Most of the time it’s because of bad planning. The problems arise because she suddenly thinks of something she needs and has forgotten and, because I work from home and am here 99% of the time, with the car, guess who gets called to rush to her aid?

I get torn between going to help her out of trouble, and leaving her to sort it out - she needs to start becoming independent. This person is in her mid 20s and is very intelligent and capable, but lacks organisation.

Perhaps it’s not that you know someone like that, but you might be like that yourself and you find yourself in the bad habit of just not planning ahead, not foreseeing your needs and then having to lean on someone at the last minute because you can’t sort it out alone.

All through verses 10-31 of Proverbs 31, the wife and mother is shown to be someone who plans, looks ahead, considers things before she does them, and sets about her tasks vigorously. There is not a hint of indecision, of last minute rushes, of failing to achieve. In fact, the second half of verse 27 says she does not eat the bread of idleness - this indicates to me that her mind is always on what needs to be done, and what there is ahead of her.

If you are someone who fails to plan, the old saying says that you are planning to fail, and there is some truth in that. None of us can see ahead to what might be, but we can certainly plan ahead for what could be.

Are you setting yourself up for failure or are you planning to be organised and ready for whatever lies ahead? It’s your decision. But if you find you can’t manage it alone, then know that you can call on God to help you. Lay it all before Him and ask Him to help you be more organised in your day, every day.

The date is:

Special offer (24 hours only): From 12.01am 27th June 2008 AEST(10am 26th June - 9.59am 27th June US EDT)

See Amazon Campaign for advance details.

If you’d like to be reminded of the launch and the goodies that will be available please register below - you’ll get an email from me just prior to the launch.

I don’t believe the form was working, so I’ve set up a Contact form.

Graham and I recently had a long weekend away – just the two of us. We had late morning lay-ins, earlier than usual nights in bed, long lazy walks and drives in the country, and one afternoon that was wet and cold, saw us return to the cottage we had hired, to sit, read and write and spend the afternoon in quiet solitude together.

Once again, in this quietness and relaxation, I was struck by just how well matched we are and how God had answered my prayer for a husband so many years ago. He had given me so much more than I had asked for.

I delight in doing things for Graham. There is a real joy in doing something for him and seeing the appreciation on his face and in his body language. He warms my heart and makes me feel special.

Just the simple act of getting together some cheese, biscuits, kabana and drinks and placing them on a small table beside where we sat and periodically hand him a biscuit with cheese filled me with peace and joy. But then he took turns and began serving me and I was struck by how simple this servant hood role spoke volumes of love for one another.

We did not speak many words, just the actions and being together is all that was needed for us to feel the love we have for one another.

A long time ago, a troubled single mother, told Graham and me that she could feel the love when she walked into a room in which we were both present. She said we didn’t even have to be together, she could see it from the way we both looked at one another and felt it from our presence. I do believe if Paige had been in that cottage with us that weekend she would have been overwhelmed by the presence of that love also.

If you are married but feel that you’ve lost that special feeling then there are some things you can do to bring it back.

First, seek God’s blessing on your marriage and continue to pray for your spouse. Pray for them every single day, for their protection, for guidance from God, for anything you know they need.

And after that, seek for other things that will assist you. A book I read some years ago held great value for me – The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. There is a version for men too, co-written with Stormie’s husband.

Doing courses with your spouse. Graham and I have done Deeper and Cleansing Stream together at our current church, but in the past we have been house church leaders and co-run courses together. Just studying God’s Word together and discussing it has brought closeness.

Recently we did Marriage Alpha and we were reminded the importance of ‘dating’ together weekly, even if we are married. We used to do that all the time when the kids were young but had grown out of it, with the busy-ness of our lives. We are now seeking to do this again regularly and having periodic weekends away are a good way to do it. But what if your kids are young and/or you can’t afford to go away? Can you get the kids to stay at friends’ places for one or two nights? You can always return the favour to those parents. Or take a single day off, on a weekend or whenever you both are not working, and go out on a long drive, taking a picnic lunch with you.

You got married to be together for the rest of your lives, you owe it to yourselves, and your children, to keep that love growing and building, and maturing. There is nothing like loving a marriage partner with whom you are comfortable and so familiar that you can be entirely yourself and no holding back.

And of course Marriage Alpha emphasized the need for serving one another and the love that shows through that. Which brings me back to the start of this message, the pure joy I experience in serving my husband and bringing him good, not harm, for the days of my life. I hope and pray that you too, can experience this same joy.

I’m still tweaking the network site and learning how the system works, so if you have experience with Ning, I’m all ears!

View my page on Proverbs 31 Woman

A Mother’s Work
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman
Thursday, May 01 2008

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother - which is the first commandment with a promise - that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth” (Eph 6:1-3).

One of the great tragedies of society today is the minimizing of the work performed daily by stay-at-home moms. Women who decide to stay home to raise their kids are a rare breed indeed. They must overcome the stigma of comparison to others who pursue careers outside the home. They fail to get the feelings of accomplishment that can come from a career. They are the unseen missionaries of our day. There will be a special reward for these selfless servants.

Without the commitment of our stay-at-home moms we would not have some of our greatest leaders. “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother,” said Abraham Lincoln.

Though poor, Ida Stover was determined to go to college. She scraped together enough money to attend Lane College in Lecompton, Kan., where she met fellow student David Eisenhower. She was known as a firm but gentle disciplinarian and was deeply religious. It is said she once won a prize for memorizing 1,365 Bible verses. As a pacifist, she was not in favor of her son attending West Point but decided to let him go. She was the mother of Dwight David Eisenhower, one of the greatest U.S. presidents.

Mary Litogot grew up on a farm, and met her future husband, William Ford, when he came to work on their farm. She was 12 and he was 26. They married nine years later. Mary was self-sufficient and a diligent worker. Henry later attributed his clean factories to her belief in cleanliness. She encouraged his interest in machines early on. He later said, “I have tried to live my life as my mother would have wished. I believe I have done, as far as I could, just what she hoped for me.” She was the mother of Henry Ford.*

Has God called you to be a stay-at-home mom? Know that your obedience and sacrifice will be recognized by the Lord.

*Adapted from Source: “Mothers: 100 Mothers of the Famous and Infamous,” edited by Richard Ehrlich; Paddington Press Ltd.

“Reprinted by permission from the author. Os Hillman is an international speaker and author of more than 11 books on workplace calling and faith at work. To learn more, visit http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org“

These are a great group of women and if you’re in a suitable location you could be lucky enough to meet up with them!

They are going to have their first get together event - unfortunately for me, I can’t get there, although I’d love to!

April 18-20: Join hundreds of fellow Baby Boomers for Spring Break. The event will kick off Friday, April 18, with the taping of a town hall meeting by WCEU-TV to address issues and concerns of women at midlife. It will be followed by a meet and greet reception.

On Saturday, April 19 there will be a host of activities including a vendor shopping area, celebrity luncheon, aerobic workout session, pamper me mini-spas and seminars. The first 200 women to enter will receive a special gift bag fit for a Diva and $100 Visa Gift Cards will be given away as prizes during the seminars.

Tickets are still available and may be purchased at the door. Those interested in attending the luncheon and/or dinner must purchase their tickets in advance. For more information, go to http://www.beverlymahone.com.

Mothers Day is just weeks away, did you know that?  The days and hours are ticking away…

Last year I published a book based on this famous Proverbs 31 verse “She is Worth More Than Rubies” because it spoke of the value of a wife and mother in the home.  Not just a wife and a mother, but a work at home mum and business woman.

With the demands we have in life, jobs, interests, needs, family, friends, etc it is sometimes very hard to focus on our near and dear, those who really have need of us. The Proverbs 31 woman gives us the perfect example of a business mum and work at home mother, there for her family, running everything perfectly and contributing to the household income.

Now, I’m not expecting any of us to be running our households perfectly - there’s just no way we can do that, but we can learn a lot from this perfect role model.

Nearly 15 years ago I went through a real struggle, trying to cope with a corporate job and managing a household which consisted of a husband and 5 young daughters. I thought I was going to go crazy and if it weren’t for something that happened in 1993, I probably would have.

Have you noticed that when you are desperate and leaning towards a particular thought, that other things around you seem to congregate together to reinforce and confirm that thing? Both for the good and the bad?

This has been known as a number of things - I like to think of it as the RAS or the reticular activation system - what you think about you are drawn towards. Today many talk of The Secret or the Law of Attraction - it’s the same thing. But this is also a biblical principal as I mentioned in a post at my blog Workplace-Ministry.com “The Law of Attraction - a Christian View”.

For me, it was simple. I desperately wanted to be at home for my family. I needed to earn an income. I had good skills and needed to find a way I could use them and earn money at home.  Can you relate to this? I’m sure many of you can.

I won a wonderful prize in my city – Secretary of the Year in 1993 for the state of Victoria (Australia) and this was sponsored by Microsoft. Amongst my prize package was the full MS Office suite of that time.

We didn’t have a PC at home in those days but I said to my husband if we did, I could work at home. So we set about shopping for a PC for home - funny but not many people had computers at home in those days. I already had an Atari I used for music and simple databases and typing of stories but now I was moving into the ‘big stuff’. From that moment on a seed was sown in my head and within 6 months I’d left my safe, secure, government job and was setting up business at home.  Can you imagine doing that? Leaving the security of your job?  Or perhaps your job isn’t that secure these days?

I have not looked back – I love being home, I love that I have been here for our daughters as they grew up. They’re all now in their 20s but have very little recollection of a mum who worked in a job - my ‘job’ was at home where I belonged.

Going back to Mothers Day. The book I mentioned would make a wonderful gift for anyone you know who has the same hankering, the same passion, desire, call it what you will. I do believe that “Worth More Than Rubies” will not only confirm for the reader of their true worth but will also set them on the path to discovering what they can do to return home to work. I researched a number of businesses that could be run from home and list 64 different roles at the back of the book so that anyone reading it can see they have the same opportunities I did.

Now, wouldn’t that make a wonderful Mothers Day gift?

Do you hear your mother in yourself when speaking to your children? I know I do. Repeating things that were said over and over and over again. Learning by repetition. Some of those things I found I had to curb when my children were younger because of things I have learnt as an adult and because of my faith. But other things were good to uphold and continue to teach to my daughters and hopefully they will follow through with their own families.

Throughout Proverbs and other books in the bible we are told the same thing over and over and over again. And we are encouraged to bring up our children in the training and instruction of our Lord (Ephesians 6:4). It is important to repeat the lessons often so that they can be instilled in our children. And for that reason, we should also check ourselves - our actions, our words, are we living a life that reflects what we are teaching our children? Mothers, our children need us.  Let’s not forsake teaching our children.