To Be a Handmaid of the Lord: A book review

When I recently wrote "Sister Value Yourself," an old blogging friend popped up in the comments, Angela Legg.  She spoke up on this post, I'm sure, because she and I share a soap box or two.  We believe women should be encouraged to eat of the meat of the Word of God.  That so many of the failings of women in our culture are because they don't recognize their value in God's eyes.  That the most important thing we can do as teachers of women is point them back to God's love and His word!  

It's these ideas that drove the new edition of her book, To Be a Handmaid of the Lord.  I reviewed the first edition two years ago when it was designed as challenging Sunday School or homeschool material for pre/young teen girls.  And I was impressed with it then. 

Sunday School Upgrade

I remember as a teen that I was often very frustrated with the material in my Sunday School class.  It was moralistic (no sex, no drugs, no rock and roll!), psychological (believe in yourself!) and simplistic (good friends are important!).  That was enough to do it for me as a teen.  I loved my teachers but I hated those dumb lessons.   Looking back as an adult, I have an even bigger complaint.  The material did nothing to build faith, encourage independent study, or establish the foundational habits that young people need to follow Jesus. 

No Sunday School Curriculum? No Problem!

Our kids at church participate in the local Bible Bowl.  For those of you unfamiliar with this concept, area church kids  meet at a central location once per month and have a competition over  predetermined Bible texts.  This year we are doing the life of Jesus, and we cover three chapters per month.  On Wednesday nights, we help our kids prepare, one chapter at a time.  For the past year and a half, I've been working with the first and second graders.

Planning for the Future

December is a month of planning at my house.  I'm a college teacher planning next term's lessons.  I'm a home-schooler picking textbooks, printing off calendars and preparing projects.  We'll be moving summer of 2014 and I am looking with a critical eye at things that need to be sold, thrown away or boxed up.  More than any of that though, I'm planning with my two daughters in mind. 

This year I read two books, Sacred Parenting and Parenting by the Book.  Though they were on a very different topics (the first on spiritual disciplines for parents and the second on parenting like Grandma) they asked a painful question.  What do you want for your kids not next year or the year after but at 30?

Think about that a minute.

Flashback:Double Vision

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you. (Lowry, Mark. "Mary Did you Know?" 1984.)

Double vision happens when our two eyes won't work in concert.  It's a result of a blow to the head or damage to our eyes. However it's not usually something we would pray for!  In the spiritual realm though double vision is just about as good as it gets. A true gift from God, it lets us see two true things at the same time.  Mary must have had the perfect point of view.  From 12 inches away, she looked into the face of her nursing son and saw the eternal Word of God. Two true things.  Mary swaddled her tiny son.  Mary's tiny son created her!  And we wonder, in the song and in our lives, if she could see it both ways. Do you have double vision moments?  Moments when with clarity you see two true things, one physical thing and one spiritual thing? 

There's No Wrong Way

There's no wrong way to eat a Reese's.  Do you remember those old commercials?  I especially liked the one where the vampire sucks out all the peanut butter!  Although there could conceivably be a wrong way to eat a Reese's (an IV drip of chocolate and peanut butter comes to mind), the point is that I can eat a peanut butter cup in many different ways and still be doing it right.  

Diaper Cakes, Flowers, and Little Kids

Everybody has their "thing."  Let me tell you three things that are not mine.  

1. Diaper Cakes: a beautiful idea but entirely outside of my abilities

2. Flowers: plastic or real put a flower in my vicinity and it will die

3. Little kids: love mine, like yours, as a teacher though I am hopeless!

So if you start to read about teaching, studying, reading and growing this month and think to yourself, 'That is not my thing!" I understand. However, I have helped a friend make a diaper cake; I have planted marigolds with my then three year old and I have taught more than one Wednesday night class for kiddos.  Sometimes we HAVE to do things that are not "our thing." 

Let Me Point Out

Recently as I was scrolling down my Facebook home page, I found one of those articles that pops up again and again in your feed.  By Daniel Howell, the article was "Four ways to encourage your kids to leave the church."  I read it and snickered in agreement.

Before I was a blogger, I didn't read comments or leave them.  I know that this is a bad lurker habit. I just didn't realize how much that interaction could mean to the writer.  These days I'm a serial scroller.  Down I went.