Madame Rousseau Blog

Inspired by Jody over at Homeschool Moments, and urged by the impending arrival of my guests next month, I’m taking a short blogging break.
I have to concentrate on getting my home to feel comfortable for guests, and I there are some projects I want to work on too.
I will answer comments if you have something to say on one of my posts, but I won’t be posting on here or commenting on the blogs I usually frequent. I am spending too much time on the computer lately!

So, I’m not disappearing on you all, and hope you’ll all be waiting here impatiently for my return (hahaha)

See ya!

Posted in blogging on July 16th, 2008
3 Comments

High season at the Rousseau mansion!
The guests are arriving… help!

On August 1st a young girl from Spain is arriving and she will be staying for a month. Her family are driving her up on their way to Holland, and they will be staying one or two nights.
At the same time (hopefully a few days later!) My BIL and SIL are moving in with us for a couple of months. I guess they will be bringing all their stuff with them, but that’s not a problem. We have storage space in the attic and the garage!

Now. I’m always nervous when I’m expecting guests, and I just found out yesterday that BIL and SIL will be coming at the same time as the girl from Spain, so now I have to get two rooms ready for people to sleep in.
We have a nice big house. Space is not a problem.

We have two rooms where our guests can sleep. One is my current office, meaning I’ll have to get the table and the computer out of here in order to get a bed in, and the other room is our toy room/guest room at the back of the house. The guest room has it’s own bathroom so it’s like a suite. In need of thorough cleaning, a coat of paint and some curtains! Oh, and something to make it look less like an empty room full of toys….

Once I do something about the messy state of my house, I can start thinking about how to cope with guests…. I’m not the most hospitable of people. I like people. I like guests. But I always feel like I’m entertaining, I have a hard time assigning chores or laying down any type of boundaries.

I am a bit nervous about having two different types of guests. The Spanish girl is practically a stranger to all of us. She wants to practice English and German and is happy to help out in the house. My BIL and DH will probably do stuff together, and I hope my SIL feels comfortable here.

I need good tips! So far, I thought I’d get us all around the table one evening and just discuss what everyone’s expectations are. What all should I bear in mind? I thought to ask about their plans, bedtimes and household chores that each can be responsible for.

I hope I have a car by then….

Posted in oikodespotes on July 10th, 2008
5 Comments

You’re going to have to forgive me for this shower of lazy posts! I’m having so much fun reading these articles!

I did an exhaustive study of the word “roles” in Strongs Concordance. It didn’t take long since the word doesn’t exist there or in the Bible. Wendy Francisco

Read more…

Posted in Marriage, Law, common misinterpretations on July 6th, 2008
6 Comments

Certain circles within the church are very hung up on who has authority over whom, who should be given authority to do what, and have thus set up what I believe to be imaginary chains of command.
This article from Wendy Francisco expresses my thoughts and convictions much better than I could. She writes clearly, and I think she’s spot on.
What do you all think?

Authority in the Church

Posted in Christian walk, church, Law, common misinterpretations on July 6th, 2008
No Comments

Let’s face it - tithing is somewhat of a sacred cow. For such a major aspect of what we call western evangelicalism, there are amazingly few verses about it in the New Testament. What verses are there are not direct teachings about the continuation of tithing. …So, if we are going to tithe in a legalistic sense, we had better start taking pinches of pepper out of the pantry, too. ( Wendy Francisco)

Read the whole article

If you don’t tithe, your car will break down

What do you think?

Posted in church, Law on July 5th, 2008
4 Comments

Last Saturday, I followed a chain link to a post on Denny Burk’s blog (Editor of CBMW, the “Complementarian Bible”) concerning a preaching by Bruce Ware, “The complementarian reading of Genesis”. (That was Denny Burk’s post title) Read more…

Posted in Marriage, blogging, common misinterpretations on July 2nd, 2008
6 Comments

Jesus said, in Matthew 19

- 4And He answered and said, “Have you not read (E)that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,

5and said, ‘(F)FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND (G)THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’?

6″So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

Read more…

Posted in Parenting, Marriage on June 29th, 2008
7 Comments

Silas hasn’t had a proper pair of shoes, that really fit, for several months. He was wearing a pair of sandals that Gabriel wore last summer, but they were hurting his feet. If I sent him to get his shoes on to go out, he’d slide his feet into a pair of water boots…. Read more…

Posted in Uncategorized on June 28th, 2008
6 Comments

Onan sinned. God slew him. That’s a fact we find in Genesis chapter 38.

6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.

8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Lie with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so he put him to death also.

But why did God slay him instead of allowing Tamar to take a sandal off of his foot and spit in his face in the presence of elders? Read more…

Posted in Marriage, Bible women, church, Law, common misinterpretations on June 27th, 2008
7 Comments

Jesus said

Matthew 11:
28″Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The Message says it like this:

28-30″Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Whatever is burdening you today. Wherever you are in life. Jesus is there, waiting to give you a break from it. As long as you will give it to HIM.

I love this song. Listen and be blessed.

Give a Heart a Home

Posted in Christian walk, Marriage, church on June 27th, 2008
No Comments