Young Women of Virtue

Waking Dream

2012-02-01T23:25:00.001-06:00

This is something that I wrote after a pretty vivid dream and thought it was worth taking the time to write down, I hope you enjoy reading this short story.

Squeak, squeak was the sound my rubber sandals made asthe sand on my feet mixed with the cold salty water of the coming tide of thesea. Here I stand on the shore, my weight slowly shifting as my feet are movedunder when the sand starts to melt when the water makes contact with it. Istare over the horizon and through my darkly shaded sun glasses I somehow can’tsee the beauty in front of me, the perfect simplicity of the path I was on. Butas I continued to walk down the beach I began to feel less and less satisfiedwith my walk with God. My friends walked with me down the hot sandy beach, andthey seem happy, laughing and enjoying each other’s company as they talked anddebated religion and scripture. But I can’t feel the happiness they do, theyseem so content on this road we were taking, but I had become board with it andlonged for something new and different. I take off my sunglasses and I see thebeautiful ocean and long to go swimming and see all the new and differentthings that the waters had to offer. But we had long ago been forbidden totread these waters of sin and death and we were warned of the consequences ifwe disobeyed. But to me I didn’t see sin and death, I saw beauty, a sparklingallure that called out to me whispering my name, beckoning me to swim towardsit. As I continued to look over the water I saw a far ways out, what looked tobe a beautiful cave. How exciting it would be to discover its wonders andsecrets. It wouldn’t hurt if I took a quick look and came back, would it? Ilooked back down the shore, my companions were now far down the beach from me,I could probably make it back before they even noticed I had left.

Step by stepI walked into the sea, the water cooling my body as I submerged deeper anddeeper. Now I’ve gone so far I’m barely able to walk on ocean floor beneath me.I hear panicked screams from the shore, it’s my friends, and they’d noticed myabsence and located me. None of them jumped in after me to bring me back, theywere all too scared of the consequences for disobeying God’s law. I heard theiryells to me, they plead with me to come back saying, “It’s not worth it! Comeback to your Lord and Savior and ask for forgiveness for straying from thepath!” But somehow the words didn’t register in my mind and my conscienceseemed broken or something. The desire for the pleasure that came with sin wasall I could think of, and I started to swim faster towards the cave. In my mindI saw a pretty sparkling cove of wonder, but I was blinded, in reality it was aplace of death. The once beautiful day quickly turned bleak. Dark grey stormclouds formed over the ocean and thunder started to roll, it looked like anyminute it would start to rain. So I swam harder to get to my paradisedestination I thought I was sure to find. Almost to the entrance of the cave, Ilook behind me and could no longer see the shore for the fog had gotten verythick. Excited to finally reach my destination I swam inside, the light wasdimmer than I thought it would be. I swam deeper and deeper into the darknessof the cave. As I wade through the wet cave I marvel at the sights I saw, sparklinggems and gold embedded into the rocks around me, but in reality it is one ofthe scariest places a person can lay eyes on. The cave was filled with sharprocks, skeletons and the smell of death; it is no wonder why we were warned tostay away from this place. But somehow I find a strong appeal to my hidingplace and I have no desire to leave the alluring beauty that I perceived. Butnot long after I went into the large entrance the tide began to come up and thewater started to rise around me, and yet here I float in peace, about to drownin sin and death with a strange sense of no fear of my coming fate. But thereis a small whisper in my ear telling me to get up and swim to safety as fast asI can, but the darkness around me keeps me anchored here in danger of thecoming flood that would bring about my death. I can feel the water coming up tomy shoulders and slowly more and more water laps into the cave, I look back atthe once large welcoming entrance, where there is now only a small flicker oflight left at the opening of the cave, the dark waters have almost completelyengulfed all around me. The cave lights up when the lightningstrikes outside, but I don't seem to notice. So here I am, having yet to decide if I drown in pain andregret, or struggle out of the darkness for another chance at life. I remembermy friends on the shore that warned me not to go into cave of fleshly desires,but I ignored their wise advice and did as I wished. If I listened I couldstill hear their faint cries from the safety of the shore, they are crying,begging and pleading with me to come back to the safety and comfort of solidground that comes with the forgiveness and trust in my Lord and Savior JesusChrist. So what am I waiting for? Why do I wait here for someone to rescue mefrom the troubles I’ve made for myself? Am I expecting a courageous hero toswoop me off to safety? Truly I don’t know why I stay here waiting to drown todeath. Now I’ve almost lost the strength and will power to do anything to stopmy fate. But then, as the dark waters continue to rise up to my nose and eyesand water starts fills my lungs. I struggle for air and as I start to feelcloser and closer to death, I feel a ghostly presence and hear the Devil’s evilechoing laugh as he sneers saying, “I’ve won! I’ve trapped your soul and cornedyou into this cave of sin and death you will never escape from! See you in hellsucker!” Chills run up my spine as the whole cave shook from the thunder and lightening and Irealize that this was my fate, my punishment for letting myself be lured intothe cave of fleshly desires. The thought of my soul being so close to torment in the flames of hell for all eternity scared me so greatly that Istart to scream and cry out to God for some kind of rescue from what seemedlike certain death. I cried out with the little strength I had left and said, “OhGod! Forgive me of my sin! Please save me from death and hell!!” As I plead outto God, I struggle to swim back to the entrance of the cave. It was much hardertrying to get out of the cave than it was getting in. By now the water hadcompletely filled the cove and there was only a little air left in my lungs. Icontinue to swim with all of my might fighting for another breath of air, but Iopen my eyes look at my goal ahead of me and realize just how far into the caveI had waded. I swim up in hope of one last breath of air to help me push forward.My head bangs against the rock ceiling and I press my wet lips to the surface ofthe water and take my last deep breath. The current pushes me back under thetide but I still try to swim towards the entrance, I push with all my might andswim as hard as I can, but my little strength is not enough to get me to mygoal. My life flashes before my eyes as I feel the water entering my lungs onceagain. I guess the Devil was right; I would not be able to save myself fromthis peril. Just then, as I started to feel light headed and I could feel mysoul start to leave my body, a strong hand took hold of mine and pulled me outof the dark cave and to the light on the surface of the ocean. I gasp for airand look for my savior, but I am alone.

I look towards the shore, the fog hadcleared and I could see my friends and family crying for joy that I had made itout alive! They jumped around on shore as they waited for me to swim back tothem, they cheered as I made it back on land. They dark clouds had rolled awayand the sun was shining again. My friends chastise me for leaving in the firstplace, but are still overjoyed that I am alive. I told them about the hand thatsaved me when there was no hope and I was doomed, but they looked puzzled andassured me that no one had left the beach and they only person they saw out atsea was myself. From the shore I look back at the once deceptive alluring covethat nearly took my life. Now I could see it for what it really was, a shortcutto hell. I knew that God had spared my life that day and sent an angel to saveme. I questioned why I ever left in the first place and promised myself to neverbe so easily led away from the path ever again.

Abigail Prudence

Fathers & Daughters etc.

2012-01-23T19:30:00.001-06:00

One of the most precious things on this earth is the relationships that a father and daughter can have. If you have a father that loves you and spends time with you, then you are a very lucky girl. The average working father in America spends 19 minutes with his children, and most of that is spent eating dinner with the family. Most of the girls in our country don't know what it means to have a good relationship with there father. A whole lot of teenage girls say they hate their father, maybe this is partially because they are ungrateful and selfish, but maybe the other part of it is that they never had special moments with there father, their dad never took them on little trips or did projects with them. He was so busy trying to provide food, shelter and nice things for his family that he never stopped to think about his little ones growing up into adults. If you are a parent reading this, then you know how fast children grow up. You have to take every opportunity to shape your children into Godly examples for the world. How else do you do this then spending time talking and being with them? You can give them assignments and projects to work on that will help mold their character, but it's not the same as holding there hand and doing it with them. Even little things make a huge impact in a daughter's mind. Like going to the grocery store with just her, or going Christmas shopping for the rest of the family with her and listening to her opinions on what her family will like. There are so many things that a father can do with his daughter. I have been blessed with a father that loves me so much that he would die for me without thinking twice. I know this because he tells me he loves me every single day, we can talk about anything together. He has done so many different things with me to show me he cares, and also because we have a blast together! Here is a little list of some of things he has done with me: Taken me to a coffee shop and we just talk. Taken me to go kayaking together. He has taken me to an endless number of lunches. Bike rides almost every night. Making trails with him through the woods. Taken me bowling. Taken me to museums. One time he took me to a cave in our area and we walked through it together. Also he has taken me to every single tennis tournament I have ever played, we have made so many memories doing that. Also he has taught me tennis, we have spent a lot of time training together. Also on road trips I will usually travel with him and navigate for him. There is no possible way that I could tell you every special thing I have done with my father, the list is almost endless. He means the world to me, I can't imagine a world without him in it. Not only has he done lots of things with me, he has taught me a lot. If God blesses me with a husband half as good as my father I will be a very lucky girl. The reason my father has taken so much time to be with me is because he cares about what is going on in my heart, he listens very carefully and it makes me feel like I can tell him anything in the world. But he doesn't have to take me somewhere and make it out to be a whole day with me. Most of the moments we both cherish the most are the ones where I am just talking with him. Maybe it's driving with him to the grocery store, or doing a chore with him, maybe it's just being around while he works outside in the yard. Little things like getting him a glass of water or lemonade, means a lot to him. Your father loves you so much, he doesn't need to do a special activity to enjoy your presence, just being with him will bring joy to his heart if you are cheerful and happy. But if you have an attitude of hate or despite against your father, he will not want to be around you. When you are bitter or sour about something, it makes it harder for him to like being around you. Our father's will always love us, but when we are mean in spirit it makes everyone else's spirit mean too. The woman has a great role in the household of creating what kind of atmosphere is in the home. We are the mood setters, if we have a spirit of peace and love, it will make it much easier for everyone to get along in peace. Even if your still a younger girl you can still do little things to make the mood pleasant. Doing a chore without being asked or just smiling and being happy can make a huge impact on the people around us. In the world we live in today we are surrounded by darkness, for so many people all they can see is emptiness, let your light shine bright so all will see it, and maybe, if we all do our part, we can change the world for the better.

I hope you all enjoyed this article, may God bless all of you <3

Abigail Prudence

Winter is here :)

2011-12-01T01:02:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone! Well it's been a while since I've made a post here. Sorry it's been so long, I've been busy, but i know that's not an excuse :) This last month I entered and won the NaNoWriMo writing contest that comes around every November. A lot of you homeschooler's probably know what I am referring too. http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/ Today I have been editing it and making it even better, maybe some day I'll get it published, I'll see someday I guess.
Here in Texas there hasn't been any snow, but it has been getting down in the low 40's! I know for most of you that's not that cold, but for us it's very cold. Besides writing I have been doing a lot of school work and cook two days of the week for my family's dinner, which has been fun! They even let me go shopping for what I need to make, I have been having fun with it. I am excited that Christmas is only 24 days away! I already have my tree put up and the lights on the house outside are on. Well, I should say good bye for now, I'll be back later this month with an article for you all, thank you so much for your patience <3

God Bless,
Abigail

The Pastor's Sermon

2011-10-15T10:48:00.004-05:00

This last week I was able to go to my friend's church :) And while I was there I herd this amazing sermon, I asked the pastor if I could get a copy of it and he gave me a link to the short story he read for a sermon that Sunday. I would like to post the sermon on my blog because I found it very encouraging and hope that you will too :) I know that it is very long, but it is very much worth reading. God bless your reading.

My Heart, Christ's Home
by Robert Boyd Munger

In Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, we find these words: "That [God] would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith" (Eph 3:16). Or, as another has translated, "that Christ may settle down and be at home in your hearts by faith."

Without question, one of the most remarkable Christian doctrines is that Jesus Christ himself through the presence of the Holy Spirit will actually enter a heart, settle down and be at home there. Christ will make the human heart his abode.

Our Lord said to his disciples, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23). It was difficult for them to understand what he was saying. How was it possible for him to make his abode with them in this sense?

It is interesting that our Lord used the same word here that he gave them in the first of the 14th chapter of John: "I go to prepare a place for you...that where I am, you may be also." Our Lord was promising his disciples that, just as he was going to heaven to prepare a place for them and would welcome them one day, now it would be possible for them to prepare a place for him in their hearts and he would come and make his abode with them.

They could not understand this. How could it be?

Then came Pentecost. The Spirit of the living Christ was given to the church and they understood. God did not dwell in Herod's temple in Jerusalem! God did not dwell in a temple made with hands; but now, through the miracle of the outpoured Spirit, God would dwell in human hearts. The body of the believer would be the temple of the living God and the human heart would be the home of Jesus Christ. It is difficult for me to think of a higher privilege than to make for Christ a home in my heart, to welcome, to serve, to please, to fellowship with him there.

One evening that I shall never forget, I invited him into my heart. What an entrance he made! It was not a spectacular emotional thing, but very real. It was at the very center of my life. He came into the darkness of my heart and turned on the light. He built a fire in the cold hearth and banished the chill. He started music where there had been stillness and he filled the emptiness with his own wonderful loving fellowship. I have never regretted opening the door to Christ and I never will-- not into eternity!

This, of course, is the first step in making the heart Christ's home. He has said, "Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20). If you are interested in making your life an abode of the living God, let me encourage you to invite Christ into your heart and he will surely come.
After Christ entered my heart and in the joy of that new-found relationship, I said to him, "Lord, I want this heart of mine to be yours. I want to have you settle down here and be perfectly at home. Everything I have belongs to you. Let me show you around and introduce you to the various features of the home that you may be more comfortable and that we may have fuller fellowship together." He was very glad to come, of course, and happier still to be given a place in the heart.

THE LIBRARY
The first room was the study -- the library. Let us call it the study of the mind. Now in my home this room of the mind is a very small room with very thick walls. But it is an important room. In a sense, it is the control room of the house. He entered with me and looked around at the books in the bookcase, the magazines upon the table, the pictures on the wall. As I followed his gaze I became uncomfortable. Strangely enough, I had not felt badly about this before, but now that he was there looking at these things I was embarrassed. There were some books there that his eyes were too pure to behold. There was a lot of trash and literature on the table that a Christian had no business reading and as for the pictures on the wall -- the imaginations and thoughts of the mind-- these were shameful.
I turned to him and said, "Master, I know that this room needs a radical alteration. Will you help me make it what it ought to be-- to bring every thought into captivity to you?"
"Surely!" he said. "Gladly will I help you. That is one reason I am here. First of all, take all the things that you are reading and seeing which are not helpful, pure, good and true, and throw them out! Now put on the empty shelves the books of the Bible. Fill the library with scriptures and meditate on them day and night. As for the pictures on the wall, you will have difficulty controlling these images, but here is an aid." He gave me a full sized picture of himself. "Hang this centrally," he said, "on the wall of the mind." I did and I have discovered through the years that when my thoughts are centered upon Christ himself, his purity and power cause impure imaginations to retreat. So he has helped me to bring my thoughts into captivity.
May I suggest to you if you have difficulty in this little room of the mind, that you bring Christ in there. Pack it full with the Word of God, meditate upon it and keep before it ever the immediate presence of the Lord Jesus.

THE DINING ROOM

From the study we went to the dining room, the room of appetites and desires. Now this was a very large room. I spent a good deal of time in the dining room and much effort in satisfying my wants.

I said to him, "This is a very commodious room and I am quite sure you will be pleased with what we serve here."

He seated himself at the table with me and asked, "What is on the menu for dinner?"

"Well," I said, "my favorite dishes: old bones, corn husks, sour cabbage, leeks, onions and garlic right out of Egypt." There were the things I liked -- worldly fare. I suppose there was nothing radically wrong in any particular item, but it was not the food that should satisfy the life of a real Christian. When the food was placed before him, he said nothing about it. However, I observed that he did not eat it, and I said to him, somewhat disturbed, "Savior, you don't care for the food that is placed before you? What is the trouble?"

He answered, "I have meat to eat that you know not of. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me." He looked at me again and said, "if you want food that really satisfies you, seek the will of the Father, not your own pleasures, not your own desires, not your own satisfaction. Seek to please me, and that food will satisfy you." And there about the table he gave me a taste of doing God's will. What a flavor! There is no food like it in all the world. It alone satisfies. Everything else is dissatisfying in the end.

Now if Christ is in your heart, and I trust he is, what kind of food are you serving him and what kind of food are you eating yourself? Are you living for the lust of the flesh and the pride of life-- selfishly? Or are you choosing God's will for your meat and drink?

THE DRAWING ROOM

We walked next into the drawing room. This room was rather intimate and comfortable. I liked it. It had a fireplace, overstuffed chairs, a bookcase, sofa and a quiet atmosphere.

He also seemed pleased with it. He said, "This is indeed a delightful room. Let us come here often. It is secluded and quiet and we can have fellowship together."

Well, naturally, as a young Christian I was thrilled. I could not think of anything I would rather do than have a few minutes apart with Christ in intimate comradeship.

He promised, "I will be here every morning early. Meet with me here and we will start the day together." So, morning after morning, I would come downstairs to the drawing room and he would take a book of the Bible from the bookcase. He would open it and then we would read together. He would tell me of its riches and unfold to me its truth. He would make my heart warm as he revealed his love and grace towards me. They were wonderful hours together. In fact, we called the dining room the "withdrawing room." It was a period when we had our quiet time together.

But little by little, under the pressure of many responsibilities, this time began to be shortened. Why, I don't know, but I thought I was just too busy to spend time with Christ. This was not intentional, you understand; it just happened that way. Finally, not only was the time shortened, but I began to miss a day now and then. It was examination time at the university. Then it was some other urgent emergency. I would miss it two days in a row and often more.

I remember one morning when I was in a hurry, rushing down the steps, eager to be on my way.

As I passed the drawing room, the door was ajar. Looking in I saw a fire in the fireplace and the Lord sitting there. Suddenly in dismay, I thought to myself, "He was my guest. I had invited him into my heart! He had come as Lord of my home. And yet here I am neglecting him." I turned and went in. With downcast glance I said, "Blessed Master, forgive me. Have you been here all these mornings?"

"Yes," he said, "I told you I would be here every morning to meet with you." Then I was even more ashamed. He had been faithful in spite of my faithlessness. I asked his forgiveness and he readily forgave me as he does when we are truly penitent.

He said, "The trouble with you is this: You have been thinking of the quiet time, of the Bible study and prayer time, as a factor in your own spiritual progress, but you have forgotten that this hour means something to me also. Remember, I love you. I have redeemed you at a great cost. I desire your fellowship. Now," he said, "do not neglect this hour if only for my sake. Whatever else may be your desire, remember I want your fellowship!"

You know, the truth that Christ wants my fellowship, that he loves me, wants me to be with him, wants to be with me and waits for me, has done more to transform my quiet time with God than any other single fact. Don't let Christ wait alone in the drawing room of your heart, but every day find some time when, with the Word of God and in prayer, you may fellowship with him.

THE WORKSHOP

Before long he asked, "Do you have a workshop in your home?" Down in the basement of the home of my heart I had a workbench and some equipment, but I was not doing much with it. Once in a while I would go down and fuss around with a few little gadgets, but I wasn't producing anything worthwhile.
I led him down there.
He looked over the workbench and what little talents and skills I had. He said, "This is quite well furnished. What are you producing with your life for the Kingdom of God?" He looked at one or two of the little toys that I had thrown together on the bench and he held one up to me. "Are these little toys all that you are producing in your Christian life?"
"Well," I said, "Lord, that is the best I can do. I know it isn't much and I really want to do more, but after all, I have no skill or strength."
"Would you like to do better?" he asked.
"Certainly," I replied.
"All right. Let me have your hands. Now relax in me and let my Spirit work through you. I know you are unskilled and clumsy and awkward, but the Spirit is the Master-worker and if he controls your hands and your heart he will work through you." And so, stepping around behind me and putting his great, strong hands over mine, controlling the tools with his skillful fingers, he began to work through me.
There's much more that I must still learn and I am very far from satisfied with the product that is being turned out, but I do know that whatever has been produced for God has been through his strong hand and through the power of his Spirit in me.
Do not become discouraged because you cannot do much for God. Your ability is not the fundamental condition. It is he who is controlling your fingers and upon whom you are relying. Give your talents and gifts to God and he will do things with them that will surprise you.

THE RUMPUS ROOM

I remember the time he inquired about the playroom. I was hoping he would not ask me about that. There were certain associations and friendships, activities and amusements that I wanted to keep for myself. I did not think Christ would enjoy them or approve of them so I evaded the question.

But there came an evening when I was leaving to join some companions -- I was in college at the time -- and as I was about to cross the threshold, he stopped me with a glance. "Are you going out?"

I answered, "Yes."

"Good," he said, "I would like to go with you."

"Oh," I replied rather awkwardly. "I don't think, Lord, that you would really want to go with us. Let's go out tomorrow night. Tomorrow night we will go to prayer meeting, but tonight I have another appointment."

He said, "That's all right. Only I thought when I came into your home we were going to do everything together. We were going to be partners. I want you to know that I am willing to go with you."

"Well," I said, "we will go some place together tomorrow night."

But that evening I spent some miserable hours. I felt wretched. What kind of friend was I to Christ, when I was deliberately leaving him out of my associations, doing things and going places that I knew very well he would not enjoy? When I returned that evening, there was a light in his room and I went up to talk it over with him. I said, "Lord, I have learned my lesson. I cannot have a good time without you. We will do everything together from now on."

Then we went down into the rumpus room of the house and he transformed it. He brought into life real joy, real happiness, real satisfaction, real friendship. Laughter and music have been ringing in the house ever since.

THE BEDROOM

One day when we were in my bedroom, he asked me about the picture next to my bed.

“That’s a picture of my girlfriend,” I told him. Although I knew my relationship with my girlfriend was a good one, I felt funny talking with him about it. She and I were struggling with some issues and I didn’t want to discuss them with him. I tried to change the subject.

But Jesus must have known what I was thinking. “You are beginning to question my teaching on sex, aren’t you? That sexual relations are only for those who are joined in the covenant of marriage? You’re feeling that I may be asking something unnatural, if not impossible, for you. You’re afraid my will on this will limit the full enjoyment of life and love. Isn’t that true?”

“Yes,” I confessed.

“Then listen carefully to what I am saying,” he continued. “I forbid adultery and premarital sex, not because sex is bad but because it is good. Beyond the physical ecstasy it is a means of bonding two lives in deepening love. It has the creative power to bring human life into being. Sex is powerful. Used properly, sex has tremendous potential for good. Used improperly, it destroys the good. For this reason, God intends it to be expressed only within the commitment of a loving life partnership. There is far more to love than just sex.”

“Let me help you in your relationship with the opposite sex. If you should fail, and feel shame and guilt, know I still love you and will remain with you. Talk to me about it! Acknowledge the wrong! Take steps to avoid it happening again! Rely on my strength to keep you from falling and to lead you into a relationship of love in marriage where two truly become one in me.”

THE HALL CLOSET

There is just one more matter that I might share with you. One day I found him waiting for me at the door. There was an arresting look in his eye. He said to me as I entered, "There is a peculiar odor in the house. There is something dead around here. It's upstairs. I think it is in the hall closet." As soon as he said the words, I knew what he was talking about. Yes, there was a small hall closet behind lock and key I had one or two little personal things that I did not want anybody to know about and certainly I did not want Christ to see. I knew they were dead and rotting things. And yet I loved them, and I wanted them so for myself that I was afraid to admit they were there. I went up the stairs with him and as we mounted, the odor became stronger and stronger. He pointed at the door and said, "It's in there! Some dead thing!"

I was angry. That's the only way I can put it. I had given him access to the library, the dining room, the drawing room, the workshop, the rumpus room, and now he was asking me about a little two-by-four closet. I said inwardly, "This is too much. I am not going to give him the key."

"Well," he said, reading my thoughts, "if you think I am going to stay up here on the second floor with this odor, you are mistaken. I will take my bed out on the back porch. I'm certainly not going to put up with that." And I saw him start down the stairs.

When you have come to know and love Christ, the worst thing that can happen to you is to sense his fellowship retreating from you. I had to surrender. "I'll give you the key," I said sadly, "but you'll have to open the closet. You'll have to clean it out. I haven't the strength to do it."

"I know," he said. "I know you haven't. Just give me the key. Just authorize me to take care of that closet and I will." So, with trembling fingers I passed the key over to him. He took it from my hand, walked over to the door, opened it, entered it, took out all the putrefying stuff that was rotting there and threw it away. Then he cleansed the closet, painted it, fixed it up, doing it all in a moment's time. Oh, what victory and release to have that dead thing out of my life!

TRANSFERRING THE TITLE

Then a thought came to me. I said to myself, "I have been trying to keep this heart of mine clear for Christ. I start on one room and no sooner have I cleaned that then another room is dirty. I begin on the second room and the first room becomes dusty again. I am so tired and weary trying to maintain a clean heart and an obedient life. I just am not up to it!" So I ventured a question: "Lord, is there any chance that you would take over the responsibility of the whole house and operate it for me and with me just as you did that closet? Would you take the responsibility to keep my heart what it ought to be and my life where it ought to be?"
I could see his face lighten up as he replied, "Certainly, that is what I came to do. You can not be a victorious Christian in your own strength. That is impossible. Let me do it through you and for you. That is the way. But," he added slowly, "I am not owner of this house. I am just a guest. I have no authority to proceed since the property is not mine."
I saw it in a minute and dropping to my knees, I said, "Lord, you have been a guest, and I have been the host. From now on I am going to be the servant. You are going to be the Lord." Running as fast as I could to the strong box, I took out the title deed to the house describing its assets and liabilities, its situation and condition. Then returning to him, I eagerly signed it over to belong to him alone for time and eternity. "Here," I said, "here it is, all that I am and have forever. Now you run the house. I'll just remain with you as houseboy and friend."
He took my life that day and I can give you my word, there is no better way to live the Christian life. He knows how to keep it in shape and deep peace settles down on the soul. May Christ settle down and be at home in your heart as Lord of all.

May God bless you all and have a wonderful weekend! :)
Abigail Prudence

Reflections as of Late

2011-09-21T11:32:00.000-05:00

I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to make another post for you guys. I have been distracted by a lot of things lately. This last weekend was the Texas State Tennis Tournament for my division, San Antonio took 2nd place! Go SA! :D www.sajuniortennis.com

I have been doing a lot of thinking and reflecting as of late. I am growing so fast, it doesn't feel like I have been sixteen for this long, I want it to last longer! We only have so much time, and whenever our clock runs out, that's it, that's all the time on this earth we will have had. We are all going to die someday, be it cancer, a shot to the head or dying from old age, we can never be certain how we will leave this earth, but right now, if you died in your sleep, are you sure you would go to heaven? Being a Christian isn't about good deeds, it's about honest intention to follow Jesus Christ with all of your heart and completely give your soul up to him and let him make the decisions in your life, and when He guides us, we follow. May God give me grace to abandon all sin in my life, and may He give you grace to do the same.

Thank you for reading, may God bless you & keep you in Jesus name, Amen

Abigail Prudence

Why is Prayer Such a Fight?

2011-08-17T18:49:00.001-05:00

Pray. That word appears 306 times in the Bible. Obviously God thinks that it is important that we pray. I used to have a very good prayer life, but after some things happened to me, my prayer life went away completely. Until this morning that is. I got down on my knees, and talked to God, my what a good feeling that was!! It has been so long! Almost a year of being away from God and it felt so good to feel his presence again. I am so happy! When you don't talk to God you feel dead inside, your eyes darken and you change. Don't let that happen to you. Trust me, whatever sin you are in it is just not worth it. Just take the time, there may be other really important things in your life, but prayer is not one of the things that should be pushed aside. I had missed God so much, being able to talk to my Creator again, it is such a relief to my soul. I want to thank my good friend Hannah for exhorting me a LOT to pray, encouraging me and praying with me. It wasn't easy, but I am finally able to talk to God again, not as closely as before, but that will come with time. I pray that God will help any of you that are struggling in your prayer life, and that He will help you get back up on your feet. Prayer is so important, and the devil knows it too. He'll try to distract us with something, literally anything, to keep us from praying. He knows how powerful it is, and when your not praying, it is easier for him to do what he does best, steal, kill and destroy. We need to shield ourselves from sin, when we are in sin it makes us harder to talk to God. And when we aren't praying and crying out to Him, casting our cares and worries before our Savior, it makes it easier for the devil to attack. This is why we must study God's word, pray and even fast if we must to get our spirit strong in the Lord so we can fight off sin when it comes our way.

May God give you all grace in Jesus name,

Abigail Prudence

I'm going on a Trip! & JOY devotional

2011-08-01T11:11:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone, for the next week I will be on vacation visiting a very, very good friend of mine and won't be able to manage my blog as much as normal. I want to apologize for my extreme laziness is posting for you all. I have been extremely busy and haven't been able get the time write something for you all. So I wanted to continue my devotional posts that I was doing at the beginning of the year, this one is from the Joy book again, I hope you all enjoy it!

Joy In Letting Go

Nothing measures up to knowing and living with Jesus. Do we really believe that? We must, because it is what we were created for. That's why nothing else brings lasting satisfaction and joy. If we trust God's Word, we know the truth of this. Why, then, do we strive so hard to find fulfillment elsewhere? It never works-certainly not in any lasting way. Paul knew the secrets to possessing and enjoying the blessings of earthly life is to hold them loosely. Paul held all his blessings loosely because he had found something that mattered even more. He had found life in Christ to surpass the best that this life can offer. That's why he sought to get rid of anything that would hinder or water down a deeper intimacy with his Lord.

The value we place on Christ can be measured by what we are willing to forego or give up in order to safeguard our relationship with him. It can also be measured by how we react when God takes away something we value. Do we get angry with God? Do we get depressed about it? He removes from us only what he knows will impede our spiritual growth. If we fight against his Providences, inwardly or outwardly, it is an indicator that Christ is not our all. If he were, we would be eager to hunt down and set aside any interference.
Paul gave up prestige, power, authority, friends, the comforts of prosperity, and eventually his very own life. Is there something in our lives that we know is a spiritual hindrance but have been unwilling to lose for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ is better? For some, it might be a relationship. For others, it might be a particular calling, or a home, or an education. F or still other it might be good health. Whatever it is, letting go of it will lead to joy.
Many of us are familiar with the now-famous words penned by missionary Jim Elliot months before he was martyred for his faith: "he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep what he cannot lose." Jim knew what Paul did and what we can too - those who leave precious things to follow Christ have no regrets.

Written by Lydia Brownback. From the Godly Woman Adornment Devotional Collection.

Happy fourth of July!

2011-07-05T11:16:00.000-05:00

Hi everybody! Happy Fourth of July! I had a great day last night, lots of family, friends and fun :) It was wonderful, we went over to my grandparents place and had all kinds of contests, the ping-pong I got to organize, it was fun :) normally we have fireworks on the fourth of July, but not this year :( We had a city wide ban on it because of the severe drought, oh well. I guess we'll just wait till New Years. But even with the absence of fireworks, it was still awesome. It was fun to play ping-pong again, it's been about a year or so since I've played. I hope I get to play more often. Thank God for the freedom to play ping-pong in a somewhat free nation, Praise God for the few freedoms that we still have, and please protect the ones that we still have, in Jesus Name :)

It would be great if you could pray for my little Jack Russell terrier puppy Dixie, we are going to take her in today to get her fixed, it's a surgery so I am praying that all will go smoothly :)

Love you all, and God Bless!
Abigail Prudence

Forgiveness Article

2011-06-04T22:44:00.003-05:00

Back safe and sound, the only thing scared is my conscience. When I look down at this ring on my hand I go back to the day my father got down on one knee and gave it to me and made me swear to wait for my husband and to be pure. Now every time I look down I see a broken promise. This blog was started 2 years ago to inspire girls to keep the faith, stay pure. I had a moment of weakness and fell into temptation. I pray God will forgive me for my awful example to you, and anyone else that knows that I am follower of Jesus Christ. I have stumbled and am now getting back on my feet as it were. Please take a moment and pray that God will give me grace to get back on the path of the straight and narrow. I know it has been a long time since I have written a scripture inspired article, but I wanted to write one now about forgiveness, thank you all for your patience in waiting for me to write new articles for this blog.

Sin is something that every person that has ever walked on this planet has experienced, it's what makes us human, and God who He is. Jesus Christ was the only One to ever stay completely absent from sin his entire life. A perfect example. When he died on the cross and let out his last words saying 'It is done' it was done for the sin of every person in every nation for the rest of time on this earth. Thank God that we no longer have to sacrifice lambs to cleanse us of our sins, because of Jesus's sacrifice, we have a direct line to God's ear by opening our mouth and praying, he see's all and hears all anyways, and he listens when we pray. When we pour out our sinful life before him and ask for his forgiveness and to give us a clean start, he will wipe out sins away and cast them as far as from the east is from the west, it is washed away for ever!! PRAISE THE LORD! What an amazing love that he has for us! This is the gospel, to every lost soul that has many sins that may seem unforgivable, Jesus Christ has given his blood and can take our stained and dirt covered clothes and turn them into shining white robes! Get down on your knees and plead out your sins to God, He WILL forgive every one of them, and cleanse your spirit and give you a fresh start. Praise God.
Sometimes we spend too much time focused on our own realm of life, our concerns and our trails. We easily forget that we are in a world of lost sinners, and without someone pointing the way to salvation, they will die in there sins and burn in hell for eternity. I urge you all, remember those that are lost, stay strong in the faith and represent our Lord and Savior as a shining example, and every time you get the chance to talk to anyone, be it the girl at the gas station, or the person at the checkout in the grocery store, or anyone you meet, tell them that Jesus Christ came to cleanse sin, give them a gospel track. At first you might be a little embarrassed, but the more you fall in love with Jesus and his Words the easier it will be! For years I watched my father tell almost everyone he meet about Jesus Christ, and hopefully someday I will be as experienced as he is at sharing the gospel. Jesus Christ is coming! Are you ready? Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark. And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:35-41)

May God bless you all and give you grace today in Jesus's Name, Amen.

Abigail Prudence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

College article to mull over while I'm gone :)

2011-04-10T22:16:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I thought I would repost this for you all, since I will be gone for a while. God Bless you All!
What's Wrong With Going to College?

This is going to be pretty long, but just hang in their with me.

There are a lot of young girls who think that the first thing that should come to your mind after you finish your basic education at high school is to run off to college. Let me start this report by saying, this is not true. The primary reasons behind this misconception are:

1, most parents think their daughter needs a good job that earns good money, and to do so, she needs to have a proper education, which cannot be gained by home schooling or other means.

2, Most people think that if you don’t attend a college you will never get a job and are therefore an outcast in some societies. First, we have to ask ourselves the question, why do I have to be this great person, have a career and be successful in the eyes of our modern culture? Let’s see what God has to say about the matter. “The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” (Titus 2:3-5) Let’s examine this verse; my usual question when I read just about any verse in the Bible is, what is God trying to say? The first thing I do when I have this question is go to my father and asked him what it means, after I know what it means I can write reports about what I have learned as I am doing so now. In this verse God is saying, first of all, that the older women needs to be in good behavior, not drunk with much wine, not gossipers (false accusers) and that they are knowledgeable about good biblical principles. The next thing He says is that the older, more learned women should teach the younger women. He wants the younger women of each generation to know how to: love their future husband, love their children, have good manners, be fully capable of taking of care of every aspect of home living, and to be willing to obey their own husband so the word of God will not be blasphemed.
Let’s take this verse one-step at a time.

1, the older women are to know godly principals and are to teach the younger women these topics.

2, He wants young girls to be sober, meaning to be in a clear state of mind, not drunk or under the influence of any other mood altering substances.

3, the next thing He says to young girls is that they are to love their husbands. To love a husband the way God wants us to, does not require the training that millions of young girls get from the following: dating, free sex, and being away from your father for very long periods of time, all of which are freely available at almost every college. To properly love a husband, you must train yourself, by serving your father in helping him accomplish his goals for most of your youth, as a young woman in your father’s home. It’s amazing how many different skills that can be acquired just by helping your father in every way you can.
The first book of the bible tells us that it is “not good” for man to be alone. He needs a helper. In fact he was designed by God to need a wife & helpmeet. Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. That was Eve’s job, to help Adam. Since it is clear that men need a helper, wouldn’t it make sense that they have the most capable & skilled helper possible? So, it makes since that Eve would be very capable and skilled. I think we can all agree on that. But what was she supposed to do with these skills? She was supposed to pour all of her skills, talent and beauty into Adam. She was there for him. So, you have to ask yourself, are you going to run off to college to gain skills and knowledge that are going to be used to help another man in his vision, or are you going to train yourself in helping your father accomplish his vision while you are still at home? It’s a choice that every girl will face after finishing their high school education. If you do chose to stay at home helping your family, you will be criticized for it, people expect you to run to college, they don’t expect you to care about your father’s vision. But as a Christian girl that wants to make a difference, you might think that you will accomplish more by gaining a college education. But is that really true? Are you really fulfilling God’s plan for your life by going to college? God created a woman to never leave her father’s protection until the day that she marries; do you think that being away from him in a none Christian atmosphere for months on end is being under his protection? And how can you learn to be his servant and helper if he is far away? All of these questions you will face, so think about it now, and start helping your father now, rather than later. A few sentences ago, we mentioned the topic of “God’s plan for your life”. Let’s call that “God’s Will” for your life.
The following passage, in Paul’s first epistle to Timothy, clearly spells out “God’s will” for younger women: “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. 1Timothy 5:14
So, it seems quite clear that it’s God’s plan for young women to marry and raise children. And the bible even tells us what kind of children, in Malachi 2:15, he explains that one of the primary reasons that he created the husband and wife union was for them to have righteous, faithful Christian, God-fearing children. This desire of Gods is further amplified by the Prophet Isaiah, when he states: And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children. Isaiah 54:13
So, how are these children going to “get godly”? How are they going to be “taught of the Lord”? Whose lap will they sit on, to hear about the powerful miracles of Jesus, and who will read them the sweet little edifying stories, on their way to bed? And who will be there to protect them from the evil bombardments of this present world and it’s media? Who will help nourish their little, growing bodies with nutritious home cooked food, and not the processed garbage that most youth pour into their systems like a river. The answer is YOU! And who will mend their torn clothes, when they fall down while riding their bikes? YOU. So, you can see that it’s going take some training to be ready for this “helpmeet” job. Who will be there, throughout their little girls lives, to show THEM what a Christian mother “looks like”, and how to honor your husband, and how to cheerfully clean a bathroom, or do dishes, or iron clothes, or all the nuances of planting, nourishing and harvesting a garden, so that they will be able to have affordable fresh veggies for their husband in the years to come. The list goes on and on – but you can see, again that the mothering part of this helpmeet job is huge. So, as we get back to the point of this article, Will college help you get ready for this? Do they offer Christian Mothering 101, and 202 and 303? As we get back to our list in Titus chapter 2, of what the older women are to teach the younger women.

4, Love your children, that’s the next thing on the list. Love is something that is never ending; if you are one of God’s children he will love you forever (unless you fall into sin & do not repent, but that’s another topic.) Anyways, what I am trying to say is this, God said children, he didn’t say no children or child. He also says in other sections of the bible that children are a blessing from God to the wife and husband, Psalms 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. God wants us to have a very positive outlook on children and not try to get rid of them or to only have one and then say I’m done with this. God will give some women 10 children, while others only 1 or 2. The number doesn’t matter, just embrace whatever number of children God gives you. Unfortunately what a lot of young girls have done is get an abortion, which is murder. God created woman to have children, we should embrace this gift with open arms.

5, Here it tells women to be discreet. In other words God wants us girls to be decent, you know, not wild and untamed like so many college age girls are these days. And one of main reasons girls are like this is because they are around other girls that are very bad influences, and it will rub off badly on you and before you know it you are a child of the world and no longer a child of God.

6, Chaste, usually when this word is used the Bible it means that we are supposed to be chaste in conversation & dress. Meaning that we watch what we say and are slow to speak. Not a blabbermouth or into the latest gossip about so & so, or a showgirl in clothing. I will cover the topic of modesty in another section. Basically God wants young girls to watch what we say and when we do speak, it needs to be intelligent and well founded.

7, Keepers at home. What do you think college is doing for your homemaking skills and learning practical things that you will need everyday when you are married? Our society thinks that if you don’t have the proper education (which can only be gained at a college) you won’t be going anywhere in this world. I try to remind myself quickly that we just have to live in this world, not be a part of it. God’s original rule was that the girl would be protected by a man all her life. When a girl goes out from under her father’s protection, usually around the age of 17, 18 or 19, bad things almost always happen. Also, these are the tender years when character really develops in a young woman and she makes the transition between girl and woman. The environment you are in when this takes place will dramatically influence your behavior & beliefs for the rest of your life! This is not the time to be out with girls that have been trained by the ways of the devil and this world all their life and young men who may be physically attractive, but ultimately extremely dangerous to a young girl. Also in this stage of a girl’s life her hormones are going bonkers, and being around good-looking guys that are not interested in God is, well, not recommended.

8, one of the last sections of this verse tells us girls to be good. Think about that for a minute. What does good mean? To be in good obedience to your parents, good modest apparel, good attitude, and if possible not lose your innocence which is almost impossible when attending a college. Now, God did tell us that we aren’t perfect, Jesus was the perfect One, but he also said, “Be ye thou perfect,” We are going to fall and have temptations, but the stronger we are in Christ and character the less likely this will happen. Correct me if I’m wrong, but what kind of things will you be learning at college? If you are a Christian you are going to be constantly trying to walk the Jesus walk and learn and study things that will glorify Him. Do you think that the public school and even the Christian school systems really has your best interest in mind? Isn’t it interesting that they make sure that they tell us everything we need to know about sex, evolution and finding yourself. But if you look at what college has to offer and on the one side, and then you look at what skills you can gain by being in your father’s house helping him in his endeavors and learning real things that you will need after marriage. Does a young woman need a Business Degree, what do you think that’s for? To run off to work every morning and serve another man, not your husband, in his business endeavors. Also if a girl works she’s carrying the double curse. In the beginning, after the woman fell for Satan’s lie and ate the apple because she wanted to be like God, He gave Adam the curse of bearing the work load and providing for the family, and the curse he gave to the woman was bearing children. If a woman runs off to work she does not only have to bear children, take care of them and her husband, she also has to provide for the family by going to work in a environment, most of the time does not have the Christian based atmosphere in mind. It all goes back to what your personal goal is. If you want to be a ‘career woman’ or have a ‘ministry’ you are without a doubt carrying the double curse. God’s plan for young women is a beautiful, extraordinary thing but so many of us have decided that we don’t really need to train to be a wife and mother, and who really cares of you can’t cook that well, or sew, or take care of children etc. Every single one of these things you will face when you are married. As a young woman you need to study the bible, find out what God says to train on with your father and mother and practice these things.

Now, earlier I mentioned I was going to talk about modesty. This is a very important topic, the way a girl dresses says a lot about what kind of woman she is. If a young girl wears a tank top and short shorts, what kind of message do you think she is trying to send? Either she thinks that it’s just fashion, or she wants to get attention from guys, which (or should I say witch) is mostly the case. God says the way women dresses will mess with a guy’s head, and if you are responsible for some of that sin that he commits, you will carry some sin also. Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. It is a very dangerous thing to play with the way you dress. Unfortunately, a lot of girls don’t view it from this vantage point and are carrying a lot of sexual sin around. Even just the little things will make a guy think, when you wear a shirt and your bra sticks out of the corner, sometimes that triggers a reaction in a man’s mind. We really have to watch the way we dress, it is extremely important. What I’m trying to say is this, when you are getting ready in the morning to represent yourself to the world, think about choosing that long skirt and blouse, instead of that cute skin tight T-shirt and that pair of skinny blue jeans. Just think about it, do you feel differently depending on how you dress? I know I do. I feel more beautiful when I do chose that long skirt, instead of those tight blue jeans that don’t really fit anymore but you wear them anyways. You know what I’m talking about, choose the latter. Don’t be another slut, there are plenty of those, instead stand out and make people think, “she looks like a beautiful young lady” instead of, “wow, she’s hot” at some point you have to make the decision. It’s your choice, how do you want to be perceived by the world?

God Bless Texas, Prudence

Computer break :)

2011-04-03T18:47:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't been posting many articles, we have been so busy with the move and all :) My family has decided that we are taking a month to two month break on all computer activities, so I won't be here to answer questions, or write articles, for that amount of time. When I am on again, I will definitely let you all know! :D

God Bless,
Abigail

Finally back home

2011-03-13T14:57:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone, thank you so much for waiting for me to move. My family and I had a safe trip back to Texas and we all like the house. So, now that I am set up, I will try to work on an article for you all. In the mean time I have been reading a book that we unpacked recently. It's called, 1940's, and it is mostly a picture book of footage taken from WWII, it is very fascinating. The full title of the book is called the Hulton Getty Picture Collection 1940's. Seeing so many images of war makes you think about how blessed we are to not be in a war. Out of 600,000 Jews captured, only 60,000 of them survived through the war, that's 90% dead. Millions and millions of people died all over the world for the freedom of others. Thank God for the freedoms that we sill have. Let's try not to forget the sacrifices that all those soldiers made for us and our nation. :)

May God Bless and keep you all,
Abigail Prudence

tag

2011-02-27T00:34:00.001-06:00

High heels or Boots? Depends on where I am going, I like both!
What time did you get up this morning? around 9
What was the last movie you saw at the cinema? Iron Man 2
What is your name? Abigail
What is you favorite TV show?
What do you usually have for breakfast? cereal or eggs & potatoes.
What is your middle name? Prudence
What food do you dislike? Fish
What is your favorite CD at the moment? Classic Sinatra 1953-1960
Favorite clothing? anything that is bright turquoise blue
Anywhere in the world on vacation? Australia
Are you an organized person? Yes
Where will you retire to? If I live that long by God's grace, somewhere nice with my husband.
What was your most recent memorable birthday? 13
What are you going to do after you finish this? Go to sleep
What is your Birthstone? Garnet
Person you expect to publish this first? I don't know
When is your birthday? January
Are you a morning person or a night person? Both
What is your shoe size? 9/half or 10
Do you own any pets? yes, 4
Any news you would like to share? I parted my hair to the side recently
When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up? owner of a bakery
What is your favorite flower? White rose
What is a day on the calender you are looking forward to? September 1
If you were a crayon what color would you be? bright blue
How is the weather right now? cold and wet
Last person you spoke to on the phone? Dad
Favorite drink? Rootbeer or sweet ice tea with lemon
Favorite Restaurant?
Hair color? Brown
What was your favorite toy as a child? don't remember
Summer or Winter? Summer
Choclate or vanilla? Chocolate
Coffee or Tea? both, but mostly tea
Wish you were still young? I'm only 16! :D
Do you want your friends to publish this? Sure
When was the last time you cried? A few days ago
What is under your bed? Nothing, my bed contacts the floor
What did you do last night? sleep, dream, ect.
What are you afraid of? Great White sharks
Salty or Sweet? both,
Best Quality you have? not sure,
Favorite day of the week? Wednesday or Saturday
What friend will you tag? Sarah Grace

Once Again, I'm Moving!

2011-02-26T14:17:00.010-06:00

Hello everyone! Thank you to all my readers of my blog, I love seeing how many hits my articles get and I LOVE your comments, thank you so much for following my blog. I wanted to tell you all that it might be a while till I write my next article, right now I am in the process of moving once again. This is the fourth move I've made, this time I am going back to Texas again. Texas is my hometown, but right now I am in Missouri, and I will be back in San Antonio in 5 days. Thank you all for reading my writing and posts, I love you all and I can't wait to write another article for you!

May God bless and keep you all!
Abigail Prudence

Contentment ~ Could it be Sin?

2011-02-09T16:17:00.007-06:00

So, this is the last of the 4 books in the Godly Woman's Adornment set. Contentment, so far I really like this book, just like all of the other books, a lot of wonderful words of encouragement, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Contentment ~ Could it be Sin?

Joshua knew better, of course. He knew that God had brought the Israelites into the Promise Land to bless them, not to destroy them. But he was frustrated because they had just lost what should have been an easy-to-win battle against the Amorites. What was God doing?
We find ourselves in similar situations from time to time, and when we do, we, too, are baffled about what God is up to. We are careful to follow God's ways, and we believe his promises, and yet our circumstances are just not working out. In the midst of his discouragement, Joshua wished he had never taken his preceding steps of risky faith. How much easier life was before! In the moment he forgets that trust in God's faithfulness and his joy in the Promised Land are obliterated by one defeat.
Our contentment evaporates just as quickly when things go wrong in our lives. We begin to think back on an easier time, a time that, while perhaps not perfect, held a lot less pressure.
For Joshua, the Promised Land was surely much nicer than the wilderness, but at least in the wilderness someone else-Moses-had been in charge. now Joshua was leading the Israelites, and the weight of the Amorite defeat fell squarely on his shoulders. but God had a reason for the defeat, and rather than allowing Joshua to wallow in misery, he answered his cry. "Get up!" the Lord said. "why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned.... There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you" Joshua 7:10, 13). Unbeknownst to Joshua, an Israelite named Achan had failed to follow God's express orders to destroy all the treasures, the "devoted things," taken from their enemies in battle. Achan kept back a little of these riches for himself, and his secretive act was what had brought great trouble on the entire Israelite army.
Could our present trial be the result of sin? If so, we won't have to look far to find it. We don't have to engage in endless speculation about what our sin might be; God is always willing to show us our sin. Sometimes, though, we refuse to see it, or we minimize it. "Well, I am still struggling to give up that bad habit, but it's such a little thing. How could that have anything to do with my difficulty?" But God does not ask us to connect all the dots. He just asks us to be obedient. If there is a connection, God will make it, just like he did with Joshua. Maybe there is a connection between our unrepentant sin and our difficulty, and maybe not. The point isn't to figure out if there is a connection and then to obey-it is simply to obey. We cannot rightly ask for or expect to be restored to a place of peace and to see God's blessings on our lives if we are treating sin lightly.
Are you finding your circumstances frustrating right now? If so, God has a good reason. Perhaps it is his way of getting you to deal with your sin. Rather than turning back to an easier time in your life, turn to God and examine your heart. he will gladly show you sin that you may be harboring. He showed Joshua, and Joshua purged out the wrong with no delay. Afterward victory against the Amorites came easily.

God Bless you all,
Abigail Prudence

Trust Devotion ~ The What-If Woman

2011-01-30T11:58:00.006-06:00

This is a chapter from the next devotion book, Trust. It is one of the three books written by Lydia Brownback in the Godly Woman's Adornment series.

The What-If Woman

Many of us are what-if women. What-if women spend a good deal of energy and time worrying not only about what might happen and about what they should say and do, but also about what others think about what they say and do.
"What if I lose my job in the upcoming round of lay-offs?"
"What if I can't conceive?"
"I just can't get to the part next week. What if Sally never invites me again?"
Such worry about what may happen is fruitless. Think about it: our hovering over a situation cannot actually prevent the thing we are worried about from happening. The what-ifs can begin the moment we wake up and often last right on through the day. But God doesn't want us to be what-if women. What-iffing not only zaps our energy, it also indicates a lack of trust in God's wise and loving control over our affairs. He who cares to number every hair on our heads-something not even the vainest of us bothers to do - cares much more about our trusting him with the upkeep of our homes, our health, our mobility, and our relationships with other people. Since he not only cares about these things but is also able to do something about them, he wants us to leave the ordering to him.
When we trust God to run our lives, we find that we are free to enjoy him and other people-free to live and love, because He is taking care of things. We are designed to glorify God and enjoy him, not to spend our energies worrying about the details of daily life or fearing the pain of major crises. He will always supply what he knows we really need for every circumstance we face. Freedom from fear comes from believing that. It comes also from opening our hearts to embrace God's supply, even if his supply differs from what we think we need.

Purity Devotion ~ A Pure Heart

2011-01-24T16:34:00.011-06:00

Here it is! My first purity devotion post. I will be rotating through the four different books every few days :) Thank you all for supporting these devotion posts. Enjoy!

We don't hear the word purity much today except in descriptions of cleaning agents and snow covered landscapes. We do hear the word spoken more frequently in the Christian community, but usually only as it applies to sexual purity. We have lost sight of all it means to be pure as God intended. So what does it mean? Purity is much more than moral behavior. Purity is first and foremost a matter of the heart. To be pure is to be single-minded. It is to have a single goal, a single focus, and a single purpose for ourselves and our lives. That is biblical purity, and from it springs moral behavior - the good we do with our bodies. At its core, purity is having a heart for the Lord that isn't watered down or polluted by lesser things.
The apostle James wrote, Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. (James 4:8) According to James, a double-minded woman spends her passion going after what this world offers. In contrast, Jesus describes a very different sort of passion: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. (Matthew 22:37-38). Elsewhere Jesus attaches a promise to purity: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God Matthew 5:8). To see God is to know the joy of living in close relationship with him. To see him is also to enjoy Spirit-filled, biblically guided direction and guidance for all of life. A woman who is pure in this way realizes an ever-increasing ability to rightly apply God's Word to the little day-to-day things.
Putting Christ first i the essence of purity. That is why Jesus words in the beatitude, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," are the starting point for any woman who is serious about being pure But the beatitude is not only our starting point; it is also the place to end. Jesus' words form a basis for the kind of purity that will endure for a lifetime. Viewing purity from a biblical perspective takes our understanding of what it means to be pure beyond mere outward conduct to a whole new level - a deeper level. And if we approach purity as Jesus describes it, we will discover that our battle to be pure in body, as well as in mind and spirit, comes much more easily.
We women struggle, often with little success, to master particular sins - outward displays of impurity. Perhaps that's because we have been trying to clean up our act while failing to see the impurity of our heart. What are we to do? We can't clean our own heart. besides, the extent of its dirt and sin is beyond our comprehension. A heart is made pure as Christ washes and cleans it. I once heard someone pray, "Lord wash my heart." That's a good prayer. But becoming pure in heart doesn't end with prayer. It comes as we lean on grace. It comes as we acknowledge our utter inability to become pure women and our need for Christ to make us clean and to purify us through and through. Putting Christ first takes care of everything else.
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God bless you all, and may the Lord give you grace as you try to put him first :)
Abigail Prudence
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Joy Devotion ~ Joy In God's Place

2011-01-21T14:18:00.007-06:00

Hi everyone! Since I got so many requests, I have decided that I will be posting my devotions regularly! If anyone has a particular book out of the four that they would like me to post, please leave a note in the comments :D These devotions have encouraged me so much, I would like to thank my father for getting me these books, they have helped me grow in the Lord. So thanks Dad, I know you love me and love to watch me as I learn more about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I love you, thank you for taking care of me <3.

Joy in God's Place

For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place. (1 Chronicles 16:26-27)

We always-every moment, without exception-pursue what we believe will make us happy. For some it's a particular relationship. For others it's a certain home. For still others it's a career path. Whatever it is, we devote ourselves to getting it, pursuing it with all our energy and every resource we have. We are certainly free to delight in the material and relational blessings God brings us, but if we believe our happiness is dependent on them, it's because, whether we realize it or not, we don't really believe God is enough for us.
We say that God is enough, but the fact that we hover and worry and fret when our goals and hopes don't pan out proves otherwise. Jesus said "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). How do we respond when something we value is taken away? Do we cling to Christ in our sorrow or disappointment, or do we resist him and set ourselves on a determined course to prevent the loss or recapture it? Our attitude toward God in life's ups and downs is always the most honest depiction of what we really believe.
We will never ultimately find the happiness we seek in anything this world offers-even the good things-because we have been wired to find it in God alone. Joy is found only in God's "place," wherever and however he leads us deeper into his fellowship. Joy-biblical joy-is one way for us to know if we are dwelling in God's place. Godly joy springs from living in harmony with God, having a mind set on pleasing him. If that underlies our pursuits, we are in God's place.
If we insist on defining and establishing our own place, we won't find joy, nor will we ever get to where we think we want to go. James Boice wrote:

If you think you are going to get rich through a job that excludes God and a Christian witness, God will let you get close enough to the wealth to taste it but then keep it just beyond your grasp. If you think you are going to become famous in show business and are willing to leave the commands of God behind in your upward scramble to get there, God will let you get close enough to know and envy others who have made it but keep you an unknown. Do you think that God will not do this: That He is too "kind?" I tell you that God will do it, he is faithful to his nature and will not allow the one He loves to be destroyed through an adulterous infatuation with this world's idols.

God's place is first place, whether it be in our relationships, our homes, or our jobs, and he will reign there only if he reigns supreme in our hearts.
Concerning all the varied details of your life, are you dwelling in God's place or your own? Joy, or lack thereof, is a way to know. Joy is always present where God reigns supreme.

God Bless you all,
Abigail Prudence
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The Joy of new Devotions!

2011-01-17T13:05:00.013-06:00

Hello everyone! As some of you know, I just had my 16th birthday! And I wanted to share one of my gifts with you all. One of the presents I was given was the Godly Woman's Adornment Collection. It is 4 devotion books for young women, they are sweet little books that are about 100 pages long. The four books in the collection are, Joy, Contentment, Trust and Purity. The first book that I have started on is the Joy book, and I read something so beautiful that I had to share it with you all. For personal reasons this is very relevant chapter to me, so it touched my heart deeply. To any of you girls that are looking for wonderful devotion books, I highly recommend these, you can find them at Vision Forum. I am very excited about going through all of these, and if you like the devotion I am going to post today, please make a comment requesting more Joy posts! :)

Joy In Repentance

Sin brings misery. There are no exceptions. Ever. Experience has shown us all how true this is, but we continue to sin anyway because we think that somehow, someway, this time will be different. This time we will escape. This time things will go our way. This time we will be able to manipulate the circumstances to bring us the outcome we hope for. We buy into the lie again and again, but even when we turn from God, he never turns from us. He is faithful to his unfaithful people. That's why Nehemiah, the governor of Israel, told the Israelites not to be grieved.
The hearts of the people under Nehemiah had turned away from God. The bad choices they had made over a long period had led them where sin always leads - to discouragement, loss, and feeling distant from God. (sin never produces anything worthwhile in our lives.) But when the people heard God's Word, they were deeply convicted of sin. They were done with excuses. They had ignored the Lord and hurt him, and their awakened awareness of it brought grief to their hearts.
We grieve after we sin too, but there is a difference between the grief of consequences suffered and that of having hurt the Lord. Only one leads to repentance. The old saying is true: being sorry for sin means being sorry enough to quit. If we are sorry primarily because our sinful choices don't work out very well, we aren't really going to quit. We will just change our tactics.
Repentance means turning around and going the other direction. It involves an active cutting off of all that has come between us and the Lord. Feelings of grief may or may no be present, but holy action will be, and as we step out in real repentance, we will find that we do feel sorry for how our sin has driven a wedge into our relationship with God. The Israelites had reached this point, and they were weeping over what their sin had done. But it was just at this point that they were surprised by joy.
Joy is the last thing we expect when the fact of our sinfulness penetrates our hearts. We know we deserve to be miserable, and so often we are tempted to wallow in misery as a way to prove how sorry we are or to try and get back in God's favor. But God doesn't want wallowing. wallowing actually has more to do with us than with God: "Oh, Lord, my sin is so very bad. How could you love someone as bad as me?"
Instead of wallowing, godly grief embraces grace. We forget our own badness and look at God's kind heart and willingness to forgive. We look away from ourselves and toward the cross, where our badness was crucified with Christ. it is not our sin that wins the day, but God's mercy. That's why Nehemiah told the people not to be grieved. Now that they had repented and made a wholehearted commitment to turn back to the Lord, joy was theirs. They were to look away from their sin and even from their sorrow over it- away from themselves altogether - and find the joy of renewal, hope, and confident trust that would strengthen them in their way.
Are you discouraged by sin? Do you think you have forfeited joy forever because what you have done is so bad? don't linger there. Turn back to God with all your heart, and you will find that joy is right there awaiting you.

May God bless you all and may you have JOY today!
Abigail Prudence
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Happy new year, and a friend's give away

2011-01-12T17:56:00.006-06:00

Hi everyone! Sorry that it has been sooo long since I have made a post! I hope you all had an awesome new year like I did!!! We blew of a lot of mortar fireworks this year, and I was able to get some good shots, if you want to take a peek you can check out my Flickr page, http://www.flickr.com/photos/texasgal15/ Where I post all of my better photography. Wow, it has been an amazing year for me, I moved to Missouri, and now it looks as if I will be moving back down to Texas again. I wanted to tell you all about a blog give away, she is a beautiful person that has a beautiful blog, I hope you all will check it out, http://fashionandmodesty.blogspot.com/
I am excited about this new year! I have so many things that I hope to accomplish, I pray God will give me grace to do his will.

God Bless you all,
Abigail Prudence

Hallelujah Chorus in Mall

2010-12-06T12:27:00.001-06:00

Hi everyone, I don't have an article to post right now, but I came across this video that has gotten really popular really fast. It is a video of a choir of people that get together in a mall and start singing Hallelujah, my family really liked it and I hope you will too.

God Bless,
Abigail Prudence

Thanksgiving Verses

2010-11-27T17:24:00.006-06:00

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a good time with your family and friend's this Thanksgiving! I had a great thanksgiving with my family, the weather is starting to get colder and you start to get the feeling that winter is just around the corner! But today I just wanted to post a few scriptures about being thankful. We can pray about all of the things we are thankful for, but reading about it is good too, so here are some versus that I have picked out, I pray you all have a great rest of the weekend.

Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Psalms 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Psalms 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

A Modest Heart

2010-11-12T12:00:00.001-06:00

Hi everyone, I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to make another post, I took a trip back to San Antonio to get my braces fixed and to visit family. It was good to see them again. The weather here in Missouri has been great, it looks like it is going to snow in a few weeks! This will be the first time that my home town will have snow, I am very excited! Thank you all so much for your patience, here is my new article. :)

A Modest Heart

This is an interesting subject. Everyone usually thinks that modesty only applies to the outward appearance, but it doesn’t. Having your heart and mind wrapped in modesty is also very important. In this day and age, it is very hard to keep your thoughts clean. The media constantly bombards us with impure things that can fill our mind. But even if you have been exposed to some very unbiblical things, it is still possible to keep your heart and mind clean. First, if you do come in contact with something, be it music or television, or another form of media that is unbiblical, the first thing you should do is pray that God will help you keep your mind clean. Also, reading your bible and fellowshipping with others will help you keep your mind on the right track.

Remember, what is in your heart will come out through your lips. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Matthew 12:34b” One of the best ways a person can tell if you have a chaste and modest heart is by listening to what you say. The tongue is the hardest member of the body to control. It is set on the fire of hell and will spew out almost anything, if not controlled by the mind. But the tongue can also be used to bless and to encourage, but it’s all about what you put into your mind. Your ear and eye gates are so important to protect. Both television and music can be used for great good in the kingdom of God, so they are not bad in general. But protecting the kind of fuel that will fire up your spirit tank is harder than it sounds. Everywhere the devil has placed traps for God’s sheep, you can't go hardly anywhere without being bombarded with sinful messages. But the key is to have such an intimate relationship with God that we don’t even notice all the sin around us. This only comes through prayer, reading the word, fasting and praising Him.

There are lots of families that make their own music, if you live in or have been in a musical home, you know that there is a beauty that can't be explained. You can feel the presence of God when you walk in the room. All throughout my childhood I grew up with my father playing hymns on the piano after he got home, I remember dancing around with the tambourine and singing with my father. We had 3 pianos in our living room so we called it the piano room, I still remember him teaching me how to play How Great Thou Art when I was 7 years old. If any of you have experienced this kind of thing in the home, then you know that you can have Godly music in the home and how it can be a great blessing. If you don't have any musicians in the house, then I encourage you to look up and find peaceful Godly music that you can put through the airwaves of your home, it is usually a great blessing to everyone.

Television and movies are not limited to what is available at your local movie rental store. Recently, there has been a lot of very good Christian films that have been produced, you can find a lot of these at the Vision Forum website. And if you can't find what your looking for there, you can always go to Amazon, and see if what your looking for is there. I hope you can all find a way to put something edifying into your heart today.

Here's a couple verses to spur us on to Praise our wonderful Creator:

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:15

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 1 Chronicles 16:34

May God bless you all,

Abigail Prudence

What He Must Be ~ Book Review

2010-10-04T22:55:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone, I have just finished reading this book called, What He Must Be If He Wants To Marry My Daughter, by Voddie Baucham. It's one of my favorite books ever, and I highly recommend it to any young lady capable of reading. The writer has so much wisdom and experience, it's hard not to love this book.

Wow, I can’t tell you how wonderful this book has been for me! The book was initially written to father’s who wanted to know what a Godly young suitor looks like, but it has been a wonderful education for me as well! Before I had read this book, I knew I didn’t believe in dating and was convinced that courtship was the right way to find a husband. But this book expanded my knowledge of this subject so greatly. There are so many roles that a husband has to take on when he becomes the husband of a wife and soon to be father. It is his responsibility to the provider, protector and prophet of the home. He must have a great passion for teaching the Word of God to his Wife and children. If a young lady was to date around with lots of young men, she would probably never find the man God has made her to be with. This book really helped me understand some of the basic rules of courting, rule #1 always stay with your family, it is not proper to go anywhere with this young man you have just meet, it might be romantic, but not wise. Rule #2 If you are interested in this young man as a possible husband, watch him very carefully, see how he treats his mother and sisters, see how he behaves in different situations, this will greatly influence you and your father’s decision. Most of the time when 2 people are in a relationship, they are on best behavior, learn from friends and family members how he normally acts, when your not around. Rule #3 Learn from his family, find out everything you can about him.

There are other guide lines, but every family’s view of a courtship is always a little different, which isn’t a bad thing. For instance, some families think its okay for the courting couple to go off together for an afternoon, other families are very strict about the two having alone time. Again, every family a bit different, and this book just made some basic observations, no real laid out rules, the rules above are my rules for courting. J This book has greatly exhorted me to learning as much as I can about being a wife and mother, so I can be the best wife possible to my future mate. A father and husband’s job is tuff, I want to be capable of doing everything I can to help him in his vision for my family. There are so many things that this book covered, I am so grateful that my dad bought it for me. This book is wonderful for anyone in the family to read, for young women to learn about what kind of husband to look for. A dad might read this book to further his understanding of the qualifications that a suitor should have. A young man might read this to learn more about what roles a Godly husband and father plays in the family. May God give me grace to learn and be the best wife and mother I can be.

God Bless you all and give you grace,

Abigail Prudence

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The Mayflower Compact

2010-09-13T13:22:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone, as I have mentioned in my last post, I will be posting my favorite pieces of the new book I have just acquired. This is actually the first thing in the book, I have read quite a bit past this passage, but wanted to share it with you all. Below is the Mayflower Compact, it was signed just a few days after the early settler's arrival. Hope you all enjoy it.

THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT

In the name of God Amen! We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britian, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith etc. Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of the Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620.

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41 Men signed this document, among them were William Bradford, Capt. Standish, William Mullins, John Carver & 37 more. If you would like me to post a list of all the names please leave a comment.

I really enjoyed reading this document. Something that you all probably noticed right off the bat, was that they are praising God, in a government document! (it was actually the first government document composed on American ground) My guess is (that nowadays) you would have a very hard time finding a legal document that even mentions the name of God anywhere in it - much less praise his name! These men were committed to honoring God in everything, and they were committed to their families well being. This is how our country got started, family men that loved God and their families with all their hearts and would do anything to protect them. Their government structure was based around honoring God, ( and spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ ) which is a far cry from what our government looks like now. There are very few men in government today - who honestly represent God, Family and Country. I encourage you all to pray for the men in our government system that are making and changing laws. This country got started out with the children reading the bible in schools and memorizing verses. The laws are so different now, I wouldn't be surprised if you can get kicked out of school just for bringing a bible. I encourage you all ask your father's during your family prayer time to devote a few minutes to praying for our leaders.

May God bless and keep you all,

Abigail Prudence

THe Portable Patriot

2010-09-04T15:10:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone, I am still in Texas. I did pretty well in my last tennis tournament so that means I will be going to state! Since state is in a few weeks, we decided to stay here until it rolls around on the 17th. Today daddy and I were walking around Border's bookstore to get a history book for my schooling. While we were looking we ran across this wonderful book, I have only been able to read the forward so far it looks great. Let me give you a brief description. ~ The Portable Patriot. documents, speeches and sermons that compose the american soul ~. It's composed by a Christian man, and I am very much looking forward to reading the documents and statements from our founding father's that made this country strong in it's beginning. Let me read you an excerpt of a quote from Noah Webster

The history of the first English settlements in America, and of the measures which prepared the way for a revolution in the colonies, is too interesting not to be well understood by men of common curiosity and reading... That history unfolds a series of great events, evidently suited to accomplish important purposes in the economy of Divine Prodence... events which every American of expanded views must contemplate with admiration; and every Christan, with delight.

- Noah Webster

I will keep you updated with my favorite quotes and poems from this book as I read it.

May God bless and keep you all safe this weekend and give you a wonderful time with your families this Labor Day!

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God Bless,

Abigail Prudence

2010-08-21T22:00:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone, this is my last post for a while. I am taking a trip back down to San Antonio, Texas for a visit. While I am there I will be playing a tennis tournament, something I haven't been able to do here. I haven't talked about it yet, but I have been able to get horse riding lessons here! I have been having a wonderful time, at some point I would like to get my own horse, but time will tell. So anyways...

I don't really understand why I got this award, but okay! The rules of this tag are as follows: I must answer the questions given to me below by the tagger, and then I must tag more peoples and ask them ten questions for them to fill out. Yeah.So, the questions me:

From Abigail:

1. In what location do you feel God's Presence the greatest?
Definitely when I am sitting on the park bench at the Lake. Sometimes I go there and look at smoke come off the water early in the morning before anyone is up. That is my special time with God.

2. What is your favorite craft? (i.e. knitting, scrapbooking, drawing, etc.)
I don't think I have a craft, I love to cook? does that count?

3. How many brothers and/or sisters do you have?
1 Brother

4. Do you have an iPod?
Yup, i-Pod touch!

5. Do you speak a second language?

I am currently learning Spanish =)

6. What type of food is your favorite? (i.e. American, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, etc.)
Either Tex-Mex (home town cooking) or Chinese.

7. Have you ever eaten sushi?
nope, never and don't plan on it.

8. If you had to live in a foreign country for five years, which country would you pick and why?
Either Egypt or Scotland, I know two really strange choices.

9. Can you either "speak" sign language or read Braille?
Nope, but I should probably learn.

10. Describe your pets:
Midnight, completely black cat. Nacho, white striped with light orange, & Taco, scrougy mutt white and brownish hair.

I hereby award:
Ashley M @ A Cowgirls Dream

Prism @ A Girl of Many Colors
Antoinette @ Practical Simplicity ~ For His Glory
More Questions...

1. What is your favorite book?

At the moment? Probably What He Must Be ~ If He Wants To Marry My Daughter.

2. Comedy or Adventure?

Comedy

3. What is the farthest you've ever traveled from home?

From home (Texas) Maryland is the farthest, but not the coolest place I've been.

4. What is your favorite song, and from which author is it?
Slow Fade ~ Casting Crowns

5. What color is your room painted?

Light Blue and Vanilla

6. What place, for you, in the world has the best memories?
Right where I am, Ozarks Missouri

7. What is your favorite baby name?
I have no idea really? Micha maybe?

8. Do you play pranks? If so, what is the best one you've ever made up?
Nope, not into that.

9. What is your favorite beverage?
homemade lemon aid, seriously the home made stuff, not the stuff from the store.

10. What, to your mind, is the perfect vacation?
It wouldn't be in one place, it would be a world tour of the most beautiful places in the world.

God Bless,

Abigail Prudence
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Awards!

2010-07-29T19:36:00.001-05:00

Hello! About a week ago I was given this award, and today I found the blog it was from. http://destinyofone.blogspot.com/, Sarah H is the girl who runs this blog! She is really sweet and is a very good writer, I recommend you check out the link! I am going to pass this on to 12 of my followers, the list is below. I have just starting taking horse riding lessons again! It has been a while since I have gone riding, but has been a lot of fun! I want to hear from you! Do you ride horses often? Or are you interested in riding, but haven't had the opportunity? Comment and let me know! May God bless you all, and if you are on the lists, be sure to award someone else!

1. Post the logo on your blog and/or within the post. 2. Pass it on to 10 other bloggers.

3. Add links to these 10 bloggers within your blog. 4. Let them know they are receiving the award.

5. Share the link of the person from whom you received the award.

I would like to give this award to…

Ashley Kristen Liseby Lee Prisim

Sarah Grace Hannah Leigh Miss Zara

Rachel M Maiden of Emmanuel

Antoinette K. (no link found) Guinevere (no link found)

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I pray you all have a wonderful weekend!

Abigail Prudence

God's Beautiful Creation

2010-07-11T00:16:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone, I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to make another post for you all. But I am back and ready to write! First I would like to give you an update on how I'm doing. If you have read a few of my last posts you will have noted that I have moved from Texas to Missouri. Life is very different in a small town, but it has been a lot of fun! We have a little bit of land, and my dad and I have been hacking through our woods with weed-eaters and saws making trails, it is so beautiful to see God's creation of the different trees, plants and birds that are all around you when you are in the woods. It has been wonderful! This is actually the topic I wanted to write about. I have been surrounded my so much of God's beauty I was inspired to write about some of it. We live in the Ozarks and there are lakes all over the place. Down at the park, there is this bench that I come to sit at and enjoy God's creation. I get to hear all kinds of birds singing and sometimes when it is really sunny, the lake sparkles. Thank God for his creations! Daddy was reading us daily devotions the other night, and he read Genesis Chapter 1. I am going to post some of my favorite verses from the first chapter of the bible: 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

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Those are some of my favorite creation verses. I have been thanking God for this opportunity to get a closer view of so much of his creation. I am starting to learn more about the names of the different wildlife, trees, birds, bushes and other things that are indigenous to this area. We made

a wonderful discovery last month! We have black raspberry bushes! Dad found them first. He told me where they were and then we picked them together. This picture shows just a few of the ones we found, but there were hundreds! God's creation is all around us, but sometimes we just have to stop and look and know that He is Lord. Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God

It is very sad that some scientists have told us that God didn't create this world or anything in it. Compare that message, to this passage in the Gospel of John: All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. John 1:3 They tell us that evolution is how everything came to be. But there is so much evidence that proves evolution is a lie. God created this world and everything in it so perfectly, and he did it all in only 6 days. There are some, who say that “days now” and “days then” are different. They say that each of those first 6 days were millions of years long. But didn't God say: And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. So, we have one evening

+ one morning = one day. Sounds like 24 hours to me! Genesis 1:5 God created light, dry land, sky, stars, all the fish, all the animals and Adam & Eve in just 6 normal days. Thank you Jesus Christ, for your beautiful creation. Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: Every once in a while we will see a deer in our front yard. They are so pretty, epically the fawns! God has given me the blessing of enjoying his beautiful creation, I am so thankful! “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 - 18

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God Bless you all, and may you see some of God's gorgeous creations today!

Abigail Prudence

If we are the Body of Christ

2010-05-18T21:04:00.017-05:00

Hi everyone! First I would like to tell you all that my family and I have finally made it to our summer home! We made it to Missouri safely and are somewhat moved in, (we were able to get Internet). We have already been to town and have been able to clean up a bit around the house, there is so much to do! I am really going to enjoy my time here!

So, the title of this article is, If We Are the Body of Christ. This is actually the name of a song I heard this evening on my newest Casting Crowns CD. You are probably hearing it now. It talks about how we (the body of Christ) aren't doing our job enough! We are supposed to be God's tools for evangelism to the world. When was the last time you talked to someone about Jesus Christ, or even just handed someone a bible tract at a gas station? We need to do our part, so many people are confused about Christianity because they aren't seeing God's peace, love, and grace through His servants. The world looks at us and makes an immediate judgment on us based on our dress, speech and actions. Are we accurately representing Jesus Christ to the world? As an example, I was shopping with my mother in a grocery store and two young girls about my age approached me. They both were interested in where I got my denim skirt, after talking a bit they told me they were Christian homeschoolers as well! But because of the short shorts and tight jeans alone, I never would have guessed we were on the same team! I have nothing against jeans that are practical, but when you look like you have had blue paint poured over yours legs, then I have an issue with jeans. For me, this song is very inspiring, it makes me want to really study my bible, pray, and try to be as Christ -like as possible. I can't change anyone but myself, the way the world see's me is up to one person. I have to make all the little decisions, such as: Humm, what shall I wear this morning? I could wear the brown skirt with the green blouse, or I could wear that old pair of blue jeans that are a tad bit tight then they used to be and that V neck T-shirt my aunt sent me? --- Ahww, good morning world! Should I just get myself ready for the day, or should I take a few moments to read my bible and pray? These are just a few examples of some of the tiny decisions we have make everyday. We (the body of Christ), are the little light bulbs of truth around the world, let's make each day count!!

May God give you grace to accurately represent Jesus Christ to the world through your actions!

God Bless,
Abigail Prudence

P.S. My calf muscles are all better! Thanks to all who prayed, next time I won't push myself too hard at the gym :)

The Patriarchal Vision

2010-05-06T11:30:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone! I am sorry that it has taken me this long to write a post, I have been very busy with the move and all. Also, if I could request prayer for my legs. I seem to have injured them Thursday when I was at the gym running. So any prayer would be very much appreciated! Yesterday, I was going through the family books and came across something wonderful! The book is called, Poems for Patriarchs ~ compiled and edited by Douglas W. Phillips. And I wanted to post the first poem for you all, I was reading it last night and it touched my heart.

THE PATRIARCH

More noble than the valiant deeds of shining knights of yore,

More powerful than earthly plights that make the rich man poor,

More kingly than a royal throne or a lion with his pride,

Is he whose babes sleep well at night sure Daddy will provide.

There is a spirit in this land and Jezebel's her name.

She's calling you to leave your home for power, fun and fame.

She wants you wife, your children too - she'll never compromise,

Until your house is torn in two by listening to her lies.

But though a hundred thousand million men may fall prey to her lures,

And wives en masse leave home in search of "more fulfilling" chores,

Though preachers praise, and friends embrace, her pagan plan of death,

Stand strong and quit you like a man with every blessed breath.

Stand strong and rise, O man of God, to meet this noble call,

The battle is not new you see, it's been here since the Fall.

Your wife is your helpmeet, my friend, and not another man's,

So care for her and keep her far from Mistress Jezi's plans.

Protect, provide, and give to her your undivided life,

This is the dear one of your youth, your precious bride, your wife.

And rally to those tiny ones who trust you for their care-

A lifetime spent discipling them's a lifetime pure and rare.

For when they put their hand in yours and know a Daddy's love,

You're showing them a picture of the Father from above.

Look not toward worldly goal or gain, or for your liberty,

Look only into their sweet eyes to find your ministry.

Devote your heart and sacrifice and make your manly mark-

There is none so great as he who finds his call as patriarch.

Douglas W. Phillips

May God Bless and keep you all, & may you all have wonderful summers!!!

Abigail Prudence

Special Article from Daddy

2010-04-11T23:38:00.001-05:00

Hello followers and visitors to my blog! My dad has written this article and I would like to share it with you. I hope you can gain from his wisdom just as much as I have. Here it is.

Hi everyone, this is Abigail's dad, Chris. When Abigail was 5 or 6 years old, we use to buy big bags of frozen cherries at our local grocery store. One of my favorite activities during these years with her (we called her "Abi" back then (and her brother) was to sit them on the counter and play a game we called "Here comes the cherry!". They would sit there with their happy little bright eyed faces while daddy opened up that new bag of cherries, and anxiously await the commencement of this joyous family activity. I would get one cherry at a time in my hand and make buzzing airplane noises up and down and around and then plop a cherry in one of their mouths. Their eyes were totally glued to my hand, awaiting the wonderful taste of those dark red frozen cherries. Sometimes daddy would also get a few cherries out of the game as well. This would go on for several minutes, until we either ran out of cherries, felt like we better save some room for dinner - or we just all had enough. The excitement that welled up in my 2 precious children during this game brought great joy to their daddy's heart.

There may be some of you that are saying, "that's a nice little story, but what does it have to do with being a "young woman of virtue?" Well, let me try to explain an interesting parallel that I see with the "First Commandment with a PROMISE". Let's refresh our memories with this famous verse from the book of Ephesians:

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. (Ephesians 6:1-3)

Many of you reading this blog have heard this verse on a fairly regular basis for the last 5 to 10 years. But I am hoping that a fresh look at this powerful New Testament passage may be helpful to at least some of you, as we consider how this verse may parallel our "Here comes the cherry" game.

Before I tell you the parallel, let's look at the Old Testament verse that directly parallels Ephesians 6:1-3: It's found in
Deuteronomy 5:16
"Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."

What a tremendous promise! God is actually saying that if we can meet just these TWO requirements, we can have 1) our lives go well with us (don't all of us want that?) and 2) we can live long on the earth.

A lot of times you can better understand something if you break it down into slow motion. People do that with golf swings, karate motions, dance routines, etc., but not often do we think of how we respond to our parents - in slow motion. Let's go back to our Here Comes The Cherry game. Except now, let's imagine that instead of your father (or mother's) hand moving at you with a frozen cherry, imagine that something even better than a juicy cherry is about to head your way...it's A COMMANDMENT from your parents. Yippee, just what a godly young woman wants - right there, coming her way - in slow motion, through the air - heading for her ears, and if she receives this incoming treasure of parental direction with the right attitude and response, she can actually unlock the God-given powerful secret to having her life go well with her, and to her living long on the earth.

This command could be as simple as "Jodi, please vacuum the living room" or "Susan, it's time to brush and floss", or "Angela, please share that toy with your brother", but regardless - their is a potentially wonderful blessing awaiting that young lady for the simple price of a cheerful, prompt and completely obedient response to their parent's direction.

But also in slow motion, immediately after this precious command leaves her parents mouth, we see the work of the Thief who has come to steal, kill and destroy - our adversary the Devil. While that command is still in the air, and as soon as it registers in her ears, the enemy of her soul will be feverishly attempting to utilize the quick speed of the human brain to devise an ungodly first response to her parents command, so that she will NOT receive this blessing.

Instead of "yes ma'am, I will do that right away...or "Certainly mother, I would be glad to do that for you", or a myriad of other respectful, honorable and obedient responses, Satan would like her to say something like: "I'm busy right now", or "Oh mom, can't I do it later?", or even worse, a direct refusal to obey. The devil clearly knows the power of "the first commandment with a promise" and he, by his very thieving nature, wants to make sure this young woman does not partake of this heavenly blessing - which is so close to becoming hers. Imagine again - speeding at her ears at 742 miles per hour (the speed of sound) - from just a few yards away, is the blessed opportunity to cash in on this first command with a promise.

In summary, remember to be as excited about the commands and direction coming from your parents lips, as Abigail and her brother were about those frozen cherries heading their way when they were sitting on our counter ten years ago. The sweet blessing of "a life that goes well" is just a command away. Embrace every opportunity you have to show your parents honor, and practice responding to their commands and direction with humility and cheerful obedience. Make this a habit for a few hundred commands in a row, and you will have developed one of the precious disciplines that will help shape you into the Proverbs 31 Woman that you are probably already working to become. Also along those lines, developing these cheerfully obedient responses (to your parents direction) will make it natural for you to receive direction from your husband - in the years ahead, when you will probably be married. It does not come "natural" for a young lady to just walk down that aisle and then instantly be able to obey
Ephesians 5:22 when it states: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. It takes discipline to have the correct responses to your future husband, but you can help ensure your success as a wife, if you practice this discipline now - the next time your mom needs you to wash the dog, or clean the dishes, etc.

Jesus says that we will not inherit the kingdom of God except we become as little children...perhaps he was thinking of a similar example when he made this statement. If you really, I mean really get this biblical truth down in your soul, it will transform your response to the commands that emanate from your mother and fathers' lips.

Also, when you get a grip on this truth, you may want to humbly tell your mom or dad that you are sorry for times in the past when you wrongly responded to their direction. God will bless you for your humility and repentance.

And may God richly bless you, and allow you to fully inherit all He has for you, as you embrace the truth of Ephesians 6:1-3. In Jesus Name, Chris (Abigail's Dad)

Thanks Calico Zak!!!

2010-04-07T21:34:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone! So, I know that I haven't made a post in a long time, but I am working on one, hopefully to be posted within the week. But this particular post is a fun one! I have been awarded the Stylish Blogger Award, from Calico Zak, thanks Zak! I have always enjoy reading Zak's posts, they are fun to read and his blog is awesome! So, the rules of this award are to list five random things you like and to award some other folks, so here it goes... 1. I love horses! 2. My favorite kind of skirt is denim. 3. I got a purity ring for my 15th birthday! 4. My favorite colors are brown and red. 5. I love working out at the gym. There, you have your five random facts about me! I am awarding the Stylish Blogger award to the following... Maiden of Emmanuel - A Girl of Many Colors - From the Kitchen of Kaylee & Kenzie. May God bless you all and give you a great week!

God Bless,

Abigail Prudence

Spring is here!

2010-03-22T12:52:00.007-05:00

Ah finally, spring is upon us! The grass is getting green and the sun is shining brightly! And with all these wonderful things that come with late March, also comes spring cleaning. This weekend we have cleaned out the entire house! It was a big project, we got rid of a few pieces of furniture we didn't need anymore, and did a LOT of dusting & vacuuming, but finally it is all done, and we can rest, and make blog posts about it. :) I am glad that we finally got it done! This is one of my dad's favorite verses to use when we are doing a family project. Ecclesiastes 7:8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. I apologize for my tardiness and not posting more articles for you all, I have been very busy with my family, getting ready to show the house and all. If you have ever moved anywhere you will know what I am referring too :) Hopefully after this month is over I will be able to sit down and write something for you all!

May God bless you all! And may He give you a wonderful start to this new season of Spring!

Abigail Prudence

Scattergories, fun tag

2010-03-12T23:24:00.000-06:00

SCATTERGORIES... because I can't find anything else to post about! (hopefully I will come up with something soon!) I know it's silly, but if anyone has an idea of what to post, just let me know!

This one is fun, you don't have to write it out, but think about the answers you would give!
> Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following.

> They have to be real places, names, things..nothing made up!

> Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial.

> You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? Abigail
4 letter word? Aloe

BOY NAME: Aaron
GIRL NAME: Alisa
OCCUPATION: Associate
COLOR: Amber
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Apron
FOOD: Almonds
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Acne cleanser
A PLACE: Arizona
REASON FOR BEING LATE: A dog chased me and tore my blouse.
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Avalanche!!!

A PICTURE: Alaska

I hope you had fun with it! Oh, I almost forgot, I was going to tell you all that we are going to be here in the house while the owner is selling it, this way we don't have to move right away, which is wonderful! Thanks to all who prayed for us!

God Bless you & your families!

Abigail Prudence

Color picture contest!

2010-03-02T00:07:00.015-06:00

Hello fellow friends and visitors! This is just a little post letting you know I am entering a photo contest! It's all about color, and you can enter too if you want at this site, it's a lot of fun!

www.trustinginhislove.blogspot.com. I really enjoy reading her writings, and you probably will too. What do you think of the photos I picked out? And should I start my photo contest? Let me know your thoughts!

God Bless

Abigail Prudence

Role Models: Hollywood OR Rebekah & Abigail

2010-02-16T12:14:00.017-06:00

Hello followers and visitors to my blog! Recently, I have been pondering the influences that young girls and young women have been surrounded by, in the media. A few extremely "popular" females come to mind: Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and many other young women that are having devastating effects on the younger female generation. All of these names that I just mentioned are known for their smart remarks to their parents, suggestive clothing, doing whatever they want, hanging out with their worldly "friends", having numerous boyfriends, and of course, being "famous". This goal of being famous is worth examining. One of my favorite passages in the whole bible is found in Proverbs 31, in fact I even use it as the verse for my e-mail signature. Proverbs 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Today, I looked up the definition of favor in the strong's exhaustive concordance, it translates as follows: grace, charm, elegance, and strangely enough, acceptance. How interesting. So, the bible clearly tells us that seeking after "acceptance" is deceitful. That's worth saying again! Wanting to be accepted or popular is deceitful! That is what these girls are chasing, acceptance and popularity. This powerful little passage in Proverbs 31, provides us with a very precious promise. It tells us that if anyone wants a guaranteed way of being praised, they can simply choose to fear the Lord. These girls have been deceived by the father of lies, the devil, to chase after "favour and beauty - which God clearly defines as vanity. These two lies are not new concepts for young women. Satan has been tricking young ladies to chase after these two things for 1,000's of years. One passage that is almost humorous, that brings this to light, is found in Isaiah 3:16-24. This passage describes what the prophet calls "The Haughty Daughters of Zion". In other words, the worldly girls of Israel. You will see that they were absolutely consumed with their outer beauty, which we saw above in Proverbs 31:30 is vain. The scary thing about this passage is to read about how upset God was with this batch of ladies. Read what the Lord does to this group of prideful gals...

Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, The rings, and nose jewels, The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. (Isaiah 3:16-24)

This passage makes me want to FEAR THE LORD. No wonder the Psalms speak of how important it is to learn "The judgments of the Lord". My dad really likes this passage in Psalm 19:9b-11 and suggested I post it for you all. The Judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Unfortunately, 95% or more of the girls in this country have not studied these types of warnings and judgments in the bible. Because of this, they do not fear the Lord. It is easy to fear the Lord when you understand these passages, and the scary judgments that have fallen on generations that have acted as these, haughty daughters of Zion did.

So, after all this drama, what role models in the bible and in modern day times should we look at as good influences and examples of biblical purity and virtue? First, let's start with good examples from the bible. Rebekah and Abigail are two wonderful examples. There are many virtuous character traits that Rebekah had developed as a daughter in her father's house. Perhaps most notably was her cheerful servant attitude, here is the famous "let me water your camels also" passage in Genesis. We start with the prayer of Abraham's servant who had been sent to find a virtuous wife for his master's son, Isaac.

And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master. And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not. (Genesis 24:12-21)

We look up to Rebekah as an example of how to cheerfully serve others, without grudging or complaining. We all have moments when we are given a task to do, we may not enjoy the task, but we should do it cheerfully and with a smile anyways. Rebekah obviously didn't learn this overnight. It takes time to develop a character trait like this. It was all the little decisions she made to cheerfully serve her family when she was 6, 12, 15 and 19 that crafted her into a cheerful servant of others. We should strive to do the same.

Abigail also had a humble servant's attitude. When her wicked husband Nabal, decided to turn away David and his mighty men, giving them nothing when they were hungry, Abigail went into action. If you would like to read a wonderful chapter of the bible for your devotions in the near future, I highly suggest that you read 1 Samuel chapter 25. It tells the whole story of Abigail, "who was a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance". I am very honored that my father chose this name for me. It gives me a lot to strive after. Hopefully, someday I will be as the Abigail in the bible. Here is a small excerpt from this lovely chapter of the bible. And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife. And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. (1 Samuel 25:40-41)

The stories of Rebekah and Abigail are inspiring examples to any girl that desires to be a cheerful servant and a godly young woman. Though this kind of gracious character is attainable, it is indeed very rare. Even Abraham's servant stood there "wondering" at Rebekah while she cheerfully watered his 10 camels. Just to put this into perspective, a single camel drinks up to 20 gallons of water, and she had to water ten! That's 160 pounds of water to carry per camel!! And she did this happily and without a single grumble in her heart. This is something we all should admire. Attitudes like this are just as rare in today's world.

I will leave you with these thoughts for now. Lord willing, my next post will be about modern day good examples that we can learn from. May God bless you and keep you and give you all cheerful servant hearts, in Jesus name, Amen.

God Bless,

Abigail Prudence

Moving away...

2010-02-10T23:10:00.011-06:00

Hello everyone, I have some bad/good news, depends on how you look at it. We are currently renting our house, and the owner has decided today that she will be selling our house. We will be moving out in 30 to 60 days, depends if we are going to show the house or just move out. Our family has a few options; please pray that God will lead us in this crucial turn in the road. There are a lot of things to consider so we need all the prayers we can get. I am at peace with the idea of moving, but I am just praying that God will lead us. I would really appreciate your prayers, and I will still be able to post on this blog, but I will just be in a different location. I will let you all know what happens, and thank you! And may God give you grace and charity today in Jesus name, amen.

God Bless,

Abigail Prudence

Learning Self Defense

2010-02-06T22:19:00.023-06:00

Hello everyone! Sorry it took me so long to make another post, I have been a little busy recently. A few weeks ago, a friend suggested that I go to a self defense class in my area, the center is called Krav Maga, they specialize in self defense and fitness training. The class was today and I went with her. We were partnered with a friend and did all kinds of moves together, I would be the defender and then we would switch and I would be the attacker. We never did any of the moves at full speed as to not hurt our partner, but we used curved kick pads for punching, kicking, jabbing and kneeing. I learned a whole lot in three hours, I am really glad I went. I'm also glad that exercising made it into Proverbs 31 list! Proverbs 31:17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. If you are a young woman living in a big city, like myself, I highly recommend going to a self defense class in your area. It's very empowering and it is a very good skill to have on the shelf, God forbid you will ever need it someday, but it's good to know that you could defend yourself in a dangerous situation. My class had about 250 women and about 25 instructors; it was a very different environment, but really fun at the same time. What do you think about self defense? Is it important for ladies to know how to defend themselves, or should that be left to the men of the house, let me know your thoughts!

God bless you and keep you safe,

Abigail Prudence

Lessons From The Gym

2010-01-28T22:14:00.005-06:00

Hello everyone! I know I have kind of left you hanging for about a week now. About my tennis tournament, last time I mentioned it, I told you that I had won the first two rounds. This last Sunday I played the Semi finals and won that match 7-5, 6-0. Then came the finals, I was playing the #1 seed, it was by far the hardest match, but some how I pulled it out of the bag, I won! On Monday I was very, very sore from the sunburn (which is fine now) and all the muscles I haven't been using lately! But I feel much worse now, I was at the gym for 2 hours yesterday, which brings me to my little article...

When I was working out at the gym by myself yesterday, I noticed, our gym has two things going all the time, they have a TV & a radio, and I heard a very interesting song over the radio. I think it was by a younger girl singer, the name of the song was, It Comes Naturally, and the lyrics were awful! The name of the song pretty much described the lyrics, the song talked about love, boyfriends and "following your heart". I thought about it, and that is pretty much was the flesh does, you don't have to work very hard to fall into sin. The unsaved person just does what feels good, you don't have to think about it too much, it just Comes Naturally. After listening for about 10 seconds I thought, wow if this doesn't describe the flesh I don't know what does! It reminded me that SIN comes naturally. As Christians, we have to fight what Comes Naturally to our carnal selves. Roman 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Let this be a reminder to all of us, when our conscience tells us we are sinning, just stop, change the channel or stop hanging out with those friends. What ever it is that causes us to fall, we should just stop the activity. If you know you are struggling with a certain sin, pray about how to get out of it. We all want to live in the Spirit, & we can't fully do so until we have defeated all of our sinful patterns. 1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. So when we are battling temptation we should hold on to this precious promise. That right in the middle of a temptation we should look for an escape, God put it there so we could find it. And if we take the way of escape we will be overcomers and there are a lot of wonderful promises for the overcomer in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. The book of James also tells us we will receive a crown of life. James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. May God bless you all and may He give you grace as your strive to resist temptation and as you strive to do His will, in Jesus Name.

May God give all of you grace and peace, and may you have a wonderful weekend with your families!

Abigail Prudence

Pilgrim's Progress Journey to Heaven ~ Review

2010-01-23T22:24:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone! Yup, another review! This was one of the many items in that Vision Forum box I was telling you about in my last post. This is probably one of the best movies that I have ever seen! Here is how their website describes this great film. (Pilgrim's Progress: Journey to Heaven is a faithful and creative adaptation of a timeless classic. The genius lies in bringing Christian and his fellow travelers into a modern context.) One of the reasons I love this film so much is because the film makers have taken a original book and set it into a more modern theme. Christian is a normal guy, he has a normal job, lives in a suburb house, he's a regular guy, until he finds a book. One of my favorite parts in this movie is when Christian comes to The Place Of Deliverance (i.e. the cross) and his sins roll down the hill and he receives new clothes, shoes and a key he would be needing later. I was very refreshed by this movie because it is one of the few that I have seen where the writers are not afraid to address subjects like hell and the coming destruction. It is a very good reminder that we can't live on this earth forever, and WILL be in either two places, Heaven or Hell. I highly recommend this film to everyone, but maybe not to families with smaller children in the house, there are some frightening images of hell and the devil that might scare children. I am glad that the Christian film industry is getting larger, and I hope that a lot more films like this one come out!

May God Bless You All

Abigail Prudence S.

P.S. About my tennis tournament that I had today. I got past the first two rounds and am in the semi finals, please pray that I won't faint in the heat, as I already have severe sunburn. Yup, we Texans really never get a break from the hot weather, it being 85 degrees and all.

What Our Father Taught Us About Boys ~ Review

2010-01-17T22:23:00.007-06:00

Hello everyone, exciting news! This Friday was my 15th birthday! I pray that God will give me grace as I strive to do his will this next year as I grow in Him. I will be learning how to sew, (thanks to my own sewing machine!) along with relearning how to ride horses! I'm very excited about this new year & the things I will learn. Please pray that I will do God's will this year.

~CD Review~

This CD has been wonderful insight to the knowledge that Mr. Botkin has taught his daughters. It covered all the questions that I had about how to interact around young men, Christian or not. The following excerpt is from the back cover of this wonderful CD.

"What Our Father's Taught Us About Boys"

Why is it hard for girls to find the balance between flirting and shunning? How can girls keep their hearts pure? What responsibilities do they have toward young men? Is it Possible to be "Just Friends"? Hear practical advice on navigating the tricky waters of relationships and how these relationships, properly conducted, can be edifying and strengthening.

One of the biggest things I learned from this CD was that the way that I treat my father now will almost certainly be the way I treat my husband when I marry. This was a great exhortation to re-examine the way that I am treating my father now. I could definitely be more respectful and reverent. I also liked the way they said that a girl will learn little examples from the world when she is young. Like when a young girl sees little Barbie going out with Ken, she automatically thinks, "Oh, so that's how that works, that sounds fun." I now have a new appreciation to my parents for not letting me have all the latest toys or movies. When you are little, you don't really understand why, but looking back at it now I am very grateful. Thanks mom and dad! There are a lot of little lessons like this one contained in this CD. I strongly recommend it if you are a young women living at home and wondering how you are supposed to biblically act around young men. This CD was one of the many that I received in a big box from Vision Forum for my birthday. I can't wait to hear all of them! I still have about 10 or 11 left, so you will probably be reading a lot of CD and movie reviews in the next few weeks!

May God Bless all of you,

Abigail Prudence

P.S. Big tennis tournament in Boerne next weekend, I will keep you posted on how I do.

My First Award from Princess in Disguise, Thanks!

2010-01-11T23:17:00.008-06:00

This is the "I Love My Sister's Blog Award" that I have been awarded by, Princess in Disguise, Thank You So Much!!!

She is really neat and always has something edifying to say, you can check her blog out at www.princessonafarm9.blogspot.com.

I award the four blogs that I faithfully follow: Teenage Musings, A Daughter of the King, Girls of Grace and last but not least, Maiden Of Emmanuel. I have enjoyed reading all of your writings and think you deserve an award for all your hard work!

Here's the Rules for the Awarded:

Thank the person who Awarded you.
Have Fun!!!!
Award as many people as you want, just make sure you award a least 3 people!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~

On a different topic, our dad tries to have a bible study with our family every night. Tonight we discussed and read the last two Chapters of Revelation. It is an amazing read, I will post the last 2 chapters of the bible for you all to read, let me know your thoughts. It is good to remember that what we do right now will effect the rest of eternity!

I am starting in Revelation 20:11 ~~ if you can't read all if it right now, come back later and read it for your devotions!

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:1

1 ¶ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 22:1

1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May we all be exhorted to follow our Lord Jesus Christ with all of our hearts while we are on earth. We will be in either one of two places when we die, Heaven OR Hell. It's our choice, if we follow our flesh and the world we will end up in Hell, but if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. May we strive to do God's Will. Let's pray more, let's read our bibles more, let us make better choices in our reading, let us do all that we can to serve Him before Jesus Christ comes back to judge everyones works, good or evil. The magnificent beauty and joy that is in the new heaven and earth makes me want to do all that I can to make Jesus happy, so I can be there in that great city some day.

May God richly bless you and keep you, and may He give you grace and comfort as you strive to do His will.

God Bless,

Abigail Prudence

Tag Time!

2010-01-08T11:08:00.002-06:00

Hi everybody, I don't know about some of you, but I LOVE tags! I was a little bored so I found this tag. I hope you like my answers, and I will tag 3 lucky people that I follow: Prism at A Girl of Many colors, and hummm, who else. Miss Zara at Christian Maidens throughout the World, I hope you like tags! And oh yes, Sarah Grace at Girls of Grace. Lucky you.

1. Do you like to write?
YES!! why else would I be blogging?

2. Favorite books?
KJV Bible, Do Hard Things, Raising Maidens of Virtue, Created to be His Help Meet, Before You Meet Prince Charming, What He Must Be, So Much More, Little House on the Prairie series, all things on Egyptian History, Massage and Aromatherapy Guide, Feminine by Design, Sister's in Time series, and more that I can't think of right now.

3. Do you compose music/write songs?
Ahh, no.

4. Do you like poetry?
Not epically, but it's okay.

5. Love someone so much who made you cry?
Yes

6. Broken a bone?
Thank God I haven't yet.

7. Been in a police car?
No...

8. Been on a boat?
Yes, probably about 5 or 6 times. Just for the record, I hate the ocean, which unfortunately is where some of my boating experiences took place.

9. Fallen asleep in school?
I hate to say it, but yes I have fallen asleep while reading some school books.

10. Did you sing today?
Oh Yes! I sing all the time, to the dismay of my other family members.

11. KFC, Popeyes, or Church's?
None of the above! I am not a fan of fried chicken really, just the kind my mom makes, that's the best!

12. Chick-fil-a or What-a-burger?
Definitely the first, I have always liked Chick-fil-a.

13. Starbucks or McCafe?
Starbucks. Yup, I love coffee! I Prefer iced, yummy!

14. What's your favorite time of year?
Winter Time because of the beautiful weather, and summer because I get to work more in the summer time.

15. Do you ever talk to yourself?
Yes

16. Do you have a favorite treat you like to buy on occasion?
Chocolate and Pedicures!

17. Do you believe the Bible is the literal Word of God and is infallible?
Yes!!!!

18. What's your favorite sport?
Tennis and Kayaking.

19. What color is your ipod?
Black and Silver, it's a i-pod touch!

20. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Egypt

21.If you could go to any fictional place, where would you go?
The Swiss Family Robinson's house.

22. Do you love to write or do you just like writing? Or do you write at all?
I LOVE to write!

23. What do you want to be when you’re a grown up?
A wife and mother.

24. Favorite animal?
That's a tough one, either horses or Jaguars, not the car.

25. Favorite song?
On Faith alone I Stand, OR, Three Wooden Crosses

26. Do you like school?
Yes

27. Are you a people person?
YES!!!

28. Do you like to talk?
What's the right answer to that question?

29. Favorite foods?
green bean casserole, chocolate covered pretzels, my homemade cinnamon raisin bread with butter, and last but not least, broccoli. I don't know why it get's such a bad rap, I really like it.

30. Hobbies?
Blogging, playing tennis with daddy, going to the gym, making soap with mom, reading, watching history documentaries, baking, shopping with daddy, writing in my diary, and I wish I could list horse riding, but I haven't been on a horse in 4 or 5 years. I miss it so much!

31. Favorite author?
Sarah Mally, or Elizabeth & Anna Sofia Botkin.

32. Favorite weapon?
The Word of God!

33. Is this a fun tag or are you getting bored?
No, I love tags, as I said at the top of this post.

34. Do you like Hannah Montana and all those girly people and movies like Highschool Musical?
NNOOOO!!!!! Hannah Montana is the WORST example of behavior for young girls to be watching! I haven't seen Highschool Musical, but I have heard that is just as bad or worse as the first awful TV series mentioned.

35. What are you scared of?
Great White Sharks and the UN.

36. Favorite flower?
White Rose or Hibiscus. The first probably wasn't a big shock was it?

37. What is the expression on your face right now?
Interest and relaxation

38. Color of your eyes?
blueish Green

39. Do you ever wear cowboy boots?
Yes, they are actually my favorite pair of shoes.

40. What's something that you've always wanted to do but haven't?
I have always wanted to take a tour of the world's most beautiful places. But unfortunately I am not a millionaire, so that will probably never happen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All right, by now you probably know too much about me, but if you ever need to send me a present you can stick with chocolate pretzels or pictures of horses or jaguars. Okay, now that I have played 40 questions I am going to post a picture and be done with the post,
God bless you, and Thanks for stoppin' by!

God bless,

Abigail Prudence

Homemade soap

2010-01-05T13:28:00.000-06:00

This is our family's homemade soap! This is the newest idea we have come up with, chocolate peppermint soap! This is also the first double batch we have attempted, we haven't tried it out yet because it's still curing. A friend that goes to our church suggested this combination, so far it smells good! My mom and I started making soap about a year ago, and we are seriously contemplating making a business out of it. Other than our most popular chocolate scent, we have a lot of other soaps, like: spearmint herb scrub, calendula w/extra virgin olive oil, lavender herb, eucalyptus soap, no scent with oatmeal, regular peppermint, soft sandalwood, and our second most popular, wild raspberry soap. And we are trying to expand our selection all the time. Making homemade soap is a lot of fun, but it can be very dangerous if your not careful. The active ingredient in homemade soap is sodium hydroxide (lye). If this chemical comes in contact with your skin, wet or dry, it will burn a hole through your skin, I know it's not pretty stuff, but it's reality. So, before we mix the lye with the water or even open the container of lye, we put on all our protective gear. We look really silly with the gloves and masks and goggles, but it's defiantly better safe than sorry! After we mix the oils with the lye we pour it, after it has gone through the saponification process for 1 day we cut it with our wavy cutter. We wait for a full week for the bars to cure. Our soap is so soft and smooth on skin, we don't even buy soap from the stores anymore, we like it so much! If you have any questions about homemade soap making, just comment your question.

On a different note, this Sunday one of our pastors did a wonderful sermon on the cross. He got saved when he was 26 and ever since then has been traveling the US and other countries carrying a cross on a wheel and stopping and preaching when he could. The cross is such a crucial doctrine it can not be ignored. I just wanted to post a few scriptures from the bible on the cross. God Bless you all and may He give you grace, peace and joy.

Matthew 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

God Bless,

Abigail Prudence

Once every blue moon

2010-01-02T22:54:00.008-06:00

Hi Everyone, this is a blue moon, it is very similar to your average full moon. This is the first blue moon that fell on New Years day since 1990! And it won't happen again until 2028. If you are wondering what a blue moon is, it is the second full moon that falls in your calender month. I took this photo myself out in our front yard, it was really cold outside! The temperature is finally starting to drop here in San Antonio. Luckily for us southern Texans, we only have weather like this for about 3 and a half months. This is the 2nd full day in two thousand and ten, twenty ten or 2010, however you say it, it's finally here!

Yesterday, dad and I went to a stock show for horses. It was soooo good to see a horse again! It has been 5 years since I've ridden a horse, and I've missed it so much. I will be taking lessons again probably starting after this month. I can't wait! It was a lot of fun watchin' the horses compete, but most importantly I got to spend fun time with dad. All of the competitors were under 18, and they all did an excellent job. Here is a couple of photos, and a video of a first place barrel winner.

I hope you liked the photos and video. Thanks for checking out my blog and may God give you grace and peace throughout this new year.

God Bless,

Abigail Prudence

Looking Back at 2009...

2009-12-31T11:42:00.006-06:00

Well, this year has been a lot of things. Things have changed for our country, we have a new president, new laws have been passed, and our economy has been continuing it's downward spiral. But in spite of all of this, Jesus is still Lord of all, including the president, our leaders and our economy.

Daniel 2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.

In light of this verse, we should all choose wisdom, knowledge & understanding, where do we find these virtues? The answer is God's Word, we should be studying God's Words in 2010. This new year will hopefully be a time of spiritual refreshment, with prayer, fellowship and reading God's Words. We can be renewed in the spirit. May God give you a wonderful new year and may He guide you through every part of your life.

God bless,
Abigail Prudence

Award Ceremony!

2009-12-25T12:02:00.001-06:00

First, Merry Christmas everyone! I figured that the holidays would be a great time for me to come up with a purity award of some kind and this is what I came up with thanks to PSE (Photo Shop Elements). The following blogs I have awarded The Pure Content Blog Award. Every writer that is receiving this award has proven in their writings that they are seeking to follow God with all their heart and are trying to share what they have learned with others.

~Waiting Rose

~Calico Zak

~Christian Maidens Throughout the World

~A Hot Heart

Special Thanks to Hannah T. Not only has she been a wonderful friend, her blog was the first blog of any kind I had ever seen and I was very impressed. Calico Zak's writings have been a pleasure to read, most often they make me laugh, smile or both! Miss Zara, you are in my prayers every single day. I always get excited when I see that you have made a new post, and may God give you healing to your body in Jesus Name! Earwen, I LOVE your posts, you are a extremely talented writer and you have a, Hot Heart for God! May God Bless each of you and give you a great holiday weekend with your families.

Proverbs 31 Day happened!

2009-12-13T18:47:00.049-06:00

Hello everyone, Proverbs 31 Day was on the 5th of this month, sorry it took so long to post, I wanted to post this after I got the pictures in. Go Walgreen's! It was at Mrs. Swanson's house, all the girl's came with the things they made and we all read Proverbs 31 together and then got our tables ready. People started coming at about 8:30am, but we had all been there for about an hour before, it was very chilly! We were all wrapped in our heavy blankets and coats, it was actually warmer outside than it was inside. This was the most successful Proverbs 31 Day that the church has ever had! Collectively all 12 girls including myself had made $1,600! It was pretty much an all day event, it was a lot of fun talking with the other girls from my church. I hope you enjoy the pictures, there aren't very many but I hope you like them.

This is me wrapping up the soaps to sell,

This my beloved father that has taught me so much. From the looks of this picture he needs some coffee!

Well I hope you enjoyed the pictures, it was a lot of fun for me. I hope I will be going back next year with an even bigger selection of soaps. There is a generation of young girls out there that are truly seeking to train and eventually become a virtuous wife and mother under the training of their parents and the Bible. The Proverb written to King Lemuel from his mother, has been and will forever be a wonderful guide to parents, young women, and even suitors that are seeking answers about what a Godly young woman should look like. Proverbs 31 is also a great guide for young men to read. If you read Proverbs 31:1-9 it is written to a young king with instructions from his mother on how a young Godly king would act. Below is Proverbs 31 in the King James Version, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do. God bless you all.

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

(Proverbs 31:10-31)

God Bless Texas,

Abigail

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T16:51:00.013-06:00

Hello everyone, Today is Thanksgiving Day! All the stores are closed and everyone is inside eating a big thanksgiving dinner, sitting around the fire place with loved ones. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite memories throughout my life. For the first time in 3 to 5 years we are having thanksgiving at our house! We usually go over to my Dad's side of grandparents, this year my mom's side of grandparents came to our house. It has been really busy, mom and I were in the kitchen getting ready for the big event, dinner. And dad and David were out doing yard work, I could almost say that this is my favorite day of the year! Here in Texas it has just begun to get cold, it's still 60 to 70 degrees outside, beautiful holiday weather! My aunt Cassidy is flying in from California and we are having a second thanksgiving with my Dad's side of Grandparents tomorrow. Cassidy just passed the bar, we are all very happy for her. Now it's the calm after the storm, dinner is over and we have all just finished our pumpkin pie and I just got up from a nap on my grandfather's lap. I sure wish we had some photos from today. But I do have some very pretty photos of Fallish things I have found on Flicker. I hope you enjoy the photos! May God give you a great Thanksgiving with your family!

Challenge for today, think of 15 things you are thankful for, write them down in pretty hand writing and then find some pretty photos and put 1 picture next to each thing you are thankful for. It's a lot of fun and will make anyone that see it smile!

God Bless Texas,
Abigail Prudence

Hopeless Romantic?

2009-11-19T23:04:00.013-06:00

This is a post I found from a friend's blog. I wanted to post my answers. Hope you like it, You can take it and post it on your blog if you want.

What two qualities do you want most in your future husband?
To have an undying love for God - A servants heart.

Is there a fictional character you see as a model for your future husband?
No. But if my father could be a role model then that's what I would say.

Where do you want your wedding?
Either in a Church or at a scenic mountain retreat.

What are your views on courtship?
Courtship Wins. I am not finding my husband through the dating system, how ever my future husband will find me, the process of getting to know each other will be with parental guidance and caution.

What are your views on your first kiss?
Hopefully my first kiss will be at the altar, I'm not planning it before then.

Do you have or want a purity ring/locket?
No I don't currently own one, but I would love a purity ring.

Do you have or want a hope chest?
I would very much like a hope chest, preferably a large cedar chest with engraved hearts or flowers.

Will you wear a veil at your wedding?
Maybe, haven't thought that far ahead yet.

What kind of dress do you want?
Not sure at the moment, but it is definitely going to be white.

What kind of flowers do you want in your bouquet?
Red and White Roses or Red Hibiscus.

What do you want to name one of your daughters?
Oh I don't know I'll just give the top three, Rachel, Elizabeth (Beth) or Amanda.

What do you want to name one of your sons?
Richard, Paul, or Christian.

Do you believe in the knight in shining armor view of courtship?
I wish it existed, but alas there is no such thing.

What music do you want to play at your wedding?
Something soft, probably the classic wedding march, I need to think about that one.

Are you a hopeless romantic?
No, at this stage of my life romantic fantasies are not what I should be focusing on, but yes sometimes I think about romance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Romance is a funny thing. There are a lot of times in a young woman's life when she will think she is falling in love. The key is not to be led by your feeling but by God's will. When you reach a marital age it is important to be able to tell the difference between a crush and Mr. Right. Some of the first questions you should ask when thinking, "Is he the right one?" are the following: Does he have a strong relationship with his parents? What does his visible relationship with God look like? Does he have a passion for Godly activities? Does he love children? How does he treat his mother? All of these are basic questions you should ask before forming any kind of relationship with a young man. Guard your heart, you can't get back pieces of your heart that you give away when you are young. I am going to try to preserve all of my heart for my future husband, but for now all of my heart belongs to my father.

May God Bless You All,

Abigail Prudence
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Proverbs 31 Day is coming!

2009-11-15T20:01:00.023-06:00

Hello again! So sorry it took me sooo long to write another post. I am really excited! You want to know why? December 5th is the Annual Proverbs 31 Day, it's an event my church has at the end of every year, this year it's at the beginning December. It's an event where girl's from the age of 12 to 18 bring their home wares that they have created, their little niche; it could be sewing quilts, making jewelry, any kind of baked good that you've made your own. I am going as a vendor selling my herb soaps and my bread. Anyone can come to shop it's a great place to look around for stocking stuffers or Christmas presents. If your from my area and want to go, contact me and I'll give you the directions for how to get there. I think it is a really neat concept, young girls practicing how to, "perceive that her merchandise is good." Proverbs 31:18.
I am starting to feel like winter should be here by now, but there is definitely no snow in Texas. So the best I could do is find some beautiful winter pictures. Every season screams God's creation, winter is one my favorites. I hope you enjoy the following photos!

God's Creation is so awesome and powerful isn't it? Sometimes we just need to be reminded that within our busy lives that we all live, the beauty of creation is always there, we just need to stop and and take the time to say, How Great is Our God!!!

God Bless,
Abigail

I am still alive!

2009-10-02T16:41:00.021-05:00

Hello everyone! It's good to be back in Texas. I was on vacation at my family's lake house for 2 and half weeks, and that went great! A few other things have happened, I had been invited to the state tennis tournament to represent San Antonio. And I accepted, and guess what? Our team won, that makes two years in a row! So, I haven't had a whole lot of time to post on my blog, sorry 'bout that. For right now I am going to do a simple women's daybook because I can't think of anything else.
Simple Woman's Day Book . . .

FOR TODAY, October 2nd, 2009

Outside My Window... Shady and cloudy, it is starting get a tiny bit colder, but there really is no winter in San Antonio.
From the kitchen... I just finished doing the dishes, so nothing at the moment.
I am wearing... Jeans and a grey T-shirt.
I am creating... Currently I am writing this post, but in general, I am writing a sort of instruction manual for a geography game I play, it makes it easier to figure out.
I am going... Probably going to train with Dad tonight at the tennis courts.
I am reading... I am reading a book called, What He Must Be If He Wants to Marry My Daughter, by Vodie Baucham.
I am hoping... I am really hoping that I can go to Heritage Days this October, we try to go every year and it's really the only time that I get to see my best friend Beth.
I am hearing... I am hearing a few things, first I hear the music that I'm listening to from my blog, second I am hearing the background noises of my brother's X-Box, and the cats are nipping at each other, oh & the hum of the refrigerator.
Around the house... My mom is on her computer, I am typing, and David is in his room doing something.
One of my favorite things... ~BIG NEWS~ Guess what I forgot to tell you in the first part of my post? I am learning how to read, write and speak Spanish!!! And I love it! Go Rosetta Stone, it is such a great way to learn a language. It doesn't give you the English word, just a picture and it leaves you to figure it out. And a lot of repetitions, it make's you do the same drills over and over again, which is great because I forget things quickly.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... School, more school, and I will probably be going to work a few times this week, hopefully I will be training with one of my tennis friends and my dad of course. Just as a side note, my dad is the best coach in the world! He is sooooo patient with me, and the best thing is that he never gives me any pressure to do well in the sport, that might be one of the reason I do so well. Go Dad!
Here is picture I thought of sharing...

God Bless Ya' All! Abigail Prudence

Pretty photos that I've found

2009-08-23T17:24:00.025-05:00

Hi everyone, it's me, sorry it took me so long to write something, I have been pretty busy lately. I dug up some pretty pcitures and wanted to share them with ya' all. Hope you like them.
Thanks for taking to time to look at my blog, you can rate the photos on this post in the poll on your right. Thanks, and for all of you that might be wondering, I'm fine, just been really busy and haven't found the time to post. I am going to be going on vacation soon and probably won't be able to post, so if I don't get around to posting again before I leave, This is my good bye post for now. Thanks!

God Bless, Abigail Prudence

Modern Beauty VS. Eternal Beauty

2009-08-02T16:10:00.000-05:00

Beauty, it’s something every young woman strives to have. Unfortunately our modern day culture has taken something that is so simple, beautiful & lovely, and has twisted it into a hammer. The definition of beauty has changed from modest & simple, to sexy and hot. Young women everywhere are being pressured from every angle to fall into the belief that if you don’t dress outwardly appealingly to men you are quote, “not cool” or, “ugly.” The spirit of worldly beauty is everywhere, at home, school, work and even the modern day church as accepted the modern dress code for women. The media constantly bombards us with messages that tell us if you don’t buy the expensive make-up, perfume, jewelry, and most importantly, those tight reveling outfits you will not be popular, pretty or respected. But what these fad designers fail to understand is that there really are girls and women out there that don’t want to look like a model, and it has made it nearly impossible to find anything decent to wear within a mall or clothing store. The word “beauty” has been taken and made out to be something it’s not. The true beauty of a woman is not how hot she can look but true beauty lies within the heart. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Proverbs 31:30 These days women are demanding that men respect them, but how can a man respect you, when you don’t even respect yourself? You may not realize it, but when you lower yourself to the point where you have to look like everyone else to feel cherished and valued you are dishonoring your integrity and self respect. You should be able to feel loved and respected because of who you are not because of how hot you look, but still this is the message that has been pounded into our heads. You need to look PERFECT, hair, nails, skin, face, lips clothes, all need to look PERFECT, or else. But as a young girl striving to obey God’s commands to you, a young women, none of these things are on the list. But He does tell us to be meek, quite, cheerful and helpful. As you probably know all to well, these are not the messages that our culture & media have been sending us. Which is why we need to immerse ourselves in scripture and God’s commands to the younger generation. I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. 1 Titus 5:14 A young women in this generation that is capable of sitting up straight, looking you in the eye and saying yes sir or yes mama is a very rare thing. We have been taught that being disrespectful to our superiors, either our parents or teacher is so called, “cool.” But this is not cool; it makes you look disrespectful, (because it is) and immature, that is not “cool” at all. A young woman that is a good example of a Proverbs 31 woman is prized far above rubies. Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies! Proverbs 31:10 One of the aspects of virtuous woman is her modest apparel. They are usually easy to spot, you know, the girl with a skirt that actually goes past her knees, and a loosely fitted T-shirt, instead of that little tank top with everything showing. For a young girl that looking for Mr. Right, it makes it a lot easier for him to find her if she is dressed modestly. The young men that have been working with their dad and have grown up being taught what to look for in good woman all their life can easily tell the difference. The few godly young men that are out there will look at a young girl that is dressed provocatively and it doesn’t even cross his mind that he might consider her as a future wife. But when he sees a young woman dressed modestly and she has a peaceful spirit about her and is cheerful and helpful, this is the girl he will consider. Unfortunately there are not many girls like this out there. I don’t know about you, but I want to find a young man that has a heart after God and is fairly well along the sanctification process. I could go into more detail but not right now, maybe I’ll write an article about what to look for in a young man if you are at a marriageable age. Anyways, my point is when a young women plays around with the way that she dresses the less and less chances that she find a young man even close to these specifications. The path that most of these teenage hottys take is one of pain and agony. Proverbs 31:15b the way of transgressors is hard. That’s not the path God wants for us, He said that He would that we would have life, and have it more abundantly. Not only is it safer to dress modestly, but it is also personally fulfilling to know that you are representing Christ everywhere you go. If you are new to this whole modesty thing and don’t know where to find clothes, there are very few options for you. What most of us have done is make our own skirts that actually go past the knee; maybe that is why sewing is included in the long list of credentials in Proverbs 31. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. Proverbs 31:19. But don’t give up hope, every once in a while you will find a nice skirt in your average clothing store, and it’s not impossible to find a modest blouse either. But our clothing designers sure had to make it hard didn’t they? I’m not saying that dressing modestly is easy, particularly if you are currently enrolled in the public schooling system. I am home schooled and I still get snickers and laughs from the teenagers that don’t know any better. When you signed up to be a Christian, He didn’t say it would be a walk in park. No, being a Christian means that you are going against the grain, against our culture. At some point in your life as a Christian you will be persecuted for your faith in some way or another, for some that means being killed for preaching the Word of God, and for others that means getting laughed at from the teenage girls at the mall because your skirt is 10 times longer then theirs. Hot, or modest, it's your choice. Modesty, it’s not just a way of living it’s a statement to God.

God Bless, Abigail Prudence

Victory! And a talk about teenagers...

2009-07-27T17:57:00.006-05:00

Hi everyone, remember that tennis tournament I was telling you that I was training for? Well, it finally came last weekend. It was really, really, really hard, but I got to the finals and won! Thank God for ice water, hats and sunscreen! It was really hot out on the court, I think someone told me that the heat index was 120 or some other crazy number. I am having a bit of trouble moving around today, but that usually passes within a few days.

On a different note, I have been reading this book called Do Hard Things and thought it might be worth mentioning. It talks about how the new teenager generation is uncessary and a waste of time. The teenager was invented only about 70 years ago, before that there were only two classes of people, child and adult.
Before, (when things worked the way they were supposed to) when a child grew up and was able to be responsible and was able to work, he or she was classified as an adult, this usually happend around the age of 12 or 13. There was no 5 to 8 year period in a person's life where they went to the mall with their friends and played games for hours on end. You get the idea. They were called young adults, not teenagers.
When someone says the word "teenager" the first few things that pop into their heads are usually the words, rebelious, self willed, doesn't take instruction, strong headed and emotional. These are the thoughts that our culture has trained us to think when we think about young adults. We don't expect much from the younger generation these days.
A young adult from the ages of 12 to 19 is definitely capable of doing great things for God and for others. You don't have to have some major ministry or work a real job, you can minister in little ways, like doing your chores without being asked, or volunteering to help a friend in a project that he or she needs help in. I have found that helping my father in the little ways that I could when I was young has led me to good things. When I was little I would watch him leave for the office everyday (like almost every little girl does) and think, I want to go! So one day I asked him if there was anything I could do to help him at the office, and he told me that if I wanted to be of use in the future I should learn how to type, spell and communicate well. When I was 11 I started training in all of these things and today I am typing at 100 wpm and I go to the office with him on a regular basis to help with the day to day paper pushing.
My point is, do something! There are all kinds of things that God gives each individual to do to help, it is up to us if we embrace these opportunites or not. About 70 to 80 years ago, the young woman would be helping their mother and grandmother in the kitchen and around the house. And the young men would be out working with their dad and grandfater, hunting, fishing or building something. My point, young people used to do stuff, stuff that was actually productive.
Anyways, I have been thinking about this a lot lately and wanted to tell you my thoughts. I think it is amazing how far we have gone as a country and a society in just a hundred years or so. Let me know your thoughts on this topic, thanks!
Special thanks to Carl C. He got me the book Do Hard Things, it has been a great blessing to me.

God Bless Texas, Abigail Prudence

2009-07-21T02:40:00.000-05:00

The Simple Woman's Day Book . . .

FOR TODAY, July 21th, 2009 ...

Outside My Window... The cold black stillness of night.

From the kitchen... nothing but the cat sitting on the counter.

I am wearing... I'm wearing a green T-shirt & sleeping shorts.

I am creating... Today I made a drawing of a tree in a river and at the bottom of the page I have the verse, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. I put it on the front of my Young Women of Virtue notebook.

I am going... To sleep pretty soon, it's late but it's one of the only times that I have to edit this blog.

I am reading... Right now I am reading a varity of things, but right now I am reading the book called Do Hard Things, trying to get it finishd.

I am hoping... I am hoping we can make soap tomorrow, we got new equipment & am excited to try it out.

I am hearing... The Song Sobrepena from my blog, it sounds like island music. Love it!

Around the house... Everything is quite, just listening to the sound of my fingers tapping on the keyboard, oh yeah and the dog snoring. Yeah I know what your thinking, dogs don't snore, yeah well our does, lucky us.

One of my favorite things... This might sound a little crazy, but when I am most relaxed is when I am listening to music in my room and I find something to organize or clean. I just can't stand things not being orderly, I don't think you could say that I am a perfectionist, but almost there.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Going to be training hard for my next tennis tournament.

Here is picture I thought of sharing...

God Bless Texas, Abigail Prudence

2009-07-10T21:38:00.000-05:00

Sin is Like Gum

Sin, mans greatest challenge since the beginning of time. It comes in every shape and form you can imagine. From the day that the Pilgrims landed on American soil, the family home was a safe haven of peace and love. But, over time our culture and the things we took for granted have changed drastically. Today, in our modern culture, we don’t even feel the need to apologize for sin or cover it up somehow because it has been so deeply ingrained into our culture. Now, in the ‘modern’ Christian home, it is common to find young girls dating, also worldly music has incorporated itself into so called “Christian rock, or modern Christian music”. The worldly music that is playing everywhere has lyrics that are usually pointing towards free sex, violence, gossip and many other perverted things. Listening to these kinds of lyrics destroys one’s spirit and soul. The media that we can see with our eyes is very similar. Everywhere we look there is pornography and lust. These sins that I’ve listed so far are just the beginning of the temptations that our media has crafted to look so juicy so we will fall into sin. Now let me explain my title, I’m sure all of that are reading this have had a stick of gum before right? Well, if you have then you have experienced a sudden burst of flavor, and then as you chew it longer the flavor, ‘the juiciness’ of it fades. It’s the same way with sin, Proverbs 16:26 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Man has always thought that his way, the way of sin, will be the right way. But anyone that does fall into sin and gets stuck in it, ends up just like a piece of gum, stuck to some dinner table in a old forgotten restaurant. But Jesus Christ is the only One that can save us from our sin, God help all of us.

God Bless Texas, Prudence