Raising Maidens of Virtue…. Updated!
From the beginning of Raising Maidens of Virtue, Stacy McDonald sets the tone; the anticipation level rises in expectation to be encouraged for women both young and old in raising the bar in godliness and purity. I always enjoy reading Stacy McDonald’s material and Raising Maidens of Virtue met my expectations. I expected a lot and I got it!
What I appreciate about Stacy the most is that she is a straight shooter with a clear message of grace and truth. She has an eloquent and articulate voice for women seeking godliness, while tactfully, and lovingly, causing each of us to examine ourselves in such areas as selfishness, root sin issues, and more.
Stacy respectfully recognizes the structure of authority and begins teaching and exhorting each of us far beyond the “appearance of godliness.” She causes the reader to reach deeper to the foundation, reminding us that, “A woman with an unchaste heart will remain an unchaste woman regardless of what she wears until God convicts her of her sin, she repents, and the transforming work of Jesus creates in her a clean heart.”
This study, Raising Maidens of Virtue, gives a beautiful example of a balanced view of modesty and chastity, which is a refreshing, and yet, world-shattering message that, in itself, could revolutionize our homes and our local fellowships from the inside out. A mother could go through this study with her daughter today, and the message would be just as pertinent and timely in the future when the same woman goes through the study with her daughters-in-laws and granddaughters.
With gracefulness, older women are given the groundwork, the blueprints, to teach younger women. In fact, I would recommend any woman, whether single, widowed, with young daughters, or older daughters to read this study so that they may be equipped, as with a tool, along with their Bibles, to teach and encourage younger women, and disciple maidens of virtue, rather than waiting until problems arise and then trying to head off wrong worldly thinking when it is almost too late.
Stacy McDonald’s Raising Maidens Virtue contains foundational concepts. The earlier you can inculcate these truths into your daughters, the better.
How to Cut Up A Whole Chicken
See this sweet little smilie? This little lady is feeding the unsuspecting chicken.
The below links will show you how to cut up a whole chicken, similarly to how my mama showed me.
Cutting up a chicken in photos
Cutting up a chicken in photos (A little more detailed).
And a video: Cutting up a chicken Enjoy!
Carmel Popcorn
7 1/2 qts. popped corn
3 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup karo syrup
1 1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla
Spread popcorn in 2 roasting pans. Mix brown sugar, butter, karo syrup and salt over med. heat (* Use a large saucepan, as the mixture will rise). Boil 5 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add soda and vanilla. Pour over popcorn and mix well. Bake in 200 degree oven 45 to 60 minutes stirring every 15 minutes. Pour out on waxed paper to cool. Keep in air tight container.
Grammoo’s Flaky Pie Crust
For two crusts its:
2 cups flour
1 cup shortening – COLD
1 teaspoon salt
enough ice cold water to hold it together. Start with about 6 tablespoons. You
can add more if you need it.
Easy Peach Cobbler
I am excited to share this recipe with you today. Not only did my mother make this when I was a kid, but better than that, it is so simple, so fast and so good! It will knock your socks off! Let’s get started!
My family knows I am a caption kind of gal, but let me be sure to start with a couple things:
- Please do us all a favor and wash your hands.
- Tools you will need: Cutting board, knife, a large bowl for the slices, a smaller bowl for the garbage, a glass bake pan (9×13)
- Ingredients you will need: One yellow box cake mix, about 8 large peaches, one cube of butter (1/2 cup) chilled, shortening to grease pan (spray oil will do).
- A nice hot oven preheated to 350º.
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Enjoy it warm or save it for later when it is cooled down. Vanilla ice cream is great with this, as well.
I think I missed sharing the photo op on my plate. My mind was elsewhere…. focused on eating! We will be getting some peaches in tomorrow, so maybe I will come back with a final photo… if I can control myself.
Hoagie Buns
- 5 tsp. active dry yeast
- 3 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided
- 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 8 to 8-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add 1 tablespoon sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the remaining warm water and sugar. Beat in the oil, salt and 4 cups flour until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
- Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.
- Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 18 pieces. Shape each into an oval. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. With a scissors, cut a 1/4-in.-deep slash across the top of each. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 20 minutes.
- Bake at 400° for 13-18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.
Beautiful Submission!
Ahhhh! Beautiful submission!!! There is security under submission. God’s Word has a lot to say about the subject, but I will only scratch the surface.
Submission is not being a doormat. Everyone has an authority. God has laid out the structure to make the man be over the woman. It doesn’t mean that women are anything less than men, but things work in harmony when there is a head. Then we each have a role.
Genesis 2:18-23
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone ; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept ; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh ; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
Submission is putting yourself under your husband so he can be the leader/head that God intended him to be.
It is not an option, but a directive given to us in Ephesians 5:21-24
And be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
1 Timothy 2:11-15 says, A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.
Titus 2:5, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
Perhaps your husband has a wrong idea of what submission means. Do you not expect your children to submit to your authority? But at the same time, they are not your slaves to treat poorly. We raise them for the Lord’s glory. Your husband is told to treat you with dignity.
Ephesians 5:25-30 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.
1 Corinthians 7:3-5 says, The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Does this help in getting a different picture of what submission and authority are?
Activities With Littles
Here is a small list of activities to do with young children:
- Play cherades
- Sing songs like Father Abraham; head and shoulders, knees and toes
- Play Simon Says…or Daddy says
- Make popcorn
- Play Candyland
- Make play dough
- Play dress up
- Make and/or play with puppets
- Read books
- Learn portions of scripture
- Sort laundry together. The older one(s) can make sock matches, fold washrags, put clothes away, identify clothes
- Play with bubbles
- Make pictures for grandma
- Set up a fish tank and enjoy it
- Make instruments with paper plates, oatmeal boxes, etc.
- Plant some seeds
- Visit the elderly
- Make butter
- Make ice cream
- Make yogurt
- Bake cookies
- Dance with music
- Play with cars. Make roads.
- Color with you.
- Find a paper plate craft book and make crafts
- Play a board game with them making up the “rules”
- Finger paints
- Play “hide the battery”
- Play hide and seek
- Do sommer saults and stand on your head
Bread Machine Figures For Experimenting
# For each cup of flour used in recipe, use: 3 ounces liquid (1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons)
# 1/2 teaspoon salt
# 1/2 tablespoon sugar
# 1/2 tablespoon butter or margarine
# 3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast or 1/2 teaspoon bread machine/fast-rising yeast
* For example, for a bread recipe using 3 cups of flour, start with: 9 ounces liquid (1 cup + 2 tablespoons)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
* 1 1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine
* 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast or 1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine/fast rising yeast
Another example:
4 c. flour
12 oz. liquid
2 tsp. salt
2 T. sugars
2 T. oils
3 tsp. yeast
Q. My loaves of bread are short. How can I get them taller?
Short loaves seems to be the number one problem in bread machine baking. It’s cause is directly related to the measuring technique used for both liquid and dry ingredients.
* Keep these points in mind when measuring.Always measure liquids in a see-through measuring cup with graduated markings. Liquid should reach the markings at eye-level, not above or below. Set the cup on the inside of a kitchen cabinet for easier measuring.
* Bread made with 100% whole wheat bread will be shorter. To help improve the height try the following suggestions:
Add 1 whole egg for better bread structure. When doing this you must reduce the liquid amount by the amount of egg being added. Most large eggs are 1/4 cup.
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten for better bread structure. When doing this you must also add 1 tablespoon additional liquid.
The Most Important Tip of All – Check the Dough
Another very important tip to follow is to check the condition of the dough during the knead cycle, especially when making a recipe for the first time. After 8 to 10 minutes of kneading, open the machine to check the dough. It is alright to open machine during the knead cycle. The dough should be in a soft, tacky ball. If it’s too dry, add 1 teaspoon of water. If it’s too wet, add 1 tablespoon of flour. Always allow any added water or flour to be blended into the dough for a minute or two before making any further adjustment. The dough is just right when it is soft to the touch, smooth in appearance and the bottom of the pan is clean.
Q. Why does my bread collapse as it’s baking?
This may indicate the dough is too wet. Next time reduce the liquid amount by 1 tablespoon.
OR
Make sure you are using the recommended amount of sugar, yeast and salt being used. Salt especially cannot be eliminated.
OR
If you are at high altitudes you may need to make some adjustments. Reduce yeast by 1/4 teaspoon at a time. You may also need to reduce liquid by 2 to 3 teaspoons. Some experimentation on your part will be needed.
