Virtue: Awareness

I figured it was about time I started talking about some of the things we need to put in our Hope Chests in different categories, but particularly in the critical category of "Virtue." I didn't expect my first Virtue discussion to be on awareness. Until this afternoon, in the garden, picking soybeans, I wasn't aware that awareness was a virtue. My realization didn't have anything to do with the afternoon, or the garden, or the picking, or the soybeans. At least I don't think it did. I really don't know where it came from. Perhaps if I had been paying more attention, I would know where it came from.

I lack awareness.

I have been noticing this lately, and remedying it in a haphazard manner, but never did it occur to me that it is a character trait, and one of real importance, at that. It seems so small beside love, purity, integrity, honesty, patience--and perhaps it is--yet . . .

If you are not aware of God's gifts, how can you be grateful for them? How can you even enjoy them?

If you are not aware of danger, how can you keep from getting hurt--physically, emotionally, spiritually?

If you are not aware of the needs of others, how can you help to supply them?

How can you learn, if you are not aware of your need to learn or that there is anything to learn?

How can you do anything if you aren't aware there is anything to do or that you haven't done it?

How can you
be thoughtful of others,
have relationships with others,
love,
if you are not aware of others?

So much escapes my notice. This afternoon, while I was out walking, one of our relatives/neighbors stopped in his truck and asked me if Dad was home. I told him no, and I didn't know where he had gone or when he would be back (as is usually the case). After he drove on and I walked on, I seriously pondered whether I had told the truth. I looked down into the yard--the truck was there and the car wasn't. I knew Mom was leaving shortly. Had she slipped out in the car without my noticing, and Dad was home in the truck, or was he still gone with the car and she had not yet left in the truck?

How is it that I could walk out of the house and through the parking area without noticing whether I had passed a car or a truck (and this was not even my first time outside since Dad had left!)? How could I not know whether or not Mom had left, when I had not gotten out of the sight of the house or the driveway? Am I observant or WHAT?

I know I need to be more aware of what is going on around me (so that when people call for Dad I have some idea of whether he will be home "this afternoon," "later tonight," "late," or "sometime tomorrow"). I need to be more aware of God, His love, His blessings, His creation . . . my need of Him. I need to be more aware of others so that I can be more caring, kind, attentive, and helpful. I need to notice more often the dirt on my floor, the clutter on my desk, the dusty steps, the scummy tub, the cobwebs under my computer, so I'll clean house. And more than notice, I need to GET IT!

I'm rambling. I just became aware of the time. I need to go to bed.

I'm learning!

Who can find a virtuous woman?
for her price is far above rubies.
Proverbs 31:10

~ Are they that rare? (Oh, excuse me! Are we that rare?)

~ Do men (specifically single men) ever ask that question?

~ What does it mean to be "a virtuous woman"?

~ Was the passage about the Virtuous Woman in Proverbs written by a man or a woman?

~ Who was its intended audience?

~ Is being like the Proverbs 31 woman an unattainable goal?

~ I've run out of questions, myself. Do you have any? :-)

Love in Deed (part 1)

"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." 1 John 3:18

I have been thinking about this verse in relation to wifehood--what does it mean to love one's husband in deed as opposed to merely in word or in tongue? Would it not require some action by oneself? It certainly would, because that is what a deed is: something you do.

So what sort of deeds on the part of a wife would be means of loving a husband? Hmmm. Some people are not going to appreciate this, but I think it might involve cooking and laundering and housecleaning, among other things (of course). I mean no disrespect to those who do not appreciate my conclusion, but such an attitude reminds me of

"If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?" (James 2:15, 16)

If a "brother" or a "sister," then how much more a husband?

I feel very loved by my brother when he kills my wasps. And, oh, the love my father and brother express (whether they realize it or not!) when they set and empty mousetraps, and perform other . . . unpleasant . . . tasks. Surely they feel the same way about the laundry I do and the food I cook! Love without deeds is dead (borrowing James' phraseology).

I wonder . . . if I were to enter wifehood, how good would I be at loving in deed? Would I know how to perform the deeds that would be most loving? I think I would do very well in some ways and very . . . not well in others.

What if he not only liked clean clothes (I can handle that) but also liked his meals at consistent times (eeek!)

What if he not only liked good whole wheat bread (got that covered) but also liked a completely uncluttered house (ouch!)

What if he not only appreciated a frugal wife (I dare you to outdo me) but also appreciated a little more variety in the diet than beans a minimum of once a day (uh-oh!).

Hmmm. I've got work to do (but it's a labor of love).

What about you?

The Question Is . . .

. . . what should I post about? It's not that I have no ideas. I have many ideas, I just need some guidance. Or perhaps the fact that I have so many ideas is the reason I need some guidance. So, my readers, what would you like to hear about?

A Home of My Own

I want a home of my own. I really want a home of my own. Though I am content and happy, and I'd rather live here at home than anywhere in the world, I want a home of my own.

Sometimes my desire is just that natural desire every woman possesses. Sometimes it's because I want to run a house my way. Sometimes I am lonely, and want a friend and companion who belongs to me more than he belongs to anyone else. Sometimes I have had an encounter with one of my mother's threadbare dishtowels, which she will not throw away!

I have long known it is my duty to be faithful where I am, to take up the duties that present themselves to me now rather than just longing for something else in the future. I learned that as a teenager and have been reminding myself of it ever since. The other day I opened my Bible and my eyes fell on this verse--and only this verse--and it drove the nail of realization in even deeper.

And if ye have not been faithful

in that which is another man'’s,

who shall give you that which is your own?

Luke 16:12

Gulp

To all the fair maidens . . .

. . . who are waiting for your knights in shining armor.

Reasons your knight in shining armor may never take you away to the land of happily ever after.

1. You live such a cloistered life that no one knows you exist
2. You don't look like a fair maiden
3. You don't act like a fair maiden
4. You really aren't a fair maiden
5. He came, but you were too busy chatting with the rogues
6. You were so caught up in your work that you didn't notice him when he came
7. You don't really know what a knight in shining armor looks like, so you won't recognize him when he comes
8. Because you don't know what a knight in shining armor looks like, you end up going away with someone else before he even shows up
9. He's taking too long. You're getting old. Anything is better than nothing, right?
10. You know just what you want and you know just how it's going to be and you love to dream about it. So much so that when he walks by you on his noble steed while you are gazing up into the sky dreaming about "someday" you give "that rude man" a tongue-lashing for carelessly interrupting your fantasy.