Way Back When-sday

"...she willingly works with her hands." Proverbs 31:13

Pictures from AllPosters

~Alyssa

"Rivers of Babylon"

This is a very short song, but it has one of my favorite Bible verses in it!

Enjoy!
~Alyssa

Keepers at Home

An excellent article on being a keeper at home by Mr. Einwechter. 

Mom was reading this to us girls at lunch - it is very good!

Exegetical Defense of the Woman as Keeper At Home

by William Einwechter, February 9, 2004

In Titus 2:3-5 the apostle Paul charges the older women in the church to teach the younger women “to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” The instruction for women to be “keepers at home” generally has been understood by the church as teaching that the sphere of a married woman’s work is her home. This understanding is reflected by the Puritan commentator Matthew Poole, who interpreted the phrase to mean: “housewives, not spending their time gadding abroad, but in looking to the affairs of their own families.” (^[1]) The Christian woman as a housewife, looking diligently to the affairs of her family, was the standard in Puritan New England:  

In seventeenth century New England no respectable person questioned that a woman’s place was in the home. By the laws of Massachusetts as by those of England a married woman could hold no property of her own. When she became a wife, she gave up everything to her husband and devoted herself exclusively to managing his household. Henceforth her duty was to “keep at home, educating her children, keeping and improving what is got by the industry of the man.”(^[2])

However, this view went beyond the Puritans and was the perspective of all branches of the church and a central aspect of Western Christian culture. For example, Lenski, the eminent Lutheran commentator, stated that the phrase “keepers at home” indicates domestic responsibility and that the home is the place of a married woman’s work; she is a “housekeeper” who dispenses “all good things in this domain.” (^[3])
Nonetheless, in accord with the spirit of our age that looks in disdain upon the notion that the sphere of a married woman’s work is her home, many in the church have rejected the earlier consensus understanding of “keepers at home.” Instead, to be “keepers at home” is interpreted to mean that a wife and mother is “to be busy at home” (NIV), i.e., she “should not be idle or derelict in fulfilling home duties.” (^[4]) In other words, “keepers at home” does not define the married woman’s calling or the sphere of her work, but is simply an admonition not to neglect her domestic duties. Therefore, a wife and mother may pursue a career outside of the home — as a lawyer, teacher, sales clerk, etc. — as long as she fulfills her responsibilities in the home.
The difference between the traditional interpretation of “keepers at home” and the modern version is considerable. While the traditional interpretation established the home as the sphere of a married woman’s work and calling, the modern understanding says that the term does nothing of the kind. While the traditional interpretation defined a married woman’s “career” as homemaking, the modern view teaches that a married woman may pursue a career outside of the home as long as she does not neglect homemaking. While the traditional interpretation calls the woman to focus her energy, time, and talents in the home in the service of her family, the modern view says that she is not so “restricted” and may go outside the home for her employment. Which is the correct understanding? It is our belief that the traditional interpretation is the correct one. We base this opinion on the meaning of the Greek word translated “keepers at home,” and on the wider Biblical teaching on the roles of the wife and mother.
(...continued.....go here to read the rest of this article.)

~Alyssa

Way Back When-sday

"What dreadful Hot weather we have! 

It keeps one in a continual state of Inelegance." 

~ Jane Austen

Weather: Rain and Tornadoes....

Last Thursday there was a tornado watch/warning for our area. We received a lot of wind, and a downpour of rain occasionally mixed with hail, but thankfully no tornado.

Some of the hail was quite large and spiky...

...and some were smaller and looked layered.

The garden was flooded...thankfully we have raised beds. :)

Tomato soup anyone?!

After all the rain, the storm system moved off to the east.
The sky was very dark.

We heard later that a tornado had destroyed some turkey barns about 15 minutes from us and then went north through a couple towns. :(

Sunday, on our way to church, we drove by the farm that lost the barns. It looked pretty bad. The house was still standing though, and seemed to have weathered the storm just fine. ( They had a big sign out front that said: "STURDY HOUSE - BRING IT ON" !)

It's amazing how fast things can change.
We are so grateful for the Lord's protection, but sad for those who lost their homes and buildings. :(

~Alyssa

The Fence!

We've been working on the corral that is in one corner of our front pasture, getting some of it ready for painting and taking the rest down.

Scraping boards. :)

Dad took apart the rest of the corral we don't use.

~ painting ~

Part way through painting I realized some of my brush was missing about 1/2 inch of bristles!

It is finished!!!

~Alyssa

The NCFIC Conference!

Monday evening was NCFIC's Road Trip conference here in Minnesota. We were encouraged and challenged by the messages given by Mr. Scott Brown and Peter Bradrick on the Sufficiency of Scripture for the church and family. This event was something we had been looking forward to for many months!

Mr. Andy Bradrick - the amazing MC of the evening.


Peter Bradrick reading a poem before his talk on Youth Ministry.
He is a man zealous for God's glory, and a very kind brother in the Lord.

The delicious supper served before the meeting.

Peter and Kelly's youngest son, Loyal Bradrick.

Claudia Brown at the book table

It was a wonderful evening of encouragement and fellowship. Dear friends of our who came to the conference stayed overnight with us, and we spent hours talking about the conference over breakfast the next morning. We were all grateful for the godly examples we saw in the NCFIC team and for their stand on the authority of God's word!
If they are coming to a town in your area, be sure to attend!

Mr. Brown has more about the Road Trip on his blog at: The National Center for Family Integrated Churches.
Ryan Glick also has some pictures and updates on his blog: Sovereignty

An update!
Here are some video clips from the messages Peter and Mr. Brown gave:

Road Trip Clips from Fergus Falls from NCFIC on Vimeo.

~Alyssa

Stephen's Open House

This past Sunday afternoon we went to friend's open house. :)

We girls had volunteered for kitchen duty, so we were busy working with the food.
We enjoy being able to help! They had a lot of people come through, so the food went fast. I was in charge of 'guarding' the ice cream bars, which involved making sure each child only had ONE!

Friends in the kitchen: Amy, Amy V., Ana, and Alyssa!

It was a fun day!

~Alyssa

Way Back When-sday

"Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; and the other eighty-five percent of the people would rather die than think."
-Thomas Edison, 1847-1931

Dad's birthday and a graduation...

Sunday was Dad's birthday, but we had his special meal Saturday at noon since we would be gone all day Sunday. We cooked brats over the fire pit and had coleslaw, chips, fresh lemon aid and Coconut Cake for dessert! Yum! We pulled out some of our scrapbooks and looked at old pictures of past birthdays. That was fun... :)

Then we got ready to go to our friend Kieran 's graduation party which was at 3:00. His family had asked Ana to bake and decorate two sheet cakes for it. So she was very busy with that all day. They take longer to fill, frost, and decorate then you might think!

They turned out really nice and were SO delicious!

Congratulations Kieran!

~Alyssa

Way Back When-sday

 

Well, I know today is Thursday, but here is this week's "Way Back When-sday" post. :) 

At the Memorial Day picnic we went to on Monday someone came in an old Model 'A' Ford from 1930!  I really like old cars and it was fun to see this one up close.

They didn't have much for extra features back then! 

~Alyssa

Memorial Day Picnic!

Yesterday we went to a picnic at the 'O' family's place. The weather was perfect and we all
had a fun time. :)

Andy O. put together this display with his Grandpa's Navy uniform and a Revolutionary war uniform that his sister made. (Plus a few others not shown in this picture.)


The children loved riding on the golf cart.

The 'O' family had thought up a lot of fun games for everyone to play.
This game is a relay where everyone was split into two teams. Each person had to take a suitcase, run to a marker, put on a shirt, hat , and gloves from the suitcase, then run back and take it all off again as fast as they could. It was quite funny to watch!


At 3:00 they rang the bell and there was a moment of silence to remember the veterans.


The timed wheelbarrow race was harder than it looked!


Later we went out to their show/training track to run races.
(The 'O's raise Icelandic horses and the track is for shows.)

Then they did three legged races...which grew into centipede races!

Here is a little video of the race.
~Alyssa