Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman by Anne Ortlund, originally published by Word Books, 1977, available in many other formats and editions.
Well! After the Great Book Cleanout of several weeks ago, I couldn’t find my copy of this book and was very distressed to think that I might have thrown it out. I do go back and re-read it periodically, and it means a great deal to me, so I was greatly relieved when it turned up.
I quoted Anne in the “eliminate and concentrate” post last week. She was a tremendously talented and energetic woman who was a pastor’s wife, author, composer, and speaker. I’m sorry that I never got to hear her speak in person, but reading this book is almost as good. I would strongly urge you, if you’ve never done so, to get hold of a copy. It’s quite short, only 132 pages in my edition, so you don’t have to make a major investment of time to read it.
In recent years we have been obsessed with figuring out what a woman should be allowed to do. [True in 1977 and still true today!] God says in His Word that a woman can do anything; that point is not what she does but what she is. When a woman is wise, and full of kind words, and hard-working and conscientious, and helpful to her man if she has one, and deeply reverent in her love for God–in other words, if she is a beautiful woman with a meek and quiet spirit–she can do anything in this whole wide world, and the world will praise her for it. (130)
When I was a girl growing up riding horses on Army posts, I learned that no jumping horse ever really wants to jump. No matter how pedigreed he is, if possible he’ll turn aside at the last minute and let the rider go over the jump alone! So there’s a crucial moment when spurs, knees, and hands all tell the horse, “You’re going to jump, and you’re going to jump now.”
All through the years I had fleeting thoughts of wonderful things to be or do. Or I had moments of actual conviction that I really ought to be this or do that. But somehow I let the moment pass.
I think of all the years I’ve believed in a daily quiet time, practiced a daily quiet time, taught others the value of a daily quiet time. But when a particular morning comes along with a long list of things to do, I’m just as tempted as anyone else to let it slip–just this one morning.
Then I need a sudden pressure–the equivalent of spurs, knees, and hands–that says, “You’re going to meet the Lord first, and you’re going to meet him now.”
That spur is my notebook. (122-123)
I’d better quit quoting; I’m sure I’m over the 200-word “fair use” limit as it is. But I hope that these passages have given you a flavor of the book and a desire to read the rest. I find the ideas in the above paragraph to be particularly compelling, as I am a champion time-waster. I’ve never quite given her notebook system a whole-hearted try (and probably should do so), but just the thought of “You’re going to do it now” is tremendously helpful to me. So, I’m going to end this post now and go put in an hour of housecleaning. All these years after my first reading and this book is still having its effect on me!