SHINE!

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” – Genesis 2:18

This verse had a different and stronger impact on me yesterday when I opened my bible to Genesis as I prayed on my way to Rolling Hills Community Church for the CLASBC Women Missionaries Union Fellowship. Was it an accident that I opened my bible to this passage at a time when I am on my way to a missionaries union fellowship and was it an accident that a realization of what this passage meant hit me on this very particular day and time?

The passage was talking about what God said when He decided to create the woman. “It is not good for the man to be alone…”, He knew that the man would need a companion, yes, but look at the rest of what God said, “I will make him a helper fit for him…”, a “helper” fit for the man, a “help-meet”, not a creature to be placed below or above the man in rank but a creature that is fit for the role of a “helper”. An assistant, someone who will help the man govern God’s creation, someone who is a coadjutor as the man performs his duties in the garden.

What hit me the most is that this is God’s very first spoken statement of His purpose in creating the woman. This was His very purpose for Eve, and that means this is God’s design for the woman: To be the man’s minister. Yes, women, here it is from the mouth of the Lord God Himself, it is He who had spoken, it is He who had set the parameters for us – that our very first ministry should be our husbands.

I have known for quite sometime already that my husband is my very first ministry, but you know, it just didn’t hit me this hard until I read that passage from Genesis. I used to believe in that only because it sounded logical that my husband’s needs should be met first before I can extend my ministry outside our home, I used to think that I should minister to my household first because that’s just the proper order of things. But then, here is this verse from the book of beginnings and I am just awestruck. God Himself declared His purpose for creating me. God Himself. What a revelation to my yet feeble mind!

P.S.
I shared this to the attendants of the fellowship as soon as the table was opened for sharing. No, I did not exhort on the passage like I almost did here but I gave them a brief sweep over and just prodded them to meditate on the passage. My prayer is that may they also feel the conviction that I felt and may they also find joy and peace in ministering to their husbands. May they obey the Lord with exultation and worship and when things get rough at home and they are in that moment when they just feel that their husbands are not their current most favorite person in the world, may they look past that, and instead focus on God so that they will not be compelled to disobey and stumble.

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

Do we believe only because there’s no point in not believing? Or do we believe because our faith draws us to believe and along with this belief comes this profound and unquenchable thirst to love, serve and obey the object of our belief?

Too much belief/believe words, I know, but I am too saddened to still think of any other way to put my thoughts into words when I saw a twitter tweet that says, “even the devil believes that there is a Christ, so what’s the point in not believing?”, the twitterer was most probably quoting and is talking in reference to the passage in James 2, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe–and shudder! ” (v.19)
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I never would have thought that home management could be this fun! I have always looked at this very important aspect of a woman’s life as boring, time-consuming, unappealing and back-breaking, but thank goodness for technology because I am enjoying it all immensely! It’s fun you know, I sometimes find myself getting OC (obsessive-compulsive, d’oh!) about keeping things organized, systematized and streamlined.

Right now, I am trying to create a systematic registry that will centralize all of our financial reports. I want a database where I can manage and keep track of how money comes in and how it goes out and most importantly, where each centavo goes. Did I tell you I can be OC about such things? Yeah, I thought I did.

Anyway, I spent one whole afternoon looking for the best home accounting freeware on the internet. I must have downloaded about 20 different types before finally settling on the one that I think best works for me, which, by the way, is the very first one that I downloaded. And because I have a tendency to forget important dates, I also got myself a calendar thing for my desktop which I now use to remind me of which bills I need to settle on what day of the month. I also find it handy in reminding me of special dates like birthdays, anniversaries, church activities and so on. Another freeware that comes handy at the moment and which I think I will be using a lot is this nifty recipe program that allows me to store, collect, manage, print and even email recipes. I can also create my grocery list based on my recipe selection or come up with recipes based on the ingredients I already have in my cupboard and fridge. Cool, isn’t it? Some of these softwares are not aesthetically pleasing particularly the calendar thing but hey, they are for free and they serve the purpose so they’re good enough.

Well, those homemaking softwares are truly blessings, ya know. They make my life so much easier. I can easily track our financial records with a few mouseclicks. Yes, definitely that accounting software is a must but since Quickbooks can really be a pain in the butt to operate and learn, there’s also a very simple template on google docs that you can use while tinkering and overcoming the complexities of Quickbooks.

I’d love to share more with you about my latest finds on the net but I figure I would need to create a second post for the next batch of home softwares. I’ve been yakking here long enough to bore you so I’d better go now. Rain is pouring and beating down my roof and bed is beckoning for a good night’s sleep. Tempting. But first, I’m off to spend the next 30 minutes in devotionals with Warren. See yah!