Should Older Women Cut Their Hair Short?

 I'm not going to tell anyone what to do with their hair. I just wanted to share an old joke.

The husband comes home and first thing he sees, his wife had her long hair cut off. 

"How do you like my new haircut?" She asks. "This greyish long hair made me look so old. But I don't look like an old woman any more, do I?"

"No", the husband answers. "Now you look like an old man."

Please don't throw stones at me:) BTW, I think it's perfectly fine to dye the greying hair some nice colour. Preferably using natural dyes like henna. 

She Really Loves Money...

 I had a couple of conversations recently with/about women of totally different backgrounds and even ethnicity, yet the story I heard was the same.

One lady told me she basically doesn't need to work and her husband wouldn't mind if she quit, but she really loves money and independence it gives. To paraphrase: "Because if I quit, I will have to ask my husband's permission to buy stuff, and I really like buying stuff."

The other lady is older and keeps complaining about her bad heath, back pain etc but keeps on working close to full time, though, as her colleague reliably informed me, she has a wealthy husband, adult children and no need to work at all. When pressed, she said exactly the same thing: "I really love money and independence from my husband it gives."

I do find such honesty refreshing. No sappy stories about "how I really LOVE my job" and "what is there to do at home?" just the plain truth. That goes for the majority of the working women, btw. It's not entirely their fault, as modern society promotes money-making abilities and wealth as the only existing virtue. In fact, someone even joked that just like in Medieval times you had Earls and Dukes and Knights we have titles like "a billionaire". So the guy said, we should go further and just address people by the contents of their bank accounts.

So instead of the aristocracy and commoners we'd have a Hundredaire and a Thousandaire as opposed to a Millionaire and a Billionaire. 

Wherever this current Western culture comes from, it's not from the Christian religion: For the love of money is the root of all evil...

The R8pe Of Narnia

 This is just horrible. 

However, I should say that what currently is called "woke" stuff started creeping in already during the life of Lewis. Remember the order in which the books were written? The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe: girls don't fight, Prince Caspian: girls don't fight, The Voyage Of The Dawntreader: girls don't fight, The Silver Chair: girls don't fight, Prince Caspian: girls suddenly do fight and that makes them (Lucy) good and noble as opposed to wicked Susan only interested in fashions and men. Remember who didn't get to Heaven?

This nonsense started after WWII, and I'm sorry but I do blame Hollywood and broad American culture in general. When Lewis' books started getting popular overseas, he changed with times. Another example would be The Guns Of Navarone (spelling?). The original book, written shortly after the war has NO women in it. Zero. 0. Yet, the Hollywood adaptation from late 1950s/early 60 suddenly has 2 (one a traitor) and they are both eye candy. They also wear flirty colourful dresses with decolletes (that's exactly what I would wear when fighting in the mountains, lol).

I sometimes visit Greek Ortho church. The older generation women even now tend to wear all black long dresses. In those times they wore black headcoverings, too. But never mind...

The Housekeeping Schedule That Actually Works

 I tried one from Darla Shine's book Happy Housewives which I reviewed on my blog several years ago, with some changes to adapt it to my situation. So far I'm content the way it goes and decided to share it with you:)

Monday

the floors. For me it means I vacuum all the 4 levels and wash the floors everywhere, plus the cats' feeding bowls when I clean this area and then I do the kitchen sink and working area, too. 

Tuesday

I start with one load of laundry, and clean the bathrooms.

Wednesday

This is my main laundry day, when I change the beds, tablecloth etc. Plus, I get to fold Tuesday laundry, too. I usually do 2 loads.

Thursday

If there is some extra laundry, I finish it this day. For the rest, it's dusting/area cleaning.

Friday

This is the day to take it easy:) Laundry is all done by now, and I fold the rest so that the house looks neat for the weekend. You see, we currently don't have a dryer, and my husband dislikes laundry racks in full sight during weekends. Then I do a short vacuuming, only two floors instead of 4. And some shopping.

Saturday

is the principal shopping day in our household, we take the car and go to Aldi. That's about it.

Sunday

the day of rest. Only necessary stuff like making beds etc. Hope it may be helpful for someone. 

 

Should Christian Celebrate Halloween?

 Yeah, I know I'm rather late with this one:) Still a good article and sums up my point of view (and yes, we do celebrate it, in a way)

How is the holiday being used in your area?  Does the local high school have a popular Wiccan teacher who uses the holiday as an opportunity to promote her religion?  When you think on the Halloweens of the past few years, do you primarily remember the vandalism?  Are mystic religions that incorporate Halloween into their own spirituality common in your community?  In such cases, Christians would be well advised to not take part in the festivities.  On the other hand, if the celebration is primarily about carving silly faces in pumpkins, soliciting treats from neighbors, and dressing up as Luigi rather than Lucifer, it’s probably ok.

Real Finnish Men

 Bonus points to those who recognised the original melody:)

Does Feminism Even Make Sense

 

 I've been told several times that cooking is oppression. One lady told me that she had no time to cook since she worked. I said: "Well, but even if you are a single mother and have to work, you still need to eat." I mean, really WT*? I can understand not cleaning your house regularly (maybe), but eating is something you need to do every day, several times a day. Does it even make sense to you?

All these ladies are "older", btw and should be Titus 2 women and here they are telling younger women not to cook. Let men cook, said somebody. Another one told me how women were emancipated in the 1970s with the invention of French fries. Of course, in those times we didn't know about transfats in margarine used in deep frying, I wonder how many people got heart problems because of it?

I guess cancer and heart attack from all this fast food is the real emancipation after all. That'll teach the patriarchy a lesson...

The Importance Of Marital Bed

 There was an old lady once (about 20 years ago) whose husband became severely handicapped and had to go into a nursing home. She refused to accompany him, saying that she was still too young and healthy. Next thing happened, that lady's liberal Evangelical (!) church barred her from communion citing "the divorce of table and bed" as a reason. In those less enlightened times, even many liberal churches considered a divorced woman a sinner not worthy to partake in sacraments.

Of course, nowadays we know better. Even fundie wives don't think twice before kicking the old man out of the house the moment he becomes seriously sick and nobody bats an eye. People told me my mother-in-law was some kind of a saint for simply doing her wifely duty and staying with her husband till the end.

Yet, not so long ago, "the divorce (or separation) from table and bed" was a legal concept dating back to the Middle Ages. When I married in the beginning of the 2000s I was told that it was a marital duty for me and my husband to live together. Last time I checked, they don't say it any more. But in the times past, one spouse abandoning the other or denying him/her "the spousal rights" (i.e. s8x) was grounds for legal divorce. 

Marriage wasn't considered a real marriage until consummated (husband and wife having s8x) and even the Catholic Church allowed annulment in this case. Because marriage without sharing the bed and communal housekeeping is nothing more than a sham. Once you deny your spouse these things, you have already divorced him (her), just unofficially. 

I wish these wives who deny their husbands (and vice versa, because it also happens) would keep it in mind.

Marriage is honourable in all and the bed undefiled.

How To Be A Good Christian Housewife

 It's actually very easy. To be a good Christian housewife, you need 2 things only. A breadwinner husband  and you staying home doing housekeeping.

A disclaimer: I'm not writing this post to criticise other people's choices, but rather to support those women who want to stay home but feel overwhelmed by different things pushed on the internet as a requirement while they are clearly an option. Let's not be like pharisees teaching as doctrine the commandments of men. Some of these things aren't even in the Bible but are simply typical for some (American) Christian subcultures which makes it even more difficult for European women to relate.

This said, to stay home you don't need the permission or agreement of your parents/parents-in-law or other family. Your husband is the head of your household, not his mother, or yours for this matter. 

You don't need to have a certain amount of children. You can have 1 child, 3, 10 or none. While the Scriptures call children a blessing there is never a fixed number mentioned. Sarah, a very godly woman who is an example for the believers had none for the most part of her marriage. They also don't have to be of a certain age (young, pre-schoolers etc). They can be all adults and live on their own and you can still be a homemaker.

You don't need to birth them in a certain way. There are those who push home birth as the "only godly option" or will tell you that a C-section is somehow sinful. It's not only nonsense, it's downright irresponsible to give such advice online. The same is true about epidural/natural, induction etc. Those are health decisions which are between the woman and her doctor and disregarding medical advice in such a case can lead to very serious consequences, including death of your baby. Please keep it in mind.

Once the child is born, the new mother is burdened with even more advice from well-wishers. Cloth diapers, co-sleeping, breastfeeding on demand till a certain age. To vaccinate or not. Of course, there is nothing wrong with many of these things, but they are personal choices, not religious dogma. Instead of always turning to the internet, why not asking your mother? This is something with which she can help, seeing that she raised you and you turned out fine:)

Another thing that you don't need to do to stay home is home school. Home schooling is typically American. It's not widespread in other countries, some countries such as Germany downright forbid it. Does it mean that a German woman can never be a housewife? Homeschooling is a valid choice, but again, it is a choice. You also don't need to have a home business. Once again, it's personal. It's not commanded anywhere in the New Testament, it's (imo) a legalistic demand based on the certain interpretation of the Proverbs 31, which, btw, is in the OT.

You don't need to dress in a certain way. The Bible talks about modest and distinctly feminine clothes, but doesn't tell you to wear only dark colours, for instance, like some churches do. You don't need to follow a certain diet. You can be a vegetarian or a carnivore, or whatever, it's your personal preference. You don't need to live on a farm/from subsistence farming because "all cities are sinful". Your husband doesn't have to be self-employed. You can send your son to college/university (whether it's a good choice for a daughter is another debate) without sinning. 

I could go on and on but I hope you get my point. We have freedom in Christ. Some things are clear commands, like "Thou shalt not commit adultery". Others are up for discussion. You don't have to live a Little House on the Prairie lifestyle like some Christians would tell you, but, of course, you are free to do it if both you and your husband like it.

Smile, It's Monday!

 

Courtesy of Gab. Sometimes they do have nice things posted:)

What I Eat In A Day

 I thought it was time to have another one of these, since folks always appear to be interested in food others are eating.Starting with myself:)

My regular readers probably know that I currently don't eat meat, but I do eat fish several times a week. So here is what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast

A cup of Redbush tea with honing (I don't tolerate caffeine well), a banana and 2 sorts of grapes, a glass of full fat milk, and crisp bread, 1 piece with peanut butter, the other with a bit of butter and plum jam.

Lunch

Water with home baked bread (from a bread baker. I don't do it very often but this week I decided to use it), 1 slice with butter and apple butter, the other with mashed sardines, ketchup and cucumber. 

Wait, that's not all, here's more:)

Cacao made with water, some (full fat) coffee milk and honey, plus a chocolate cookie. Not the healthiest of choices (the cookie, that is) , but I thought I deserved it after being outside doing shopping for nearly 2 hours.

I drank a cup of tea around 4.30 p.m. and then it was time for dinner. 

I combined 2 recipes from a German vegetarian cooking magazine and here is what I got. A glass of water and 2 pita breads, frittata omelette made with eggs (1 per person), some full fat milk, cheese (1 slice per person), onion, carrot and herbs + ground nuts (almond, walnut and something else, I forget) + broad beans (I hope it's the correct name) tomato salad. 

We also had dessert:

Full fat yogurt with ground flax seeds and sunflower seeds and 1tsp of jam. In the evening I drank another cup of tea and that was all. 

A note about dairy, women are recommended to eat at least some full fat dairy, just don't overdo it:)

Women, Lower Your Standards

 You are not a princess,

your father lied to you:)