Virtues in Action!

It's time to get practical! Well, it's all practical, but it's time for our virtues to get their hands dirty. K? Or clean, as the case may be. In this case I think it must be a little of both, 'cause we're doing laundry!

These are some virtues I thought of that we need for the job of laundry (there are probably a lot more).

Perseverance--—for the never-ending nature of laundry.

Love--—You need a good dose of this when your family members neglect to pick up their dirty clothes, neglect to clean out their pockets (can you hear me growling here?), neglect to put their clean laundry away. . . and get clean and dirty clothes mixed up so you have to wash the clean ones again.

Patience--—And patience goes right along there with it!

Faithfulness--—Faithfulness has a lot to do with any chore, but especially with chores like laundry that tend to get neglected (and be disliked). Of all of the housekeepers I know, laundry is the most complained about chore! Alas, it must be done. Personally, I kind of like the chore, but it is a big job. I do my family's laundry and I try to be faithful with it (speaking of which . . . ).

Some ways NOT to make yourself available

1. Tell everybody that you are available.

2. Constantly make comments about your single status.

3. Complain because no one is paying any attention to you.

4. Be overly friendly to eligible men.

5. Associate with eligible men while avoiding or ignoring other people.

6. Chase men.

7. Make a practice of inviting eligible men to dinner or parties just to check them out.

8. Accept undue or inappropriate attentions from a man.

9. Talk too much.

10. Be pushy or insistent.

11. Be or act desperate.

12. Be too quick to jump into a relationship.

13. Lower your standards or otherwise accept whatever you can get.

14. Look at every eligible man as a potential husband (or date).

More of the same

I really need to write something else--—but I'm sooooo tired. How about some more virtues instead? :-)

Honesty

Humility

Hopefulness

Hospitality

It looks like we have a lot of work to do in the “I” department!

Fortunately I can already face most of these (implied questions) without wanting to crawl underneath the nearest piece of furniture.

Idleness

Idolatry

Immodesty

Immorality

Impatience

Impudence

Impulsiveness

Impurity

Indecision

Independence (in a negative sense)

Indiscretion

Indifference

Infidelity

Ingratitude

Intemperance

Intolerance

Irreverence

Some things to definitely consider getting rid of

Gloominess

Gossip

Greed

Grumpiness

What every woman needs to know about husbands

Three fundamental things every woman needs to know about husbands, in order of priority:

According to popular opinion:

1. How to get a husband

2. How to keep a husband

3. How to get rid of a husband

What's wrong with this picture?

I think it should be something more like this:

1. What to do with a husband

2. How to keep a husband

3. How to get a husband

I'm working on #1 so I'll be able to do #2 in case I ever have the opportunity to do #1! ;-)

Something to Think About

I wrote this a while back and thought I'd just post it, since I really need to be doing things other than writing this evening!

Have you met the Proverbs 31 woman? Are you her? Are you becoming her?

If you were married, could the heart of your husband safely trust in you? (Proverbs 31:11)

Would you do your husband good, and not evil, all the days of your life? (Proverbs 31:12)

Do you work willingly with your hands? (Proverbs 31:13).

Do you provide your household with good food (or assist your mother in doing so) and would you if you were married? (Proverbs 31:15)

Do you stretch out your hands to the poor and needy? (Proverbs 31:20)

Are you well-clothed and would your family be if you had one? (Proverbs 31:21, 22)

Do you open your mouth with wisdom? (Proverbs 31:26)

Is your tongue governed by the law of kindness? (Proverbs 31:26)

Do you look well to the ways of your household? Or do you "“eateth the bread of idleness"”? (Proverbs 31:27)

If you had children, do you think they would rise up and call you blessed? Would they have reason to? Would your husband praise you? Are you praiseworthy? (Proverbs 31:28)

Beauty Prescription #1

Beauty Prescription #1: Develop a personal, real relationship with God and let Him transform you

You know that our emotions are revealed in our faces and eyes. Did you know that our characters are also revealed in our faces and eyes? Our faces and eyes reveal sadness, anger, love, confusion, anxiety, joy, peace, hatred, happiness, contentment, pride, envy, humility, and so many other things. And the bad ones don't do much for our appearance! Now do you suppose these things have any connection with our spiritual life? Of course they do!

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance . . ."” (Galations 5:22, 23).

While the Spirit of God is doing good things to us on the inside, those good things are serving as a free (hey, we're doing it anyway!) beauty treatment that doesn't cause cancer (even in California), won't harm the environment, and didn't require animal testing in its creation. It's applied from the inside out so there is no mess (usually), it has no physical substance so it takes absolutely no storage space, and it can be applied anytime, anywhere, while doing almost anything else.

I'd like to see the "“beauty industry"” try to beat that!