They Call Her Blessed

"The happiest part of my happy life has been my mother." Washington Irving

"I remember my mother's prayers- and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." "All that I am or hope to be I owe to my mother." Abraham Lincoln

"All that I have ever accomplished in my life I owe to my mother." D.L. Moody

"If I am Thy child, only God, it is because Thou gavest me such a mother." St. Augustine



The Hand That Rules The World

Infancy, the tender fountain,
Ever may with beauty flow;
Mother's first to guide the streamlets;
From them souls unresting grow-
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or darkness hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Mother, how divine your mission
Here upon our natal sod!
Keep, oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Blessings on the hand of mother!
Fathers, sons and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky-
Mingled where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows ever gently curled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.


Happy Mother's Day! If you are a mother, you are one of the most important and special people in the world. As one of my favorite songs says, you are changing the world, one little heartbeat at a time! :-) Unfortunately in our culture today, mothers are not given the honor, love, and gratitude that they deserve. Girls grow up thinking they have to go out into the world, be independent, and have a full time career in order to have a worthwhile life. Nothing could be further from the truth! Motherhood is one of the most important and precious jobs in the world. It is your responsibility to help your husbands raise those precious little ones up to be strong, godly men and women. That also makes it one of the hardest jobs in the world! God bless all the Christian mothers, Proverbs 31 women, out there!

Today I am especially thankful for the two most important mothers in my life. Both are true Proverbs 31 women, and I love them both with all of my heart! The first is, of course, my own mom, Terri Brower.
My mom is the most amazing woman I know. She has a faith in God that has never wavered, and she has been a wonderful role model to me. Her teaching, and my Dad's, is what has prepared me to be a wife and someday, a mother. My mom has taught me to love being a woman, to always strive for a the gentle and quiet spirit, to love, honor, and obey my husband- and to do my best to be his closest and wisest adviser. Her selfless sacrifice for my dad, myself and my siblings is an inspiration to me. She has taught me to be feminine without being weak and overly girly. :-) She has taught me by example, by her wise counsel and guidance, and even by encouraging me to learn from her mistakes. She is a wonderful, godly woman, and I am so blessed to have her!
The other special mom in my life is my husband Josh's mom, Marcie Blubaugh. I have looked up to her since I was a little girl. She has given me wise counsel, and been a close friend for a long time. Her faith in God is inspiring to me. It was her godly influence that helped my mom, and then me, to begin dressing more modestly. She taught us how to make bread and soap, and she helped me begin learning to sew. She has been a close friend and encouragement to my mom, for which I am very thankful. Next to my mom, she is the woman I look up to the most. I feel very blessed to have her as a mother-in-law. Her success as a mother is proved by the wonderful, loving, godly son that she helped to raise. It is a wonderful blessing for me to be able to spend time with her now that I live so far away from my mom.
Thank you Mom and Marci for being the wonderful, godly women that you are! I have learned so much from you, and I know there is so much more that I can learn! I love you both!


If you want to listen to "One Heartbeat At A Time" click the link below.

One Heartbeat At A Time

A Couple of My Favorite Poems

I'd Rather

I'd rather be a mother
Than anyone on earth,
Bringing up a child or two of unpretentious birth.

I'd rather tuck a little child
All safe and sound in bed-
Than twine a chain of diamonds
About my foolish head.

I'd rather wash a smudgy face
With round, bright baby eyes-
Than paint the pageantry of fame,
Or walk among the wise.

Meredith Gray

Mother's Elbows On My Bed

I was but a youth and thoughtless,
As all youths are apt to be;
Though I had a Christian mother
Who had taught me carefully,
But there came a time when pleasures
Of the world came to allure,
And I no more sought the guidance
Of her love so good and pure.
Her tender admonitions fell
But lightly on my ear,
And for the gentle warnings
I felt an inward sneer.
How could I prove my manhood
Were I not firm of will?
No threat of future evil
Should all my pleasure kill.
But mother would not yield her boy
To Satan's sinful sway,
And though I spurned her counsel
She knew a better way.
No more she tried to caution
Of ways she knew were vain,
And though I guessed her heartache
I could not know it's pain.
She made my room an altar,
A place of secret prayer,
And there she took her burden
And left it in His care.
And morning, noon and evening
By that humble bedside low,
She sought the aid of Him who
Best can understand a mother's woe.
And I went my way unheeding,
Careless of the life I led,
Until one day I noticed
Prints of elbows on my bed.
Then I saw that she had been there
Praying for her wayward boy,
Who for love of worldly pleasure
Would her peace of mind destroy.
While I wrestled with my conscience,
Mother wrestled still in prayer,
Till that little room seemed hallowed
Because so oft she met Him there.
With her God she held the fortress,
And though not a word she said,
My stubborn heart was broken
By those imprints on my bed.
Long the conflict raged within me,
Sin against my mother's prayers.
Sin must yield for mother never
While she daily met Him there.
And her constant love and patience
Where like coals upon my head,
Together with the imprints
Of her elbows on my bed.
Mother-love and God-love
Are a combination rare,
And one that can't be beaten
When sealed by earnest prayer.
And so at last the fight was won,
And I to Christ was led,
And mother's prayers were answered
By her elbows on my bed.

Author Unknown

A Flexible Schedule

I have found both in my single life as a daughter at home and my married life, that having a schedule is very important, but being able to be FLEXIBLE with my schedule is even more important. If I don't have a schedule I tend to run around doing things all day without really getting anything done. Sometimes I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, for lack of a better metaphor. :-) I know also from my life before I was married that at times there is just so much to do that without a schedule it is overwhelming and you don't know where to start. Now that I'm married and there is just the two of us at home, and our home isn't very big, I don't have nearly as much to do. That will come though as we ( Lord willing ) start a family. I need to make sure I get in the habit of being on an orderly schedule now so that it's not so hard when I have little ones running around.

However, having a schedule can be more of a curse than a blessing if it is not flexible. Some days the schedule works out perfectly, but sometimes, "life happens" as they say. Things come up, your husband needs you to help him with something or go somewhere for him, or sometimes it's as simple as your husband ( or father ) would rather have something different for dinner than what you were planning to make.

Sometimes I'll have my whole day planned out the night before and in the morning Josh will say, "Would you mind coming to work with me today? I could really use your help." POOF there goes my plan. I say, "Sure I'll come with you!" but meanwhile my mind is racing as I try to figure out what I can make for dinner since I won't be home until dinner time or later, and I'm thinking of the cleaning I wanted to do that day and now won't be able to do. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE going to work with Josh. It means I get to spend the whole day with him, and what could be better than that! And Josh understands that when I go with him the house isn't going to be cleaned up when we get home and dinner might be late. I have to learn not to panic about it. It's really pretty simple. Josh needs ( or maybe just wants :-)) me to go to work with him, so the cleaning will have to happen tomorrow, and I can either put something in the crock pot for dinner or think of something fast to make when we get home (which is why it's also good to have things on hand for making fast easy meals, something I need to get better at!). Schedules are important to keep your day from being crazy, but if you are too strict with it and area unwilling to bend it a little (or change it completely) it will add more stress than it will take away.

I am curious to see if anybody reading this has any thoughts on the subject and if you agree or disagree with my opinion. This has just been on my mind for the last few days as I was thinking about keeping the house clean and inviting, and Josh has had me come to work with him for two days in a row now. :-) It's been really nice to spend so much time with him!

She Does Not Eat The Bread of Idleness!

This is one of the things I struggle with the most. I feel like I'm almost always behind on my housework, and this is even more shameful because I have a very small house and there's only two people in it! I don't want to just get the bare essentials done so that the house isn't a wreck when Josh gets home. I don't want him to smell the trash can when he comes in. I don't want him to walk into our bedroom and say ( or think ) "Man, this room is a mess!". I want this house to be a beautiful inviting place that he can't wait to get back to, not only because I'm here, but because it s a peaceful, sweet smelling, beautiful place where he can come and relax after a hard days work. I don't want him to come in the door at night and wonder what I did all day, I want him to come in the door and think " Wow, it's nice in here!".
Now, I believe that a man's home is his castle. When I think of a castle I think of a beautiful place, well kept, and beautifully decorated. I want to make my husband's castle like that. Decorating is not one of my strong suits, but there are so many inspiring books and articles and magazines out there with so many beautiful ideas that I think even I can create something beautiful here. I do think that it is possible to go way overboard with decorating and organizing. We don't want to have a home that is not inviting and beautiful. It should have a homey, lived in feel as well. A beautiful home that is absolutely perfect in every way is less inviting than a simply but prettily decorated well kept home that shows a few signs of life and wear.
I don't think we have to spend lots of money to make our homes beautiful either! Sometimes the simplest things can make a huge difference. A small bouquet of flowers on the kitchen table can make the whole room look many times better. Just doing basic things, like making sure that the floors are swept, the dishes put away and counters washed, the rugs shook out,the bed made, and the bathroom clean, can do wonders for the overall appearance and feel of the home.
I realize that most of you reading this are probably way ahead of me in this area. I am just writing some of what I have been thinking about for the last couple of days, because I have been convicted in this area. Now I'm going to sign off of this blog because I have a lot of cleaning and reorganizing to do! It's amazing how fast a closet can go from a well organized area to a complete disaster! I have a tendency to hide messes in the closets thinking I will take care of it later and then I never get to it. Well today I'm going to clean them out again and try to keep them that way. Goodbye for now!

Beautiful Womanhood

This evening I just want to copy a few paragraphs from a book that I love called "Daughters of Destiny". This section has always inspired me, so I thought it might be encouraging for you. :-)

" What is womanhood? Is there any more important question for young women to consider than this? It should be the highest ambition of every young woman to strive toward possessing a heart of true womanhood. Earth presents no higher object of attainment. To be a woman, in the truest and highest sense of the word, is to be the best thing beneath the skies. To be a woman is something more than to live eighteen or twenty years; something more than to grow to the physical stature of women; something more than to wear flounces, exhibit dry-goods, sport jewelry, catch the gaze of lewed eyed men; something more than to be a beauty, a wife, or a mother. Put all these qualifications together and they do but little toward making a true woman.
Beauty and style are not the surest passports to womanhood- some of the noblest examples of womanhood in the world, have looked quite plain in outward appearance. A woman's worth is to be estimated by the real goodness of her heart, the greatness of her soul, and the purity and sweetness of her character; and a woman with a kindly disposition and well-balanced temper, is both lovely and attractive, even if her face is plain and her figure imperfect; she makes the best of wives and the truest of mothers. She has a higher purpose in living than to flaunt her finery on the street, or to gratify her inordinate vanity by extracting flattery and praise from society, whose compliments are as hollow as they are insincere.
No gift from heaven is so general and so widely abused by woman as the gift of beauty. In many cases, it makes her thoughtless, giddy, vain, proud, frivolous, selfish, low and mean. I think I have seen more girls spoiled by beauty than by any other one thing. " She is beautiful, and she knows it," is as much as to say she is spoiled. A beautiful girl is very likely to believe she was made to be looked at. And believing and acting thus, she soon becomes good for nothing else, and when she comes to be a middle aged woman she is that weakest, most sickening of all human things- a faded beauty. Outward beauty is shallow- only skin-deep; fleeting- only reigning for a season. But inward beauty will last forever.
If you desire to be admired and beloved, be an example of beautiful womanhood and cultivate the virtues of the heart. Wealth may surround you with its blandishments, and beauty, learning, or talents, may give you admirers, but love and kindness alone can captivate the heart. Whether you live in a cottage or a palace, these graces can surround you with perpetual sunshine, making you, and those around you, happy.
Seek then, fair daughters, the possession of that inward grace, whose essence shall fragrance and vitalize the affections, adorn the countanance, make sweet the voice, and impart a hallowed beauty throughout your very being."

I hope you had time to read all of that, and you enjoyed it! I know I always enjoy reading it!

Hello!

Hello everybody!
This is my first attempt at blogging- hopefully you'll enjoy it! I decided to do this so I could keep in touch with my friends and possibly encourage other young wives. In case you don't know, I have now been married for almost 7 months. That's not really very long I know, but it's amazing to me because it doesn't seem like it's been that long! My life has changed dramatically in the last 7 months! I went from living in my parents house with my 8 brothers and sisters on a farm in Florida to being married to a wonderful Godly man, Josh, and living in an apartment in a small town in Ohio. I miss my family a lot, but I am so thankful for my husband and his parents. I truly am richly blessed!
All of my life I have dreamed of being a wife and mother. The kind of husband I dreamed about always seemed to good to be true, but here I am now married to a man who is better than I could have ever dreamed. He may not be perfect but neither am I! Now we get to grow and learn together for the rest of our lives.
I always wanted to be the perfect wife. Now I know that I have a LOT of learning and growing to do before I'm even close to being a prefect wife. One of the blessings that I'm most thankful for is that I have a perfect and loving God who will always be with me and help me learn and grow, and also I have a wonderful husband who loves me even though I'm not perfect.
My hope for this blog is that it will be an encouragement to young wives and young women who are hoping to be married someday. I will share some of the things that go on in my happy un-perfect life, and some of the things I learn, and the things that encourage me along the way. I hope you enjoy it! God bless you in your richly blessed life!