Yesterday, I was cleanin’ out the fridge and makin’ soup and bread. I made a lovely multicolored chili. I usually just make it with beans and tomatoes and hamburger. But this time, I added a can of drained corn and some cut up cubed pumpkin. Then I had a couple big slices of green pepper in it. Jim doesn’t eat green peppers, so I just slice them big and lay them on top. He likes the taste but doesn’t want to eat one … same with onion.

But, anyway, my soup looked like the fall leaves. It was so pretty! The pumpkin will take on the flavor of the chili … it wont keep its own flavor. So, anyway, my soup was red with tomatoes, yellow from the corn, green with peppers, orange with pumpkin. And it had a pretty reddish brown of chili beans in the background. I added a package of taco seasoning, too.

Also, I wanted to make bread and muffins. So I took some of the pumpkin I had cut up and I put it in the blender with milk and one egg, and some left over candied sweet potatoes from the fridge I was cleaning out. Also, about a half cup of Crisco. I whirled this up and put it in a bowl. Then, I saw some leftover apple crisp in the fridge — about a cup? Well, I added this to my mix. Then some more brown sugar and cinnamon. (I just taste it as I go.) Then I added as much self rising flour as I thought I needed to make a bread or muffin mix. I stirred it all up good. Then I put some in a loaf pan and made a batch and a half of muffins, too. They were called “Sweet Potato Pumpkin Apple Crisp Muffins.” Papa loved them. Well, I loved ‘em too.

Today, I have to get some stew meat or buy a roast and cut it up, whatever is the cheapest. Next week, I will make stew and put some pumpkin in this, too. The pumpkin makes the soups and stews look so pretty, and it also has a way of thickening things.

Dear Mothers,

I do hope that you all are reading, like crazy, Proverbs and especially the first 8 chapters on wisdom.

Proverbs 1:5 The wise man (or woman) will HEAR and increase learning.

Verse 8 says Hear the instructions of thy Father and forsake not the law of thy mother. Well, this is talking about physically hearing the Father but listening with spiritual ears to the law of the mother. Mother will speak, too, with a physical voice, but mainly her voice is silent.

Same scripture in Proverbs 6:20 about the law of the mother. This is meaning our own Mothers who are like Sarah in the Bible. Or our spiritual Mother Wisdom and her voice is like Sarah’s in the word of God.

Proverbs 1:20 says Wisdom cried without. She utters her voice in the streets, etc.

Then 23 says Turn you at my reproof. Behold I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make known my words unto you.

So then 24 says that wisdom called and was refused and then it goes on.

28 then says that the sinner will call upon wisdom and she will refuse him (or her).

Then 33 says But whoso hearkens unto me shall dwell safely and shall be QUIET from fear of evil. See, unless you are listening to the Wisdom of God, you will be listening to the voice of the devil and the FEAR of this world. Some folks may think I am cracked in the head for writing about hearing a voice of wisdom. But they think nothing of listening to the voice of feminism every day. The voice of the fearful woman is forever being played upon the TV and radio. Out in the world, her voice is so loud and when it is quiet, it is still in the air as a unholy smoke. We smell and hear and see the fearful woman everywhere we turn. They are even in the public schools as authority figures. You can’t be running all the time and hear the voice of the wisdom of God. She is a quiet mother. She isn’t going to get out there and try to shout above the crowds.

The wise woman will rise while it is yet night and give meat to her household. Sisters of Wisdom? You have to get up early in the morning and pray and hear the voice of wisdom. If I don’t get up early and write, it don’t matter if I am here alone or not — I can barely eke out a writing on wisdom. But I can hear her voice early in the morning. Now I wouldn’t have to get up until around 8:00. Because Jim doesn’t go to work until around 10:00 am. I would have plenty of time to fix his breakfast and make sure his clothes are ready for him. My children are grown and gone. But I arise early to hear the voice of wisdom.

And I mean, too, you cant just read a couple scriptures on wisdom and think that will do it. Just think of the harlot’s voice that comes into your home from the world. It is like an avalanche, like a garbage truck being poured into your living room. You can’t hold it back with a tea cup of wisdom. No, you need to get an all out attack goin’ on here of the wisdom of God. I mean, my wisdom writings are sellin’ like hot cakes. I feel like I can’t write fast enough. But you can’t get it all from me. I don’t know all the answers.

And wisdom is many faceted. She is like a diamond that shines and glistens in a different way every time you look at her. Different lights will cause her to glisten in another way and a different view will be admired. You all are Sisters of Wisdom and your light will cause wisdom to shine in a way I have never seen before. And when she does, you will tell me what she said to you. I shine a light on you through my writings. And when you reflect back, you show me a light I hadn’t seen. Just like Wendy yesterday told me that I should make a place for wisdom at my table. Heck fire. Duh, why didn’t I think of that? But, see, Wisdom’s light is so multi-faceted. Her rays dance and reflect and bounce off of other lights.

The virtuous woman is so powerful. Virtue means power. The woman with female problems grabbed the hem of His garment and pulled out virtue.

Grab the Hem of His Garment

Dear Mothers, when the woman who was cursed with the issue of blood for 12 years grabbed the hem of Jesus’ coat, she was healed instantly. “Virtue has gone out of me,” the Lord Jesus said. And the disciples wondered how He knew this healing went out as He was in a big crowd and folks were all about Him. I think He was so touched and moved as He sensed a virtuous woman in the crowd. He wanted to know who she was, as she reminded Him of His own Mother Mary. He was almost shocked that she was in the crowd. Because a woman with an issue of blood wasn’t supposed to be out in society and she could have been killed for running out and after Jesus among the crowds of people. But she didn’t care — she was running after her healing. Her life was on the line and she had to have virtue. She had to have wisdom. This was the only thing that would heal her was the spirit of the virtuous woman.

Wisdom brings healing. Proverbs speaks of wisdom being a healing to your navel, or to the life of your womb.

The Mother who is powerful for God is one who is able to bear physical fruit for the Lord and also spiritual fruit. She is fruitful in both ways, as Mary and Sarah and the mothers of the Bible were. Elisabeth — her life was worth publishing in the Bible as our example. She has, through the ages, bore much spiritualual fruit. She had one child in her old age. But, oh, he was a doozy, huh? Wow, John the Baptist was powerful for God. The forerunner of our King Jesus Christ. But mother is to multiply and replenish the earth both spiritually and through her womb.

But we must be like the woman with the issue of blood and chase wisdom at the hem of His garment. We must be willing to risk life and limb to grab His coat. We may spoil our reputations as the woman with the issue was really going against the law of the land to be out in public. But she longed to be healed more than her life. She had to have His virtue. She would have died without it. We, as mothers who follow Christ, will die without it, too.

We must understand the virtuous woman and be her to save the godly prophets and handmaidens that are being born. The spirit of death is already in our land through abortion. Our own babies must come in secret and be born to follow the living Jesus Christ. We must teach them to grab His garment and to receive the wisdom of God.

And our husbands need the wisdom of God, too, and they will learn it from us. I know I have walked it out in front of Jim and now he has it and he ministers to me with the wisdom. Jim is very wise and prudent concerning our home and taking care of me. Right now, he is going over his bills and looking at our financial state. He prays over the family and keeps watch over our older kids. He is always inviting them to dinner if we haven’t seen them in a while. He encourages them to always work and pay their bills and do what is right. All of our children are coming for Thanksgiving. None are estranged from us, .mainly because of Jim. He has the faith for them. He tells me, “Connie, our kids ain’t any worse than anyone else’s.” And Papa trudges on, having faith in Danny Elvis and the other kids. I would give up, as I have a mother’s heart for my kids. I taught them the word of God and expect better out of ‘em. But Papa gives me courage to go on. Takin’ it a day at a time and trusting in the Lord. I shined the wisdom on Papa when he needed it and now he shines it on me where I need it.

Every wise woman builds her home. If you are wise, dear Mothers, you will have a home built on a rock. And when the storms come, it won’t destroy your home. You may get some broken windows and the roof may fly off, huh? But the foundation built upon the wisdom of God will remain.

Today chase wisdom with a purpose. Risk your life to find her. Risk your reputation to grab the hem of His garment. Don’t worry about the world or the outlaws (in-laws).

Love,
Connie

Last night I awoke in the night to pray and I heard Ruby’s voice. She said, “Connie, come out from among them and be separated unto the Lord. The world has nothing for you to learn. Seek the Lord Jesus. He has been made wisdom unto you.” She cried out to me from the mountains and she was a foundation in the earth. She was a helper showing me Jesus Christ.

In the night, my heart ached so bad I thoughtt I would die. And I saw myself running in the wilderness and the further I ran from the world, the less the ache was. I saw this home in the mountains and I ran to it and even beyond it. I had to have His wisdom. And finally, I saw these mothers with these books and they were books of wisdom. And they showed them to me and Jim was there, too. And it was fall there but not cold like it is here and we began helping the folks there prepare for winter. And Jim and I didn’t know how and we did some things wrong and the folks would tell us how to do things.

I was so tired in the night. I wanted to hear Ruby’s voice but I wanted to get up and write, too. But I fell into a peaceful sleep. The lord showed me how we must understand the wisdom of God. It isn’t a cute little thing we need to know. It is vital. Life saving. We have to learn it or die.

You don’t know how relieved I am to have the name of our group changed to Wisdom’s sisters. I know that I am called to write about wisdom. It is my deepest calling. And yet I have no idea how to write it. And I only understand it as I write. And trying to get it from God is one thing and trying to write it is another thing. And yet folks are dying at my feet for lack of knowledge. I am dying for lack of knowledge.

When Mary was born, I was just coming into the wisdom of God and I raised her up on it. She is 19 now and married. She has seemingly left the Lord. I talked to her yesterday on the phone. I told her what Jesus said about her. That she was like a sister to me as much as a daughter. Mary said that she felt this way, too. I said, “Mary, God raised you on the wisdom of God.” She said, “I know that, Mom.” I know she feels lost now, as she, too, is dying for lack of the wisdom of God. She waits for it, too, as I do. We long for her to come to us and to teach us again. I feel an urgency to bring spiritual food to Mary before she perishes.

Mary spoke some words of wisdom to me on the phone. She said, “Mom, remember Dixie’s wash house?” I said, “Oh, yes.” She said, “I can see your front porch like that.” And she told me, “Mom, why don’t you put your wringer washer out there and make it look like Dixie’s wash house?” I heard Mary’s hungry heart crying out for the wisdom of God.

You know, Mary and Jill and I, we cry out to the Lord for Dixie as she died. We are like the daughters of Dorcus that cried when she died. We long so much for the wisdom of God and the teachings we used to have. And here I am, the dumb nitwit, left behind to tell so many about the wisdom of God. And I don’t feel like I know anything. And this is good, as my utter life and dependence has to be on the Savior. God always chooses the least and the poorest in spirit to do His bidding. Because they have no life of their own and He is their life. Well, I know this is why He chooses me to write as I am the stupidest one. And yet I feel such an urgency to know His wisdom and to teach it.

Mary, the other day, just begged for a loaf of my bread to take home. I am thinkin’, “Why isn’t Mary making bread as she knows to do?” She was taught to cook and sew and garden. I gave her my life and put myself into her. And yet it’s like my hungry hearted baby girl needs more now. I need more, too. To me, her life hangs in the balances, as so many of yours do.

We must understand the wisdom of God. Oh, yes, there is a lot of cult wisdom out there to learn from. And when God gets ready to do something, Satan will try to get a counterfeit goin’ on.

The Bible says in Proverbs that we can hear the voice of wisdom. I can hear her this morning and this is what she is saying.

Get out of the world and its judgment. Stay under the Lord and His authority. Listen for the voice of wisdom as it will give you discernment. Why listen to the world and the lies of the devil? Listen to the voice of God and His wisdom.

You as mothers are the temple of the Holy Spirit. As you glean and gather wisdom unto your inner courts, then you will live out of your holy place and be a teacher to your wayward husbands. Don’t look at your husbands if they are doing wrong. Wisdom is not guided by evil. And if they speak to you harshly, answer them in a soft sweet voice.

Don’t return evil and get your own inner court in an upheaval. You allow the enemy to come to your holy place when you answer evil for evil. Be more wise, dear hearts, and don’t let Satan into your inner court by throwing the meek and quiet spirit out. Maintain your inner court. Groom it as it is your covering of beauty. It is your garment of holiness. Let this garment clothe you. It is the spirit of reverence and praise for your husband. And Satan cannot overtake you if you don’t allow him into your inner court. He seeks your heart, your inner court. He comes as a lion and demands that you open up your holy of holys to him. He comes with fear and roars at you as a hungry lion. But Jesus is the lion of Judah and don’t let the devil into your temple. Don’t show him your jewels. Your wisdom and understanding. Remain quiet.

Don’t spout off to your husband all that you know. Don’t take spiritual authority over him. And, too, if he is wayward, don’t tell him your secret thoughts. Hezekiah showed off his riches and the enemy came and robbed them from him. Sometimes our enemies are those of our own households. But you must protect the wisdom of God within you. This is in order to bless your husband who is wayward and maybe even seeks to destroy you. But don’t let him do it. Maintain your dignity and moral righteousness.

Many missionaries had to fight for the life of heathens that tried to murder them. Your love will win out. Love covers a multitude of sins. There is much power in loving the unlovely as Christ died for the ungodly. He died for the ones who pounded the nails in His hands. And He cried out upon Calvary’s Cross, “Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do.” There is no reward for doing good to those who will do you good back. You have your reward as they repay your kindness. But when you continue in kindness and love to a family member who is trying to cut you down, then this touches the heart of God. This presses upon His heart and His compassion and His rewards will flow out of Him to you.

Look for the Lord’s rewards and not the rewards of the flesh. Seek His face and, as it shines upon you, the rest of the world will grow strangely dim. Be caught up in His glory and not the glory of the world.

Call Wisdom your sister and understanding your kinswoman. (Proverbs 7:5) And, also, Mothers, teach your children your laws. (Proverbs 6:20)

Thank you, Wendy, for telling me to make a place at the table for wisdom. I can feel her spirit here as I write. She says, “Connie, give these girls some meat to chew on. Tell ‘em the truth.” “Ya mean about Benny Hinn?” Well, it was horrible yesterday when he was on TV giving this scripture about the seeds of God being money you send to the preacher. That’s a lie of the devil. The whole scripture foundation is Land, Seed and Blessing. We as believers are to take over the earth as we become strong and multiply and replenish the earth with godly boys and girls.

These shepherds are wicked and of the devil. See, just because someone was anointed at one time, it doesn’t mean they always will be. They may have a gift and can still use it. But God eventually will take it from them as they disobey God. And Benny Hinn, sadly, is lyin’ to ya. Any ministry that doesn’t preach that the woman’s place is in the home is walkin’ on thin ice.

The scriptures show no place for the wife and mother to be out submitting herself to another man’s home. She is to submit to her own husband. Wisdom will not come to your home if you are full of pride and taking authority over your husband. She won’t come to a home where a woman rules over husband or even older sons who are to be men. Mother has a place and the word tells her children not to forsake the law of their mother. Feminism is wicked and full of witches and a mighty curse is upon any woman who is one.

The fear of God and Jesus is the beginning of wisdom. All of this other wisdom folks talk about on the internet is demonic and worldly. It’s full of the flesh and the authority of man, not God. You will not find the peace of God chasing this fleshly wisdom. James 3 speaks of two kinds of wisdom. One is from the devil and is full of envy and strife and confusion. But the wisdom of the true God is pure and peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated. Full of mercy and good fruits. Godly.

Wisdom is stability and righteousness in God. A wise woman builds a stable home and it is sweet and pure, full of mercy and kindness. Mother draws nigh to God and He draws nigh to her. She is a woman of strength and dignity and she has no fear of the future. She has made a covenant with God and all of her children will be taught of the Lord and great will be their peace.

Ruby says to discern the times and the seasons. Don’t call evil good and good evil. Read the spirits around you. Pray and seek God. Don’t try to be popular and nice and say evil is good. Call it like it is!

Don’t take spiritual authority over your husband and tell him what you think unless he asks you your opinion. But you as mother must establish the truth in your own children, as they must obey your laws. Store up wisdom in your heart and be ready to answer your children with the law of kindness upon your tongue. (Proverbs 31:26) And when your husband asks your opinion, then give it to him in meekness and gentleness.

And as you make a place of order and quietness, Wisdom will come to your home and be your sister. Wisdom begets wisdom. We all want to be with those who are like us. Make a home for Wisdom and be like her as she is in Proverbs. Let Mother Wisdom’s words be a law in your home. Be taught of her as you read Proverbs and submit to her teachings. Exalt her and she will promote you.

Wisdom will keep your husband and you from strange women. From the evil of this world. Wisdom is a secret garden. Hide away unto her and let her teachings keep you from evil. Forget your reputation among your relatives. They think you are cracked, anyway. Follow wisdom and see the true Lord Jesus Christ and not a religious cloud of confusion. Forsake the confusion and come into stability and order.

You can be confident and peaceful in Wisdom’s presence. Feminism has been like the smoke of an unholy fire. We can smell it as it smells of wickedness.

Top clean in the mornings … just pick up.

Then, start cooking in the kitchen and, while you have something cooking on the stove, clean the kitchen. This way, you aren’t wandering off to the rest of the house. Just stay in the kitchen for about an hour.

All of your top cleaning on the rest of the house should be done before lunch. I am talking maybe 10 minutes in each room.

In the bathroom, just pick up, and run water over the sink to get the toothpaste down the drain. Hang up the towels, etc.

Make the beds, but don’t start any cleaning project in there until after lunch.

After lunch and a nap with the children for a few hours, then get up and vacuum and do a cleaning project.

Around 4:00 or so, get supper and, the rest of the evenng, you should be free to rest with the family or do lesson plans and reading while they watch tv or whatever.

Do a light clean up after supper if you are too tired to do a lot. Just make sure the food is put away, so it won’t spoil, and clean the table off. I don’t always get my dishes done every night, but the next morning while fixing breakfast, I get things cleaned up.

One thing to never do is to take condemnation on your role as a homemaker. That will stop you as nothing else will. I won’t allow the devil to condemn me. My house ain’t perfect and never will be. But my floors are clean enough for the Baby Rose to play on, and this is what I care about.

I wanted to start writing a bit about the nuts and bolts of homemaking. Some of you pretty much have things worked out, so don’t pay any attention to me if I cross your schedule.

For one thing, the years of 2000, or even the 90s or the 80s, really don’t give us any picture of the Mother at home. So I feel we must go back to a time when the Mother was exalted in the home as a Keeper at Home. Some of you like the 50s Mother. I remember the 70s mom with the long patchwork quilted skirts and full aprons. She wore the bandana around her head and was a health nut. She made everything from scratch. I revert back to the 70s Mother, and also to the Depression era mother. But I really think you gotta have a picture of the housewife you want to be.

Some of you that have no picture of a godly mother need to somehow find this mom and plant her in the visions of your heart. I would even recommend that you all get the Little House on the Praire books and read them yourself and to your children. Ma Ingalls had alot of wisdom and you can pick this up from Laura’s writings. And if you can get some of the little House movies from the library, that would help you to be able to see a mother in the home. Also, the Walton movies … those are so good. Both of these were shows on tv that had their popularity in the 70s.

We do have to go back to a time when the family was important. The Bible says to go back to the ancient paths to learn what they have to teach us. I mean, we just don’t have any example of her in this age. One of my favorite home videos to watch is “Sarah Plain and Tall.” And then there are two other movies after this, “Skylark” and “Winters End.” They are Hallmark movies. I also love the shows that are a take off from the book Ann of Green Gables. They are called “Tales of Avonlee.” And then, of course, the Christy movies are good to show you morals. I used to get all of the Shirley Temple movies for our Mary to teach her manners. But, anyway, some of you who have never seen a stay at home mother need to find one to look at. And if it is only through the movies, so be it. Whoever wrote the script knew a stay at home mother and is showing you one.

And, you know, we need to have fun with running our homes and use our imaginations when the times get boring. Many times, when I am just plain befuddled as to where to start in my day, I will say to myself, “Wisdom is coming to my house today at 3:00 for tea. I have to get ready for her.”

And I just clean the house for this wonderful woman of wisdom to come to my house for a visit. I call her Ruby, and I want Ruby to think I have a house of wisdom. So I run about and clean and get ready for Ruby to come to my house.

I will think to myself, “Well, I better get supper done for Papa before Ruby comes, as we may while the afternoon away with conversations of wisdom and teachings. I want to have everything done so I can just sit at Ruby’s feet and hear her words. She is my older Titus Mother.” And, as long as we are childlike and have an imagination, we can be happy in our homes. As we see Ruby coming, we will see wisdom coming to our homes, too. This is an act of faith that we are learning wisdom.

I think one of the best homemaking tips I would give you is to to get your cooking done in the mornings. Start the family meal soon after breakfast. Then just refrigerate it, or whatever. But, usually, your main event of the day is the family meal, and if you can wrap the rest of the housework around the famiy meal, this helps you to be organized. If your big meal is in the afternoon, then this is even more reason to begin it right after breakfast.

And also, put your husband first and before the children. I always cooked what Jim wanted and my children learned to eat it.

And ya know, dear Kitchen Saints? No one ever did anything in this world who didn’t have an imagination. All of the great inventors, artists , musicians , writers and scientists all used their imaginations to bring things forth in the physical. Your laboratory is your kitchen, and you are a painter and artist, too. You are creating homes that are works of art for the world to see and bounce off from. You are sculpting a masterpiece.

Your job is really harder than the wives in the 50s or even the 70s. Because you have to pop right out of the ground. Straight up you come, with no one and nothing to bounce off from. You are to be your own creation.

Ya know, I love the hillbilly housewife recipes. She has a writing about apron evangelism. I loved what she said about aprons.

But dear Mothers, just shut the world out and get some “Little House on the Praire” movies and books and ask the Lord to teach you through these. Also, if your library has the real old cookbooks, get a big stack of them and study them. Go back to an era when family meant something and re-route your thinking.

Now, Barbara Swell’s books are so inspiring. Surround yourself with godly women, even if it only through books.

Put pictures on the wall of mothers in long calico dresses holding babies and enjoying her many children. We women of the 2000s need all the pictures and help we can get. The Bible says to keep the word before your eyes. This is one way to keep the word concerning Keepers at Home before your eyes, with pictures of Godly mothers on the wall.

Keep notebooks of your household schedules. And only go out once a week for errands. The rest of your week should be knee deep in children hanging at your apron and recipes swirling in your heads.

Be happy and sing as you do your chores. Ya know, the old time mothers had a song they sang as they mixed and kneaded their bread. One lady told me that her Mama was like this when she was a little girl, and my friend said she thought, when she became a young bride, that you couldn’t make bread unless you sang this song her Mama sang. The song was part of the recipe for bread.

Here are a few more tips:

• Get up early in the morning and get dressed, and clean up the living room first. This way, if ya get unexpected company at the door, you are ready to answer it. When our husbands go out the door to work, we have to be ready to be responsible adults to tend to the problems of the day.
• Before you start homeschool, have the house in order. Top clean, so that the children can feel they are organized. And usually, if ya don’t get school done in the mronings, ya don’t get it done. So try to start around 8 or 9:00, then break for lunch, then finish up after lunch.
• Rest in the afternoon. Read the Bible and write down recipes or craft ideas. After you rest, do your main cleaning projects in the afternoon. Then stop and put supper on … if you started it after breakfast, it won’t be such an interruption to get it together and hot for when Daddy’s car rolls into the driveway.
• Maybe the children had out toys and games to play in the afternoon. Make sure the toys are picked up before Daddy comes home for supper. Teach the children that Dad is tired and wants to rest and have things orderly … don’t let the children have friends in when Dad just gets home.
• The supper hour should be a sacred family time to be quiet and enjoy each other. Dad should be able to sit down and not be interrupted, so he can collect his thoughts after work. You, Mother, have had your afternoon to rest and pray, and Dad hasn’t. So let him eat in peace. If the phone rings, you go get it. If the baby spills her milk, you clean it up. You should be ready to guard your husband’s quiet time. He has given you the priveledge to stay home with the children, so you should respect him.

RELATED LINKS:

Hillbilly Housewife – There aren’t any exotic meals here, only family-friendly recipes that use basic ingredients. The recipes are all tested in a real kitchen with hungry children, stalking cats, begging puppies and a playful husband underfoot.
Apron Evangelism – philosophies on the pleasure & power of aprons

Native Ground Music: Kitchen & Home – Step into Barbara Swell’s kitchen as she dishes up delicacies from times past. Her best-selling cookbooks are packed with historic old-time recipes and cooking methods, kitchen proverbs, folk remedies, romantic advice, autograph rhymes, food insults, table manners, vintage photos, and more than a cupfull of homegrown humor.