it on pregnancy and the prematurity of WINTER here in Mpls). haha. If NS got skipped, I didn't sweat it. But Maggie LOVED every little walk and noticed so many details. So after more reading on Charlotte Mason and embracing more fully the importance of this discipline/habit, I'm geared up for it this year. Here's a little nugget from my reading in HoNS.

WHEN AND WHY THE TEACHER SHOULD SAY "I DO NOT KNOW "
No science professor in any university, if he be a man of high attainment, hesitates to say to his pupils,"I do not know" if they ask for information beyond hisknowledge. The greater his scientific reputation and erudition, the more readily,simply, and without apology he says this. He, better than others, comprehends how vast is the region that lies beyond man's present knowledge. It is only the teacher in the elementary schools who has never received enough scientific training to reveal to her how little she does know, who feels that she must appear to know everything or her pupils will lose confidence in her. But how useless is this pretense, in nature-study! The pupils, whose younger eyes are much keener for details than hers, will soon discover her limitations and then their distrust of her will be real.

In nature-study any teacher can with honor say, "I do not know "; for perhaps the question asked is as yet unanswered by the great scientists. But she should not let lack of knowledge be a wet blanket thrown over her pupils' interest. She should say frankly, "I do not know; let us see if we cannot together find out this mysterious thing. Maybe no one knows it as yet, and I wonder if you will discover it before I do?" She thus conveys the right impression, that only a little about the intricate life of plants and animals is yet known; and at the same time she makes her pupils feel the thrill and zest of investigation. Nor will she lose their respect by doing this, if she does it in the right spirit. For three years I had for comrades in my walks afield two little children and they kept me busy saying, "I do not know." But they never lost confidence in me or in my knowledge; they simply gained respect for the vastness of the unknown.

The chief charm of nature-study would be taken away if it did not lead us through the border-land of knowledge into the realm of the undiscovered....

I love that last line -- "through the border-land of knowledge into the realm of the undiscovered"!! That communicates what I believe life-learning is all about whether pertaining to creation study or history study or Bible study -- because there is ever more to be discovered! He is infinite and His works declare His praise!