Peaceful Sabbath

Psalm 46:10 

 ¹⁰Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Book Reviews - Promises, Promises by Amber Miller

Another "new" and exciting thing here at Though No One Join Me will be book reviews! I am a reader. Since I was a child, I have always LOVED a good book! My favorites ( and really the only ones I will read ) are Christian fiction, Christian biographies, and Christian life books.

The book I will be reviewing today is "Promises, Promises" by Amber Miller. This is a Christian Fiction book from Heartsong Presents. Description of book is as follows:

Raelene Strattford knows God has promised never to leave or forsake her. But after the catastrophic deaths of her parents, she doesn t believe it. What kind of God would take a girl's family and leave her alone in a wild land where women have no voice? Gustaf Hanssen has admired Raelene from afar for a while, but his poor attempt at courting her in the past has made him unwelcome in her life. When Gustaf promises Raelene's dying father that he will take care of her, he finds himself bound to her happiness, her success, and her well-being in ways he never imagined. To keep his word must Gustaf really oversee all of Raelene's affairs, find her a husband, and maintain her farm, while she does nothing but scorn him? Can God reach through Raelene's pain and self-centeredness and give her the love that awaits, if only she will accept His will?

This was a fantastic fiction book! Very good, Godly message included. And a sweet love story was thrown in as well.

Set in the 1700-1800 time frame, the story follows characters living a decidedly different existance than we do today. I personally love books written in an older time period.

If you would like to read this book, check out the link here to Amazon. This book is a great read, I guarantee it! :)

Earning Money at Home- Send Earnings review

Today, I will be talking about Send Earnings. Send Earnings is very much like Inbox Dollars. Very much so. The only real difference I see are the colors of the website. Everything else works exactly the same way. Which is great! Because, you get double the e-mails everyday. Double the survey opportunities. Double everything!







As before, giving out your home address and personal info is up to you, but it is not something I would advise.


Also, ( this goes along with Inbox Dollars as well ) I don't advise doing the cash tasks either. Those do not seem to make enough money to be worth your time. I have seen tasks that will pay only 28 cents for 30 minutes. But, the e-mails and survey's are pretty much always worth it.

Social Media- Has it become too much?

I hate to say everyone, because not everyone has one. But most people nowadays have some form of social media that they participate in. Facebook, Myspace, etc. have made it quite easy to get our thoughts out for everyone to see. And in a way, that can be OK. Looking at pictures of your new baby niece has never been easier!


But, I think that with everything, there has come a bit of too much disclosure. You can log into Facebook now, and see who is unhappy with their spouse, or who's children are giving them what kind of trouble. Wives are bashing their husbands right out there for anyone they decide to add to their friend's list to see. I even have a family member on my Facebook page who decided to Facebook her way through a miscarriage! I wish I was joking about that, but it is horribly true. Things that used to be kept private, or only shared in confidence with a few special people, are now being broadcast to whoever logs in that day. 


As ladies, where have we went wrong?


Titus 2:5- [To be] discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.


We as a society have gotten so far from discretion, I don't think we have any idea what that is anymore.


According to Webster's : 

dis·creet

 adj \di-ˈskrēt\

1

: having or showing discernment or good judgment in conduct and especially in speech : prudent; especially : capable of preserving prudent silence

2

: unpretentious, modest <the warmth and discreet elegance of a civilized home — Joseph Wechsberg>

Notice how it clearly says modest, and having good judgment in conduct, especially speech. Is it good judgment to tell everyone that your husband left his underthings on the floor that morning? Or it is good judgment to tell everyone that your husband did not kiss you goodbye that morning, so therefore he is a mean nasty oaf? I think not! When we have issues with our husbands, I think the first place we need to take those to is the Lord. 


1 Peter 5:7- Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.


Notice it says all cares. Not only ones that others would deem important. If it's important to you, it's important to God! Besides, I think God is far more equipped to handle our husband's behavior than our Facebook friends are. 


Really, when we post such things on a Facebook page, I feel we are just looking for some sort of sympathy. Look at me, my husband is so mean to me. Please feel sorry for me. 


That is, hopefully, not the attitude, nor outward demeanor that we want people to see in us. By showing others the love of God, and good discretion, we will arise far above our peers as Godly women. And a Godly woman is something we should all daily strive to be. 

Just because everyone else is doing it.... Part 2

Today I will be finishing up my post from yesterday on Halloween....

When I mentioned yesterday that I would be speaking about Fall Festivals, I did not mean them in the sense of those hay ride and pumpkin patch style parties. What I mean was more of the "Halloween alternative" parties that are so popular at churches nowadays. Mine and my husband's views on those are also ones of separation.

I do believe that those parties are great ways to reach the lost, and to give other children who would in fact be out trick or treating, or at Halloween parties with their friends. It is a wonderful outreach tool. However, I don't want my children to attend these. Why do you ask?

First off, we again do not want our children to have to see the evil costumes and masks that come to these parties. Like I said before, you will have a lot of lost and worldly people at these festivals. Therefore, you will see a lot of scary and evil costumes. I don't want those images in my children's young mind, nor do I want them to have to be fearful all night while we try to minister. 

Secondly, I feel to a child, this could seem as if mommy and daddy are still in a way "celebrating" this holiday. In our home, we choose to ignore Halloween completely.

Last year, while I was expecting our little boy, me and my husband came up with our own alternative. While the world was out trick or treating, we would be inside ( with the blinds down and the door shut to block out the images of people walking down the street ) decorating for the Christmas holiday. Christmas is huge in our house as we love to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. I put up my Fall decorations around the 1st of September, so by the end of October, we are ready for our Christmas decorations to come out. We warm up some hot chocolate, and get out the lights, etc. Then we spend a few hours getting the house ready. While everyone else is outside celebrating an evil holiday, we are inside beginning to celebrate the season of Christ's birth. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Now, to quickly touch on the Halloween alternative parties at church's. Like I said before, I do believe they are great outreach tools. I also believe that there are plenty of single, unmarried people in church's to work these festivals. I also believe there are newlywed couples without children, and older couples who would also be available to work these. While our children are young, we want to keep them out of this kind of outreach. When they are older ( adults ), we will then let them make the choice to do these forms of outreach if they feel the Lord leading them to do such. 

This is not hypocritical on our part at all, we feel. For instance: My husband could be doing a prison ministry every Saturday morning. We would not want our children to go into that sort of environment. However, when our sons are older teens and adults, my husband could then take them with him to minister. There is a time a place for everything depending on age and spiritual maturity. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1- To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

My honest prayer is that every family takes a good long look at their own homes and family life, and can see what they can replace this holiday with. 

Another good resource I have found on this topic is a Dad's and Mom's Corner from the Maxwell family. You can find that here. You can also subscribe to receive their Dad's and Mom's Corner's every month via e-mail. They are a wonderful resource, and I encourage you to do so. 

Just because everyone else is doing it....

"But Mom, ALL of my friends are dressing up! "

How many moms and dads will be confronted with this line come Sunday night? Yes, that's right, it's Halloween again. As if anyone who ever leaves their house could not have known considering all of the things stores have bombarding you right at the front door. Candy, costumes, decorations: You name it, they have it.

But is this "holiday" something that Christians should actually be celebrating? Doing a quick Wikipedia search on the origins of Halloween, you would be shocked ( as I was ) to see what you find. Halloween is as pagan a holiday as you can get.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworldbecame thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.^[4][5] Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused and each home lit their hearth from the bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames.^[6] Sometimes two bonfires would be built side-by-side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual.

Another common practice was divination, which often involved the use of food and drink.

The name 'Halloween' and many of its present-day traditions derive from the Old English era.

Is this the type of "holiday" that we want our children participating in?

There is then the argument that we can dress as Biblical characters to make a statement to the unsaved. Yes, this could be an idea. But, unfortunately, the costumes the other children are wearing are getting worse and worse every year. Have you seen the costumes they are selling nowadays? All blood and guts and gore. Certainly something that would scare a small child, if not a full grown adult woman! I don't want to even put my children out in that kind of situation where they would have to be confronted by such things. Even passing out tracts at your front door to trick-or-treeter's has the same dilemma. While your family is trying to show the light of Christ, the child on your front porch looks like something out of the latest horror movie. That image is now burned in your child's brain forever. Yes, it can be said that children show know the difference between real and fake. Try telling that to your poor child who is now having nightmares. There just does not seem to be a Godly, Biblical way to address this time of year, other than just hands off.

John 15:19--If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

You might be considered weird or old fashioned by not allowing your children to participate, but please don't let that discourage you. Or worse, make you lose your stand on not celebrating at all. The only person that we should be seeking to please with our lives is God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Tomorrow, I will be addressing Fall Festivals and my opinions and views on those. Hope to see you then!

Earning Money at Home- Inbox Dollars review

I am a huge proponent of stay at home ladies earning money at home. Even if it is just $25 dollars extra a month, that's a nice padding for your savings account!

This first week, I will be reviewing Inbox Dollars.

Inbox Dollars is a great website that allows you to do exactly what it says: earn money by reading e-mails, doing paid offers, online shopping, paid tasks, etc. How do I know Inbox Dollars works? Because I've been paid by them! It really does work! Now, I do not support spending money to earn money. As far as the cash offers go, I only do the absolutely free ones. If they request a credit card, or even a mailing address, I'm outta there. You might feel differently, however. That is just my personal preference. Without doing this, I was still able to earn a nice check.

Another recommendation I would give is to open up a separate e-mail account for just your survey and e-mail sites. I have never received spam from Inbox Dollars, however, they do send you paid e-mails daily. This could clog up your personal e-mail account a bit. But, be sure to open up your paid e-mails within one month of receipt, because after that they do expire. ( I have learned from experience. )

Inbox Dollars is a great way to earn a little money each month! :)