our family

our family

Monday, February 14, 2011


How us ladies can be precious in Gods sight


Who doesn’t want to be precious in the eyes of our Father?
1st Peter 3:1-7
What is beauty? (Vs 3)

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear.

Now do not get me wrong this does not mean that we are not to care about ourselves. While Joseph and I were dating we hardly ever had anywhere to go, but I knew he was coming so I would clean myself up, shower, and have on clean fresh clothes when he got there. I remember him telling me once that it was nice to know that I was ‘dressing up’ only because he was coming over! So yes we should want to be our best for our men. We should not allow this to consume our thoughts though. This is NOT to become our ‘god’.
(vs.4)

But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.


If you are like me when you look at this verse you think “Oh no!
I will let you in on a little secret. I am NOT a quiet person.

I want us to look a little deeper at what this is saying to us. I was relieved when I realized it doesn’t say I have to have a quiet voice, it tells us to have a gentle and quiet spirit.
So just what does that mean?

Gentle by definition means to be kind, tender, polite, not harsh

Let’s read Matthew 11:29

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Now I know that this is the Lord speaking to us, His children, but let’s look at this and how it applies to our relationship with our husbands.

First of all to have a quiet spirit just simply means that we as women are at peace with who we are in Christ. See how Jesus said He is gentle and lowly at heart and you could find rest for your souls. As wives and mothers this should be our desire. We should want our lives to ooze peace, so that not only our husbands but our entire family can come home and find peace and rest in our arms.
Now, let’s look at verse 5.
For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands,

You had to know it was coming ;) Scripture says this is how the Holy women of God adorn themselves! I don’t know about you, but I want to be counted holy.
When you think of submission what do you see?

A poor old woman who doesn’t know any better and just lets that man run right over her and does whatever he tells her to do, right? If you will allow me to, I want to challenge that view of a submissive wife.
What is submission?


Submission is being humble, marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful.
Submission is being obedient.


God has placed our husbands over us for a reason. Not to undermine us or our abilities, but so that our abilities can shine. I don’t know about you gals but I cannot handle near as much stress at Joseph can. We ladies are emotional creatures. When I try to take the lead in our home, it consumes me. I am unable to have true worship because I am concerned with things that I was never meant to carry. It is an awesome feeling to know that if they come and turn the lights off then it’s not my fault! I have nothing to do with paying the bills! I know that that may seem silly, but that is just how simple it is.
I am able to be a wife to my husband and a mother to our children when I allow Joseph to be the man of our home that God has called him to be.

(vs6)

as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

Sarah didn't call Abraham her Lord because he was a dictator or she was afraid of him, she called him her Lord because he was her protector, her provider. That is kind of like us calling our man our hero. Joseph knows that he is my hero, I try to tell him that often.

As long as we are in God's will we do not have to be concerned or afraid of what our husbands are asking of us, all we have to do is obey. God takes care of us through our men! Isn't that a beautiful picture?!

I love you ladies and hope that you have a fresh new vision of what God has for you as his daughters.

Chocloate For Breakfast


When Joseph and I first married, we knew we wanted a house full of children. We had big hopes and dreams and lots of ideas of what raising children would be like. After our miscarriage I wasn't sure what God was up to. 6 years into our marriage we had that beautiful baby boy, that God had promised to Joseph so many years ago.
All of the ideas that we had about children could not compare to the feeling of joy and completion that Levi brought to us. He was perfect! If there were ever a perfect baby, he was it. I never had any problems with getting him to sleep, he only cried when he was hungry or needed a diaper change... and then.... he turned 1.
He has gotten his own personality and pushes every boundary. He is rotten to the core. There are days that I feel like all I do is tell him no. I know that this is a process that every child goes through. I have been told so many times, "just don't worry about it, it is only a stage" or " Why would you get on to that baby, he doesn't understand". Sure this is only a stage he is going through, but he will never get out of that stage if he is not taught. He must learn to say please and thank you, he must learn to share his toys, he must learn to be nice and helpful to others, and how will he learn that if we do not teach him. Some children require a little more 'teaching' then others. Levi is so stubborn. For God to use our children as they are growing they have to learn obedience. Yes it hurts us as parents to have to discipline our children. There have been times when Levi has been very defiant and after the discipline process is over I have my time to cry and pray that God is showing me the right type of discipline to use.
Then, there are those days that I want to eat him up! He is so stinking cute and sweet. We have more of these days than we do the previous days. He loves to read and play games. He has a barn yard set, so he and mommy play with the animals everyday. We have time of learning everyday. He is still so little that we only do 'school' for about 5 minutes at a time. He is learning his ABC's, Colors, and is learning to count. I try to get a total of about 15 min devoted just to that in each day. Of course when you plan to home school, you take everything you do as a learning opportunity.
He also is loving Veggie Tales. He already gets wrapped up in things. Just the other day we were watching 'Wheres God When I am Scared?' and there is a part of the show where Jr asparagus is watching a "scary" movie. Frankencelery scares Levi, everytime! He will run to me and want me to hold him. It is kind of comical.
He loves to dance, we dance everyday. He wants me to dance with him. I play music for him everyday and if I don't dance a little bit with him he will come and want me to hold him to dance. That wears me out ;)
Today, is his 2nd Valentine's Day. He was so cute this morning when he got up and I gave him his stuff. He said "ooo, cannee". So how could I not let him have some Chocolate for Breakfast! He loves York Peppermint patties and raisenets.
I love being a mommy. I would not trade anything for it. I love watching him grow. I am excited to see what God has for not only Levi, but all of my children. I pray daily that God gives me the knowledge it takes to teach them and help mold them for His service. I pray for the stregnth to let go of them when the time comes. Teaching them does no good if you are not willing to release them. This week is Levi's first week of learning his first Bible Verse. We are starting out very simple. GOD IS LOVE. What better week to start than the week of Valentines. I want my children to know that God is the best Valentine you could have.
Courtney Cooper