A Virtuous Woman – Proverbs 31

I’ve studied the Proverbs 31 Woman many times at different church events and Bible studies, but what I love most about studying this woman multiple times is the different things you pick up each time. Don’t you agree that the Bible is the ONLY book that when you read the same sentence ten times, it means something different to you each time? I LOVE THAT!

I’m studying the Woman of the Bible, a book I studied with my high school girls when I was a youth intern in Texas, again and am finding new applications in my life this time around. Being in a different place in life than last time play a HUGE role in that. I’m out of college, dating the man I will marry, and am working full time trying to build a business. I would definitely say that’s significantly different from 3 years ago!

Reading through the study of the "Virtuous Woman" in this book was so rewarding. Of course, I had to write Josh about everything I was learning too. Writing it down for him to understand was the best thing I could have done for myself. Does that sound selfish? It feels like I personally understand it more and am more excited about becoming that woman now that I’ve written it out. So, to help encourage others and to keep me excited, I’ve decided to copy down what I wrote in Josh’s letter.

Here we go!

The virtuous woman isn’t the yardstick by which we should be measured with, but our goal toward where we should be moving. Which is a huge relief, because this woman seems impossible to be exactly like her! She’s seriously amazing…”ideal”…and I’m striving to be like her. There are three different areas these verses talk about: 1) development of character, 2) labor, and 3) relationships. But first, the passage begins by telling a man what kind of woman he should seek in a wife. She should be of noble character, worth far more than rubies, he has full confidence in her, and she lacks nothing of value. Breaking it down, she fears the Lord and receives favor from the Lord because of all of those things.

The list of characteristics of a virtuous woman starts with her outer appearance (taking care of herself) and being strong and confident. I love a passage from this book: Confidence that is rooted in self makes one proud and is not usually expressed with dignity, but confidence that is rooted in a right understanding of God and who He has made you to be is always tempered with humility. Don’t you agree with that?? Although, I believe this applies to everyone, not just woman. It moves on to say she speaks wisdom with a kind heart.

The next area is labor. She is both a homemaker and a businesswoman…although they must both be surrendered to God, not at odds with one another. A virtuous woman has her priorities in tact, and her working outside the home doesn’t come at the expense of her home and family. She provides food and wakes up early to prepare it for her family. She finds useful things to do, doesn’t fear because God provides, and she clothes her family and home (décor). She is a woman who always keeps herself capable for her God-given tasks.

The last area is relationships. A Proverbs 31 Woman knows how to manage her relationship with her husband, family, and her neighbor, because she manages her relationship with God. The heart of her husband trusts in her and has confidence in her. She keeps her word, has good communications, and builds up her mate. Her hand is always ready to serve those in need at any moment.

WOW!!

I’ll say it again….WOW!!

That’s a lot to take in! But remember, the virtuous woman isn’t the yardstick by which we should be measured with, but our goal toward where we should be moving. And the only way we can move towards that goal is through our relationship with God. I realize this is getting really long, so I’ll wrap it up. I hope this was of some encouragement to you as it was to me. Love you all!

Recipe "Wednesday" (aka: Friday) - Poppy Seed Chicken

So, with my letters from Josh coming in on Wednesday's, I know I'll be wanting to blog about it right then and there. Therefore, Recipe Wednesday's will now be Recipe Friday's!! Why not right?? A fun recipe to try out for the weekend!

This weeks recipe...AN ALL TIME FAVORITE!!!

POPPY SEED CHICKEN

6-8 chicken breasts (chopped and cooked)
16 oz. Sour Cream
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
4 Tablespoons Poppy Seed
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tubes of Ritz crackers
2 sticks of margarine

Cook and dice chicken breasts. In large bowl, mix sour cream, soup, poppy seeds, salt, and pepper. Stir in chicken breasts and put in 9x13 pan. Crush Ritz crackers and mix with melted margarine. Top chicken with cracker mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

Great served over steamed rice! Serves 8+. Enjoy!

It's All Going To Be Okay...Phew!

UPDATE:

I called the Naval Command center this morning to see what their policy was on letters sent to the wrong division number. Their policy is to look up the last name in the roster and reroute the letter. If not found, they return the letters to the sender!

SO!! Hopefully all of the letters will come to him at once and he'll feel much better!

I over-nighted my letter today so he'll have something to read before he writes his third letter on Sunday night. Dang, I must love him a lot to pay $15 to mail a letter!!! hehe

Letter #2 - I'M SO MAD...I'M SICK!

I got my second letter today from Josh. The first thing I read is...."I've been here over 15 days and haven't got a letter from you....every night the letters are passed out...Josh never gets one."

I'M SO MAD I COULD THROW UP!!!!!!!! I immediately called his mother to tell her the address was wrong. Come to find out, they received an official letter from the Navy with the correct address, didn't think much about it (HOW DO YOU NOT THINK ABOUT IT?!?!), and never informed me about it either. They too have been sending their letters to the wrong address. So, my dear love hasn't received a letter from anyone the whole time he's been there. That just breaks my heart!

I started calling the recruiting offices in Springfield, as well as the actually Training Command Center that he's located at. I left messages and will hopefully hear back first thing in the morning....ya riiiight....but you know I'll be calling again in the morning!! Surely those letters, probably 15 total from his parent and I (not including aunts and cousins that I know have sent some too), are somewhere! I just hope their policy isn't to throw them away if sent to the wrong place. That would just make me sad all over again if they have been thrown away. I hope they are stored somewhere or being sent back to the senders.

AH, I'M JUST SO MAD!

Anyway, the update from his letter sounded much better! He's doing better, he misses me a lot, he hates the glasses he has to wear, and got some really cool boots. (He's pretty random in his writing...all over the place.) One thing I was SOOOO happy to hear was that every night before bed, a group of 25 of the guys (about 1/3 of them) gather together and pray as a group. HOW COOL!!!!!! How blessed is he to have a group like that there! I couldn't believe what I was reading. It just lit up my face!

I will say, for a moment, I forgot the first line of the letter when reading about the prayer group!

But then, of course, I remembered about the first line of the letter and once again, got frustrated and very upset.

So I end my day with writing a 3 page, small writing, large pages, letter to my sweet dear with the correct address on the envelope! And you KNOW I'll be overnighting this one so he gets it before the weekend! haha

It's now 1:15 AM and I go to work tomorrow from 9:15 AM-8:3o PM. Thursday's are my long long day, so pray going to bed this late and being stupidly stressed over this dump situation doesn't make for an even longer day tomorrow.

MY FIRST LETTER FROM SWEET JOSHUA!

So at the beginning of this week I began to get very anxious to receive an address of Josh's location. His mom, Dana, had tried to get it several times from his recruiter, but he wasn't helpful at all. On my drive home from work Wednesday I got frustrated about it all! It's not like his recruiter didn't know what it was, he just wouldn't return Dana's calls and avoided her...ugggg. I get home, look in my mailbox...nothing. :-( But wait, I walk in the door to see my roommate sitting there. She usually works nights, but called in sick that day. Thus, she had already picked up the mail. THERE IT WAS!!!!!! The most beautiful thing I've ever received in the mail. My very first letter from Joshua! And yes, I say that name with so much sweetness in my voice. I just miss him so much.

I've had my good days and I've had my bad days. Mostly I just get emotional laying in bed at night talking to God about it all. Although, when I catch myself just having a pity party because I'm lonely and want to talk to him, I snap out of it asap. I think about Josh being the one in the new place with so many new changes. All I changed was not getting to talk to him on the phone. A big change for us since it's our main connection, but still...he's the one going through so much. I'm just so thankful I'm able to have great support from family and friends. I tell ya, Lauren Frazier has been the best friend a girl can have. She checks in often, prays for Josh and I over the phone, and is such an encouragement! God has blessed me for sure!

So, you're probably wanting to know if the letter was sweet and mushy....NOPE! haha First off, he's just not like that normally. Secondly, they read everything going out and coming in. And if they find something good to read in front of everyone to embarrass someone, they don't hesitate. So here it is...I'll share it all:

Dear Lane,
Wow, I can not tell you how different this is than I expected. I was way wrong. It's hard, very hard! I love you very much. I am trying very hard to stay focused. I have been told by the Petty Officers they read letters in and out. So there is a lot I want to say that I just can't...please understand. I have to keep things to a minimum. When you write back remember they read. So just tell me how everything is going, not how you feel to me....I know and you know how we feel. I wake up around 5:00 and sleep at 9:00 for now. I'm in around 10 days of processing, so it's not as bad as it will get. I don't have much time and can only write on Sunday's. I think about my family and you very much. Very excited to get out of here. I hate it. I'm yelled at and made fun of everyday...they find a way for everything. Tell my family I'm not sick...I called my dad the first night and told him I was throwing up and sick. By day two I was fine. I have a lot of things to tell you, so in one week I will try to. PS: NO gifts or pics!! :-(
Love Love, Josh Whitlock

So as you can tell...he needs LOTS of prayers. What he means by 10 days of processing is that he was in the first group of people to arrive at boot camp and would have to wait 10 days before everyone else got there. Therefore, yesterday (Friday) or today (Saturday) will be his official first day of boot camp. I believe he's doing a lot of cleaning, some physical stuff, but mainly dirty jobs. So really, our 8 weeks starts now.

In my letter back I reminded him of everything we've heard about boot camp from those who have been there. The first couple of weeks are really hard, but if you can make it through week 3, the rest isn't so bad. I'm so proud of him and I know he can do it, but I recognize it's going to be a big struggle for him...and I hate that. Only good can come out of this though! It'll make him stronger in a lot of areas. Before he left he told me that he's been holding a lot of his love back that he has for me because he knows it'll be so much harder while he's away. He said that he just can't wait to get out so he can show me more of the love he has for me...and of course I can't wait for that either! Hopefully he'll get more romantic...haha! DOUBT IT! Anyway, please please please continue to pray for him through this time. I talked to his dad, David, after getting my letter and we read ours to each other. There was only two things David was told of that I wasn't. He's in a "performance group"...which he's been told is much harder than normal boot camp. I'm not sure what the details are of that and how he got put in it, but we do know it's an honor to be part of a performance group. Also, he said the first day he was there (when he was pretty sick) he passed out in line and threw up when he came to. He said he was pretty embarrassed, but mainly just glad he's not sick anymore. His dad has also so nicely reminded me of the awesome bed making skill Josh will acquire and maybe he'll take up that chore in our home! I'll just hope for that!

That's all for now....more updates to come later. I love you all and thank you for your prayers!

Recipe Wednesday - Corn Salsa

IT'S RECIPE WEDNESDAY! YAHOO!

Corn Salsa

One can of the following:
Black beans (drained and rinsed)
Black eyed peas (drained and rinsed)
Mexicorn
White corn
Chopped black olives
Chopped green chilies

Add in:
Large tomato chopped
Red/yellow bell pepper (or both) finely sliced
Green onions finely sliced (4-5)
Handful of minced cilantro (fresh is best, but still good dried)

Top with Fat-free Italian dressing and put in refrigerator to chill for several hours before serving with corn chips!

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!!

I LOVE 4 YEAR OLDS!

Noah: "After we play a lot here a long time, mommy and daddy and me and Jonah get to go see Jesus right Miss Lane??"
Me: "If we accept him in our hearts, then YES!"
Jack (Noah's 4 year old neighbor): "I've already been to Chuck E. Cheese's!"

Haha...LOVE IT!

Recipe Wednesday - Chicken Soup

Today I decided to do a favorite recipe of mine each Wednesday.

I found myself driving home and the only thing that I could think about [correction: the only I could think about in order to not think about Josh starting boot camp today] was making my Grandma Marie's Famous Homemade Chicken Soup. Then, I got a craving for corn salsa and chips [recipe to come in a later edition]. It hit me pretty hard...it's easy....and it's cheap! THEN...after the thought of soup and salty chips and corn salsa, naturally I would need sometime sweet. Thus, the magnificent thought about fudge [again, in a later edition].

So. I made all three.

Ya, that's right....all three of those things in a matter of 3 hours.

My apartment smells....A-MAZING!

I have very fond memories of going to my Grandma Marie's house and smelling the aroma of her chicken soup throughout the whole house. The signature piece of grandma's soup wasn't the homemade broth or the perfectly tender chicken, but the alphabet noodles!!! For some reason, it has never tasted the same with different noodles. It wasn't too long ago that I made this for my college friends and searched high and low for alphabet noodles. After a hour of searching, I finally found it at the local grocery store and of course stalked up on them. It's just a must!

So today, I share a recipe with you that hasn't been given out to many people.
But in honor of my Grandma Marie, ENJOY!

Marie's Alphabet Chicken Soup
serves: 8-10
prep time: 30 minutes
cook time: 2-2.5 hours

6 celery sticks
6 carrot sticks
1/2 onion
handful of celery leaves
1 T poultry seasoning
Water (after chicken is in pot, add water to where you can see 1 inch of pan)
Alphabet noodles
Small, young chicken

Bring chicken and water to a boil for 5 min. Skim fat off the top after boiling. Add chopped onion, chopped celery and leaves, chopped carrots, and poultry seasoning. Boil for another 5-10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cock lid for 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Cook noodles, serve, and enjoy!!

It's A Long One...Are You Up For It?

There are too many things to write about since the last time and just not enough space in my brain to sort it all out and blog it....so, bare with me.

First off, my love surprised me just a few days before my swinging through Springfield (on my way home from a wedding over Labor day weekend in OK) to tell me that he's jumping in the car and coming back to Louisville with me! FOR A WHOLE 10 DAYS!!

**Backing up for a moment to the road trip to my friend's wedding...I found out my best friend Katherine Powell and her husband are PREGGERS!!!!!!! WAHOO! They are due April 7, 2009!!**

My boss was so sweet to let him come with me to work and play with the kids. Let me tell you what, that boy shocked me all to pieces! He was so great with Noah and Jonah. Since I've gotten back from MO, the four year old, Noah, has asked everyday where Mr. Josh is. Pretty sure he loves him more than he loves me. hehe But that's okay. They listened so well to him and really respected him. To say the least, Josh is going to be a GREAT father. At one point, we were both sitting on the couch waiting for parent's to get home and had both boys crawling all over us. We were all just laughing so hard! Once it started to settle down, Josh looked at me and said, "Foreshadowing? I just can't wait. This is going to be so much fun!"

Then, we both drove back to MO for 4 days where we:

1. Spent some time with my parents who just moved into their new home in Fordland, MO!


2. Had the official "Future In-Law Dinner". Which I must say went amazingly well...the dads seemed to hit it off! Dad has said a few times since then he can't wait to go motorcycle riding with David! haha

3. Celebrated Josh's 21st birthday and "Anchors Aweigh-Bon Voyage" in OK at the Grand Lakes with most of his extended family. It was so great to meet everyone I had been told about and for them to finally believe Josh that he wasn't making me up! hah

4. And of course, dreadfully said goodbye to Joshua for the last time before he leaves for the Navy. Which is September 23...this Tuesday...ya, that's right....today is Sunday evening...so I have one more full day to speak with him. I'm pretty much banking on not hearing much from him since he has to earn his phone calls (that even if he earns them, they can take it away just to tick him off) and he's not much of a writer. I will definitely be sending him letters, but I know he'll be so busy it'll be hard for him to find time to write anyway.

I come home to:

1. ALL OF LOUISVILLE OUT OF POWER FROM A WIND STORM.

2. No place for food, gas, or any sort of light in the darkness.

3. A very hot apartment and extremely hot place of work.

4. PRAISE GOD! Our power came back on Tuesday! However, the people I nanny for didn't get theirs back until Friday.

5. Some of Louisville is STILL without power and it's officially been 7 days. UG. I took these pictures on my way home from church today just right down the road from me. :-(

This week includes:

1. Nannying

2. Mary Kay parties...WAHOO!

3. Talking to Josh early early Tuesday morning for the last time before boot camp. The 9 week countdown will then begin. Booo....

4. Working at the salon.

5. Getting as much sleep as possible....I've been lacking lately. ;-)

So there you have it....the last three weeks of my life in blog form....and an extremely long one at that. If you read the whole thing, YOU'RE AWESOME! ;-)

Guilty Pleasure...

Most people might say their guilty pleasure is something like chocolate (which IS on the top of my list), a new pair of shoes, or possibly a day at the spa. Sounding good yet?? Ya I'm tempted to indulge in all three of those!

But I must say, lately, my guilty pleasure is MUCH MUCH different. As you all know, I'm a nanny for two sweet boys, Noah and Jonah. Everyday I look forward to 2:00.

Why 2:00 you ask...

NAP TIME WITH JONAH!! I get to rock this sweet boy to sleep while he downs a bottle of milk. In the past when rocking a little one to sleep, I would lay them down as soon as they fell asleep.

Not with this one. He's just too adorable and cuddly that I just CAN'T put him down right away!

So my official guilty pleasure....Rocking Jonah to sleep, then once asleep laying his head on my shoulder and taking a cat nap with him! I just love it!


It makes me look forward to having children of my own one day and cuddling up with them too!