Distractions...there are so many out there to rob of us God's beautiful calling as a woman.

Titus 2:3-5 tells us the priorities of a godly woman...from either the commands for the older women or what the younger women should be learning. It is all relevant to us no matter what our age or our level of spiritual maturity. All of us who love God and want His Word to be honored should be striving to be the kind of woman that is described in these verses.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

If we do not think we are an older women yet, we should still be striving to be this kind of woman because to be able to teach and train younger women, we have to learn to be this way first. It is taught by example.

It is a discipline of the heart...it is a matter of trusting God...it takes perseverance because a lot of these things do not come naturally for us and it is hard sometimes.

Thankfully, the Lord has not left us alone to *work* at this...there is no striving to be anything outside of God's grace in our lives. In other words, it is through His strength and grace that we can even be a tiny piece of the picture of a Titus 2 woman. But, His grace is sufficient, isn't it? He will equip us to be all He has called us to be.

Our role in this, though, is to put away the distractions in our lives.

We must see what these distractions are and get rid of them.

Doesn't being a Titus 2 woman take a lot of time? We must have a fixation on the Lord and His Word to be pursuing these Biblical ideals. And we must rest in Him as we seek to learn from our mistakes and see His higher ground.

Recently, I made a list of some of the Titus 2 priorities that I have...things that I see as important...things that have Biblical roots and come from the verses in Titus 2. This list does not include all of my responsibilities as a keeper of the home, but it was the ones that came to my mind first, as first importance.

*Loving my husband--finding practical ways to show him how special he is to me.
*Being a help mate to my husband--meeting his needs, stopping what I am doing to help him.
*Encouraging my husband--thinking of ways to build him up in the Lord, listening to him, having interesting conversations with him.
*Loving my children--showing tenderness and affection especially when they are sick or hurt.
*Encouraging my children.
*Practicing kind and loving discipline.
*Homeschooling my children and helping with school related activities and assignments.
*Serving and ministering to those in need.
*Being a loving friend to others.
*Serving in my church family.
*Showing hospitality to friends and strangers. (need lots of work in this area!)
*Preparing healthy meals--grocery shopping, finding recipes, etc.
*Purchasing clothing for my family.
*Keeping my home neat and clean. (some days I really need a maid!)
*Making sure laundry is done--clothes are clean and put away...(children help with some of these things)
*Being involved with my family--doing arts and crafts with younger children, playing with them, playing outdoors, having fun together, etc.
*Helping my husband with family worship time and doing bible studies with my children.

I do not do all these things well, but see them as a priority that I must be working on all the time. All of these things take TIME! What things in my life are taking the place of doing these things? How important is our time to the Lord and how do we use our time wisely in a way that brings honor to the Lord?