I’m highlighting posts from the week on LinkedIn, particularly a post about my brother’s unique work with single women and moms. However, I think you’ll find the content from Solomon to be evergreen.
So whenever you have time to read this article, take a moment to pour a cup of coffee or tea. Some of these things only take a couple minutes, you know. Here’s a tip for brewing loose leaf tea in a Keurig.
Tea Time
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All Scripture quotations are from the NRSV, and these are Proverbs of Solomon.
Proverbs xiv.23 | a prayer for the week
In all toil there is profit,
but mere talk leads only to poverty.
* May His hands guide our hands this week, and may we remember our vocation is a means of participation in His ongoing global, creative, and renewing work.
Proverbs xv.6 | an initiative for single women & moms
In the house of the righteous there is much treasure,
but trouble befalls the income of the wicked.
* I have discovered this to be true. You can’t often tell how much money the family deals with by the size of the house or their bank account. They often distribute their wealth in investments throughout the home.
My son is napping on my brother’s couch, in a great room that includes the dining room, kitchen, entryway, and a couple main hallways. The couch is a wraparound couch, so many people from the family can sit and talk at once, not just immediate family.
His dining table is the one our family bought when we were young; solid oak. We can insert a couple leafs so it can seat up to 8. We had many family dinners here each week, and Sunday afternoon lunch was an absolute requirement.
The layout of the home and just these 2 pieces of furniture reflect a family that cherishes family. The lighting is warm, as are the hugs, the games, the coffee and tea, and the conversation. There’s an open invitation to family and friends. My brother’s home is drop-in-able, so gatherings are seldom exclusive.
Now my brother is the director of a multimillion dollar women’s shelter. He is launching into phase 2, in which he will be able to house twice as many.
He does not only have apartments for single women, but he also houses single moms and their children.
Furthermore, he is a credentialed minister and it is a faith-based organization, so it is explicitly Christian.
God has given him treasure at home. Now he is helping others to recapture the treasure God has given them in their lives. Single women, as well as single moms and their families, are offered a reboot and many ways to reintegrate into society.
The center, their lives, and their narratives are now like the extended treasures of my brother’s righteous home.
I bet you would’ve never guessed all of that from this picture, although I’m not a betting man.
Look into the work of my brother’s overseer James Whitford for more information about all the programs, and for investment opportunities.
Proverbs xv.31 | establishing sanctuary
The ear that heeds wholesome admonition
will lodge among the wise.
* I have shared a prayer and an illustration from my own experience. However, I’ll just share a little bit about the meaning of this verse.
The idea of “wholesome admonition” is translated “constructive criticism” in the NLT. Perhaps a gentle critique is a better term than criticism, which still carries a negative tone. It may also be like the feedback loops we talk about in sociology. It can be translated as reproof or even rebuke, but it can also be translated as reasoning together.
This verse is definitely not talking about people who think they are wise, who feel like they have to straighten everyone out, and who feel like the only way to do so is to bite and criticize to put others in their place. Instead of wisdom, these types of critics are displaying great folly.
In light of the whole verse, I would say it is post-critical. It’s more about building others up, even if a critique is needed here and there, with the hope of establishing them.
The language speaks of a lodging with the wise, a word often used in the context of finding a place of rest overnight. This speaks of the hospitality of the Hebrews, to take in weary travelers overnight. It’s the idea of entering a place of rest among the wise, a sanctuary, not just a building, but the idea and the peace of sanctuary.
So build each other up, to help establish each other in place in the kingdom.
Rev. Jared Ingle
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