i have been thinking about this for over a week.
i am not usually so wordy…
i don't want to give a sermon…just some encouragement.
the study book Women of the Bible that our group finished in may…
but i just finished now (i skipped some lessons) had an entire chapter on prov.31.
it has been helpful to my struggles.
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Proverbs 31:10-30 (New International Version)
10 A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
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(the words in color are directly from the book….)
how did you feel when you were first introduced to this Prov. 31 woman…
overwhelmed?
angry that God expected all of this from you?
guilty?
determined to become her?
if you are beaten down by this 'perfect' woman, take heart.
i have good news for you.
She is the IDEAL woman God wants to develop all women to be as they follow Him.
did you catch that?
GOD is the one working the transformation.
'He who began a good work in you, will be perfecting it until the day of Christ Jesus…Phil 1:6'.
Seeing what you can become(by His grace and work) should be a catalyst, not a condemnation.
if you are a perfectionist, an understanding of the truth will set you free from trying to be
or do for Him, so that you will allow Him to make you the woman He wants you to be.
the foundation of all horizontal relationships is the vertical relationship – our relationship
with God gives us the security to be real and vulnerable.
it is walking in God's grace that makes us agents of grace to others.
Even our abilities to grant forgiveness & ask forgiveness is tied to our relationship with God.
we cannot make ourselves into a virtuous woman.
but if we walk with God day after day, yielding our lives to His control,
He will keep making us more like Jesus.
The virtuous woman of proverbs 31 is not a standard or yardstick to measure up to,
but the goal toward which women should be moving.
she is the woman God is developing women to be today as they follow Him.
The first step we can change is not gritting our teeth & trying harder to be the perfect woman.
it is surrender.
the most imp
ortant word in the christian community is not commitment, but surrender.
we can be committed in the flesh, but surrender is admitting what we cannot do in our strength.
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it was just what i needed to hear.
and maybe you did too?
i highly recommend the study book Women of the bible.
it's a lot of homework but i have learned so much…i really enjoyed it and i am ready for book 2 this fall.
Liza - Love the road!
amber - I loved all of those country pictures. Wonderful! I think I wouldn’t mind the country either if I could just quilt a lot. Maybe make my kids be outside a lot – working. That sounds nice. I like your blog!
robin bird - i am loving this entire set! the family photo up top is so perfect it could make a mom cry…did she cry when she saw those beautiful girls of hers? i would have! and the long quiet highway capture is something i will try and emulate you can be sure of that! , the barn with the old truck and that cow looking over his herds shoulder to ask you; “hey, you looking at me?” are both perfection. you are on a roll honey!
XOX
Amy Walker - Megan, I laughed out loud when I read this! All your photography is great, I’d love to have you do our family sometime. I’ll have to get in touch with you, maybe sometime this fall when the tree’s are changing.
pinkmilkisyummy - I love the brown cow and the barn/truck shot. Fabulous!
My girls are nearly 4 and 2, and whenever they happen to fall asleep in the car at the same time, I do exactly this (provided I have my camera along!). My music on (currently Green Day) instead of endless repeats of High School Musical or Hi-5. Camera on seat beside me, and just mooching about the little country roads stoppng whenever I feel the urge. I had a motorcyclist nearly fall off his bike as he tried to see what it was I was standing on the front seat of my car, with my head out the door trying to capture.
erika - absolutely LOVE these pictures! Especially the one with the brown cow peeking her head up between the black cows- so precious!!!
Lori - I have never been to Kansas, but you really make me want to go there! Have you considered offering your photos in your Etsy store? I would buy some! (Color and b/w)
Vera - I LOVE love love love old barns… like I sometimes cry when I drive by them, thinking that this is something my grandchildren may never see, because they are disappearing so fast around here. Wonderful pictures!!
cre8ivegirl - “have to take my kids to the dentist.” Poof! Back to reality! Beautiful shots of the barns. Lucky girl to live in the country.
pve - Growing up in Kentucky, my Dad loves to “drive” and see the countryside.
There is something cleansing about seeing wide open spaces and as a Mom of 3, having a little time just to hear yourself think.
Thanks for the countryside tour, ahh.
pve
Kathy - Love your pictures! I think I could be a weekend country girl..but like you no hard stuff just fun! Have a great weekend.
Sally - Lovin’ Kansas! I, too, am a country girl at heart……without all the hard work.
Becky @ Farmgirl Paints - Nothing better than some cow, barn and old dirt road pics. You are my kind of gal. Love the one of the brown cow looking directly at you…priceless.
Allison - I grew up in Kansas City and went to college in Newton. Every late spring and summer drive between the two was exactly like these photos. I can’t take my eyes off the prairie in the summer (which makes for dangerous driving, really). I got married in June and I *so* wanted wedding pictures taken in the Flint Hills, but didn’t get any.
Roxie's Mom - Love that “How Now, Brown Cow” shot. Classic!
Treemama - i have a drive like this too that i take every few months without the kids. it’s on the way to my best friend’s house, but i’ve always been in to much of a rush to take the camera along and take my time. may pencil in some extra time.
i love your cow photos!
there is something about the country that invited peace isn’t there?
Laura - I always want to be your neighbor when I look at photos of Kansas, or photos of your fun! this morning I was having coffee on my porch and a hummingbird hovered in front of me… if I’d been you I’d have had my camera ready!
Have a super weekend- Laura
wendy - I live in the country but I’m not sure this is where, deep in my heart, I belong. But it’s nice while it lasts I guess. My post today looks much like yours. Lots of country stuff going on. Glad you enjoyed your country drive. You got some great shots Megan!
jody - What great pictures…Reminds me of where I live…nearby in Iowa. LOVE it…I love the country life, too…but of course haven’t really lived it…it’s the simple, striking beauty…of land that’s loved and taken care of…I don’t want to sound bratty either, but it’s romantic and peaceful.
Your photos are always just amazing!
Dana - I love looking at your blogs. You inspire me to be a better mother, homemaker, and person. For that I thank you. I was born and raised in NorthWestern Kansas and I LOVE KANSAS. I moved to California when I was in Elementary School, but continue to visit my family every single summer. I still feel like Kansas is home. Thanks for the pictures, you totally made my day, I’m going to go call my Dad…
katy - I love the pictures you took! My husband and kids and I drove around this evening taking pictures of country life, it was GREAT!!!!!! I love living here in our small town, just a jump on the golf cart and we’re out in a pasture or dirt road amongst the cattle.
I’m hoping to get my pictures downloaded, but I’m pretty sure they’re not as wonderful as yours.
mary - love the brown cow looking up !
danyele - i really really want to go on a drive trip with you bc my fam won’t stop for me top shoot everything. i get some, but well, i would love it!!!
Erin - I always want to stop when I see things like this to take pics of but we’re always headed somewhere.
I’ll have to go by myself sometime here in NE – looks wonderful.
Julia - that cow sure looks like he has a lot of attitude.
LibraryGirl62 - I have pictures like that from my family home in KY~it just speaks to your heart, doesn’t it? I have an inner country girl too~I just can’t get out of Florida to cut her loose 🙂
emily :] - i love the picture with the truck 🙂 & i also think you and i are the same in that i like to pretend to be a country girl. i could never be on the farm, but being out there is just relaxing.
TRACI - Sooooo many do not appreciate the beauty of Ks. Glad you do and I know I DO.
Elma Riedstra - What beautiful pictures!!! Love the green grass and the old barns. What true country. Love the cows to. I love to see cows out in the fields. We live on the farm with 3900 milking cows and they are so beautiful:) Have a wonderful day!!!
Amber - Gosh every time you post pictures of Kansas it makes me wanna move away from city life. But like you said I’d be the one enjoying the country perks without all the hard work. And I almost spit out my drink laughing at that meth addicts part. 😉 God bless, have a good day.
Jamie Sampson - what a lovley afternoon. I love moments like that, where you just feel happy and like you are doing just what you were meant to do. Gorgeous photos, lov ehte old barns and the cows are pretty cute too.
Erin - Just curious I am a Kansas girl, where exactly were you taking pictures? The weather here yesterday was gorgeous!! I can only imagine how nice it was to drive down the country roads with the window down and the nice breeze blowing in your hair. I too wished we live in the country…we live in a small town but we are in a subdivision, I hope one day to be way out in the country with no neighbors.
So live in Kansas as well?
Jodi - Beautiful pictures. U2 makes everything that much more awesome. 🙂
Leah - The pictures of the road and field makes me think of the movie Twister. Do you guys worry about tornadoes?
jennifer - Those are beautiful pictures! My favorite is the one of the open road. There’s just something so peaceful about it.
Cate O'Malley - Love the picture of the long open road with nothing on it, and the cows. Oh how I love cows. Would love to have a big open field with cows just to look at and take pictures. And with someone else to do all the work that comes with them. 😉
purejoy - thanks for taking me to the country. i don’t think you sound like a brat. more like a realist. i’d like a big house in the country with all the animals and land. and an entire staff to clean my house and make mint juleps so i can sit and sip on the veranda. yeah, something kind of scarlette-y, but minus the drama. and the poverty. simple, yet provisional.
juliann brenner - Beautiful! Don’t you just want to “reclaim” some of the read barn wood for a project??
anna - oh. my. word. i l.o.v.e. those pictures! if i had a fancy camera, that is what i would take pictures of. i have a thing for old farms, farmhouses and old falling down bars.
thanks for sharing those pictures!
sarah - I live north of Kansas City and I agree- it is beautiful here. I always think the Midwest is underrated: no mountains or gigantic lakes or coastline, but beautiful all the same.
Carrie K - You make me want to live in kansas too!
gorgeous pics!! and good job on escaping the methheads…lol
Aubrey - That’s the kind of country girl I wish I were too. Sometimes I think it would be fun to live right in the heart of the city for a little tiny bit.
What’s the job market like out there? Because now I REALLY want to move to Kansas. 😉 I so love your pictures–every time.
anne - i love these pics. remind me of home (North Dakota) 🙂
thanks for the smile today.
evan - you make me laugh. the one of the old truck is my favorite. u2 loud in the car out on the road driving alone is THE BEST way to hear them. well, maybe it’s neck-and-neck with driving with u2 loud and your kids are behind you singing loudly. (but that one often gets interrupted when someone starts screaming behind you loudly) 🙂
erin j - I love Kansas: the big, open skies with the beautiful sunsets, the lonely roads, the cattle, the fields. Everything is so lovely. Your pictures make me homesick.
Heather @ Cookie Mondays - I’ve never been to the middle of the US, just the coasts. CANNOT WAIT to visit that beauty. (There may be a countdown involved.)
Sandra - Oh how beautiful — I love the pic of the Cow looking at you as if to say, “did you ask permission to take my picture?” Very cool.
Sandy
charlane - love the shots and I’m a girl that likes to be in the country during the day and a city girl at heart at night. I’m a brat too perhaps? LOL
I would love to be the only car for miles with no time limits.
sheryl - Beautiful moments. Beautiful pictures!
Lisa K in FL - What a gift you have, Meg!! I know darn well that if I took those same pictures they would look like boring shots of cows and farms. But yours are so very beautiful!!
Penny - I love the one of the three cows. The middle one looks mad. LOL Mad cow! Great pic’s. I am glad you were able to enjoy your alone time. I know I really enjoy being alone sometimes too. Sunday I am flying to Colorado by myself to deliver our last puppy to a family there. I will spend the night and plan to take a tour of Denver and then fly home. I am looking forward to the time to enjoy myself all alone!
Hannah - You take such beautiful pictures! You have such talent!
But yeah, good idea to steer clear of the Meth Addict barn. Eeek!
Good luck at the dentist! 😀
amy d - det. craig wants to know where the barn with the empty house is :)….and a vaca update, you & your camera would be sooo happy here in maine so pretty up & down the coast & in the middle too. BEAUTIFUL!!!
Anna Marie - Same here…I like to BE in the country but wouldn’t really care for all of that other stuff {or at least I don’t think so}.
I love old barn photos!
Glad you didn’t have a run in with the meth-heads 😛
Kristine - When I was 14 my family moved from the suburbs of hicago to the farms of northern IL (Belvidere). Like you, I just like to BE in the country. I love the sounds, the feel, the lack of buildings/people, and I think most, the simplicity.
Your photos brought me right back wo when I was learning to drive between the fields. Although, I never had the guts to get out and walk into a barn-let along a possible meth house (I don’t think Meth was even around then) ;). But, what do I know?!!?!
Great shots…!