What a beautiful reminder to use our hands for the Lord all day. EAGERLY! Thank you, Lord for the opportunity to serve my family this morning. May my hands be your servants, Lord. Use them however you see fit. May they be a blessing to my family.
I think of a Christian song called hands and feet: "I wanna be your hands, be your feet, I'll go where you send me, go where you send me."
I'm excited to start the day with my "eager hands" touching all aspects of my house and family.
Many, many references to hands keep popping into my head: hand of God, golden touch, nurturing hands. These tools God has given us can be used in soooo many wonderful ways.
Dear Sisters in Christ, I received this beautiful letter from my friend Vicky Dudley this past week. I asked her if I might share it with you all as she so aptly describes Proverbs 31:13:
"She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands."
I hope you will enjoy reading Vicky's words as much as I did. They inspired me so that I painted my entire hallway in three different beautiful shades of color after reading her words of a woman's willing hands! Hands that worship Him Who created her while she works. Hands that offer up thanksgiving in the simple tasks of everyday womanhood. Hands. Willing Hands. Enjoy Vicky's beautiful description of them.
Love, Laine
Willing Hands
In my Bible study this morning, my mind was led to think about the Proverbs 31 lady, so I turned there and prayed through the verses. I was struck with how often her hands were mentioned, especially the verse that said "she worketh willingly with her hands." I thought about my hands and came to the conclusion that a woman's hands are the most useful tools the LORD has given her. I love working with my hands and am so grateful for all the beautiful things I am able to do with them.
Truly, it delights me so to create a lovely flower arrangement or sew a sweet dress or pipe a butter rose. I'm not sure I can really express how awed and grateful I feel to be able to actually do these things. Sometimes, I don't feel like the smartest person; in fact, sometimes I feel quite inept. But I feel competent (well, most of the time, anyway) when it comes to using my hands.
Today, I was so aware of my hands as I went about my work. Instead of using the dishwasher to wash up yesterday's tea things, I did them by hand so I could enjoy the feel of each beautiful, delicate piece--the ornateness of the silver teapot, the smooth coolness of the china cups, the rounded daintiness of the demitasse cups. The warm sudsy water felt good to my hands as did the cooler running rinse water.
Today, I have noticed and appreciated how my hands fly across the keyboard when I am typing letters to you and others. I was thankful for the sense of touch when I played with the puppy from across the street and when I used my hands to feel the firmness of the fresh squash, green beans, and new potatoes at the roadside stand. I was very aware of my hands as I folded the white clothes and took the warm clothes from the dryer and the cool clothes from the washer.
My hands communicated love to my family when I used them to prepare fresh vegetables and your delicious oven-fried chicken for our supper. Later, at the store, my hands reached out for just the right card to send our friends who lost their dear little dog. So many wonderful uses for our hands. I know that hands can also be used to hurt, but it doesn't have to be that way. I pray that I will always use the gift of my hands to bless.
Great verses today- as Sonja said, what a great reminder that our hands are more than what we see them as, they help us to serve the Lord each day. I think about someone right now, who has no use of his hands, and how difficult that has been for his family. This even more inspires me to use my hands for the work of the Lord, for my family, but then to reach out and serve others with them!!!! I love then how the second verse ties in so beautifully, how our work should be an act of service or worship to the Lord. Our attitudes would be so different if we truly lived this way all the time. I know mine would be. This would take the boredom out of the mundane parts of our work! I pray that we can all use our hands to fervently do the work of the kingdom. And take joy in working for Him. Have a great day ladies!
Each mundane chore I do for my family is a labor of Love. I have to remember that! Facing a huge stack of backed up dishes, pots and pans that I have to tackle tonight because our dishwasher was out of commission. I really am dreading it. Just so tired at the end of the day and after the kids go to bed dishes are the last thing I want to be doing. Lord help me to change my attitude and be eager to get these things done.
4 comments:
What a beautiful reminder to use our hands for the Lord all day. EAGERLY! Thank you, Lord for the opportunity to serve my family this morning. May my hands be your servants, Lord. Use them however you see fit. May they be a blessing to my family.
I think of a Christian song called hands and feet: "I wanna be your hands, be your feet, I'll go where you send me, go where you send me."
I'm excited to start the day with my "eager hands" touching all aspects of my house and family.
Many, many references to hands keep popping into my head: hand of God, golden touch, nurturing hands. These tools God has given us can be used in soooo many wonderful ways.
Have fun using your tools today, ladies!
Sonja
Dear Sisters in Christ,
I received this beautiful letter from my friend Vicky Dudley this past week. I asked her if I might share it with you all as she so aptly describes Proverbs 31:13:
"She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands."
I hope you will enjoy reading Vicky's words as much as I did. They inspired me so that I painted my entire hallway in three different beautiful shades of color after reading her words of a woman's willing hands! Hands that worship Him Who created her while she works. Hands that offer up thanksgiving in the simple tasks of everyday womanhood. Hands. Willing Hands. Enjoy Vicky's beautiful description of them.
Love,
Laine
Willing Hands
In my Bible study this morning, my mind was led to think about the Proverbs 31 lady, so I turned there and prayed through the verses. I was struck with how often her hands were mentioned, especially the verse that said "she worketh willingly with her hands." I thought about my hands and came to the conclusion that a woman's hands are the most useful tools the LORD has given her. I love working with my hands and am so grateful for all the beautiful things I am able to do with them.
Truly, it delights me so to create a lovely flower arrangement or sew a sweet dress or pipe a butter rose. I'm not sure I can really express how awed and grateful I feel to be able to actually do these things. Sometimes, I don't feel like the smartest person; in fact, sometimes I feel quite inept. But I feel competent (well, most of the time, anyway) when it comes to using my hands.
Today, I was so aware of my hands as I went about my work. Instead of using the dishwasher to wash up yesterday's tea things, I did them by hand so I could enjoy the feel of each beautiful, delicate piece--the ornateness of the silver teapot, the smooth coolness of the china cups, the rounded daintiness of the demitasse cups. The warm sudsy water felt good to my hands as did the cooler running rinse water.
Today, I have noticed and appreciated how my hands fly across the keyboard when I am typing letters to you and others. I was thankful for the sense of touch when I played with the puppy from across the street and when I used my hands to feel the firmness of the fresh squash, green beans, and new potatoes at the roadside stand. I was very aware of my hands as I folded the white clothes and took the warm clothes from the dryer and the cool clothes from the washer.
My hands communicated love to my family when I used them to prepare fresh vegetables and your delicious oven-fried chicken for our supper. Later, at the store, my hands reached out for just the right card to send our friends who lost their dear little dog. So many wonderful uses for our hands. I know that hands can also be used to hurt, but it doesn't have to be that way. I pray that I will always use the gift of my hands to bless.
How thankful I am for my hands!
Great verses today- as Sonja said, what a great reminder that our hands are more than what we see them as, they help us to serve the Lord each day. I think about someone right now, who has no use of his hands, and how difficult that has been for his family. This even more inspires me to use my hands for the work of the Lord, for my family, but then to reach out and serve others with them!!!! I love then how the second verse ties in so beautifully, how our work should be an act of service or worship to the Lord. Our attitudes would be so different if we truly lived this way all the time. I know mine would be. This would take the boredom out of the mundane parts of our work! I pray that we can all use our hands to fervently do the work of the kingdom. And take joy in working for Him.
Have a great day ladies!
Each mundane chore I do for my family is a labor of Love. I have to remember that! Facing a huge stack of backed up dishes, pots and pans that I have to tackle tonight because our dishwasher was out of commission. I really am dreading it. Just so tired at the end of the day and after the kids go to bed dishes are the last thing I want to be doing. Lord help me to change my attitude and be eager to get these things done.
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