Since we have started a team format at this blog and since my original introduction left much to be desired, I thought I would make my own introduction post.

I launched the The Christian Woman website in 2005 after leaving my job to be a stay at home mom. I had been working full-time after having my first child but after awhile felt the draw to stay home. Before leaving my job I began to research work at home opportunities and became very interested in the network of Christian women who made extra money online. The website was my way of compiling the information I had gathered to share with others as well as a ministry to Christian women.

Well, my stay at home mom status only lasted for a year for reasons I won’t expand on, and after another child I returned to working full-time. A working Christian mother is a bit of a minority in most circles but I have been lucky to have the support of my husband and have not felt that my working was outside of God’s will for me. At least not thus far.

Lately I have been becoming a bit restless and feeling the need to live a bit simpler. While there are many things I enjoy about working, juggling life can be a bit overwhelming at times. I am not sure if my restlessness is a push from God to go in a new direction or not, so I am praying and waiting.

In the meantime, I have revived some of my online activities to see if there are opportunities for extra income. When I returned to work a few years ago I let this website stagnate a bit so I am trying to update slowly. Over the last few years I have enjoyed blogging in other venues, so I am happy to have other Christian women blogging here with me to provide a better forum for the women visiting this site.

I share all this in anticipation of future post topics. My husband and I have agreed to try and save up some money to get to a place where I could have the option to quit working. I am not convinced that I want to quit working but I am convinced I would like the option. Much of what I will be posting on will be around my efforts to save money, make money form home, and simplify my life in the long run.

But most importantly, I am trying to discern God’s will for my life at this juncture. Not only have I been restless about working but I have had a desire to do more ministry-type work. My dream would be to take a few classes at a local seminary and spend more time with my nose in a theology book. But most importantly, I would just like to have more time to spend with my family without feeling rushed.

I look forward to sharing more of my journey in future posts.

Labels: Carrie, introduction, The Christian Woman

In all my spare time [joke], I teach piano to some local students. Not only are they kids great kids, but they’re talented, fun, and creative.

This week’s lesson was a little challenging for one of the students. I noticed he was a little distracted. While trying to teach a new skill, it was necessary to redirect his attention to what we were learning—his eyes were wandering. It could have been that this particular approach to some new music his mom bought was too much of a stretch for him, but more than likely he was thinking about his part in the upcoming production at the local children’s theatre—he’s an extremely talented young man.

“If you listen carefully to what he says
and do all that I say, I will be an enemy
to your enemies and will oppose
those who oppose you.”
(Exodus 23:22 NIV)

We aren’t much different than my young student. We are so easily distracted by things that we have assigned a higher priority. To him it was likely his role in an upcoming play. But, what is it to us? When the Lord is speaking or teaching us something—giving us some solid direction to live by—do we find ourselves distracted? Do we hold phone calls, television programming, or even housework as a higher priority than listening “carefully to … all [the Lord] says”?

Look at the promise that’s attached to careful attention to the Lord’s voice: “I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.” What a promise! What a reward for carefully listening to Him! So, why are we so easily distracted?

It’s a matter of the heart. Our hearts are divided. We deem insignificant things as more important than the MOST Significant One. We fail to sit still and listen; our minds wander to other things even when the Lord is speaking to our hearts.

_____________
© 2008 Jan Ross
All Rights Reserved

We serve such an awesome God; a God who hears our prayers and answers them. It is such a thrill to watch Him doing it--sometimes, I just can't wait to tell someone. So here you are, and here I go.

My husband worked for the same company for nine years and was laid off last Christmas. He works in technology, and was out of work for more than six months. His layoff was, in my mind, an act of God--a direct answer to prayer. The culture at his former employer was very negative and non-Christian, and took a toll on his outlook and his attitude. He wasn't completely aware of it until he had been gone for a few months, then one morning, he looked at me and said he was beginning to realize how toxic his work environment had been. God has now blessed him with an excellent job at a well-known software company.

During our marital struggles and his layoff, I talked to my Bible study group, and they suggested that I begin praying that the Lord would surround him with Christian men. I'd never thought to pray such a thing, but the more I thought about it, it became clear that I should have done that a long time ago. My husband is not one to have close friends, and though he attends church with me and the girls, he does not go to a Bible study and has had no close Christian contact with anyone except me for nearly all of our 22 years of marriage. Just as women need other Christian women for fellowship and accountability, so, too, do men--especially when they spend five days a week in a toxic company culture.

I began praying that the Lord would bring Christian men into my husband's life, and I have been absolutely and completely blown away. Within a month or so of my husband being laid off, our neighbors--both the husband and wife--were laid off from their jobs within two weeks of each other. Both are wonderful Christians, and as the Lord would have it, my husband and Rick, our neighbor, began to really get to know each other.

Then, we went camping with my husband's sister and her family this summer. Our brother-in-law Mark has become a heartfelt Christian in the last ten years, and as he began to pilot a pontoon boat that we had all rented for the day, he stood up and prayed over us and the boat.

A month later, my friend Terry and her husband Ralph came to visit from Utah. Ralph came from a very dysfunctional family, but he has found Christ all by himself, and his favorite pasttime is to study the discrepancies in Mormonism, and to take on any and all Mormon missionaries that come to the door. He and my husband had a wonderful day together at Safeco Field watching the Mariners play from the 13th row.

And then today...wow. But first, let me set this story up for you. My daughter who is 13 has been going through tryouts to get onto a select softball team. She had offers from two teams, but was waiting to hear from a third team--the one she really wanted to play on. It came as a shock, then, when we got a call a few days later telling us that the team she wanted--the "Reign"--was disbanding, because they couldn't find enough kids for their team.

My daughter was terribly upset, because she really didn't feel comfortable with the other two teams. But she knew she had to make a choice, and she asked me to pray about it. So I did. And she did. And she decided to go with a team called the Rijo Athletics, albeit with many misgivings.

When our family showed up at their training facility today to meet with the head of the program, and to give our daughter an opportunity to do a little training, my first impression was good. Then, as my daughter and the head of the program went outside to do some throwing, my husband told me that he noted that the trainer had an ichthus (a fish symbol) on the back of his shirt, and that apparently all of the uniforms worn by the employees (all were men except for the receptionist) had fish on them.

Later, I pointed it out to my daughter, and Jose, the head of the program (a former New York Mets pro baseball player), turned and showed her the back of his shirt. He told us then that the whole athletic organization was a Christ-based program. Later, his phone rang, and the ring tone was the popular Christian song: "Hallelujah! Grace like rain falls down on me..."

Wow, I thought. The Lord had answered our prayer for Christian's select softball team. He had most certainly brought us to the right place.

But then, it hit me. We were standing in the middle of an entire athletic organization composed of at least 7-9 men--trainers, coaches, mentors. All Christians. All unabashedly in love with Jesus. All shining with the light of His love.

Lord God, you did it again. More Christian men, falling down around us like rain.

"You do not have because you do not ask." James 4:2

I'm so glad my "group" told me to ask, and so glad I did. I can't wait to see what else comes with the next shower of God's divine grace.

Hallelujah. Praise God.

Gwenn

Labels: answers to prayer, Christian men

As I've been in prayer about what to post here and searching my heart for something relevant to share, I was reminded of the recent political forum that was hosted by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church. I had almost talked myself out of posting this because it is controversial and it may bring about some angry feedback, but the fact is that this is a Christian blog and therefore, I hope that both those of us that contribute here and those who may read this will carefully consider what I believe that God has led me to say.

I was pleasantly surprised by the forum in general. My hope was to watch it with an open mind and listen to what each candidate had to say and try to sit through it in it's entirety without changing the channel or turning the television off completely. The questions that Pastor Warren posed were, I believe, relevant and timely, especially for those of us who want more than just the normal political jargon from the candidates that the media notoriously supplies us with.

The Associate Pastor at my church sent out an e-mail today about the forum and he posed one additional question that he (and now I) would have liked to hear an answer on from Barak Obama. Following is one of the questions that Warren posed to Mr. Obama in the forum.

Now, let’s deal with abortion; 40 million abortions since Roe v. Wade. As a pastor, I have to deal with this all of the time, all of the pain and all of the conflicts. I know this is a very complex issue. Forty million abortions, at what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?

That should be a simple question for someone who claims to be a Christian to answer, right? Apparently not.

Well, you know, I think that whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade.

Considering the following that Obama has, I have to wonder if even Christians are undecided about the time that life begins and when a person is given human rights. How is that possible? Has God not made quite clear that all life is valuable and precious? Two passages of Scripture testify to God's perspective of human life.

First, Genesis 1:26-27 describes the Creator's intention in creating human life. God did something distinctive in human being, his most valued creation. He created men and women "in his own image." This fact makes human life distinctive and highly valued. In Genesis 9:6, God first forbids murder because people bear God's image. Though His hand is visible in every aspect of creation, no other part of that creation is a replication of His image. In Colossians 3:10, Paul affirms the sanctifying work of God in renewing his image in us through Christ.

The second truth that sets human life apart as distinctive is that God sent his Son to die on our behalf. In this way, he demonstrated his love for us (Romans 5:8) and, at the same time, demonstrated the value he places on human life. Jesus became human and lived among us (John 1:14) and he died to reconcile us to God. God regards human life as precious.

How then can anyone, especially a Christian, simply say that knowledge of the time when a human being is entitled to right is "above my pay grade?"

Labels: Barak Obama, Cindy Price, God, human rights

We no sooner finished eating and the doorbell rang. A dear friend from church stopped by for a minute to drop off something I’d left behind. As we were talking about the service, she made a comment.

Labels: contrast, Jan Ross, missions, The Christian Woman

As I said in my first blog for The Christian Woman, I'm going to stick my neck out and talk about the crash of my 20-year-marriage. For those of you just tuning in, there was indeed a crash, but there are survivors. My husband and I are still together, but we are definitely the walking wounded.

Before I dive into the details, however, I want to state that my goal is to honor my husband in these blogs. That will not always be easy, because in any marriage crash, the two people involved have usually said or done things they are not proud of. However, I hope to focus more on my downfalls and try to keep my husband's part in the drama as high-level as possible. I don't want to embarrass him in any way.

Both my husband and I can point to the exact day when everything began to go downhill. It was my birthday, and my grandmother had just died that morning. My grandmother and I had been very close, and I was her last surviving relative, and heir. I live in the Seattle area, and she lived in Oceanside, California. A little over a year earlier, I had moved her out of her home into an assisted living facility in Oceanside, emptied out her house of 25 years with the help of some old friends who lived in the area, and put it on the market.

I could not convince Grandma to come up to my neck of the woods and live in assisted living, so in the ensuing year, I flew down to visit her about every 3 or 4 months. She was 90 years old, and my previously energetic grandma was now dragging around a body that simply wanted to fall apart.

After a year, as her health progressed downward, I finally convinced her to move up near me. Once again, I was in the "moving business" and hired movers to pack up her little apartment, and we came up to Washington. She had barely moved into her new digs when she began falling a lot, and I was called to her side on a regular basis. Her doctor and I were practically on a first-name basis. Only three months after she moved in, she fell and broke her hip, and subsequently died in the hospital about a week after surgery.

Grandma died at 5 a.m. on my birthday, after a long week of intense stress, and visits to the hospital. That night, my husband took me out to dinner in Seattle, and as we sat in a very crowded restaurant, with people at tables literally inches away from ours, we tried to talk. I felt the need to unload.

I talked about how relieved I was that Grandma was no longer trapped in her worn-out body. I talked about how I felt like I had been let out of a cage after months of running back and forth between Grandma's facility and my home. My children were 11 and 7 when she died, so I had been busy trying to be a Mom, too. I talked about how my inheritance from my Grandma would certainly give us more freedom, since we had always had to be careful with our money...

With that last statement, I might as well have hit my husband over the head with a mallet. Through much of our marriage, my husband has been the sole provider. He felt that his years of working hard to provide for the family had been nullified with one insensitive sentence that implied what he had done wasn't good enough. I had no idea at the time; I was so wrapped up in my own emotions and exhaustion.

He had good reason to feel that way. My husband has always been an amazing provider. We live in a beautiful home and I have absolutely nothing to complain about. But that one sentence in my husband's mind was simply the last straw of what he felt were years of straws.

It didn't matter that I needed grace that night. Grace is a tough thing to grant when you have just been hit over the head.

I believe when the Lord Jesus told Peter to forgive people 70 times 7, He was speaking specifically about marriage. When you think about having to forgive a friend 490 times, you begin to wonder why you would ever hang onto a loser like that. But when you think about it in the context of marriage, it takes on a whole different meaning. 490 times? Let's see--that's about a year and a half's worth.

One of the mistakes that we have made through our marriage is not granting forgiveness each time one of us has hurt the other. We have piled up each others' unforgiven sins between each other like a stack of stinky rotten fish. Now we have this mountain of malodorous entrails between us, and it just somehow seems easier to stay on our separate sides than to try to climb through the muck.

I am now learning to go immediately to Jesus when my husband hurts me. IMMEDIATELY--before another stinky fish appears. This has several advantages:

--It prevents me from having a knee-jerk reaction and saying something hurtful back to my husband.
--Within a few minutes, I have a peace about it, and the Lord often gives me a different perspective. Forgiveness is always easier when the Lord is involved.
--Keeping my mouth shut and going directly to prayer affects my husband far more positively than anything else I could do or say, because it is very hard for me to be gracious when I am hurt, just as it was for him at that birthday dinner.

I remember reading the following sentence many years ago, and it touched me so deeply that I never forgot it: "Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that crushed it."

So, what will it be? Stinky fish, or the sweet fragrance of violets?

Blessings!

Gwenn

Labels: forgiveness, marriage

If you could look inside my brain (scary place I tell ya) you'd see something similar to a new ticker displaying all my thoughts. They don't scroll in any particular order and unfortunately, not much clarity either. I try in vain to grab one of these nuggets of information, analyze it, try to figure out what to do with this little jewel and end up making a new folder to store it in only to lose it in the hard drive. Yes, I told you it's a scary place. It's called ADHD and I got it bad. It has caused me more difficulty than my news ticker is capable of displaying. My one hope, my one consolation is that when I can force myself to pull away and actually sort out my thoughts, God does wonderous things. My merciful Savior reminds me often of Psalm 46:10.

Labels: Cindy Price, Psalm 46:10, stillness

On the way to practice last night "At the top of my lungs" by Philips, Craig and Dean was playing. We sang....loudly as we do...and I was happy that God was reminding me to be thankful that I have three beautiful children to chase around, that I have a new(er) car in which to drive them, that I have been SAVED and He has a purpose for me. Fast forward about 4 hours and as we were headed home after all the chaos mentioned above, God AGAIN played that same song on the radio. I see a pattern here....God was telling me something. Then, this morning on the way to work as I pull out of the driveway, that same song AGAIN was playing. I know, you are probably thinking I listen to one of those radio stations that overplays certain songs, but I'm here to tell you that is not the case. God wanted me to listen...to really hear the words. This is what He was wanting me to hear:

"At the top of my lungs I will sing HALLELUJAH. You're the one who made me, the one who gave me this life I live! Forever more, I love you Lord."

So that made me think...."Ok, Becki, get a grip. What else is God wanting you to hear?" (yes...I talk to myself)...

..."can't be silent. I think of the mercy you’ve shown me. My lips began overflowing, how great is your love. Such gratitude for all that you do... ...Let my love be loud, a sweet joyful noise only for you. I lift up my voice. I lift up my voice at the top of my lungs..."

God is telling me to lift up my voice and PRAISE HIM. For all that He alone has brought me back from and through this blog I am able to do just that.

What has God brought me back from you ask? Here's is the part I don't want to write about. My childhood was bad. Could have been worse but it was bad. My parents were in a physically abusive relationship, they divorced when I was 5. I have many memories of that abuse. At age 6 my father moved 3,000 miles away. I was abandoned by him in nearly every sense of the word, but as an adult, I have forgiven him (we do not have a relationship but I forgive him). At around age 8 I was sexually abused by a close family member. I acted out in inappropriate ways through my teenage years....I was filled with rage and entitlement with a complete lack of self esteem. I tried drugs and alcohol in an effort to sooth my rage, anxiety and fear and I know now that by the grace of God I never became addicted to either. I had repressed the abuse memories until around age 27 or 28 when it all came flooding back to me. My marriage ended because I was such a complete pile of pooh and unable to fix myself or forgive anyone around me. I finally met a man who brought me up close and personal with Jesus two years ago and God has restored my feeble and broken soul. I have learned so much about how and why things happen. My favorite verse -- Romans 8:28 -- reminds me every day that God will work all things for good for those who believe in Him and are called according to His purpose. I believe that God has been pushing me to share my STORY....which is no longer my shame....in an effort to heal me and help others. I will follow His lead and do as He has asked me to do. I will write what He wants me to write. I will be the REAL me...the one who has gone through unspeakable things and lived to tell about them. I will be ok because God is with me. I will not only survive, I will thrive.

** NOTE ** As I was trying to publish this, I started to have serious computer problems, it wouldn't fully publish, etc. The devil was messing with me! HA! :0

Labels: forgive, God, praise, sockrma18

There’s nothing quite like the taste of fresh-picked corn, rolled in fresh hand-churned butter, and sprinkled with just a touch of salt. Oh, how sweet it is! I actually caught myself singing “Amazing corn, how sweet the taste!” to the tune of “Amazing Grace.”

Fiddlestix! What was I thinking? How could corn compare to the sweet and precious grace of our Savior, Jesus Christ?

Ahhh, maybe it’s not that much of a stretch to think that corn and grace are connected after all. While each ear of corn begins as a single kernel, our life in Christ begins with a single element—grace…unmerited favor.

God’s grace planted in our hearts grows or increases as it is fertilized, watered, and cultivated by the Word of God. Much like that single kernel of corn is planted, fertilized, watered, and cultivated, grace multiplies exponentially as we put our faith into action, growing in the Truth of God’s Word, and walking daily in fellowship with Him.

This afternoon I was freezing some corn and noticed some ears were underdeveloped. They came from the same single kernel, planted in the same field, given the same fertilizer, watered with the same water, and cultivated with the same hoe. But some of the ears failed to fill out completely. Could it be those ears were like those of us who fail to fulfill our commitment to Christ?

As I look at my life, I am compelled to ask myself, is grace in me multiplying as much as that one kernel multiplies into an entire ear of corn or is my walk with God underdeveloped and unproductive? What about you? Are you multiplying in grace?

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18 KJV)

Labels: marriage

For those of you not hip to the cool language of text messaging...JC is my BFF stands for JESUS CHRIST IS MY BEST FRIEND FOREVER! Yeah...I'm a cool mom. :)

Labels: sockrma18

One of the most best known verses in the Bible, contains one of the least understood phrases: "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 KJV)

Labels: Jan Ross, John 3:16, limitless, love, so, The Christian Woman

Ok, I admit I need help! Chocolate donuts with my coffee in the morning is about as good as it comes. The exquisite combinations of flavors tickle my taste buds. But, tell me, why is it that the things which bring us so much pleasure are so bad for us? Obviously, there's something wrong with me. Normal women don't indulge in such fattening, artery-clogging fancies in the morning. And, it's not like I do this every morning, but when a chocolate donut graces my kitchen counter, it calls out to me, "Come and dine!" I'm powerless to resist.

Labels: Chocolate, James 1:12, Jan Ross, The Christian Woman

Labels: Cindy Price, introduction, The Christian Woman

Labels: introduction, Jan Ross, The Christian Woman

The Christian Woman Blog will soon be a team blog!

A few women have expressed interest in joining me here and I hope that they will be posting soon. I would still love to have a few more women join us - the more the merrier. If you are interested, please send me an email for more information.

Once things get settled, I hope to say a bit more about the blog and the new contributors. Stay tuned.

Labels: Blog info

I have been unable to spend much time at all on this blog, but would like it to be an active blog for Christian women to share their thoughts, struggles, and ideas.

For this reason, I am looking for a few good Christian women to join me her at the TCW blog. As I said on the website:

Who should join? Anyone who would like to write blog posts on topics that are covered on this site - family, frugality, devotions, etc.

There is no "pay" for joining, but if you have your own website to promote or products to sell, this will get you additional exposure. Or perhaps you would like to blog, but do not have enough motivation and/or ideas to keep up a blog on your own. Or maybe God has given you a gift in a certain area and you would like to share it with others through blogging

If you are interested or would like more information, please email me at "thechristianwoman" at gmail.com