I am raising three daughters. Beautiful, precious, wonderful daughters. I am so proud of each of them and I absolutely love being their mom. They, along with their 4 brothers, are my special gifts from God, and I cherish each one. I am so thankful for all my children.
It's a bit scary, raising girls, today. The world doesn't teach them correctly, and everything they are exposed to through most media and technological outlets are teaching them directly against God's word. I hate that. Everything they are reading (or I am reading to them) from Scripture, is being directly contradicted by world views. I don't want them to be confused about what true beauty is, I want them to be able to see it in everyone, no matter what a person looks like on the outside. Dictionary.com defines beauty as this: the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations, a meaningful design or pattern, or something else such as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest. And God's word defines it as this: "You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." ~ I Peter 3:4 This is what I want for my daughters and myself. I want true beauty that comes from within, that is so precious to God. What does this look like? A gentle and quiet spirit. The original Greek text of this new testament verse is actually translated as "meek and quiet". After studying what a meek spirit looks like, I realized two things: 1) meekness is beautiful, and 2) it's not an easy way of life. Meek is defined as: quiet, gentle, submissive, compliant, and humbly patient. Wow! What beautiful characteristics! My first question to myself is: Are my daughters' influences demonstrating this meekness? And my second question to myself is: Am I being this example to my girls? The truth is, I am my children's first example. They all learn from watching me. I taught them to smile, to wave, to sit, to stand, to eat on their own, to walk, to interact with others, to talk, to play, to write, to read, to ride their bikes, and so much more. I'm still teaching them. Even my grown children. They are still watching me. I'm leading by example, and I don't always remember that. If my children are going to know what meek and quiet beauty looks like in a woman, they have to see it in me first. I have to admit, I'm still working on this. And it's not always easy. I am naturally a loud person, always have been (ask my Mama). It's not always easy for me to be quiet, and when I get upset, mad or overwhelmed, I tend to get just a wee bit louder (cue the embarrassment of my children if we are in public). So, quiet is something I have had to work on. I don't want to be a loud, obnoxious woman seeking to be heard, I want to be a calm, quiet woman seeking to listen to others. I want to be known as a gentle woman. Gentle with my touch, gentle with my words, and gentle with my reactions. I want my words to be gentle, kind and full of encouragement. I want my to touch to be soft and comforting. And no matter what life throws in my direction, my hope is that I will be gentle, kind and soft spoken in response to all chaos and trials (still working on this as well). I want to be an example of a submissive woman. I want to be submissive to God, His authority, and His Word. And I want to be submissive to my husband as the Bible instructs me. I know most women think submission is an ugly word, but it doesn't have to be. I submit to my husband's authority by loving him, respecting him, listening to him, and following his lead for our family. I want to be compliant and easy to get along with. The world is full of women who are argumentative, manipulative, and willing to do anything to get their way. Most of the things we want to fuss about are not worth the effort we put into it just to "win" the argument. A family friend of ours has always said, "If it's not a life or death, or heaven or hell situation, it's not worth wasting your time, worry, or energy on it." Oh, it is my desire to be humbly patient! This will forever be a struggle for me. I am not always patient nor am I always humble. My patience usually looks like me standing at the door, tapping my foot, hands on my hip, yelling "Hurry up! We're late! We're late!" I have a long way to go, and I'll spend my entire life striving for a meek and quiet spirit. But I will do my best, because I want my children to see that true beauty lies far beneath a pretty face. The true beauty of a woman lies within her soul. It's the very essence of who she is. It is the way she speaks, she serves, she loves, and how she behaves. True beauty can be seen not only when she knows she has an audience, but most importantly, it is seen when she has no idea that others are watching. "When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness." ~ Proverbs 31:26 Keep reading God's Word! It makes all the difference in your life! Joyfully His, Andrea
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For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. " AuthorHi! I'm Andrea, wife to my handsome hubby, homeschooling mama to my 7 amazing blessings, and daughter of the King of kings. I am so glad you have stopped by my little piece of the web. My prayer is that the Lord will use this blog to encourage you in your personal, daily walk with Christ. Archives
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