7 Thieves that Rob You of Time

http://www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com/2011/12/7-thieves-that-rob-you-of-time.html

7 Thieves that Rob You of Time

Weekly Contributor, Kim Brenneman

Before exposing the time thieves let’s look at what the scriptures say about time and how we are to use it.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ~ Ephesians 5:15&16

We understand God's will for our time when we study the scriptures. It’s certainly not found in this common thought, “I just listened to my heart.” This phrase is often used to explain a questionable decision. What guides every little decision you make from the moment you rise up until the moment you fall asleep?

Jeremiah 17:9 says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind,to give every man according to his ways,according to the fruit of his deeds.

It is natural but wrong to trust our hearts to lead us in our use of time. And so it takes deliberate thought and effort on our part to seek God’s priorities.


The verses preceding Ephesians 5:15-16 teach us many things about living the Christian life. A short list includes:

• Be imitators of God
• Walk in love
• Be moral
• Be pure
• Let there be thanksgiving
• Do not associate with the sons of disobedience
• Walk as children of light
• Discern what is pleasing to the Lord
• Take no part in and expose unfruitful works of darkness

Another short list from the verses following 15-16:

• Do not get drunk but be controlled by the Spirit
• Address one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
• Give thanks always and for everything
• Submit to one another
• Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
• Let the wife see that she respects her husband
• Honor your father and mother

Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 further guide women. The Proverbs 31 lady embodies everything listed above in a practical way. She is strong and dignified, trustworthy and excellent; she’s not idle and laughs at the days to come. In Titus 2 we are specifically instructed:

• To be reverent in behavior
• To be not slanderers or slaves to too much wine
• To teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children
• To be self-controlled
• To be pure
• To work at home
• To be kind
• To be submissive to our husbands

When we don’t keep our priorities in line with scripture we rob God of His best use of time in our lives. Are we running from God’s will? The reason we run from God’s will is the heart (Jeremiah 17:9). We need to put off the old woman and put on the new by the renewing our minds (Ephesians 4:22). We need God to perfect our hearts everyday through prayerful repentance.

In no particular order here is a list of seven thieves that rob us of time.

1. Television and Books - When I stopped watching daytime television as a young mom, I taped Philippians 4:8 to the front of the idiot box which reads, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
   
   That verse also led me to avoid certain genres of books. Both television and books can be means of escapism. We don’t need to be caught up in someone else’s imaginary world. God gave us a life to live! What we are to be is controlled by the Holy Spirit. We can relax and have down time without offending Him.
2. Computer - We need fellowship with other believers but often we exchange relationships with real people in our physical community for relationships with people in a narrow little band of online people that believe every little thing exactly like we do. The Proverbs 31 lady was in her community, her husband was honored at the city gates because of her renown, she extended her hand to the poor, and more.
   
   Online communities can be a venue of encouragement and relation to others, but spend more time getting to know your neighbors. Be salt and light!
   
   Computer rabbit trails also steal time from our first priorities. Be careful, be wise, make a plan for the time you spend online and use a timer.
3. Poor Planning - Do you wonder what you’re supposed to be doing when you look around at a big mess? Do you drive like crazy and never accomplish anything of real purpose? Do you stare into the cupboard and wonder what you’re supposed to make for supper? You’re wasting time. Plan your work and work your plan. Work on being efficient and you will accomplish so much more.
4. Health and Sleep - When we don’t take care of our health we get slow and sleepy. When we take care to eat and drink right, take supplements, get exercise and sunshine, we have energy to be our best.
   
   Women are often sleepy and sluggish when they need to take better care of their health. Rise up and go for a walk! Maybe you need to walk on over to the doctor to have a chat about it, or to the health food store for B vitamins, or to the pantry to throw out all the junk. Get healthy!
5. Over Committed - Are you over committed? Start prioritizing and making your allotted hours in the week fit God’s top priorities. Who or what is getting the best of your time? When we try to do everything we do nothing well. Focus on your first priorities and then carefully, thoughtfully, and prayerfully refine them before adding to them.
6. Telephone, Email, IM and Gadding About - We women like to talk and oftentimes this gets us into trouble. The Bible warns against the misuse of our tongue in 1 Timothy 5:13, "And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not."
   
   It’s an old, old problem. Don’t be an idler, gossip, or busybody going about from house to house via the telephone, email, IM, or visiting. Save your talk time and be meaningful with it. There is no need to say the same thing five different ways in your conversation. In doing these things you are stealing your own time, God’s time, and the correspondent’s time. Give thought to your words.
7. Disobedient Children - Disobedient children take your time through cleaning their messes, repairing their destruction, threatening and repeating, arguing with them, and mental anguish. Unruly children are not enjoyable. They will rob you not only of time but also relationships. Your friends may avoid your family because of your children. Babysitters don’t want to have to deal with them.
   
   Do something about it. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Pray for wisdom. Enforce consequences and make the consequences mean something. Spend time with them teaching them respectful behavior. It takes time and deliberate thought and action on your part to teach them obedience and manners.

Blessings,

Kim Brenneman

bring back pretty

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Matt&PatArchbold

The Death Of Pretty

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BY PAT ARCHBOLD Wednesday, December 21, 2011 11:11 AM Comments (209)

This post is intended as a lament of sorts, a lament for something in the culture that is dying and may never been seen again.

Pretty, pretty is dying.

People will define pretty differently. For the purposes of this piece, I define pretty as a mutually enriching balanced combination of beauty and projected innocence.

Once upon a time, women wanted to project an innocence. I am not idealizing another age and I have no illusions about the virtues of our grandparents, concupiscence being what it is. But some things were different in the back then. First and foremost, many beautiful women, whatever the state of their souls, still wished to project a public innocence and virtue. And that combination of beauty and innocence is what I define as pretty.

By nature, generally when men see this combination in women it brings out their better qualities, their best in fact. That special combination of beauty and innocence, the pretty inspires men to protect and defend it.

Young women today do not seem to aspire to pretty, they prefer to be regarded as hot. Hotness is something altogether different. When women want to be hot instead of pretty, they must view themselves in a certain way and consequently men view them differently as well.

As I said, pretty inspires men’s nobler instincts to protect and defend. Pretty is cherished. Hotness, on the other hand, is a commodity. Its value is temporary and must be used. It is a consumable.

Nowhere is this pretty deficit more obvious than in our “stars,” the people we elevate as the “ideal.” The stars of the fifties surely suffered from the same sin as do stars of today. Stars of the fifties weren’t ideal but they pursued a public ideal different from today.

The merits of hotness over pretty is easy enough to understand, they made an entire musical about it. Who can forget how pretty Olivia Newton John was at the beginning of Grease. Beautiful and innocent. But her desire to be desired leads her to throw away all that is valuable in herself in the vain hopes of getting the attention of a boy. In the process, she destroys her innocence and thus destroys the pretty. What we are left with is hotness.

Hotness is a consumable. A consumable that consumes as it is consumed but brings no warmth.

Most girls don’t want to be pretty anymore even if they understand what it is. It is ironic that 40 years of women’s liberation has succeeded only in turning women into a commodity. Something to be used up and thrown out.

Of course men play a role in this as well, but women should know better and they once did. Once upon a time you would hear girls talk about kind of women men date and the kind they marry. You don’t hear things like that anymore.

But here is the real truth. Most men prefer pretty over hot. Even back in 6th grade I hated the “hot” Olivia Newton John and felt sorry for her that she had to debase herself in such a way. Still do.

Our problem is that society doesn’t value innocence anymore, real or imagined. Nobody aspires to innocence anymore. Nobody wants to be thought of as innocent, the good girl. They want to be hot, not pretty.

I still hope that pretty comes back, although I think it not likely any time soon. For every Taylor Swift, there are a hundred Megan Foxs, or Lindsay Lohans, or Miley Cyruses etc.

Girls, please, bring back the pretty.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/the-death-of-pretty#ixzz1i4AhCQSe

House Projects

http://southernhospitalityblog.com/link-up-top-projects-of-2011-party/

Link up: Top Projects of 2011 Party

by RHODA on DECEMBER 28, 2011

in BLOG PARTY,DECORATING DETAILS,PROJECTS AND HOW-TO

Welcome friends!

I’ve been doing this project recap party for a few years now and it is always fun to look back and see what I’ve accomplished for the year. I actually thought I might not have much to share this year, given the fact that 2011 was a train-wreck of a year for me in so many ways. But, I did a few things around my parent’s house and my sis’s as well. It was fun to be productive and get some things accomplished. If you want to check out what I accomplished in 2010, you can check out last year’s post. I am bummed that all the links are gone from last year’s party, not sure what happened, except that Inlinkz was making some changes around that time and I can’t find the party code anymore. Oh well….

With the upside down period of moving from Birmingham back to Atlanta, I settled in at my parents in April and in May we got the opportunity to make over their back porch, which had never been touched in a decorative way. It was fun to see this space transform into a useful and peaceful place to be. Now, it’s my new office and I love sitting out here.

Here’s the really ugly before state. I wanted to be sure to capture it as it was. And this pic says it all.

Here’s the After! I know, you’re breathing a sigh of relief with me now. We have enjoyed this space SO much and it has added a new room onto the house. Porches rock!!

Also, in May, I helped my friend, Vicki, make over a thriftstore table that we scored in Port St. Joe. It went from blah and dated….

To pretty and cottagey in a beautiful creamy white paint.

We then moved into my bathroom at my parents’ house and did a complete overhaul on the 1970′s bathroom that was in dire need of an update. First thing that came up was the old mauve carpet and down went these prettyAllure vinyl plank flooring

On the walls, I added my famous beadboard wallpaper which I am still in love with. I have it in my own online shop now!

So, we went from this….. to this…..

And we we completely transformed that 70′s bathroom into a nice new space, with a few key changes.

Another thriftstore find in Port St. Joe with my friend, Vicki, we made this ho-hum lamp over too.

And it turned into a cute coastal inspired lamp for its new life.

And the biggest project of the year was my sister’s bedroom makeover.

We stenciled the feature wall in this really cool Moorish stencil. And the room went from the 1990′s…

Definitely needing an update.

To a beautiful modern glam master bedroom suite. That was a fun one!

So, that was my year! How was yours?

I’m truly trusting and praying that 2012 is a much better year for me. I’m in such a better state of mind than I was a year ago at this time and I’m so glad to be through the worst of all the life changers this year. In fact, I’m downright optimistic. There are a lot of foreclosure houses on the market in our area right now and I expect that 2012 will still have many available. We’ve already taken a few drive-bys and look-sees at a few of them, just to see what is out there.

So, I fully expect that this time NEXT year, I’ll be in a fixer-upper house. I’m saving every penny I can and hopefully will find something for less than $70K that I can fix up and make my own. My dad is completely on board with it and since he did renovations years ago on rental homes and also did a lot of work on my first house, he still has the building and fixing bug and would enjoy helping on a project like this. So, that is what is happening with me! I couldn’t be happier in anticipating the possibility of getting a fixer-upper. If I could find the perfect one, it would be a 60′s or 70′s brick ranch with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, existing hardwood floors in a decent neighborhood. We will see what comes along in my price range and of course, y’all will be the first to hear when it happens. Just thinking about it makes me smile really BIG!

It’s time for you to share your projects too, so feel free to link up and let everyone else know about the party as well. You can use the button or just do a link back.

Places We Want to Go

New Zealand/Australia/Hawaii
Colorado/Texas
Ireland/Scotland
France/England/Spain/Italy
Israel
Alaska
Tennessee
Boston/New York
California

25 ways to wear a scarf

25 Ways To Wear A Scarf!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LYAEz777AU&ob=av3e

DECEMBER 23, 2011 BY CYNDI 1 COMMENT
Welcome to Walking in His Grace!! I'm so glad you're here. I have met some wonderful friends through this blog so please introduce yourself and join in on the conversations. Thank you for visiting!
Hello friends! I hope today finds you well and you’re enjoying these last few days before Christmas.
Things are crazy around our house~Cory, our son is home from law school. He is such a blessing to me! He is full of energy and a great sense of humor. He keeps all of us laughing.
We also have Kitty with us and her thirteen year old sister, Camille.

These girls are beautiful on the inside and on the outside and we are so thankful they have come from France to spend Christmas with us.
Courtney, Chris and Colt Allen only live about 5 minutes from our house so they are here every day too!
I am especially thankful for this little guy~~Colt Allen!

My Mom always told my sister, who has four boys to tell people~”If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart!” So, that’s my motto over the next few days!
Lastly, most of you probably know that I love to wear scarves so I wanted to share a youtube video that one of my readers shared with me (thanks Anna!). It is amazing!!
If you’re planning on wearing a scarf to one of your Christmas get togethers you will definitely want to watch this!

Merry Christmas and thank you so much for stopping by!
Beauty For the Heart~~And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

50 Ideas to Inspire Your Husband

50 Ideas to Inspire Your HusbandA wife has the unique ability to help her husband feel the freedom to reach his fullest potential as the man God has created him to be.Janel Breitenstein

There’s an old joke about one of our presidents walking with his wife, who sees one of her old boyfriends in a less-than-glorious occupation. The president looks at the old boyfriend and remarks, “If you hadn’t married me, you might be married to that guy.”

The first lady answers calmly, “If I had married him, he’d be president.”

Now, occupation is not the measure of a man. But as a wife, you do possess a unique power to inspire your husband. Your loving vision of the man he’s becoming propels him toward greatness—not necessarily by the world’s yardstick of success, or even your own, but of God’s.

When you believe in him, he is secure. He can take the leaps of faith required to surmount fear. He can bear up under pressure, pioneer new territory.

An inspired husband feels the freedom to reach the fullest potential of the man God has created him to be. He’s not merely encouraged. He’s a man who’s empowered; a conqueror. If you want to give your man some “wind beneath his wings”… start here.

1. Send him an e-mail. Example: “Praying for you today. Thanks for being so courageous in ___.”
2. Give him one night on a regular basis to do something he loves.
3. Consistently mention ways you see him growing to be more like Christ.
4. Initiate great sex.
5. Ask him about his “bucket list”—the top list of things he’d like to do in his lifetime.
6. Give him a book or audio CD to learn about something he loves doing.
7. Ask him about some dreams he has—and pray about them together, evaluating them. Then ask how you can help him go after them.
8. Text him on a stressful day. Example: “REMINDER: I BELIEVE IN U.”
9. Make sure he feels respected by you.
10. Leave sticky notes in his lunch, on his steering wheel, in his briefcase, etc. “So proud of all you’ve been doing with ___”. “You are so great with our kids.” “You are my dream come true.” “You are an incredible lover.”
11. Suggest that he take some time to go pursue a hobby.
12. Leave a message on his voicemail: “Thanks for going to work every day to take care of our family. You are so good at what you do.”
13. Ask him how you can pray for him at work. Later on in the week, get an update from him on what you’ve prayed for.
14. Be proactive about doing something together that he really enjoys. Make a date, get him excited, and share his enthusiasm!
15. Tell him areas he’s gifted in. Don’t stretch the truth: Be honest so he can trust you.
16. Pray for him.
17. Initiate great sex.
18. Start and keep a “Dreams” binder with him. Include some travel brochures or whatever gets you both energized. In the back, make sure you have a “Dreams turned reality!” file.
19. Talk with your husband about setting aside a small part of the budget to pursue the unique ways God has designed him (including his gifts, abilities, and passions)—through education or through sheer enjoyment.
20. Post on his Facebook wall: “I love being your wife! See me tonight regarding this.”
21. Gently communicate with him about what you like in bed, and respond encouragingly to his attempts.
22. Remember a dream that he had a long time ago. Talk with him about whether it’s still a dream—and still a possibility.
23. Ask God to open your eyes to the ways He has made your husband unique, and to give you wisdom about how to maximize that workmanship.
24. Have your children write him notes or letters about what they love about him as a dad.
25. Initiate great sex.
26. Ban yourself from nagging, which is the Great Life-Sucker.
27. Ask, “If I could do one thing that would really empower you and inspire you, what would it be?” Then listen, resist being defensive (the hard part), and follow through.
28. Remind him of specific times when he’s made an impact on other people’s lives. “Hey, I was thinking the other day about all the time you invested in that Cub Scout troop. Wonder what those boys are doing now. It was so cool to watch them grow with you as their leader.” “Our son has grown so much in encouraging people lately. He gets that from you; you are such a good example for him in that.”
29. Buy him something small to stoke the fires: A journal for a writer, some carpentry pencils for a woodworker, some grilling tools for the master chef. Add a sweet note: “Just because I love the way you’re made.”
30. Do something fun and unexpected together. A few ideas to try: paintball; laser tag; on a spring day, have a picnic, blow bubbles, and bring the books you’re reading; swing; play a pickup game of a sport together; go to a drive-in movie, bring popcorn, and instigate a make-out session.
31. Think about a way you’ve been hurting him, annoying him. Or there may be ways you’re not “seeing” him—not stepping into his world to understand what it’s like to be him, with all of the things he cares about. Apologize, and work hard at showing true change.
32. Initiate great sex.
33. Go to a home improvement store to plan a small, doable project that energizes both of you, even if it’s just painting a room or fixing up some landscaping. (Hint: Be positive that it’s something by which he won’t feel burdened.)
34. With quality, complete something from his to-do list for him—something that he’d rather have you do anyway.
35. Find a mutually enjoyable activity you like doing together on a regular basis, even if it’s as simple as playing the Wii together after the kids are in bed.
36. Create a cheerful atmosphere when he comes home.
37. Design a date night that will help him to de-stress and have fun.
38. Discover his “love language,” and become fluent in it.
39. Pray about and pursue at least one dream of your own, talking with him about it. An inspired wife breeds inspiration.
40. What’s difficult about his life right now? Pray for his endurance, and encourage him specifically. Galatians 6:9 is a great start for both. Think,What can I do to ease the load he’s carrying?
41. Organize or clean something in your home that you know he finds messy.
42. Send a snail-mail love note to him at the office, affirming him in his work.
43. Think of something on his honey-do list at home that he finds overwhelming or for which he doesn’t have much time. Talk with him (respectfully and gently) about the possibility of hiring someone to do it. Communicate clearly that it’s not because you find him incompetent, but that you want to free him up from a burden.
44. Initiate great sex.
45. Be a student of your husband. Does he feel inspired if he has all his ducks in a row? If he has a creative space to think? If he feels verbally affirmed?
46. If your man is into dressing nice, go with him to shop for clothes in which he feels confident.
47. Let him overhear you speaking well of him on the phone, among friends, or in public places. And to your mother.
48. In his area of weakness, pray about how to subtly, gently step in and help him.
49. Tell him what a great dad he is. Be specific.
50. If and when he messes up, respond with the kind of grace, compassion, and mercy that God gives you. Respond in a way that communicates,You’re safe with me—and I’m not going to rehash your failures. This is a secure place for you to grow … and I love the journey with you.