Laines Letters...Revisited!

Dear Sisters, The Proverbs 31 woman had an income that she generated herself. We can tell that by this verse: " She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard." Proverbs 31:16 >From her profits. She is producing profits. She is producing an income. But I want you to notice where she is producing that income: in her home. In other words, she is not the merchant, she supplies the merchant. This is also seen in these next two verses: "She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies sashes for merchants." Proverbs 31:24 "She perceives that her merchandise is good, and her lamp does not go out by night." Proverbs 31:18 She has merchandise that she is making and it is in demand, for her work is quality work. This woman is doing her best for the LORD. She is making linen garments and selling them. Her lamp not going out at night signifies two things. She kept it lit to show that she had something to sell, therefore the ...

Dear Sisters, I hope you are having a wonderful week. Normally I would send out a question letter at this time. But I feel the need to share this letter with you instead. I have been so busy in my home. The best kind of busy. Pouring my life into the lives of the ones God has given me to love. It is a rich life that God has given to me. I can't thank Him enough. He is my delight and my total joy. Over and over I thank Him for all the details of my life. Oh, the world might look at my life as drudgery, but I see it through the eyes of my King, and I'm walking on water with Him! Even dancing and sloshing about a bit. ~Smile~ Jesus has changed everything in my life. I mean everything. There isn't anything He hasn't touched. I've given Him total permission. I thank Him for all that He's done, and I look so forward to all that He's going to do. I am His eternal slave. I don't trust myself with any one thing, so I've given up every single thing to Him. I...

Dear Laura & Sisters, You asked about head coverings, Laura. This is a very interesting subject that I have studied and prayed about for some time. I think every woman who reads 1 Corinthians 11 is concerned about it. After much study and prayer this is what I have learned: "For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered" 1 Corinthians 11:6 Notice, Laura, the word "if" in the passage. "If" it is shameful for her to be shorn. Shorn means having her hair cut. Shaved is hair completely taken off. In Paul's time it was shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved as this is what many of the prostitutes did, which was rampant in Corinth. They also went about without head coverings which spoke volumes to the men around them--enticing immorality--as the proper custom was for a woman to wear a head covering. Especially a married woman. So Paul is concerned that t...

Dear Sisters, Over and over I hear the verse "You have not, because you ask not. Ask that your joy may be full!" And so I ask, in His will, in His Name, for His Glory. Have you ever asked Him... That you might know Him as He truly is and not as you perceive Him to be. That you might love Him with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength, and all your soul. That you might see others as He sees them. That you might see yourself in His eyes. That you might love others as He loves them. That you might think on Him every hour, even in your sleep. That He might remind you of what is truly important and what you mustn't forget. That He might orchestrate your moments into hours into weeks into months into years into a life spent for His Glory. That He might let nothing happen to you or those you love that is not in His Perfect Will. That He might replace your fear with faith, your guilt with grace, and your claim with Christ. That He might consume your spiri...

I am a homeschooling mom of three kids whose life and house is out of control. My husband just wants some order out of all this chaos, but I don't know where to begin. I feel like such a failure. Can you share with me your cleaning schedule?" Truly I could have written those very words ten years ago, except that I had four kids. I was literally at the end of myself. I, too, felt like such a failure. I know I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but the first thing the LORD did was to get me into a regular, consistent time alone with Him. This has been the foundation of my day for the past ten and a half years. He is life! It is "the necessary part" that Jesus said would not be taken away from Mary. I do not know how I survived the first ten years of my marriage and motherhood without time alone with the LORD every morning. No wonder I finally reached the breaking point. You know what is interesting? My son, Brady, told me that they had 30 minutes a day...

Dear Sisters, "In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty." Proverbs 14:23 We have been talking about the early morning and the "profit" for the woman who grabs a hold of it. First there is the blessed time of sitting at His Feet in the early morning hour. Hearing His Beautiful Words and talking to Him in prayer before all the other words that come at us all day. Then "working out" while our children sleep with honest, hard housework. Seeing a couple of new hurdles jumped each morning which gives us a sense of accomplishment before the day truly begins. But now the children are starting to get up. What next? I remember when all my hard work would come to naught because I simply had not properly trained my children. My husband would come home from work and there I would sit and whine to him how the children had done this or that upsetting my work and my day. Now any sympathetic friend would have nodded in agreement. Did my hus...

(Photo credit Jim Fisher) Dear Sisters in Christ, I have missed you all so much too! Thank you for your kind letters to me. They brought tears to my eyes and a whispered, "Thank you" to my LORD in Heaven. My last guests will be leaving tomorrow morning. It has been a busy season, but awfully fun. Another year in our LORD has begun. So much to learn from Him this year. I look forward to it all. I am a sponge; and He is the Living Water. This year I pray to know Him more and to love Him more. There is no one like our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. The more I know of Him, the more I want to know of Him. How is this possible? Through His Living Word. If you do not have a special time carved out of your day to spend alone with Him, I encourage you to do so this year. Six years ago I started to spend time alone with Him each morning. The more I knew of Him, the more I loved Him. The more I loved Him, the more I wanted to know of Him and love Him more. And what does His Word...

Dear Sisters, My children and I have been studying Exodus and all the wonderful details given by God about His Chosen Nation. I love to study the Word of God with my children. I think they know how much I love God's Word; and they tend to get caught up in the excitement of it with me. So often I tell them that this world will pass away, but His Word will never pass away. Therefore the most important thing I hold in my hands every day is His Eternal Word. The most important thing I teach my children is His Eternal Word. Everything else is temporary. Everything else will pass away. But the Word of Life is just that: Living Words which will never pass away. I started teaching them God's Word every day many years ago. I remember feeling very inadequate at it, for I had just begun to read it myself. But over and over again I could hear the Living Words in my ear: "You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road...