Building Her House - Nancy Wilson

Building Her House: Commonsensical Wisdom for Christian Women by Nancy Wilson

Canon Press

I know I'm behind the times. This book came out in 2006 and I've been trying to read it for awhile. I grabbed it on the way out the door thinking I needed something short between A House for My Name and Deep Comedy. I finished it that morning. :-)

Building Her House is awesome.

Okay, now that we understand each other, I shall continue.

This book is a compiling of numerous Credenda Agenda articles. As such, they cover a lot of topics, are concise, and applicable.

Here's an excellent quote from the preface that helps you get an idea of the book.

"As we pray and labor for reformation in the church in America, we have to keep our eyes on the little things that are not as little as we think--things like feasting together around our tables, loving the little people in our families, and living sacrificially for one another. These seemingly 'insignificant' duties are far more potent than we realize, for God sancfifies them and uses them to bless us, transform our communities, and bring glory to His name. It is my prayer that God might use these little essays to encourage faithfulness and joyfulness in the women who read them."

The book covers all sorts of aspects of Christian womanhood. I learned from and enjoyed all of it, even though some if it is beyond my stage in life. I recommend it for women of all ages.

Earlier this year I was talking to a very wise woman about the problems young ladies face. She began talking about the idea of pursuing maturity. I was like..what? That is so cool! I'd never thought of it that way and it has certainly given me a different perspective.

Nancy Wilson had a chapter entitled "Pursuing Virtue" that helped me think more about this concept. It was completely amazing. Even if you aren't planning on reading the whole book, you should get it for this chapter.

Here is a quote from the conclusion...

"Living and walking worthy of Christ means dressing in modest, chaste clothing that is consistent with a life of virtue and godliness. This requires wisdom, and most young women don't want to exercise wisdom in this area. They care more about attracting attention from the young men than they care about pleasing God.
Walking worthy means our behavior is governed by a desire to glorify God and obey Him in all things. It means actively pursuing virtue, not coasting. If we want to be known in our community as virtuous women, we must embrace God's standard of holiness in every area of our lives and reject every worldly standard that conflicts with this.
Ruth was a relatively young woman when she was praised this way by Boaz. Young women need not think this is something for them to think about later. It is essential now."

What a difference we would see in Christian young ladies if we could just remember these words!

She kept reminding me that no matter what we are doing, we should be remembering that we are Christian women. We are God's people. Shape up and act like it.

As a writing obsessed person, I also enjoyed examining how she fit her ideas into short, article length chapters. They are both interesting, direct and concise.

So, yes, it's a worthy read. The chapters are short enough to do with your daily Bible study. Or you can read it in a single morning, like I did...maybe you don't have a hideously long drive to go visit your sister though. ;-)

It has food for thought that will last much longer then the time it takes to read.

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

P.S. If nothing else, it's a good read because the cover is SO CUTE!