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Jan 8

Growing in Rising Early

2009 at 4:08 pm | by Kristin Chesemore Filed under Biblical Womanhood | Time Management

This year, with God’s help, I am going to rejoin The 5 AM Club. Yes, I confess that I let my membership lapse for a while. Two moves threw me off schedule, and even after settling into our current home, I still put it off. However my mornings were hectic instead of peaceful, and I knew that re-resolving to rise early each morning would serve me and my family. Now that I’m back in the club, I’ll be able to have a quiet quiet time, get Andrew out the door for school in a peaceful manner, make a real lunch for my husband, and be prepared for the day with my younger two.

This is not an easy resolution for me. It’s especially painful during the first groggy fifteen minutes after I wake up. But the benefits of rising early keep rolling in all day long.

If you don’t know what The 5 AM Club is, or want incentive to get up early yourself, you can revisit our posts on this from several years ago (as you can see, we’ve changed the name slightly since then), or you can read chapter three from our book, Shopping for Time.

The 5:00 Club
5:00 Club Q&A
A Wife Joins the 5:00 Club
College Girls Join the 5:00 Club

Jan 7

Growing in Reading

2009 at 4:26 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw Filed under Biblical Womanhood | Time Management

Starting the New Year with two kids has me wondering what I did with all my time when I only had one. Accomplishing anything more in a day than keeping my family fed and clothed requires some serious strategy.

As I consider the year ahead, one of my goals is to read more beyond the reading that I already do in my quiet time. Yet my nights are full of interrupted sleep (Like last night when MJ had a cold that made her sleep fitfully and we lost power for two hours during which Caly was wide awake waiting “for the workers to fix her fan.”) And the days can be long and hard. (And yes, I know what you moms with more than two kids are thinking right now!)

Given my season, I can’t imagine carving out an hour each day for more reading. Even 30 minutes seems a bit scary. I have tried this before and failed. But thanks to John Piper I’m reminded that a very small daily investment can yield a big return.

He recommends setting a goal to read for 15 minutes a day:

“Suppose you read slowly like I do—maybe about the same speed that you speak—200 words a minute. If you read fifteen minutes a day for one year (say just before supper, or just before bed), you will read 5,475 minutes in the year. Multiply that by 200 words a minute, and you get 1,095,000 words that you would read in a year. Now an average serious book might have about 360 words per page. So you would have read 3,041 pages in one year. That’s ten very substantial books. All in fifteen minutes a day.”(When I Don’t Desire God, p. 129)

I’m sure I read more slowly than Dr. Piper, but thinking about it this way helps me see that even with only fifteen minutes a day, I can accomplish something significant this year. Even with two kids, two and under, I can read ten good books!

So, my plan this year? Read 15 minutes each day during the first part of Caly’s play alone time in her room. If I miss that slot than I will try to make up for it right before I go to bed. My prayer is to make this a lifelong habit that will increase my love and passion for my Savior.

Jan 6

Growing in the Gospel

2009 at 5:10 pm | by Carolyn Mahaney Filed under Biblical Womanhood | Time Management

One of the ways I want to grow this year is in preaching the gospel to myself every day. Milton Vincent, author of A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love (which we’ve recommended before here at girltalk) describes how this discipline has affected his life:

Over the course of time, preaching the gospel to myself every day has made more of a difference in my life than any other discipline I have ever practiced. I find myself sinning less, but just as importantly, I find myself recovering my footing more quickly after sinning, due to the immediate comfort found in the gospel. I have also found that when I am absorbed in the gospel, everything else I am supposed to be toward God and others seems to flow out of me more naturally and passionately. Doing right is not always easy, but it is never more easy than when one is breathing deeply the atmosphere of the gospel.

So I can breathe more deeply the atmosphere of the gospel, I’m taking the month of January to memorize a portion of A Gospel Primer entitled “A Gospel Narrative” (written in the prose format). It’s a list of forty-one gospel truths derived from Scripture. I’m convinced this little memorization endeavor will help me to apply the truths of the gospel to my life on a daily basis and experience the benefits Mr. Vincent describes.

Last January I only made it through number eight before I abandoned my goal. But I’m trying again. This time I decided to recruit some help. So the previous Monday when the girls and I were together, I asked them to join me. They eagerly agreed. I hope that having others memorize with me will provide fresh incentive to reach my goal.

Would you like to join us? Even if you only make it through number eight it will be well worth the effort. For this discipline of preaching the gospel to yourself every day can make “more of a difference in [your] life than any other.”

Jan 5

Growing in Prayer

2009 at 4:19 pm | by Nicole Whitacre Filed under Biblical Womanhood | Time Management

Last Monday afternoon Kristin brought our favorite Greek salads to Mom’s house and we sat around her kitchen table for the afternoon—you guessed it—talking. At our request (or more accurately, our pathetic pleading) Mom agreed to give us girls one day each year to help us evaluate our lives and get that “older woman” wisdom we so desperately need.

Don’t misunderstand—we call Mom for advice almost every day. But this day is special. It’s when we take time to evaluate our priorities and consider how we can grow in biblical womanhood over the coming year. We always begin with our relationship with God, for nothing serves our husbands and children more than a wife and mom who is consistently seeking God through His Word and prayer.

It is prayer that has always been a weakness for me. I suspect I’m not alone in this. But I’ve been inspired by the example of my husband and my mom as I’ve watched them grow in prayer; and I’ve been aided by the verses and prayers that others use.

My collection swelled this January as I added many verses to my prayer list. I have three people to thank for that.

1. Our pastor, Mark Mullery, who preached a sermon from Ephesians 3:14-21 where he showed us two prayers we can pray for “any Christian at any time in any situation.”
2. John Piper, who posted 9 Ways to Pray for Your Soul and linked to a past post by…
3. John Bloom who presented a list of prayers for our children.

Add these verses to your collection and may many prayers for us and our loved ones reach our Heavenly Father’s throne this year.

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.” Ephesians 3:20-21

Jan 2

Year in Review: Day 4

2009 at 1:59 pm | by Kristin Chesemore Filed under Homemaking

Janelle finished out our little series by making us laugh…

At Home with Humor

Our home was always full of laughter. My dad inherited a quick wit and hilarious sense of humor from his dad. He taught us to laugh—laugh at ourselves and laugh along with each other. To this day, whenever we get together, our conversation quickly turns humorous, and we often laugh until we can’t breathe.

While the trip down memory lane over the last few days has brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face, it has also brought that familiar laughter. I laugh when I remember the time my Mom was out of town and Nicole and I impetuously sold all of our bedroom furniture at my aunt’s yard sale. It has taken Mom ten years to laugh about that one.

I laugh when I think about my dad attempting repair jobs around the house while carrying on a running conversation with his tools. Not so funny to Dad, but hilarious for the rest of us to listen in as he blamed the leak on his faulty wrench.

We all can’t help but laugh when we recall how Mike came over to the house weekend after weekend to “hang out with Chad.” He wasn’t fooling anyone, not even Chad.

Oh, and let’s not forget the time a certain sister left the top on the hamster cage open, and four baby hamsters spent several weeks roaming the basement.

Laughter practically sent me into labor the other day while I was watching my brother mow the lawn. He ran into a few technical difficulties (which were all the fault of the lawn mower, of course) and, well, you had to be there.

We all laugh when we remember Nicole and Kristin’s poodle perms, my lime green baseball hat and Chad’s endless collection of soccer cleats.

In all this laughter, we learned humility. My dad led by example as he always laughed the loudest when the joke was on him. But whenever we did something silly (or can I say stupid?) he taught us to laugh rather than withdraw in pride. While it took the sons-in-law some time to adjust to our family culture, they now lead the way in pursuing humility through laughter.

Although I’m sad to leave this house where we have known endless hours of laughter, I’m glad that when we move, my dad will be around to teach his granddaughters the same lessons of humor and humility.

Jan 1

Year In Review: Day 3

2009 at 1:28 pm | by Carolyn Mahaney Filed under Homemaking

Here are Kristin’s reflections on the home she grew up in…and the home she lives in now:

My New Old Home

My parents are busy packing to move out of their home. The boxes are piling up and the pictures are coming down from the walls. Actually, it’s still strange for me to think this way, but legally it is my home now and they are renting back from me.

A story is ending and a story is beginning. The door is closing on my life as a daughter in this home and opening to a new role as wife and mother in this home.

I still remember riding with my dad in the big moving truck from our old home in Silver Spring, MD to our brand new home in Gaithersburg. I was eight years old. And as I walk into each room of my new (for the second time) home, so many wonderful memories come to mind….

Mom waking us up each morning with a special song.

Dad leading in morning devotions at the breakfast table.

Birthday celebrations with the “You are Special Today” plate.

Reading and talking long after dinner was finished.

Watching the Redskins with Dad on Sunday afternoon.

Sleepovers with friends.

The surprise graduation party Mom threw for Nicole and me.

The night Brian asked my dad if he could court me.

Trying on my wedding dress in the bedroom.

Rolling my luggage down the hall on my wedding day as I prepared to leave home (for what I thought was the last time!).

And, while almost all of the memories are fond ones, I also remember arguing with my sister in the bathroom each morning over who got to use the hairdryer first! (Love ya, Nic!)

My oldest son Andrew is eight years old—the same age I was when I first rode to this home in the big truck with my dad. He’s going to share the same room with his brothers (yep, bunk beds and a trundle!) that I shared with my sisters. In fact, I’ve found myself planning to arrange our furniture much the same way it was when I first lived here twenty-two years ago. God-willing, I hope Brian and I can make as many wonderful memories for our children as my parents did with us.

Most of all, I pray God will give us grace to carry on the legacy of a loving, joyful, gospel-centered, kingdom-minded, home for His glory.

Dec 31

Year In Review: Day 2

2008 at 5:27 pm | by Janelle Bradshaw

Nicole’s memories from home are up today…

Where Home Is

Each time I’ve visited Mom’s house recently, it looks different than the time before. Another room sits bare. The living room is stacked higher with more Dole fruit boxes, appropriately labeled.

The house has undergone a lot of changes over the years. In fact, although my parents lived in the same house for twenty-two years, our house never stayed the same. Mom’s daily effort was to make it more beautiful, comfortable, welcoming, and useful.

We aren’t a terribly sentimental family when it comes to stuff. My parents never spent too much time living in the past—there is so much to do in the present! So our home wasn’t about preserving memories so much as making more.

The peach bedroom I once shared with my two sisters (bunk beds and a trundle—but Janelle would always sleep with one of us!) eventually became Janelle’s bright red room. It was Janelle and Mike’s when they lived there the first time and now it is Chad’s (sometimes messy one) for a few more days.

The living room where as little girls we sat on the couch and read Grandma’s Attic books with Mom and slept under the Christmas tree became the dining room that could sit all the sons-in-law and grandkids.

The kitchen table where Dad read us many a dinnertime story is long gone. Actually, it was our first kitchen table. A lot of my parent’s old furniture was (and is) in our house now.

The spare bedroom in the basement used to be Dad’s office. But it has also been home to Josh Harris, Brian and Kristin, Mike and Janelle, Steve and me (when I was recovering from surgery), then Mike and Janelle again, and now Dad and Mom are using it for the last few weeks.

The kitchen got a much-needed remodeling after I moved out. I still can’t find the drinking glasses.

Amid all these changes, and even with boxes piled high, that house still feels like home for one reason: Mom is there. In fact, when I stop to think about the house I grew up in, that is what I remember most—not the wall color or the knick knacks or the furniture, but how Mom’s love of beauty, her devotion to her husband and children, her work ethic, her pursuit of cleanliness and order, her peace and joy, her constant presence permeated the entire house. I can relate to a little boy who, when asked, “Where is your home?” replied, “Where mother is.”

So if you were to ask me if I am sad about my parents moving out of the house I grew up in, I’d say, not at all. Home is just moving down the street. It is, and always will be, where Mom is.

Dec 30

Year In Review

2008 at 2:09 pm | by Nicole Whitacre Filed under Homemaking

It’s tradition here at girltalk to spend the week after Christmas revisiting highlight posts from the past year. This week we’re going to re-post our memories of the home we grew up in, originally prompted by our parent’s move to a new home and Kristin and Brian’s purchase of their old home. Mom got us started with thoughts on every day life in the home they lived for over twenty years. I hope it encourages many of you who are busy at home today.

Reflections on a Home

Nicole was nine, Kristin eight, and Janelle four when we first moved into our home on a cold February day in 1986. Chad wasn’t even born yet. Today, a sunny one in June, twenty-two years later, I’m boxing up (and sometimes throwing out) two decades worth of memories.

Of the more than 8000 days I spent in this home, there were a few dramatic ones: the day I announced to CJ that “surprise, you’re going to be a father again!” or the day Kristin fainted and we had to call the ambulance, or when Mike serenaded Janelle outside her window at 6am, or when Nicole returned from the hospital after life-saving surgery.

But most of my days looked pretty much the same.

I got out of bed each morning so that I could do everything I did the day before.
I washed the dishes so they could be dirtied again.
I ironed the clothes so they could be worn and wrinkled again
I wiped noses so they could run again.
I picked up toys so they could be played with again.
I mopped the floor so mud could be tracked on it again.
I cooked meals so that I could go to the grocery store again.
I made beds so they could be slept in again.

Some days I wondered: if I do all I do, only to have it undone, am I really doing anything?

Today, as I pack up my home in June of 2008, I can see the answer more clearly than I did in February 1986. Each of my daughters is married to a wonderful, godly man, Chad will be a sophomore in high school this fall, and we’ll welcome our seventh grandchild at the end of August.

I realize that all of the mundane, repetitive days were actually full of significant, enduring work. A home was being built. A family was being knit together. Four souls were being shaped for eternity.

This home has spawned three more homes where the same tedious yet momentous work goes on day in and day out. And God willing, many more homes will one day be built, day by day, so “that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” (Titus 2:9).

Dec 29

Vote for Psalms

2008 at 12:16 pm | by Carolyn Mahaney Filed under Resource Recommendations

Last week our good friend Bob Kaulfin posted the following on his blog. Please check it out and vote for the Psalms CD:

We just learned that Worship Leader magazine has included our Psalms CD as one of six choices for the “Best Worship Compilation CD” for 2008. Boy, were we surprised. There in the midst of Passion, CeCe Winans, and WOW Gospel, is Sovereign Grace Ministries.

Now I’d never want you to do something you wouldn’t do otherwise. But you might consider visiting the Worship Leader site and checking out the choices. There are some good ones there. But if you think the Psalms CD is the best one out of the six, you can vote for it. Your vote could help make more people aware of our music.

In any case, we’re grateful for the opportunity to produce music that serves the church and magnifies the greatness of our Savior.

Dec 26

Friday Funnies

2008 at 10:44 pm | by Nicole Whitacre Filed under Fun & Encouragement | Friday Funnies

The clan just returned from a Christmas gathering at Grandma’s house. Our hope is that you too had a wonderful holiday. We leave you this weekend with the Friday Funnies. Here’s a gift we’re glad we did not receive for Christmas. See you Monday, Nicole for the girltalkers (PS - Thanks, Rachel!)

How to make bedroom slippers out of maxi pads:

You need four maxi pads to make a pair.
Two of them get laid out flat, for the foot part.
The other two wrap around the toe area to form the top.
Tape or glue each side of the top pieces to the bottom of the foot part.

Decorate the tops with whatever you desire, silk flowers (this is most aesthetically appealing), etc.

These slippers are:
* Soft and Hygienic
* Non-slip grip strips on the soles
* Built in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh
* No more bending over to mop up spills
* Disposable and biodegradable
* Environmentally safe
* Three convenient sizes: (1.) Regular, (2.) Light and (3.) Get out the Sand Bags.

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