Tea set from http://www.cakestandheaven.com
Hello Dear Ladies,
I am back to the normal work of the home and have been looking on our eBay and other places for some of the china I saw while in Victoria. The patterns are not available in the US and seem impossible to have sent here. However, there are a number of pretty china patterns available here such as the set seen in the above photo from Cake Stand Heaven.
Due to many changes in the house (shifting things around, unpacking, re-arranging, uncluttering, etc) things are not as orderly as I would like, but in the midst of it all I have a little space for any visitor or family member to stop and relax and maybe have a cup of tea.
Maybe you would like to join me today, as I would like to share some thoughts with you. I hope you will share your thoughts back, also, by leaving a comment.
http://www.amazon.com/Brompton-Rose-Fine-Bone-China/dp/B00CJD9MVE
The boxed set is quite lovely and would be a nice thing to give someone who is resting at home and needs a little extra TLC for some reason or other.
As most of you probably know, a return home can mean a fresh new outlook on life and maybe even arriving at solutions to old, puzzling problems. Jesus was loved by many and hated by others. He knew the value of retreating to a quiet and private place. Homemakers need their own privacy, so their minds can rest and renew and get more clarity in their thinking.
One of the things I have been thinking about that may be of interest to some of my readers is the problem of the Christian lady and tale-bearing. Please do not think I am referring to any person or anyone's personal situation. Because the pattern of a tale-bearer is so familiar, it may sound like I am talking about your situation.
Following the suit of other bloggers, I do not want to allow tale-bearers, wolves, Jezebels, haters, and trolls to control my web-log and the articles I write, or the "real life" wolves to destroy my sense of well-being. As I have been researching how to effectively handle haters of what is good, true and lovely, I came across a lot of good articles and books that were already written on these subjects, and I want to share some things that might be helpful to others, whether they are blogging or just want to get something done at home without the interference of jealous, malicious people.
Two of the books that I have read so far are:
"Pastor Abuse: When Sheep Attack the Shepherd", by Ken Crockett, and "When Do I Cry Wolf" by Steven Catt.
The first book reveals the tactics of trolls, wolves, critics or whatever you want to call them, to demoralize, divide and defeat any good work that is going on. They begin by telling you it is no good and you might as well give up because everyone is against you. Nothing has changed since the days of Nehemiah when his detractors tried to get the workers to quit building the walls of Jerusalem by telling them the walls were too weak and the job would never be completed.
The second book gives some rather pointed examples of the way wolves and Jezebels work in any group, whether it be the city council, a gardening club, a family endeavor, a public person, a career, a church, or a business. People reading this book will see a pattern of destruction, beginning with turning what was once a friendly meeting into a long, arduous, miserable argument that discourages everyone from continuing.
If you look up "the tactics of demoralization" on the web, you will clearly see how the troll or the wolf uses the pattern to destroy confidence and divide people so that the hater can take control.
You may wonder what a homemaker has to do with any of this, but she must be alert to divisiveness and fiercely guide and guard the home.
For further research, type in words like "How to identify and deal with wolves in the church" as just since 2014 there has been a horde of articles on this topic. People are waking up after their homes and businesses, city councils and churches have been torn apart, and are exposing the plan behind it, along with the pattern that usually occurs, and with great accuracy they relate how people are hit blindsided when someone takes over their project or their business or even the church they belong to.
The first tool that is used is tale-bearing, supported by rumor. Rumors spread seem to take on a life of their own. Even when they are outright lies, people's minds tend to absorb them as true, and they are so sucked in by the wolves that when asked to hear the true story, they will stop up their ears, just like the people in the New Testament who refused to listen to the truth. Heads of corporations who have taken the defamation and false accusations to court to prove the truth, have found that even when the case is ruled in their favor, the rumors, once having free reign, persist and ruin their business and the lives of all the employees who once benefited from a prosperous enterprise.
Haters know the power of a rumor, and the strength of a lie in the minds of weak people. If you are home, you have great power to influence your family to always investigate the story behind the story and to find out the source. If you are raising children it is a mistake to deny the presence of wolves in the world. A study of the New Testament reveals the problem of those who come to "spy out your liberty" and wreak havoc with your faith. Their goal is to make you quit, whether it be your love of the home or your interests and hobbies, or your beliefs.
Tale-bearers do their part to change the way things exist, by suggesting with words that a situation is different than really is. Thus, a happy family is reported to be a factious one, and a popular business is rumored to have in-office fighting. A well-organized garden group is tale-beared to be ineffective and a church that is getting along just fine will be reported to be "disorganized" and "sharply divided." A nice blog is called conceited and a successful etsy store is "a failing business." These tales, once released, continue to circulate until the members of the families, websites or churches involved give up, and even after that, will go down in history as truth, even when proven to be a lie.
The reason the wolf prowls freely is that he is dressed in sheeps clothing (works for the company, is in a seemingly cohesive family, is involved in community organizations, goes to church) and so he seems like everyone else. Nice people do not like to admit that some people are not so nice. They do not warn their children of the wolves that will interfere in the home and in the church, to reduce their confidence in their leaders and God-given authorities. Parents do not want to say anything negative or talk behind someone's back, so they fail to warn their children of possible hazards ahead. We are all from a polite generation and we hate to be accused of gossip, so we say nothing while a trouble maker has free reign over any group he infiltrates.
A wolf senses two things: lack of authority, and fear. Wolves are attracted to any thing that looks like a group, because it is the nature of a wolf or a hater to devour, destroy, and steal. These books I read rightly described the nature of wolves, which I will not go into here, but every type of group or "flock", even a nation, may have a wolf circling around the sheep. When a wolf is around, the sheep are nervous and cannot eat properly or digest their food. Nervous sheep will be distracted by a wolf and will not look to the shepherd, and at times will not obey his voice when they are in danger. Sheep tend to scatter in different directions when full of fright from a circling wolf. A controller senses fear and will take advantage of it. A controller or hater thinks there is no authority over him/her and will go as far as they can until someone stops them.
One example of tale-bearing and the damage it does is the all-too familiar woman who infiltrates someone's home or church and tells someone else what terrible people they are. Then she goes to someone else and reports that the people who formerly provided for her, mentored her and helped her are really hypocritical and unqualified to minister to anyone.
This is is a story that is repeated around the world, causing neighbors and old friends not to speak to each other for years and years.
A friend gave me permission to relate her story here:
"My friend was mentoring a young woman who was living with them in their home, and asked if I would be able to help by having her in my home as well. I was willing to take her as long as she would work in our family business with us, in exchange for living with us. The first thing this young woman said was, "I am so relieved to be here because I just didn't feel safe with your friend. Her family has bad habits and poor character and they all insulted me."
My friend then said she didn't feel she should call her friend to verify this because she didn't want to offend her or stir up trouble. The young woman then communicated to her former hostess that her new mentor had an unruly family that had criticized her and that her new home was "a terrible place." As a result of this cross-tale-bearing, two lifelong friends ceased communicating for five years! When they finally reluctantly met again at a social event, they were able to reveal the reason they had not spoken in so long: the wolf had deceived them both into being suspicious of one another and divided them.
Ladies I have heard many versions of this story from all over the world, and it always has the same pattern. As you guard your homes, be wary and be aware. We are living in a culture of lying. It is naive to believe that such things do not exist, and being ignorant of it can cost you the loss of your family, your business, your community projects, your blog, the church you attend, and even your marriage.
The articles I have read on the web have many useful ideas for dealing with these divisive and destructive wolves. We spend too much time catering to them, trying to reform them and tolerating them. We even hide their identity. What shepherd in his right might would refuse to identify a wolf, let him in with the flock and let him devour the sheep? Even the apostle Paul named the troublemakers in the church, calling them by their names and exposing them. He did not tell the leaders to run away or give up. He showed ways to discipline them, when we may reveal in a future post.
In closing, I thought you would be amused and informed by this report from an old ettiquette manual:
Hannah Moore had a good way of managing tale-bearers. It is said that whenever she was told anything derogatory of another, her invariable reply was, "Come, we will go and ask if this is true." The effect was sometimes ludicrously painful. The tale-bearer was taken aback, stammered out a qualification, or begged that no notice might be taken of the statement. But the good lady was inexorable; off she took the scandalmonger to the scandalised, to make inquiry and compare accounts. It is not very likely that anybody ever a second time ventured to repeat a gossipy story to Hannah Moore.
Clara Barton, the nurse who founded the American Red Cross in 1881, made it a rule never to hold on to resentment. A friend once reminded her of a cruel incident some years previously, But Barton seemed not to recall it.
"Don't you remember the wrong that was done to you?"
"No," Barton answered calmly. "I distinctly remember forgetting that."
While we are here to raise our families and enjoy them, we should, at the same time be alert to the tale-bearing that destroys our reputations, our friendships, our church fellowship and our businesses, and reject it, as Hannah Moore did.
Lev_19:16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.
Pro_11:13 A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.
Pro_18:8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
Pro_20:19 He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
Pro_26:20 Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
Pro_26:22 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
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