Where the Rubber Meets the Road--Part One

Thank you.
No, I'm not thanking you for following us.  (Although if you did, thank you for that too! ;) )  We ladies have never emphasized that much....  It might be because this is a private blog, and we're really not here just to have our posts read.  We're here to encourage young ladies like ourselves to stand firm in your faith and defy our culture when it turns us away from God.  (To know more about our purpose, you can look at our mission statement here or email us at ladiesforthelight@gmail.com.)
So why did I thank you?  I thanked you because you made me do a double take one evening several, ahem, months ago (sorry for the delay in posting....).  I'd just been on a website I really like, and they had a link to some things to print.  (I'll call them printables).  I thought I'd take a look, because although I try to conserve on printing in color, I do occasionally splurge. :)  There were multiple links, and one of them took me to a website that was trying to sell me a printable.  That's right, sell me.  As in the printable was for sale.  Meaning that you had to pay for the printable and then pay for the ink and stuff to actually print it.  I'm getting off topic though.  What I failed to say is that there was another link to a similar printable that was free.[:)]  Instead of being happy that there was a really cool printable for free that I have the ability to print off because God has given me access to a printer, computer, and internet, I instead grumbled to myself about people trying to sell printables.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I wasn't really grumpy, just a little irked.  My mom asked me to do a salad for dinner that night, though, so I got up started to work on it.  And as I bustled around in the kitchen, I thought amusedly that if I had a blog, I would get on and rant about this. And then, as I laughed inwardly at the idea, I suddenly thought about all of you, and realized that I did have a blog.  And I certainly shouldn't like to rant on here, where we like to talk about honoring God with our attitudes, words, and thoughts.  Yet my attitude, however lighthearted, was not honoring God.  Wow.  This is where the rubber meets the road, you'd say.
Well, all that to say two things:

1. We at Ladies of the Light are not perfect.  Just in case you weren't sure before. ;) Just because we write articles on this blog in order to help other young ladies doesn't mean we think we have it all taken care of!  Even the things we talk about being in our articles, we're not perfect at.  In fact, we try to use our articles to encourage ourselves to look at things a little deeper.  For example, do you remember way back when we did the Cornerstone articles?   (You can find the first one here, the second one here.  Can you believe that was two years ago?  Wow! :O )  That study really helped me understand what God was saying more than just reading it or even thinking about it a little.  The study encouraged me to find other references of cornerstones and consider how they relate to Psalm 118.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. We (meaning all Christian ladies, or rather all Christians in general) need to be constantly looking at ourselves and analyzing our thoughts and feelings to be making sure that they honor Christ.  You see, it's not just because we have a blog.  It's because the attitudes and thoughts that we have are reflected in our interaction with others. 

The Bible says, "For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." --Luke 6:43-45

In other words, if we just try to say and do all the right things, but aren't asking God for helping and rooting out sin in our hearts, then we are going to mess up BIG TIME.
So, basically, it's time for some self-reflection. ;) But analyzing ourselves isn't enough.  We need to act on what we discover about ourselves, meaning we praise God for the good stuff we find--because it's only because of Him that we have any good traits at all--and repent before Him for the bad stuff.

Repentance=NOT as Dictionary.com says "Regret for any past action"; it IS not only being sorry, but also conforming and reforming our actions to fit those feelings.

And one more thing: We should never excuse our sin on the plea that we were "only joking."  Proverbs 26:18-19 states, "As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?"  That means those people are dangerous!  I know that I have been guilty many times of saying things that shouldn't have been said even in jest.  Says James 3:5, "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell."
I have heard that verse many times before, but I think I should ponder it some more.  Check back for Part Two tomorrow.
~Molly :)
P.S.  Don't worry, I haven't forgotten our Lessons from the Fire series, but I have to dig out my notes for that. ;)

Housekeeping

[I've noticed this blog doesn't have many pictures, and I've decided to change that.]

You'd think that on a blog like this, the post title "Housekeeping" would mean an article encouraging ladies to learn homemaking arts.  Well, that would be a good idea, but actually, this post is just a few little notes.  A real article is coming later. ;)

In case you haven't noticed, we got a new design!  :D  I'm super excited about this!  I've disliked the other one pretty much since the beginning, and ever since I took over the blog, it's been on my mind.  I really like this design, too.  Do you like it?  Please let us know on the poll on the upper right hand side of the blog and/or in the comments!  After all, Ladies of the Light doesn't just mean Megan, Melissa, Amy, and I; it means all of us Christian ladies!

And speaking of that, any time any one of you wants to send in an article or idea for an article, feel free!  Just email us at ladiesforthelight@gmail.com or comment! :-)  Same thing if you have comments or questions on anything we say.

That's about all for now!  Oh, one more thing--Happy Father's Day!  And Gals, don't forget to be grateful for our fathers all the time, not just on Father's Day.  They work really hard for us and are usually unappreciated.

~Molly

Make Me Thy Fuel--Friday's Final Things

Good Evening, Ladies,
I am sitting in a rocking chair in our family room, waiting for the girls group our church has.  We don't usually have it at our house, but this week we are.  Melissa is reading aloud from the Journals of Jim Elliot--a very good book (should we do a book review?)--and Mom is sewing.  I studied this poem awhile back in literature, and I have loved it since.  It is written by Amy Carmichael.  If you don't know much about her, I recommend you study about her life!  She is a beautiful picture of a Christian woman fulfilling God's purpose for her life.  I need say no more.

Make Me Thy Fuel

By Amy Carmichael

From prayer that asks that I may be
Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher,
From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy Soldier who would follow Thee.

From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings,
Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified,
From all that dims Thy Calvary,
O Lamb of God, deliver me.

Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay,
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that burn like fire,
Let me not be a clod;
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.

~Molly

P.S.  Did you notice the title of this post--Friday's Final Things?  This is like Monday's Meals and Wednesday's Words.  If I have little things to post, this will be the day.  Generally I would want to do a poem on Wednesday, but I just wanted to share this with you as a preface to the weekend.  Friday's Final Things probably won't be too consistent either.  We like to mix things up. ;)

Lessons from the Fire~Part 1

Hello Ladies,
I am super sorry for not posting!  I'll try to do better--especially with this series--over Christmas break.  Here you go! :)

The weekend of July 7-8, we Webers went camping. We have an R.V. as most of you know, and we love to take little weekend trips. This time we went to Greenbrier State Park, which is about 45 minutes away-thus really convenient. Greenbrier has a lake and several trails so we had fun spending time at the lake, and Melissa, Dad, and I also went on a 5 mile hike. It was a beautiful reminder of God's creative design as well as His goodness to us.

Late Sunday morning we headed home. We had only a gone a few miles at most when Dad spotted a car on fire. He immediately pulled the r.v. off to the side of the road while Megan grabbed one of our two fire extinguishers. Dad took it and raced across the road to help the two men trying to put out the fire. They were using water bottles in attempts to put it out, but it was really only feeding the fire, which sprang from the open hood. Dad aka Mr. Weber sprayed the fire vigorously, but since he could really only safely spray the top of the fire (in case the engine exploded), he succeeded very little. We ladies watched breathlessly.

Dad raced back across the street, after checking for cars(it was a busy highway), and called for our second fire extinguisher. Megan once again grabbed it, handed it to Melissa. Melissa was about to hand it to Mom who was now stepping out of the R.V. to call 911, when she remembered Mom's bad back and handed it to Dad instead, who raced back across the street with it.

This second extinguisher put out the rest of the fire to everyone's relief. Still Dad went and grabbed some gallons of extra water we had and poured it on the fired-singed area. I snapped some pictures with my phone, which I attempted to recover, but unfortunately was not able to do this in time for the posting of this article.  If demand calls for it, I will add it into a future post.

I have thought a lot about this incident these past months, and I drew some conclusions, which I wanted to share with you. I will do this in a series, posting one every few days or so. (It depends on when I can get it approved by the LOTL team.)


1. Although we often take this for granted, life is so fleeting. I quote from Jonathan Edwards' famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". " "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." -- By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God's mere will had in the least degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment. -- The truth of this observation may appear by the following consideration. 1. There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment..... 2. They deserve to be cast into hell..... 3. They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell...... 4. They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell......" (all original to quote, including emphasis)

There is nothing holding us from eternity but God's upright hand. There is a song "Live Like You Were Dying"; we should and must do this each and every day. Note: I am not recommending the song to you. For our readers still under parental authority I would suggest asking your parents before listening to new music. Also, when you listen to a new song, ask yourself whether it is God-honoring AND God's best for you.

We must first give our lives in submission to God, and then live every day for Him. Only in this way will we have no regrets. If you haven't accepted Jesus into your heart, please do so today! If you don't understand what that means, or have questions, then please email us. Until you dedicate your all to Jesus, you are in danger of going to Hell on Judgement Day. Besides, you are living without the joy and peace Jesus offers abundantly. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the car fire we witnessed, but someone easily could have, or the fire might have caught onto the grass nearby and burnt the local homes. Praise the Lord everyone was okay, and let me not forget this!

~Molly :)

A Note from the Ladies

Hello Blog Readers,

Molly here with you today.  First, I apologize for the pause of conversation, ahem, silence, on the blog.  Melissa was a lifeguard this summer in addition to being a mother's helper.  She also did some school  over the summer and finished driver's ed.  With this busy schedule, we've decided that doing the blog is too much for her.  Therefore, drum roll please,

I will be taking over the position of blog webmaster.

:)

As with Melissa, this doesn't mean that I will be the only one posting on the blog, but I will probably do the majority of posts, besides just being overall manager-coordinating posts, gathering ideas, etc.  Most things will still be the same, but you probably won't be seeing as much poetry as I am not as much into it as Melissa is.  Please email us or comment on the blog if you want something posted or would like to write for us.  We would LOVE to see your ideas!  Just go to the contact page to email us.
Please have patience as I get in the rhythm of the blog.  Hopefully posts will be more frequent, but we'll see.

Hopefully sometime soon around the posting of this post(it has to be approved by Mom-a.k.a. Mrs. Weber -and the rest of the team) I will be updating the about us page as all of ages are wrong, besides a few other minor things.  Again, let me reiterate, we would LOVE to hear from you on ideas for blog stuff, posts, or if you have a post for us.

I hope everyone had a terrific summer.  We did lots of stuff, reflections on some of which may just be posts...... ;)

~Molly :)

Sorry

Yeah I know that is way too long since I posted.  I am really sorry. Part of the reason was I got sick (fever, sore throat, ect...) The other part of that reason was I got a job and that made me busier. Although it is only once a week, Tuesdays from 1-5 as a mother's helper, it is a squezze on my schedule. And then over Thanksgiving I didn't have internet. This blog is important to me and now that I am well and hopefully caught up on everything posting will resume as usual.  Here is a poem for the road.

Lord Byron

CLXXIII. "She walks in beauty, like the night"

SHE walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow'd to that tender light	5
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o'er her face,	10
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek and o'er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,	15
But tell of days in goodness spent,—
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent Do you think the author is talking about her physical beauty or her character? Just a thought.

Our Thought Life

Yay! I finally get to introduce this article Amy has been working on. I hope in encourages you on to higher things.-Melissa
Have you ever heard the expression “you are what you eat?” Even though we might laugh at this trite expression it has some truth. Whatever we take into our bodies can reflect on our health. God says something similar about our hearts in Proverbs 23:7 “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” This means that whatever we put our thoughts and attention to becomes who we are in our speech and actions. Christ has called us to be a light to the nations and we cannot let our focus wander from God. We are charged to be in the world but not of the world. What we watch on TV, read in a book, and listen to in the lyrics of a song are going to permeate our thoughts and can change us in ways we never expected. You might dismiss this and think that reading that book couldn’t possibly do any harm it’s just an innocent diversion. Remember you can never take back innocence once you’ve lost it and you can never undo something once it’s done.

But by no means let yourself get discouraged or downtrodden for “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9)”.  This isn’t to say that we are forever condemned for what we do; we can always seek forgiveness and mercy from God.   This also works in reverse if we think on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, we should think on these things”( Philippians 4:8)
Is it too much to ask for us to abstain from the things of the world when we have heaven to look forward to? Here is a quote by Christina Rossetti; she perfectly describes the attitude we should have.

True, all our lives long we shall be bound to restrain our soul and keep it low; but what then?

 For the books we now forbear to read we shall one day be endowed with wisdom and knowledge.

For the music we will not listen to, we shall join in the song of the redeemed.

 For the pictures from which we turn, we shall gaze unabashed on the Beatific Vision.

 For the companionship we shun, we shall be welcomed with angelic society and the communion of triumphant saints.

For the amusements we avoid, we shall keep the supreme jubilee.

 For the pleasures we miss. We shall abide in the rapture of heaven.

It cannot be much of a hardship to dress modestly at a small cost, rather than richly and fashionably, if with conviction we are awaiting the white robes of the redeemed. (Christina Rossetti)