I've been delivered from death!

Sounds like an extreme title for a post, but it's the absolute truth. No, I didn't have a physical near death experience...but I definitely was having a sort of extended near death spiritual experience. The experience is called laziness. I wrote about it in my previous post about how a few weeks ago the Lord had mercy on me and had me make some changes in my life. They were seemingly simple changes, but they've had huge implications on what my daily life looks like.

Now, let me explain that for years, I've struggled with anxiety and fear of impending death to my husband, children or even myself. I was absolutely sure that I was about to experience a traumatic/death experience with one of these people that's the closest to my heart. I can't count how many hours of sleep I've lost over it. Sometimes, the thought would quickly enter my mind and I had absolutely no control over it and would just burst into tears!  The day would be beautiful...all was well...nothing negative happening, and suddenly the fear would strike and the panic was on. This was truly torture and there was no sensible explanation for this irrational fear. And trying to explain it all here, wouldn't even do justice to the extremely depressing and agonizing emotional roller coaster I was riding for so long. I'm a generally happy person and I recognize the countless blessings in my life which made this even more bizarre.

I noticed that over the last year or so, it seemed even worse than usual. Asking my husband and close friends to pray for me because of the fear in my mind. I even believed that God may be the one preparing me for some sort of death. How do you prepare yourself for something like this??! I had no comfort or resolution to my issue.

But I prayed and begged God for help. I couldn't live like this for the rest of my life!! I couldn't bare the thought of so randomly and so often being consumed with thoughts of a death sentence to any one of us at  any given moment. I believe this constant tension and mental stress played a part in my lack of digestive health as well! I was a mess mentally and physically. And I love Jesus for crying out loud! Why was I dealing with this?!

So this is where my laziness comes in. Now, I have 3 kids. Very young kids at that, so I don't mean laziness as in 'sit on my couch' and literally do nothing all day every day. The laziness I'm referring to is being far less fruitful and productive in my role and responsibility as a wife, mother and general home maker that what should have been happening. I was spending incredible amounts of time on social media and online 'creativity' sites. My time was for sure, consumed with tending to my 'friends' and getting ideas and creative short cuts to tending to things in my house. The problem is, I wasn't tending to my husband and kids OR my home! I had lots of strategies and good ideas, but little was actually being done.

These are some of the scriptures I would pray to God regarding my situation with fear and anxiety...

Psalm 4:1 "Answer  me when I call, O God who declares me innocent. {only by of the blood of Jesus} Take away my distress. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer."

Psalm 4:7-8 " Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house; with deepest awe I will worship at your Temple. Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. {I was my own enemy!} Tell me clearly what to do, and show me which way to turn."

So as December 2012 was coming, I was noticing how much time I was actually wasting being 'productive' on the internet and unproductive in my real daily life. Now, although I'm a total work in progress and God is faithfully continuing the work He's begun in me, I can definitely say that I'm in a place of surrender to the will of the Lord over my life. My true desire is to serve and follow Him with everything in me. But I was blind to this  area within myself. No matter who said what, I couldn't see it and it took the Holy Spirit to remove those blinders and let me see this.

December 20th I had a moment alone with the Lord. No kids were around and I was with Him through the Word. I felt this quiet and gentle 'invitation' from God to get off of Facebook. Not just for a day, but to really turn it off and let Him fill that time instead. So BY THE GRACE of God...I simply and gladly accepted. I deactivated my account right then, knowing that I should go with the grace while it was there and not delay.

Then right after that,  I began reading the book of Hosea. If you're not familiar with this book of the Bible, it's in the old testament and it's a story of the prophet Hosea. A man who loved God and the Lord instructs him to marry Gomer...a prostitute! {gah!} This was to illustrate to the Israelites {God's people} how they were behaving to Him. They were His, yet they were prostituting themselves away, and destruction/judgement was imminent if they didn't repent and turn from their ways.

So in the most tender of ways, on what I consider a miraculous day....the Lord moved on my heart and made me willing, then spoke to me about how HE saw my situation. The laziness I was recognizing in my own life was actually me prostituting my time and attention away from all that the Lord had given me....including my time with Him! My responsibilities to my family and home are GIFTS from Him that I was treating like second hand "I'll get to it later" type of stuff. The laziness was for sure taking it's toll and since I hadn't recognized and repented from it, destruction and judgement really was on it's way! There was legitimate and biblical explanation for all the anxiety on my mind!

Not only was my family suffering from my lack of fruitfulness and responsibility with what I was given, my relationship with the Lord wasn't what it could have been and I was literally at the door step of some sort of death that would consume me constantly. The mental anxiety and fear I was struggling with for so long was the literal result laziness in my life! Who knew?! {Believe it or not, I have the first verse underlined in my Bible, but obviously didn't have it underlined in my heart.}

Proverbs 21: 25 " The desires of lazy people will be their ruin, for their hands refuse to work."

Proverbs 18:9 "A  lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things."  {ouch!}

So here I was...convinced that 'ruin' was so near, and it actually was! And not because the devil was attacking me, {as it's always to easy to blame the devil for difficulties or trials}, but it was the Lord Himself letting me experience that mental struggle all because I was a lazy person! Wow. That's intense to realize. But even more, it's to realize God's incredible Love and mercy on my life. My Father knew that if He didn't discipline me in this way and allow me to feel the effects of my sin, that I may never become desperate enough to cry out to Him and thus, change!

The laziness might have stayed with me forever to wreak havoc on my family and to never be able to glorify the Lord with my life! The primary way of me glorifying the Lord is serving my family and home. And if the serving part was left out, then what was I doing?! Nothing worthy of giving Him glory! Ah, how sad.

So, as the new year came around and the Lord began speaking to me more and more about how different my life should look, a concern was that it would take so long for these changes to actually happen in me. I was encouraged that I could actually see these issues within myself, but discouraged about how different I wanted to be and how long it might take. But in God's kindness and power, HE is the one changing me, not me changing myself. If we could all just snap a finger and change ourselves, wouldn't we all?! But the willingness He gave me, plus His love has made big changes within weeks of the invitation to get off social media and not be lazy. This is HIS transforming power! And as my laziness has wore off and fruitfulness has come on, another thing has come on....mental PEACE! The solution to laziness, besides a new mindset which comes from the Holy Spirit, is just getting up and doing what you have to do. It's not a matter of doing everything perfectly, but a matter of pursuing excellence while you actually DO the thing! Easy enough?! No wonder we've seen such changes in a matter of weeks....not the years I was expecting to have to wait to see a difference in myself. I'm just finally doing what I have to do, and how great it is!

I noticed how I've been sleeping better and have a tangible difference in my mind and body. I'm not feeling the anxiety and fear of impending 'ruin.' I feel free and I feel LIFE.

Thank you Jesus, I've been delivered from death!

A new year and a new me...

December was an interesting month for me...nothing really crazy or interesting happened, but toward the end of the month I was beginning to feel the Lord stirring somethings up in my heart. I wasn't sure what it was all about but as I was doing my devotional one day, I felt the Lord just 'invite' me to get off facebook for a while. I was gentle but clear and clearly from God, since I do enjoy my social life on facebook. And that was the problem...I enjoyed it a little too much. I was spending quite a bit of time scrolling through people's pages, looking at pictures, and genuinely trying to keep up and be in touch with my almost 1,200 'friends' there. Yes, it was practically everyone I've ever known, haha! {not really, but maybe most of them!}

Yeah trying to keep up with about twelve hundred people took time...time I didn't actually have because I have 4 very special people that needed that time and they weren't getting it! So the offer came for me to just get off FB and see what kind of benefits I would reap. So Feb 20th I deactivated my account. It was monumental for me considering what a normal and very regular part of my day it was....and right before Christmas and New Years?! What timing!  My husband would offer me to get off the computer and read or something once in a while, but I was way more interested in seeing who was pregnant, saying happy birthday to so and so, keeping up with old friends, etc. So when I just deactivated the account, it was quite the happy shock to my man. And surprisingly, I felt really good about it, too.

Now, just 3 1/2 weeks later, we are ALL enjoying some serious benefits! Who knew that putting my priorities in line could be so amazing?! {duh} So here are a few things that have changed in my own personal life so far...  

I read to my kids. I cuddle with them. I find I have more patience with them {which is seriously needed since they're 5 1/2, almost 4 and 2!}  I'm excited to make meals. My house is pretty darn clean. The dishes are pretty much ALWAYS done. I'm actually caught up with laundry {but we all know, that never really ends}. I *see* my husband again. Oh- no, not that he was gone before, but I was too busy with all the other 1200 people to talk to him. {And I see him with a twinkle in my eye, which helps even more!} Yeah it was pretty bad. I'm getting into crafting again. I feel more motivated to exercise. And I've been doing my *daily* devotional AND 'Extreme Woman Makeover' 30-day Challenge....and I'm praying WAY more! This is serious stuff! Imagine everything I just mentioned, but the opposite. Ok, so maybe not 100% opposite, but opposite enough, which is bad.

So, the 30 day woman challenge thing has really put some major biblical language to what I was doing and all the changes I was making in my lifestyle. Being lazy scared me half to death since I was totally being lazy and I see laziness within my own family back round and I knew/know that I would have to be attentive and purposeful in fighting that in myself. I mean, between Facebook and Pinterest, I couldn't even tell you how many hours were wasted literally EVERY single day. And this isn't a bash facebook and pinterest post, if anything a "wow, I had no self control" post...and I still think they both definitely have their benefits. But for me, my family and I were suffering from it being so accessible rather than reaping the benefits. I also knew that I had to quit 'cold turkey' or I wouldn't get such a handle on it the way the Lord and I both desired. So only by the grace of God was I willing to just say goodbye in an instant. Actually I didn't even say goodbye or give any sort of explaination about what I was doing. I just did it. And I felt bad at first, but now I see the wisdom of God in having it that way... I'm sentimental! I might've been totally convinced out of it. So, thank you Lord...for your grace and mercy on me.

I'm praying on whether or not I'll ever get back to the facebook world or not, but as considered it a few days ago, I realized I'm not done reaping the benefits of this quiet and undistracted time.

I pray for courage and willingness to let go of ANYTHING that distracts you of your priorities in life. Ask God to show you if there is and if so, He will give you the grace and peace to move forward in getting things into line.

Love & Blessings,
Melissa

I'm Behind!

Yes, I'm saying I'm WAY behind on my blogging! Sorry, to whoever reads and keeps up with us! As mostly everyone knows, life is busy!! Especially life with little ones running around! So, it's a unique day...President Obama was voted president of the US again last night. Today, many  people I know on facebook were commenting on their sadness or fear. It was interesting timing because I got to see my sweet little #4 in my tummy last night via ultrasound. I saw his/her heart beating so fast and saw that everything seems perfectly healthy. Obviously I'm pretty excited about that not only because my last pregnancy ended "early" you could say, but we just love life. My own children make me want more kids!

So, to see so many people in such unrest- I'm over here celebrating the beautiful blessing the Lord has given me. And I'm reminded that my future...and my children's future is in His hands....no one else. The Lord puts kings and leaders in their positions. He builds them up, and tears them down. GOD is in charge. And thankfully, my trust, my rest and my peace is in Him alone. 

I'm not oblivious to the fact that the world around me is changing...and not for the better...but the Word is clear about things getting worse before they get better, before the return of our Lord Jesus. And don't we WANT Him to come back already??! I sure do! And like someone else noted today, knowing that we're serving and following Jesus as our King and Savior, we feel a certain comfort that this is happening in our day while we can help navigate our children's heart for God, so they too will lean on Jesus for their security and hope. What a blessing!!

So we'll see what the next 4 years will look like with this president that the Lord has put in his place, but it will definitely be including another Steinhauer baby! Four year is a long time...my unborn will be just over 3 years old, Olivia will be 5, Naya will be 8 and Stella 9. Wow, what will life look like? Where will we be? I have no answers, and it's ok. I really do trust God. 

My prayer is that all my friends whose hope is in the Lord now, would remain strong and courageous. Not shaken by these earthly matters. And for my friends and family who are without their Salvation yet...my heart and prayers are truly for you. That in His mercy, our Lord would reach the hardest and darkest places of your heart and bring you His love. And of course, that you would accept it and become His. It's the best life decisions you could ever make. 

Lots of Love...

School!

We are so excited for this coming school year. September 10th 2012 will be the first day of our new homeschool co-op! Currently we have 5 families who will be participating in this and I will be teaching the preschool-kindergarten kids. And my neighbor and friend Gemma will be teaching the 1st-3rd graders. Stella is super excited to get to leave the house for school, ha! I think she's really excited to get a backpack and lunch box too. Which I think she'll have maybe 2 pencils and a few papers to put in there, but I remember the joy of new school supplies when I was young too, ha!
We have about 2 more meetings to finalize the schedule and other details, and we're needing supplies and kids chairs before we can start.
I'm so grateful that the Lord has provided the curriculum we'll be using called "My Father's World." I just need to get a few supplimental books and supplies and we'll be all set!
It's kinda crazy to me that I have a child starting school already. I know all these years will pass quickly but I'm grateful for them and praying the Lord helps me cherish it all.

Summertime in Ensenada!

Ensenada, Mexico!

We are so excited about the Lord’s movement in Baja California.  As you may know, we were a bit surprised when the Lord led our family to move to this small town called Chapultepec, south of Ensenada. We weren’t sure what our life here would be like, or why the Lord even wanted us here, but we knew He said “Go.”

 It’s getting close to a year that we’ve been here and we’re full of joy and gratitude for the Lord showing us His will and for this season of our lives.  As you may know, after much prayer, we were led to plant a church.  Actually, the Lord brought the people, before we realized the church had been planted!  It was incredible to start with just 2 families meeting together and before we knew it, word was spreading of a new, english speaking house church.

Now, BAJA FELLOWSHIP, has about 40 regular attendees….sometimes more. Families, missionaries, interns serving different ministries, and locals have been attending.  We’ve had the privilege of having a separate kids teaching for our kids who are 10 and under, for the last few months as well.

The time has flown by and we are feeling roots go down quickly here. The role the Lord has given us in pastoring a church has produced a deep love and burden for the people we are serving.  We are learning the discipline and joy of serving the Body like never before. Our relationships with the people who consider Baja Fellowship their home church is a new and unique thing for us and we truly feel the love of God for them! 

We are asking that you would pray for us as we help lead them toward Christ Jesus in a deep, convicting and powerful way! We are zealous to share the good news and truth of our King, to those we are shepherding. We would love you to pray for wisdom and understanding for us, and also for the people here.

Baja Fellowship meets every Sunday at 10am for worship, Bible teaching, personal prayer and ministry, then we enjoy a potluck together. The friendships have a chance to grow during that time of ‘breaking bread’ together.  That is a critical time as we believe the Lord is using that fellowship to forge relationships between the different ministries represented here.  We also meet on Thursday evenings for worship and prayer and have had amazing and unexpected personal ministry times. Theo leads prayer at the YWAM prayer room, has been teaching interns at YUGO and YWAM and meets with several different people to pray with and be a brother in their lives.

Throughout our time together, we’ve celebrated many birthdays, dedicated babies to the Lord and recently said goodbye to a close family, The Whitted’s, who the Lord led back the States. We also prayed over and said goodbye to one of our worship leaders, Rachel Villaire, who left the Ensenada YWAM base to serve the base in Geneva, Switzerland! Within the next month we’ll sadly say goodbye to another worship leader, Jacob Kemp, who will be moving back to his home country, England, for worship school. We are VERY excited to have good friends of ours, Henry and Aneliz Bruno and their 3 daughters move down from IHOP_KC to be part of our fellowship and leadership at Baja. They are scheduled to arrive in October.

Melissa has been the kid’s teacher at Baja Fellowship over the last 3 months. Beginning next week, we will be training a local believer, Teresita,  who is attending our church, to help Melissa serve the kids on Sundays. Teresita loves the Lord, has a passion for prayer and is eager to use her gifts to serve the church, especially with the kids!  It’s exciting for us that we even have a role for someone to serve in and get more connected! Besides Sundays, Melissa is working hard with the girls at home.  She’s been learning more and more, the biblical role of wives and mothers and feels strongly the conviction to pursue it with her whole heart.

If you weren’t aware via facebook, Melissa miscarried last month. It was a time of difficulty where the Lord showed us His kindness in a way we’ve never experienced. Fear and sadness were far removed from us, and we were filled with the love and grace of God. I wrote about our experience with it on our blog. www.steinhauerfamily.blogspot.com 

            

Stella turned 5 this week and she’s very excited to begin Kindergarden in the Fall. There are several families, including us, serving the Lord in our immediate area who will be starting a homeschool co-op this year. We are excited for a Christian, structured, homeschool opportunity for the girls here!

Naya is doing great and is learning the basics of preschool. She still loves to pray and enjoys playing with Stella and being Taina’s best friend!

Olivia is currently getting over the chicken pox! We’re blessed that it was a mild case and besides 1 or 2 days, she’s been her normal happy self.  She’s a year and a half old and we notice that like the other girls when her age, seems to grow over night! She’s also enjoying being able to play with her big sisters more and more.

The Lord has given us a new vision to raise up a team of people who have a heart for missions and to pray for what the Lord is doing through our family and actually partner with us in the Lord’s purposes. We are becoming more and more confident in the Lord’s provision and ask that you would consider a personal partnership with us. This is kind of how you ‘adopt’ a child who lives in another country, only it would be us. J  

That would include us praying for each other regularly, being in touch on a regular basis via email, phone, facebook and/or skype,  and supporting our family and Baja Fellowship through prayer and finances.

We have a few 1-time/random needs that there is currently no budget for and if you are interested in helping with those, please let us know. Our most consistent need though, is that of monthly income to cover our normal bills.  Over the recent months our support has dropped so we are making about $800/month total. Obviously, that is more than ‘tight’ for a family of 5. The Lord is showing us how to live modestly, with joy, but there are still some consistent needs that need to be covered.

We continue to be covered by and accountable to our sending church in Florida, the Harbour Church, and still raise our support through their missions organization, Light International. If you would like to “adopt”-partner with us please tell us!  We thrive on relationships and truly want that with whoever the Lord sends to support our work for Him!

Contact Info.

Email:  theosteinhauer@gmail.com   /   melissasteinhauer@gmail.com

Magic Jack phone:  (949) 945-5956

Facebook:   Theo n Melissa Steinhauer

Skype:   theo.melissa.steinhauer

Blogs:  www.steinhauerfamily.blogspot.com   /   www.bajafellowship.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:    Theo and Melissa Steinhauer

                             PMB-022 , PO BOX 189003

                             Coronado, CA 92178

To Support us as a tax deductible donation:   www.lightinternational.org 

Click on ‘Sponsor a Light Missionary,’ then on ‘give online.’ You can set up automatic with-drawl as well if you’d like. If you need help or would like more information, you can call Light International at (954) 876-0302.

Theo teaching the interns at YUGO.

Trisha, Melissa, Debbie and Charity after church.

Excuses?

I wonder why we excuse ourselves from following the God's directions for our lives, which are written in the Word so clearly, but we expect our children to follow what we say and be obedient to our directions??! I write this humbly and with the fear of the Lord, because I know how much I fall short… but, it's kinda crazy. And completely hypocritical. I get so bothered when my almost 5 year old disobeys me when she knows the right thing to do...and there are ‘clear as day’ instructions for how I should live and do things, but I, like tons of christian women/people, just don't do it. And then call is ‘grace.’

 We have enough sense to recognize when our children disobey us and not just let it slide and call is 'grace,' don't we? So why do we do that and think we'll be alright?! We won't and things don’t turn out well when we pattern our lives like that. It's sin and we need to repent and change.  For me, I've come across a list of scripture instructions for women who claim to be devoted to God. I'm praying that God would help me and change my mind about my own ways and help me be obedient to his directions. Here they are…probably not all, but a lot.

Biblical Instructions for Women

1 Corinthians 14:34-35:  “Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive just as the law says. If they have any questions, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings.”

1 Timothy 2:9-15: “And I want women to be modest in their appearance. {or pray in modest apparel}They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do. Women should learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. {teach men or usurp their authority} Let them listen quietly. For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result. But the women will be saved through childbearing {or will be saved by accepting their role as mothers, or will be saved by the birth of the Child}, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.”

1 Timothy 3: 11 : “In the same way, their wives {or the women deacons} must be respected and must not slander others. They must exercise self-control and be faithful in everything they do.”

Proverbs 5:18-19: “Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satistfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.”

Proverbs 9:13-18: “The woman named Folly is brash. She is ignorant and doesn’t even know it. She sits in her doorway on the heights overlooking the city. She calls out to men going by who are minding their own business. “Come in with me” she urges the simple. To those who lack good judgement, she says, “Stolen water is refreshing; food eaten in secret tasted the best! But little do they know that they dead are there. Her guests are in the depths of the grave.”

Proverbs 11:16: “A gracious woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth.”

Proverbs 12:4: “A worthy wife is a crown for her husband, but a disgraceful woman is like cancer in his bones.”

Proverbs 14:1: “A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.”

Proverbs 18:22: “The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord.”

Proverbs 19:13-14: “A foolish child is a calamity to a father; a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.”

Proverbs 21:9 & 19: “It’s better to live alone in a corner of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.” “It’s better to live alone in the desert than with a quarrelsome, complaining wife.”

Proverbs 23:27-28: “A prostitute is a dangerous trap; a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well. She hides and waits like a robber, eager to make more men unfaithful.”

Proverbs 24:3-4: “A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense. Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables.”

Proverbs 27:15-16: “A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day. Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or trying to hold something with greased hands.”

Proverbs 30:20: “An adulterous woman consumes as man, then wipes her mouth and says, ‘what’s wrong with that?’ “

Proverbs 31:10-31: “Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious thatn rubies. Her husband can trust her and she will greatly enrich his life. She brings him good and not harm, all the days of her life. She finds wool and flax and busily spins it. She is like a merchants ship bringing her food from afar. She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the days work for her servant girls. She goes to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard. She is energetic and strong, a hard worker. She makes sure her dealings are profitable; her lamp burns late into the night. Her hans are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber. She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy. She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm clothes. She makes her own bedspreads. She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns. Her husband is well known at the city gates, where he sits with the other civic leaders. She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants. She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise and she gives instructions with kindness. She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness. Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her. ‘There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all.’ Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.”

1 Corinthians 7:3-6: “The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s sexual needs. The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband give authority over his body to his wife. Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command.”

1 Corinthians 7:39-40: “A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes but only if he loves the Lord. But in my opinion it would be better for her to stay single, and I think I am giving you counsel from God’s Spirit when I say this.”

1 Corinthians 11:3-15: “But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. A man dishonors his head {or Christ} if he covers his head while praying or prophesying. But a woman dishonors her head {or her husband} if she prays or prophesies without covering her head, for this is the same as shaving her head. Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair! But since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, she should wear a covering.{or should have long hair}. A man should not wear anything on his head when worshipping, for man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory. A woman reflects man’s glory. For the first man did not come from woman, but the first woman came from man. And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man. For this reason, and because angels are watching, a woman should wear a covering on her head to show she is under authority. But among the Lord’s people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women. For although the first woman came from man, every other man was born from a woman, and everything comes from God.  Judge for yourselves. Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head? Isn’t it obvious that it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair? And isn’t long hair a woman’s pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering. But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches.”

Ephesians 5:22-24, 33: “For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.” “So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

Colossians 3:18: “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.”

1 Timothy 5:5, 9-16: “Now a true widow, a woman who is truly alone in this world, has placed her hope in God. She prays night and day, asking God for his help. But the widow who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead even while she lives.” “A widow who is put on the list for support must be a woman who is at least 60 years old and was faithful to her husband. {or was the wife of one husband}. She must be well respected by everyone because of the good she has done. Has she brought up her children well? Has she been kind to strangers and her served other believers humbly? Has she helped those who are in trouble? Has she always been ready to do good? The younger widows should not be on the list, because their physical desires will overpower their devotion to Christ and they will want to remarry. Then they would be quilty of breaking their previous pledge. And if they are on the list, they will learn to be lazy and will spend their time gossiping from house to house, meddling in other people’s business and talking about things they shouldn’t. SO I advise these younger widows to marry again, have children and take care of their own homes. Then the enemy will not be able to say anything against them. For I am afraid that some of them have already gone astray and now follow Satan. If a woman who is a believer has relatives who are widows, she must take care of them and not put the responsibility on the church. Then the church can care for the widows who are truly alone.”

Titus 2:3-5: “Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes{or care for their home}, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the Word of God.”

1 Peter 3:1-6: “In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives. Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. 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. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They trusted God and accepted the authority of their husbands. For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband Abraham, and called him master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.”

I encourage you to take some time to study these and ask the Lord how you might change some things in your life as well! Let's be zealous to not only live in the freedom of Christ, but to love God, by obeying his commands. {1 John 5:3} "This is love for God; to obey his commands." 

A Cup of Water

Last night as we were getting set to start our prayer meeting, we noticed some people standing outside our gate. I went out to meet them, thinking it was new people who wanted to come pray with us. It was 3 sisters, age 17, 18 and 19. They came to ask for food. They were hungry. So , I brought them inside. It was amazing to see why my husband felt like making a bit of extra rice while making dinner and why a friend who came to prayer decided to bring tamales just b/c she had them leftover and thought someone there would like them. God saw those sisters...and their need... and had us prepared for them. It was an honor to serve them food and drink. And even more amazing to offer them the incredible joy, peace, love, and security that comes with giving your life to Jesus. I cried as I imagined my own 3 daughters roaming the streets, hungry, but the Word says in Psalms 37:25 "Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread."  Also, Matthew 25:45 says "And he will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.''  It's a sobering thought.

I also thought how interesting and perfectly planned out that these 3 sisters would show up to a home with 3 daughters. I don't believe in coincidence. It was crazy to introduce them to our 3 daughters and see such a vast difference, but similar in so many ways, too. I realized that God doesn't have favorites, but when we are willing and wanting Him, he says, "But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands." Exodus 20:6.

The Word also says "The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent." in 2 Peter 3:9  So, how amazing is that?? He is patiently waiting for all who would repent {which is just to genuinely say you're sorry for all the nasty junk/disobedience to Him} and start following His instructions and live a long and happy life! {How hard is it to see how wonderful and good that is?!}

So needless to say, after we prayed for them and shared who Jesus is and offered them His salvation, they left and the rest of our prayer meeting was with a heavy heart. We prayed for them more and for other things too. I went to bed with them on my mind and woke up to them on my mind. We told them they can come back to our house anytime they need help or would like to give their lives to Jesus. Please pray for them...their names are Adriana, Gabriella and Surje.

And if you are reading this and haven't given your life to the Creator of everything... know that it's the absolutely best thing you could ever do for yourself, your children and your children's children. What we do in life, passes along down through our line of descendants. Give yourself and your children, GOD!