Proverbs 31:12

I feel like the worker who hired on at the last hour!! I know this is very late but I still wanted to post a few thoughts I've been mulling over this whole week!

(Just for the record, I've been helping Mom and my sisters prepare for a HUGE garage sale- huge as in going through every room in the house and going through closets, drawers and shelves....We've been singing and smiling because that's way better then frowning and complaining about all the JUNK we've been going through!! So it's been a busy week!)

This study has been so encouraging and thought provoking to me! All this week I've enjoyed reading the different blogs and comments...there is much wisdom to be gained from the different ladies I've been reading. The perspectives have been very insightful. Mrs. Joy, with her 25 years of marriage, Kristen, with her 1,000 (and a couple by now!) days, and Julia, who will be married in 75 days! As well as the ladies who've linked their blog on Kristen's.

"She doeth him good and not evil all the days of her life."

Doing good. I know I said this last time, but there is SO much packed into this little verse! But I've been thinking about our hearts as we do good. I'm a list person. I like to make lists and check them off! So I could make a list of good goals to have, good things to do for my husband and dutifully follow it- have a clean house. *check* Make sure his clothes are clean. *check* Have a full cupboard. *check* Etc. But is it really "doing good" if my mindset and heart isn't right?

In the book and movie, Anne of Green Gables, there is a scene where Anne has insulted Marilla's good friend and neighbor Mrs. Lynde. Marilla insists that Anne apologizes but Anne refuses. So Matthew (he's probably my favorite!) creeps up to Anne's room to talk to her and says (roughly) "Can't you just smooth it over, Anne? You don't have to really mean that your sorry, but just kind smooth it over so to speak"

In I Corinthians 13 it talks about love, and what love is. At the beginning of the chapter it talks about having good attributes and standards, but if those are not followed with love, they are nothing. Isaiah 29:13 says "And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw nigh unto me, and with their mouth and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me.."

Both of these scriptures are talking about having the right attitude; having the right heart-set and mindset.

It's really easy to start checking off lists and "doing good" things for our husband and families, but are we "smoothing things over" and not having the right attitude? Are we just doing to survive? Or are we providing with graciousness for our families? Are we doing laundry and cooking meals so the family doesn't smell bad and doesn't grouch because they're hungry? Or are we providing comfort and sustenance? Do we view our lives as housekeepers or homemakers?

Our families and husbands are such a joy to our lives! (My family is to me!) This is a challenge to me to truly have the right heart. And not just do. Doing good on the outside and doing good on the inside too.

Deuteronomy 10:12 "And now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all they soul."