Friday, August 01, 2014

Welcome to My Blog Home. Before Your Visit, Please Read This:


This blog is dedicated to Christian ladies all over the world: celebrating the God-given blessings of the home.

To understand more of its purpose, please read here.


What Is This Blog All About?

The purpose of this blog is to broadcast what the Bible teaches concerning the wonderful role of Christian ladies in the home and in the church; how they can bring change to the culture through their homes.

In this blog I share ways to create contentment in the home, and how ladies can find motivation as wives, mothers, homemakers and teachers of their children.

The home is strengthened when Christian ladies take the scriptures to heart, and decide to put an effort into guiding and guarding the home. (1 Timothy 5:14)



Why Do Christian Homemakers  Publish  Blogs?

There are many Christian ladies at home who have discovered a blog to be great teaching tool and a wonderful way to spread the Christian influence to the world outside their homes. While I once had a monthly paper newsletter containing hints for home life, homeschooling support, and Biblical matters for Christian ladies, I now use blogging, which reaches far beyond my neighborhood. Everyone likes to get mail, and a blog provides daily mail, a feat that could not be achieved with paper newsletters put in the post.  I try to include as many positive blogs on my blogroll as I can find. Ladies can always view a current post on someone else's blog and enjoy a peek into their homes.  Some ladies at home desire to teach a ladies Bible class,or a homemaking class, and their blogs enable them to do that when it is hard to get ladies to convene for a class at one time. When you see a homemaking blog you see an act of generosity. Ladies take the time to share their lives with others.

Why Do Homemakers Want to Share Their Homes on the Internet?

Many ladies at home feel the importance of teaching  others the Titus 2 role, and find that blogging is an effective way to do it. Sometimes people have the idea that to be a homemaker is to be very isolated. These days so many homes are left empty during the day that there is no support for ladies at home. Blogging provides the old-fashioned chat over the picket fence and enables Christian ladies to meet other homemakers who share the same values. Blogging is a meaningful method of recording moments in life and sharing their homes with others. A lot of virtual hospitality takes place in homemaking blogs when ladies share pictures of their homes or their interests.

Are You Talking About Me?

Truth is universal, and therefore, nothing you read is aimed at any one particular person. Often when Jesus and his Apostles taught religious truths, it enflamed and angered people.  When you read a subject on this blog, never assume it is aimed particularly at you.  It could be, like the hearers of the teachings of Christ, that you are sensitive about certain things, or that you have personal problems that the post addressed.

Why Do Some People Object to The Teachings About the Conduct and Influence of Women in the Home and in the Church?

The subjects about the Christian lady's Biblical duties contained in Titus 2, 1 Timothy 5:14, 1Timothy 2:9, Ephesians 5:22, 1 Peter 3 and many other passages, will meet with resistance because both men and women have been filled with the false teachings of this world, from school, college, media, and work. When something different is presented, they can be blinded by the indoctrination they previously received.

There are also those who do not believe that The scriptures addressed to women are applicable today. They will naturally feel hostile to things they have not thoroughly studied or attempted to practice. It takes some emotional growing and maturing to recognize truth.

Since not everyone is at the same level and growth, there will be immature people who will misunderstand blogs like this and become personally offended.

What If I Read Something I Do Not Agree With?

Instead of reacting to this blog in a hostile way, know that it takes an open mind and a searching heart to recognize truth.  Be willing to give it a chance.  If, after you have considered it all you still cannot accept it, please have the courtesy to move on and find something you do like. Do not leave caustic remarks to spoil the goodness of this blog for others. If you have objections, rather than sending a rude comment or mis-quoting me,  please have the honesty to email me personally so that we may reason together.

How Can I Be Sure I Have Landed on Your Blog, and Not an Imitation?

Simply check the contact information. Click on "My Profile" or see my email address on the sidebar. My profile can be accessed by clicking on the picture or link to my name when I post a comment. Look at the comments on this page to click on people's profile. It usually contains a person's real email. If the email address differs from the one here, it is a counterfeit blog. From the very start of blogging, many homemakers were attacked by people who were determined to discourage them and prevent them from sharing anything online. To do this, they created online gossip about the ladies, stole their photographs and headers, and tried to discredit them online. The homemakers did not write those sites, yet often the sites are mistaken for the real people, and it gives a bad impression. So before you rush to judgement, compare the contact information and be sure you have reached the right blog and the person you really are looking for. Anyone with any sense of decency can tell the difference between a counterfeit blog and the real thing. The imitation blogs that have been produced against homemaker bloggers are full of hatred, gossip lies, false accusations, character assassination and slander. The real blogs are peaceful and lovely.

Here is what one reader wrote about the counterfeit-hate blogs that many homemakers have been attacked by:
About fake blogs:
Many of the conservative Christian ladies who had blogs and websites were attacked in 2007-9 by an anonymous person or group of people, who copied blog formats, copied mast titles, stole photos, stole content, made fake profiles, etc. These attack blogs are called hate blogs or flame blogs. Writers of fake blogs or flame blogs are called Trolls. Lydia's blog was only one blog among many that were attacked and had photos stolen, and the others belonging to conservative, religious, and independent bloggers. One man lost his political race because these same hate bloggers or trolls took him down for his Christian conservative worldview. Lydia was picked out among many others to attack, and all were attacked at the same time. The attack was on the people, not on the church she was a member of, but on the principles of the Bible that she was promoting.

You can tell that these hate or flame blogs are fake copies by several things:

1. The addresses and titles are a near miss of the true address of the real blogs

2. It states right on the hate blog "this is a mirror blog" and "this is a parody blog"

3. The writer and owner of the blog has a fake name, and fake email, that is different from the real blogger's email or handle.

4. The information contained in it is wrong, inaccurate, and made up.

5.The content is so obviously hateful that it would be ridiculous for even a casual reader to think that it was written by Lydia.

Measures have been taken to try and find out who made the hate blogs, and to have them taken down for copyright violation, but since the person who writes them is anonymous this has been impossible to do. Experts in these kinds of matters have told us that they have never seen such virulent attacks on any blogger as on these sites."

When you read anything hateful and negative on the web, you can assume that it is not written by the people they are claiming to be the authors.  I have not written anything unbiblical or unloving on this blog. Those who write hatefully about me are deliberately taking my blog posts out of context, out of character and out of the caring message that this blog intends.  Before believing anything negative you read, please contact me at the email tab on my blog.

Why are there so few pictures of you and your husband and children on this blog?

Most ladies began to share their lives and pictures thinking it would be better to show people that they were "real" people with an authentic message. As the attack became quite vicious against bloggers, many family photos were taken by those without a conscience and put elsewhere on the internet with the purpose of vilifying and discrediting.  I have known of men who could not find jobs because an internet search revealed these hateful sites with their photographs.  There have been women at home who were terrorized by this activity and now are denied the privilege of sharing their photos and their real lives with anyone. There are naive and uninformed  people who believe the lies that are written about these families. . There are many seamstresses who need to model their finished sewing projects--coats, dresses, etc., but cannot. If Christian ladies had done this to other people, they would have been prosecuted to the fullest extent possible and made an example of. But since it is an attack on Christians and homemakers, it is overlooked in the name of fair play, which isn't fair play at all. We do have the avenue of publishing books and magazines, which many people have taken, so our freedom is not completely removed from sharing and teaching.

While I would like to share more pictures of me with the things I sew and the people I entertain, I have to be careful because of the copyright violation that has taken place with the internet thieves and the character assassination that they do. Also, my family, including all my relatives must be protected from the haters and trolls that have no respect for us. They have jobs that must be protected, as well as their own privacy. This blog is just a homemaking blog, not a blog sharing the details of our family.  If you leave a comment that refers to anyone in my immediate family, it will be ignored.



What if I am Offended by Your Blog Topics?

 If you think you have been personally offended,  you are welcome to email me with your concern and I will be happy to discuss it with you privately. We might discuss it on the telephone or have a visit over a fine cup of tea.  If you hear others disparaging me, the best thing to do is suggest they contact me personally, rather than allow them to indulge in the habit of tale-bearing.  My blog is a gossip-free zone, and so no one is a target of any of my posts.  The subject matter is intended to be applicable to Christian ladies in general, not one particular person.


Why Don't You Accept Every Comment?

Comments must be courteous and edifying, showing love for the readers. This blog is also an invitation to be a guest in my home.  I will be sharing things I do at home, giving an occasional pictorial home tour, and providing free patterns and tutorials for domestic things. As a guest, you need to be thoughtful of the other guests, the readers who view this home, and leave sensible, polite and intelligent comments.  Ladies at home need to read things that encourage them, not rude comments.

  Why Not Just Show People  Where They Can Read For Themselves in the Bible?

Titus 2 commands the older women to teach the younger women how to be good wives, good mothers, keepers of the home, modest, sober, holy behavior and other things.  It does not give all the details of how to do all that. The scripture leaves it up to the older women to use their experience and knowledge in marriage and child-raising to teach the younger women.  They will  be able to look back on the successes they have had and the mistakes they have made for wisdom in teaching the younger women.

Shouldn't Older Women Be Housekeepers and Babysitters For Younger  Women?

  God wants the older women to teach the younger women about marriage, modesty and sobriety. The idea is to teach them to do it themselves, that they may guide their own homes and develop wisdom.  It is not necessary  to do it for them. 

Why Not Just Teach in Your Own Local Church?

While we do our best to teach in our own homes, churches and neighborhoods, blogging   is an efficient and effective way to teach and explain the Biblical role of women. I often take the Ladies Bible Class lesson and post it on my blog so that it will not stay in the local classroom but be passed on to anyone who wants it. Blogging provides a lot more mileage to the things we do because the posts and pictures can readily be found at your fingertips.

Shouldn't Christian Women Just Keep House and Keep Quiet About Their Beliefs?

Christian ladies who use blogs to share the message of Biblical womanhood are merely fulfilling the law of Christ to teach others.  Blogs provide a choice. You can read them or not.  In a class, you may be a captive audience to a teacher, but with a blog, you will not be noticed if you walk out. You will not be disturbing the other participants if you disagree. This is not a debate-blog, because it is designed to give people a pleasant experience, and motivation for guiding and guarding the home.

Realize that not everyone is at the same level of maturity and will believe some very strange things until they can get their thoughts and reasoning sorted out.  I believe it takes some time and some study and some experience. I am willing to have an email discussion with anyone who is confused about the topic of the responsibilities of Christian woman. 

Are You Telling People What To Do?

No one is telling anyone what to do, and unless a person has an incredibly weak mind, they will understand that they always have a choice.As in every single thing you read or hear, you are free to accept it or reject it.  No one is going to force anyone to live a certain way.  On the other hand, no one can dictate what bloggers will write.


A blog can present alternatives to the prevailing culture, without creating conflict with any particular person, and is an expedient way of distributing information on hot subjects.


More questions?  Please leave them in the comment section and I will try to add them to this post.

(To be continued)








5 comments:

larissa said...

Articles like yours are so precious and hard-to-find. In addition to my quiet time, the few minutes invested here helps centre my attitude towards Him and the home, and your writing reveals a very elegant and pleasant way to "run the race" with grace. (It takes courage to go against the social grain and you have helped me appreciate how it can be done with pleasantness and dignity. Thank you!) Know that you are in my daily prayers.

Lydia said...

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Jen said...

Lydia, I have been reading your posts for years but only rarely comment. Thank you for your encouragement. I pray for you often! God Bless!

Lydia said...

Jen, thank you. I want to keep the blog positive, kind and loving, gossip-free, slander free, the exact opposite of the hatred that is leveled at ladies homemaker blogs. That is the one way you know its the authentic me!

Keri said...

Hello! I just came across your blog when doing a search on the specific meaning of the word "sober" in the New Testament. What lovely place I've found here (in addition to the information I was originally looking for)! I've already browsed around a bit and added your blog to my Blogger reading list so that I can keep up with your inspiring and encouraging writing. (By way of a quick introduction, I'm a homeschooling mom of three children, living in Kentucky.) Thanks so much for your work here, and I look forward to reading more!

-Keri Brown