The Best Place for Sarcasm

(The top half of a wooden crate shelf in my foyer.)

According to the Noah Webster dictionary:

Sarcasm: A keen reproachful expression; a satirical remark or expression, uttered with some degree of scorn or contempt; a taunt; a gibe.

Sarcasm. It has become the cornerstone of our society. It's what sitcoms are made of, it's how we respond to the ridiculous, the obvious, our husbands, our children, our neighbors, our friends. It permeates nearly every conversation at some point. It's sad.

If you are sarcasm free, I salute you. Honestly. I am not being sarcastic. I still find myself, at times, giving a "satirical remark" when a kind response, or a sweet response could serve better.

The thing is, as we see in the definition above, that a sarcastic remark is usually uttered with scorn, contempt, haughtiness even. We tend to use sarcasm to put someone in their place, to show how stupid their comment or question was, to belittle, to quiet them. I wonder what would happen if we instead chose to be sincere, to be loving, to be gracious in our speech. Would we see a change in our homes?

Ephesians 4: 29 says this (NIV) "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

How, I wonder, does sarcasm play into this admonition? If we look at the second phrase of the verse, we see that our words should be helpful for building others up. Does your sarcastic, caustic response to your husband build him up? How about to your children?

The third phrase says, "that it may benefit those who listen." When your child asks you the same question for the third or fourth time, do you answer in a way that benefits her? Do you realize the value of her uncluttered heart and sweetly, lovingly answer her, again? Or do you fill her mind and heart with fear and confusion, causing her to think she is upsetting you, that she doesn't deserve your respect, that she is less of a person or lesser in importance than you are?

I wonder if part of the reason that we seem unable to hold the hearts of our children is because sarcasm is so common in our interaction with them? I wonder if the reason we have so many dysfunctional families is because we don't speak to people with kindness? I wonder if the reason we have so many unfaithful husbands is because we don't speak to them with respect?

The first phrase of that verse says that we should not let ANY unwholesome words come out of our mouths. If we truly understand what sarcasm is, then I assume we are able to properly identify it as unwholesome. It builds up no one. It benefits no one. It tears down. It destroys. It belittles.

(The bottom half of the shelf you saw above.)

So, where is the best place for sarcasm? There is no best place. It is best avoided, taken out of our lives, thrown away, gotten rid of. Permanently.

Ladies, would you pray with me, that God would work in our hearts to help us to remove this unwholesome speech from our hearts and minds. For some of us, it is so deeply ingrained, that it will take nothing less than the power of God to remove it. But if we are going to take a stand in this society, to be a light on a hill, to be salt in this world, we need to start with how we speak to each other. We need to be willing to let our conversations always be filled with grace. And we need to start here. Today. In our own homes.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

No Place Like Home...

(A view of my bedroom. Not perfect, but cozy.)

This past weekend, I clocked about 26 hours of travel time between West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. I saw a lot of beautiful sights with blue skies and colorful foliage, deer standing at dusk in the fields beside the roads I travelled, geese and ducks resting in ponds between migration flights. What a pretty weekend.

(An old glass lamp and candle, both given to me by various family members.)

I saw many beautiful houses in what used to be some farmer's pasture. These houses were large, modern structures meant to "demonstrate" a family's wealth and status. But those houses were not impressive. Oh, to the majority of those passers-by, they could have been impressive, but to me, they were a sad reality of where we have come as a society.

(Old plates and cups, dried beans in jars and some of my many cookbooks.)

One neighborhood in particular lay in the path of a hill and many trees which happened to be blocking the rays of the setting sun. It was about 4:30 pm, and without exception, every house was dark inside. There were no lights in the windows, no sign of life within. They appeared cold, dark, forbidding almost.

(Glassware and doilies from family members on a dry hutch given to me by my mother.)

I wondered about the families that lived in these houses. I assumed they were typical, modern American families. Both parents presumably work outside the home, their 2.5 children attend school, sports, music, dance and other extra-curricular activities. This house is used as a "base" of operation, where one goes to shower, sleep, maybe eat a quick meal before heading out to the next frenetic activity.

( A piece of my textile art with a display of teacups and saucers, all from thrift stores.)

I guess the thing that bothered me most is the impression of "home" that the children in this society are getting. Rarely do you find mothers home before their children, with dinner simmering on the stove, maybe fresh bread or cookies coming out of the oven. Is there a candle lit somewhere, soft music swelling in the background? Is there time for a snuggle and story before Daddy gets home?

(An old wooden crate holding various knick-knacks hung on one wall in the kitchen.)

I told my husband this morning that I am a "freak of nature" in this modern world. But more than anything, I want to be here to give my children a sense of "home". I want them to have roots that penetrate their very hearts, making it impossible to get away from those treasures we all long for, even if we do so secretly. I want my children to go out into the world and to be home-sick. Not so that they are crippled and can't escape my apron strings, but so that they will be driven to provide a similar home for their own families.

(The mantle in the living room. Everything here was either given to me or I found at a thrift store.)

I want to provide a "Place of Grace" to my family. I don't ever expect to make the front of "House Beautiful" or to earn some fantastic reality show on HGTV. It's not even about that. It's about providing a place of comfort, beauty, warmth, love, peace and protection from the world. It's about doing the best I can with the resources God has given me to create an environment that is pleasing to the Lord. It's about making sure my family has the best...the best of my love, the best of my time, the best of my prayers, the best of my teaching, the best of my discipling.

(A hoosier recently given to me by my Aunt, with more teacups, saucers, and pretty plates that I have been collecting from thrift stores.)

Ladies, could I offer you some advice? Be willing to stand against the push and pull of society. Be willing to make your house a home in every sense of the word. Don't allow the "status quo" to force your house to become a "base of operations" but do everything in your power to make your home, well... a home.

With all my hopes for you,

Elizabeth

Again, with the trying...

This has been a crazy year for us. We have had times of heartbreak, times of illness, times of quiet contemplation, times filled with crazy, hair-raising, non-stop activity, times of remodeling, times of tears, times of laughter, times of just wondering.



Now, we are facing the end of another year. Interestingly enough, I had posted back in January about my desire to be more diligent with this blog. But, God had other plans. In the meantime, I read, did some praying, searching and wondering. I have grown much this past year, and now feel ready to be back to sharing.



I have learned many things this year, about what is important, what really matters, who I am in the Lord, and part of His purpose for my life. I am certain I have many more things to learn. But, this is where I am, here, now.



I hope, as I did before, that this blog can be a help, a blessing, an inspiration and a joy to those who choose to read it. My heart's desire is to be more like Him, and that will be shown through my service to my husband, my children and my home. I don't expect to be well known, considered a great writer, an inspirational speaker, or whatever many people blog for. I do want to be used by the Lord. I am getting to the point where I am one of those "elder women" who should be teaching the "younger women" about loving the Lord, your husband, your children, your home, to be diligent, thoughtful, prudent and wise.

I ask you to bear with me, as I share my heart. I hope to be consistent, but I may not be. So, I ask that you be patient with me. I am simply a wife/mother/home keeper who doesn't have a lot of time. But, I do care about you, my readers. I do have a heart for young women who are misled, confused and unsure of themselves. I do desire to see you grow in maturity, in love and in grace to be the women you were created to be.

Thanks for sticking with me,

Elizabeth

Unintentionally Guilty

I am working on reading my Bible through in 90 days. Quite an undertaking, I assure you, yet God has enabled me (so far) to be diligent and to stay right on track. I have been a Christian for ~ahem~ many years, but I have never read the Bible completely through. I have attempted to, but in trying to do it in a year, I get bogged down. Reading it in 90 days, about an hour a day, seems to suit me much better and I am really enjoying it.

As I have read, I have learned much. Like, I had no idea that Noah and his family were on the ark a total of one year and ten days from the time God shut the door until the time He re-opened it. Whew! That Mrs. Noah must have been some kind of woman! I can't stand animals in my house and yet she lived with two of every kind couped up in a boat for over a year. All I can say is, "YUCK!"

Once I started reading in Leviticus, I read about God's laws and decrees He intended the Israelites to follow. There were quite a few of them and I found that many times they were repeated. (You know that if God sees fit to repeat something, He must really mean it!) Starting in chapter 4, though, I noticed that the Lord saw fit to repeat something 6 times. And if that didn't reach out and slap me silly, I don't know what else would. Because it scared me.

I know that Christ came to redeem me and that I am no longer under the law. We are taught that quite often in our Evangelical settings. But, that does not mean that the law is now null and void or that those books in the Bible no longer hold any relevancy for us today. There is still much to be gained from reading, learning and understanding the laws, decrees, commandments and principles that God has laid down for us to live by. Well, you might wonder how important are they really?

Listen to what God said to Moses: "If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD's commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible." (Lev. 5:17, NIV) (see also: Lev 4:13, 22, 27, 5:1, 4) Emphasis added.

How many times, daily, hourly, minute by minute do you suppose one could sin against God and not even know it? The idea that even now one of us could be sinning in some way against God is a tad bit unnerving. But what makes it worse, is that God says we are guilty and will be held responsible. Wow. No more "ignorance is bliss". No more can we shyly giggle and go "whoops! Well, God knows that I am just dust." No. Six times God says we are guilty and will be held responsible.

How do we avoid this trouble? How do we keep from being held responsible? Granted, once we accept Christ as our Savior and Redeemer, all of our sins are forgiven, past, present and future. But we are to live holy lives, because God Himself is Holy. Near the end of Leviticus, in chapter 20 verses 7 & 8, He says this: "Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. Keep my decrees and follow them, I am the LORD who makes you holy."

It's a great thought for contemplation, is it not? Is there an answer? I believe it is to stay in His Word. We must know what the Word says in order to follow His mandates. We are to test the Spirits, we are to discern the Truth, we are to grow in grace and knowledge. We can only do that if we stay in the Word.

It's still early in the New Year. There is still time to resolve to spend time studying His Word everyday. It is possible to not be so naive, to not be unitentionally guilty. Will you plan to know Him more this year? Or will you plan to try to claim ignorance to the Great I Am? It's certainly your choice.

Thanks for your time,
Elizabeth

Well, Trying Again.

Every year, we resolve to do better, to make better choices, to gain more control in one area or another.

I hope to get this blog up and running again. It's been a while. The Lord has been doing many things in my heart and my life and I have been through a season that required me to "Be Still".

As I attempt again to renew this blog, my goals are the same but at a different capacity. My desire is to inspire women to love the Lord with all their hearts, minds and souls, to love their husbands and their children, to be managers (keepers, guardians, busy) at home, to be ministers in their own Jerusalem.

My hope is to update this blog at least once a week. I hope that you will be patient with me as I openly admit that this blog is not my life, my highest priority or my reason for living. I do not have time every day to write, update and make progress reports. I have observed blogs that add new things four or more times a day. I don't have that kind of time. I am at a different place in my life.

So, tomorrow, I hope to have this blog up and running again.

Thanks for sticking with me!
Elizabeth

Aaahhh, Summer Relaxations!

My daughter, Mary, thought this was a really neat picture. I think she has a really good eye. Oh, and the relaxation part? We got to cut all that hay after she took the picture.

Cinnamon rolls the size of a large man's hand. I made these and they are excellent. (If I do say so myself.)

More bread that I made, all packaged and ready to go.

My Sunflower Bread, as it cools. What a fun, creative way to make a loaf of bread. I have been selling bread like this and the last two pictures at our local farmer's market each week and I am loving the whole experience. I start baking at around 4 am on Friday, go until about 11 pm. Then I get up between 3 and 4 on Saturday to finish up. We sell on Saturday mornings. Today, I brought home one lonely loaf of raisin bread and a few sweet rolls. Relaxing, if you don't mind all of those dishes, the back pain and the lack of sleep.

Laura got a new puppy, Salem. Smart dog. No. Really. He is pretty smart. Even for a dog. It's so relaxing.

The Squirt turned six and had a banana split birthday. She had originally wanted banana splits, with a banana cake and banana chips but we narrowed that down to simply (probably not the word I am looking for...) banana splits. We had the whole works. Turned out, she really only wanted ice cream, a banana, and some chocolate syrup over it. The rest of us enjoyed "the works" part. And some relaxing. Sort of. Are parties ever relaxing? I wonder.....

I gave Cari and Shannon a hair cut. It looks nice, but when I cut Shannon's hair, I wanted to cry. But, as she kept reminding me, it's her head. I will have to post those pictures later.

Anyhow, so far for me, it's been anything but relaxing. I think all of that is about to change. We are going camping this weekend with two dear families and we are so excited. We'll be camping on the river with swimming, fishing, blueberry picking and some real relaxation. I can't wait.

Until next time,

Take Care,

Elizabeth

There's No Place Like Home

At my home, where I love to be, there are flowers blooming everywhere. Here one of our many rose bushes is in bloom over a basement window. Shannon took pictures of our flowers and it has been a joy to me to be able to give some of these beautiful blooms to loved ones who have popped in for a minute or two over the last couple of weeks.

The youngun's enjoying a day in the sun. We have had much rain lately, but as you can tell by the dogwood in the back of the picture that the rain has been good.

My dear, handsome, strong and amazing hubby and me. This was the background that my mom painted for a formal dinner and dance that we held in honor of Amanda and her home school graduation.

We have been pretty busy around here lately. We've had two graduations, finished up another year of home school, been serving in our community, planting bits and pieces of our garden and I have been loving being home.

Our garden is well on it's way. We've already been eating the lettuces from it and soon we will be chomping away on the broccoli that has little baby heads out there. Our cabbages are huge, our peas are blooming. We have four kinds of squashes up, two kinds of cucumbers, green beans, potatoes, various herbs. We have planted pumpkin and brussel sprouts, have the tomato and pepper plants ready to go in, turnips going crazy, and we are almost ready to plant our corn and pole beans. The only thing left is the okra. We have been eating very well from our "forest foraging" that we do each spring. The paw-paw trees look like this will be another bumper crop year. I found a book with recipes for the paw-paws and also persimmons which I had to let go last year because I didn't know what to do with them. The peaches are already the size of golf balls here, too.

Inside, the Lord is finally answering my prayers for helping me learn to be diligent and get things in better order. Much of that, I believe, is that I am feeling better due to the supplements I have been taking and I have been running. Not errands, but actually running four miles about three times a week. Who knew that I could love running? Anyhoo, feeling better is helping me do better in other areas. And more and more, I start feeling like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz. She had to go places, do things and meet people before she found the value of home. I find myself happily cleaning the kitchen, clicking my heels together and saying "there's no place like home, there's no place like home!" How I praise the Lord for this home, my hubby, my children and my place in life at this time.
I hope all of you are enjoying spring as much as I am. Oh, by the way, it's good to be back here in the blogging world. I would love to hear from all of you!

Take care,

Elizabeth