Are You Backsliding?

"Men fall in private long before they fall in public."

JC Ryle

Are you backsliding?

Only you know the honest answer to this.

Maybe there have been signs. 

Maybe you have been compromising.

Maybe you have been making excuses for it. 

Or maybe you are in denial.

But either way, you know that it is there. 


"The causes of backsliding are many. We have pretended to be living a more devoted life than was actually the case; we neglected to watch unto prayer; we allowed secret sin to eat out the heart of our piety...or we yielded to temptation..or we yielded to the fear of man, and drifted with the multitude to do evil; or we became prosperous, and trusted only in our wealth; or poor, and succumbed to covetousness and the bitterness of despair." ~F.B. Meyer

Don't turn a blind eye to it--but be sober-minded.

And the way we become sober-minded about backsliding is coming face to face with God's Word.

So today I am sharing some very important Bible verses on this topic that we all need to be reminded of.

Because none of us are safe from it and anyone can fall. 

But the good news is that God's Word picks us back up and gets us back on track!

"If you begin to slip on the side of a mountain of ice, the first slip may not hurt if you can stop and slide no further. But alas, you cannot so regulate sin! When your feet begin to slide, the rate of the descent increases, and the difficulty of arresting this motion is incessantly becoming greater. It is dangerous to backslide in any degree, for we know not to what it may lead. The Christian life is very much like climbing a hill of ice. You cannot slide up. You have to cut every step with an ice ax. Only with incessant labor in cutting and chipping can you make any progress. If you want to know how to backslide, leave off going forward, cease going upward and you will go downward of necessity. You can never stand still."  ~ Charles Spurgeon


So here they are---I hope you are encouraged:

"Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children." Deuteronomy 4:9

"The law of his God is in his heart: his steps do not slip." Psalm 37:31

"He will not let your foot slip—He who watches over you will not slumber." Psalm 121:3

"For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38

"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." John 15:4

"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love." John 15:4-10

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel." Galatians 1:6

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:10

"If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us;

13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself." 2 Timothy 2:12-3

"For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,  but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries..."but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” Hebrews 10:26-7, 38

"See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled..." Hebrews 12:15

 "For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.  For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them." 2 Peter 2:20-21

"Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father." John 2:24

Wise Woman Linkup!

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home is a place to be encouraged in your high and noble calling of role of wife and mother and daughter to the King and we want to encourage each and every single reader out there to build up strong Christian homes to the glory of God.

"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. " 

1 Thessalonians 5:11

We would love for you to link up with us! Come and share your posts on building up your home, homemaking, character, hospitality, femininity, family, tea, recipes, parenting, marriage, homeschooling, and whatever else you'd like to share that would encourage our community. Feel free to also share more than one post!

Be sure to connect with us there so you don't miss anything and on our other platforms too:

Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter

We share things there that we don't share here on the blog!

And here are some of our posts from the past week in case you miss them:

Being Busy at Home

Service Projects You Can Do Together as a Family

Also if you are looking for a friend or a safe place to ask questions, we would love for you to join us at our Wise Woman Builds Titus 2 Facebook Group:

Now back to the Linkup--if you do join our link up we only require one thing! PLEASE share the image below on your blog and link back so that others can find us and join in the fun:

If you are reading by email, visit our blog to see the whole post. 

You can link up below: 
  

(Note: This post might contain affiliate links--thanks for your support!)

Being Busy at Home

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." ~ Titus 2:3


When you look to culture today you see many things of unimportance being praised while the things of God are being silenced. It is so important that we use God's word as the plumb line in our lives and as we know that His will is the best for us.

I love that when I am at home that I can pour into others and make myself available to the people who mean the most to me. I love that I can prepare a home that is comfortable and restful to them.

I find that if I am running around too much that I become weary and do not always have the energy to care for my family the way that I would like. So I have learned to prioritize my time for what is important and learning to say "no" to things that would steal away from that.

If I am out too much it prevents me from being able to watch over my household the way it needs and I want to make sure I can supply my husband, children, and home with that they need. There are definitely times when I need to be out and about or our home couldn't function--but I have made it a point that as much as I can to try to guard that time that I need to be able to care for everything. It also helps with not having a meltdown from taking on too much.




Lately, a  few ways that I have been being busy at home in the past month are:

• cleaning up the garage
• planning and prepping for the school year ahead
• ordering school supplies & curriculum online for 6 children (3 already graduated)
• decluttering spaces (and throwing out what I don't need)
• organizing spaces to function better
• getting the children appointments and glasses
• spending time with my husband
• one-on-one time with the children and listening to what they have to say
• getting children to ministry functions
• organizing things blog related and online work
• planning future financial needs

And the list goes on and on. You might have a list like this one or one that is very different, but either way it is important what is needed to be done in your home. 

Now let me just say that I don't do this perfectly-- but I know that when I am not here things can quickly fall apart! Moms, you are truly needed in your home, to watch over it, so I encourage you to pray to God for wisdom to see what He would have you do there in your season and circumstances. 

It will look different for everyone so don't feel like you have to follow a set of rules--just ask God what it will look like for you and your family and He will show you the way!

What are some ways *you* are being busy at home?

Service Projects You Can Do Together As a Family

I have been putting in plenty of hours preparing for homeschooling this year--I can't believe I only have 5 children this year to school (even though Bella will be doing some unofficial preschool with us). And something I got really serious about last year was doing service projects as a family.

It is fun to try something new and know that you are blessing someone in the process. It also helps the children to have an outward focus and practice the Bible verse of to "love one another".

You can plan to do one a month, one a week or whenever you'd like --whatever suits your family the best!

Here are a few ideas to inspire you:

1. Give to a homeless shelter (donations or time).

2. Help an elderly widow with cleaning or her yard. 

3. Bless a single mom with something she could use (money, giftcard, free time, babysitting, etc.).

4. Pick up trash in the community. 

5. Bring someone a meal who needs it. 

6. Bake something and take it to a neighbor to just be friendly & kind. 

7. Write someone a letter (thank a soldier or to grandma and grandpa)

8. Participate in a church work day to help clean it up. 

9. Bring gifts to a children's hospital. 

10. Visit a senior citizen home and sing to them. Our homeschool had something like this at Christmas time and they would pass out Christmas cards and candy.

11. Create care bags to give to the homeless.

12. Create blankets that don't need sewing for Project Linus.

13. Have a garage sale and donate proceeds to a charity or your favorite cause. 

14. Stock up and donate school supplies when they are on sale to children who need them. 

15. Give extra clothes your children have grown out of to someone who could use it. 

16. Have a "random acts of kindness" day.

17. Donate food to a food bank. 

18. Host a neighborhood potluck and get to know your neighbors. 

19. Volunteer /donate at a women's shelter. 

20. Offer to pay for an elderly person, young family,  or a veteran at a restaurant - you can even do it secretly to bless them!

Here are a few resources you might like:

*This post contains my affiliate links--please see my disclosure policy. 

The Kid's Guide to Service Projects: Over 500 Service Ideas for Young People Who Want to Make a Difference

101 Simple Service Projects Kids Can Do

What other service ideas or acts of kindness would you add to this list?

Wise Woman Linkup!

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home is a place to be encouraged in your high and noble calling of role of wife and mother and daughter to the King and we want to encourage each and every single reader out there to build up strong Christian homes to the glory of God.

"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. " 

1 Thessalonians 5:11

We would love for you to link up with us! Come and share your posts on building up your home, homemaking, character, hospitality, femininity, family, tea, recipes, parenting, marriage, homeschooling, and whatever else you'd like to share that would encourage our community. Feel free to also share more than one post!

Be sure to connect with us there so you don't miss anything and on our other platforms too:

Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter

We share things there that we don't share here on the blog!

And here are some of our posts from the past week in case you miss them:

A Wise Woman is...Diligent

My Humble Home & Living Simply

Wedding Reception Ideas:

Also if you are looking for a friend or a safe place to ask questions, we would love for you to join us at our Wise Woman Builds Titus 2 Facebook Group:

Now back to the Linkup--if you do join our link up we only require one thing! PLEASE share the image below on your blog and link back so that others can find us and join in the fun:

If you are reading by email, visit our blog to see the whole post. 

You can link up below: 
  

(Note: This post might contain affiliate links--thanks for your support!)

My Humble Home: The Garden & Thoughts on Living Simply

My heart is always in my home. I love being here and feel blessed to be able to have the privilege to be a homemaker and watch my children grow up. That peony up above is from my garden and is my favorite flower. It grew so beautifully this year and I was so glad I was able to capture it.

I had bought these awhile back sometime in April for my kitchen. I love the message--just living simply. Why do we need to complicate things and make things harder on ourselves? Sometimes I think because we have so much more opportunity that we put more on us than we really need to. More technology, more to do. Just because the opportunity is there doesn't mean that it is the best for us. Sometimes just living simply is the good life. Just because I can, doesn't always mean I should. 

We can get so busy that it drowns out all the blessings around us--and that is why I love being at home. It helps me to center myself and get back to what really matters. 

(one of my hostas that produce blue flowers)

Our yard was filled with tons of fat little bunnies running around this year so we had to actually put a little fence around our garden to keep them out. The children had great fun chasing them all over the place. 

We caught this baby bunny and Bella was in love at first sight!

We have been having a ton of company over--it seems like we our kid's friends are always over here. I am glad that they will have fun memories of good times here in the home swimming, playing in the sprinklers, watching movies, catching fireflies at dusk, and laughing on the deck late into the night. 

The raspberry bush produced like crazy this year--what fun for the little kids to go and pick a quick snack. Sometimes I see the older ones over there too!

Our zucchinis grew extra large this year again--these are great on the grill with some olive oil, salt, and pepper! The kids always want to enter them into our local fair which just started up again. It takes about 1 and 1/2 of these to feed our family of 11.

I made sure to make some time to have tea with my daughter and this little critter this summer too. I don't want to miss this special moments by doing things I feel pressured to do, but don't really need to. 

We have had a handful of birthdays the last few months. It is so important to celebrate the ones  you love. It is not the big things but the little things that count.  My husband turned 46 and pictured above is one of his favorite dishes from this Mexican Restaurant we like to visit--it is a stuffed pineapple filled with all kinds of seafood. It is amazing!

Here was his simple cake--we are chocolate lovers in this family as you can see! 

I hope you enjoyed our pictures!

How are you enjoying your summer?

Wedding Reception Ideas

We recently attended my niece's wedding--it was a beautiful and we are so happy for her. I wanted to share some pictures of the reception with you so you could see it. She had a rose gold theme and everything was so lovely!

Here are some of the pictures:

They had quite an amazing spread of desserts when you walked in the door.

The hall was breathtaking and even had marble walls.

I loved how everything was displayed with the pretty lights--all the food was so scrumptious!

What a cute idea to add the roses above with the strawberries to make it even more classy.

This was my plate!
There was also dinner but I didn't get any pictures of that.

Here was the name card table. 

My sister in law and her daughter in law created these centerpieces.  We got to take a bouquet home at the end of the day. They also had large candle centerpieces as well that you might be able to see at the table in the back. 

Here was the wedding cake!

What was neat was that there was this tree behind it that was also lit up.

It really added a unique touch and looked way better in person than in my picture.

This was a fireplace behind the cake.

A balcony that was in the room. 

This was the back view of the cake and the dance floor. 

Here is my daughter with a friend. Arent' they cute? 

They had their bubbles ready to blow when the bride and groom came out. 

We hope you enjoyed our pictures!