At the beginning of the week, I had these grand plans to write a fantabulous post based on chapters 6 and 7 of Women Living Well. After coming down with a sinus infection/upper respiratory infection, I have decided to just directly answer the questions Courtney posted on her site. Maybe at a later date I will revisit this topic and write out the post I was originally intending.
So here goes....
Chapter 6 Questions "The Time-Warp Wife"
1.) We all have husbands with different needs. What are some areas you already help your husband?
I think the number 1 area I help my husband is filling his stomach. LOL In all seriousness, I absolutely LOVE to cook. I love trying new recipes, making up my own recipes, and loving on my husband through serving delicious meals. This love for cooking is not natural by any means. I used to be the joke of the family when it came to cooking. I recall when I was 12 or 13, I was at my older sister's house and I wanted to make myself boxed mac and cheese. At that age boiling water and noodles should not have been difficult. However, I didn't stand over the pot, forgot that I was cooking and burned the pot before I even got a chance to put the noodles in. From that point on, no one in the family allowed me to cook. I finally started learning in 2006 when I started watching "30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray." I would watch every evening after work and after a while I started to attempt the easiest recipes. After several months of good and bad experiences, I really started to flourish in the kitchen. I loved that I can make delicious meals and even my roommates started requesting me to cook. Now that I'm married, I am so thankful I tried to cook again because I love to see the smile on my husband's face after he takes that first bite. It makes my heart soar.
2.) Read Genesis 2:18 and the context there. What are some areas where you could work to be a better source of support and encouragement?
Genesis 2:18--And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." (NKJV)
The area I struggle in the most is making sure the home is always inviting. When we first got married, I moved into my husband's one bedroom apartment. While the apartment was quite large, I never fully felt like it was my home because he had it situated according to his preferences. When we brought my things into the apartment along with all of our wedding presents, the large apartment started to feel even more cramped to me. Now we live in my mother's house, also quite large, and yet I still have the same feelings because I do not feel comfortable disturbing the things she has in the home. We have way too much furniture and possessions crammed into the spaces we use and I just haven't been able to make heads or tails of it. I have recently been more diligent about keeping things as orderly as I can, but I still falter at times. There are days I know I can do better, I just don't know how.
Another area I am working on is walking through the home and praying over the house and our family. I am not completely efficient at this but I am slowly becoming more comfortable with this.
Chapter 7 Questions "Marriage in the Age of Media"
1.) What affect has media had on your marriage? Are there any boundaries you need to put in place to protect your marriage?
Media has had a large affect on my marriage. I love watching television, my husband loves to play video games, and we both have smart phones that at times put walls between us. It is quite common for one of us to complain about the other's media habits. I have given up watching many of the television shows I used to watch because they were not edifying in any way. In the chapter Courtney talks about shows where "women wear the pants." I used to watch so many shows like that and never realized how much of an impact they had on my view of marriage. After I stopped watching the shows and started reading scripture about God's view of a wife in Proverbs 31, Ephesians, and other passages, my thoughts have changed and I now see what my role in marriage is to be. I still struggle as I am learning and applying the principles of the scriptures but I know over time it will start to feel more natural to me.
2.) Read Proverbs 14:1. How does this verse pertain to media?
Proverbs 14:1--The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish pulls it down with her hands. (NKJV)
Depending upon what shows, music, and websites a woman views or hears, she can either set a positive or negative atmosphere in the home. Also, the amount of time spent on these activities is a factor as well. As Courtney points on in the book, media is amoral. It depends on how the media is used or what kind of media is used depends on if it is good or bad, uplifting or destructive. I spend a lot of time on Christian blogs and websites, bible study online through Facebook, and watching television shows that are fairly decent, however, they can still tear my family apart if I forsake my responsibilities as a wife and mother. How I run my household determines the health of my marriage and family.
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