Building Her House

Building her house: commonsensical wisdom for Christian women, by Nancy Wilson

I like Credenda/Agenda, a theology magazine. One of the editors conviced his wife to write a column for women, and this book is a collection of her essays. My mom gave this book to me, and she blogged it here. Here I am modeling my Christmas gifts:

Her issues are concrete and her tone direct. Mrs. Wilson is very practical in her subject matter and her advice. I appreciate it--I think too many Christian women writers say too little in too many words. Here's one of my favorite paragraphs, from the chapter "Your Baby Has a Soul."

"All the loving attentiveness a mother gives her children is food for their souls. When the child is a small baby, all those smiles and kind words, the laughing and playfulness, and the motherly delight and pride in each new accomplishment is used by God to prosper a baby's soul. And it continues as the child grows. Even the smallest gesture, if done in love and kindness, is nourishing. We want our children to have fat little souls, to be healthy plants, as in Psalm 144:12: 'that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth.'"

Isn't that a great image? What a great phrase, "fat little souls." I don't believe there is a neat and tidy deliniation between the physical and spiritual world. I like to think that chubby baby thighs and round little bellies and apple-cheeked smiles somehow contain the sustenance needed to grow this little person into spiritual maturity.

You may think I'm nuts, but this thought is greatly encouraging when I'm nursing Violet at 3 am!)