For Wives and Mothers... An Encouragement

This was put on my heart for wives and mothers to encourage them.

A Strong Woman versus a Woman of Strength

A strong woman works out every day to keep her body in shape…

But a woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape;

A strong woman isn’t afraid of anything…

But a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear;

A strong woman won’t let anybody get the best of her…

But a woman of strength gives the best of her to everyone;

A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids them in the future…

A woman of strength realizes that life’s mistakes can also be

God’s blessings and capitalizes on them;

A strong woman walks sore-footedly…

But a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls;

A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face…

But a woman of strength wears grace;

A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey…

But a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey

that she will become strong.

The Hidden Woman

A woman once fretted over the usefulness of her life. She feared she was wasting her potential being a devoted wife and mother. She wondered if the time and energy she invested in her husband and children would make a difference. At times she got discouraged because so much of what she did seemed to go unnoticed and unappreciated.

“Is there something better that I could be doing with my time?” she would ask herself.

It was during one of these moments of questioning she heard the still voice of her Heavenly Father speak to her heart. “You are a wife and mother because that is what I have called you to be. Much of what you do is hidden from the public eye. But I notice. Most of what you give is done without remuneration. But I am your reward.

“Your husband can not be the man I have called him to be without your support. Your influence upon him is greater than you think and more powerful than you will ever know. I bless him through your service and honor him through your love. Your children are precious to Me … even more precious than they are to you. I entrusted them to your care so that you may raise them right for Me. What you invest in them is an offering to Me.

“You may never be in the public spotlight. But your obedience shines as a bright light for Me. Continue on. Remember that you are my servant. Keep on pleasing me.”

The High Calling

If God has called you to be truly like Jesus… He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put on you demands of obedience that sometimes will not allow you to follow other Christians. In many ways He will seem to let other good people do things He won’t let you do.

Other Christians, even ministers, who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull strings, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do these things. And if you attempt them you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others can brag about themselves, about their work, about their success, about their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing; and if you begin bragging, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may only supply you daily, because he wants you to have something far better than gold, - a helpless dependence on Him – that he may have the privilege of providing your needs daily out of the unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honored and keep you hidden in obscurity, because he wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.

God will let others be great and keep you small; he will let others do work for him, and get credit for it, but he will make you work and toil without anyone knowing how much you are doing. And then to make you more precious still, He will let others credit for the work which you have done; this will make your reward ten-times greater when Jesus comes.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, with jealous love, and rebuke you for little words and feelings or for wasting time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.

So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign who has a right to do whatever He pleases with His own, and needs not to explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.

God will take you at your word, and if you absolutely see yourself to be His slave. He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and let other people say and do many things that you cannot say or do.

Settle it forever, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand back, or closing your eyes in ways that others are not disciplined.

Now, when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of Heaven!

- Edith Osterbauer

Moanhood Or Motherhood?... Part 2

Part 1
There are always two ways to look at things. Many times when I exercise I start thinking, “I feel awful. My legs are burning. I can hardly breath. I feel like stopping.” With every second I grow more tired and soon feel completely drained. The fact is everything I’m feeling is truth. However, when I “gird up my mind” I remember how good I’ll feel afterwards and that 30 minutes isn’t that long. “I’ve only got 15 more minutes to go. I’m breathing really well now, and hey, this is easy. I feel great. I’ll race anyone. I’m going to pick up my pace. Wow, look at me go!” There is as much truth in this second thought process and I injected myself with a bunch of energy and ended up with a full tank.


You may get up in the morning, sigh and drag yourself to the coffee pot confessing, “I was up with the baby for four solid hours last night. I can’t make it through today.” This may be true, but the other side of the story is that you had four good hours of sleep. We can feel just as good as we can feel bad.


Thinking negatively involves the “me” word. It makes one too introspective. If you are feeling depressed, go and do something for someone else. You’ll soon forget about your own problems.


The negative “so called” facts are not truth at all. They are the enemy’s poisonous darts. To contemplate them digs their venom deeper into your mind. The truth is: we are new creatures in Christ. We are to crucify the “flesh man” and live by the Spirit. The fruit of the Holy Spirit such as patience and long-suffering are now our new character traits. In Christ we can bear way more than the level the devil deceives us into thinking we can handle.


The second line of Proverbs 31:10 reads, “The heart of her husband trusts in her so that he has no lack of gain.” The New Living Translation reads, “She will greatly enrich his life.” How can we enrich our husbands when our own lives are anything but enriched? We can’t give from a drained pot. Often we feel empty and exhausted, not because of our tedious workload so much as the state of our mental reflections. How can a husband feel enriched if his wife is not contended and happy? How can a husband have “no need of gain” if his wife isn’t happy and contented? If we greet him at the door with a tired expression, a list of complaints, and quickly pass off all the children to him, his welcome home will not be very enriching. It may make him want to retreat! Home should be a solace from the worry and stress with which the world assails him. It should be a place of enriching, a gas station to fill his tank before venturing back into his world of business and stress. Our homes should be an oasis where our husband can take a cool drink of the water of peace, love and laughter. We should meet him at the door with a bright smile, a warm welcome, and with a cheery atmosphere pervading the home. If he asks how our day was, and we remember how Suzie cut off her little sister’s hair or how the baby spread the surprise in his diaper like peanut butter around the crib or I had a really rough day at work we might feel compelled to say it was a “bad day”. But wait a second! Look at it this way. There were no major accidents. We are all still alive and breathing. Suzie did really well at her reading lesson and Johnny picked some weeds from the garden and said I was a “beaubibul laby” you prayed and ministered to a co-worker. It was a lovely day. Come to think of it, it was a great day!


When the atmosphere of our home is filled with optimism, our husband and children will feel they can do anything. The Proverbs 31 woman “opens her mouth with wisdom and the law of kindness is on her tongue.” As hormonal creatures, we women can sometimes become so emotionally pent up that when our husbands come home we vomit our feelings all over them before they have a chance to take off their coats. We were made to be our husbands’ helpmeets. We were made to complete them and enrich their lives. God did not create man to be the woman’s emotional counselor or hormonal dartboard. The more we press into God and think on the word, the less we will be inclined to emotionally regurgitate. Spurting out a bunch of negative goo gah is not opening our mouths in wisdom. Nor is it kind. It is like serving our husbands a glass of gravel instead of giving them a refreshing drink of happiness.


Men are not emotional sorts and just don’t get the problem. My friend told me how she told her husband that she was feeling “out of sorts.” He replied, “Don’t feel out of sorts.” This reply was the right answer but not the one she wanted to hear. Men are wired differently so when our skies look gray we need to go to God first and then maybe call a close girlfriend in Christ who will lend a listening ear.


Proverbs 31 continues with its description of the able woman. “She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms… she extends her hand to the poor. Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy…strength and dignity are her clothing; she shall rejoice in time to come… she watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.”


A hardworking woman doesn’t have time to waste in negative contemplation. She has more important things pressing on her mind. If we are truly busy we won’t have time to stop and moan. I can’t picture Mother Theresa complaining about how tired she was or turning away another child.


I love the way the curtains draw on the “able” woman. “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.” The Hebrew word for “praises” is “halal”. It means “to shine, to make a show, to boast, to rave, to glorify, to make renown. The root of this word has the idea of radiance.” Are we worthy of such acclamation?


Let us take on a spirit of rejoicing and do away with negative gloom. We will then be free to be ‘able’ women whose value is above jewels.
-Edith Osterbauer