Be Prepared...

August 8, 2011

Proverbs 31:27 …does not eat the bread of idleness

I must admit that the taste of idleness is good to my lips. I am by nature a true procrastinator. This I know is sin and true to the character of God, He will work to rid His children of their sin. I know that God has been working on this in my life heavily for the past year of so, and even more so in the past few weeks. I have learned that only in being prepared will I ever be successful in what I hope to accomplish. This is never truer than in our home schooling. I can only expect my children to be successful to the degree that I am prepared. I know, because I have done this, we cannot go up to the schoolroom and do well that day if I am not prepared. Consequently I cannot be prepared if I have eaten the bread of idleness. I want to be successful at all that God has given me to do; I want to know when I lay my head down at night that I have given my all to my responsibilities, yet, to do this I must give up my taste of idleness. This is hard for me. I know that there some overachievers out there that will not understand this, but for me it is true. We all, everyone of us, have areas that are hard for us, that we must battle our flesh for, we should expect that God would want us to rid ourselves of them, and He will accomplish this by bringing it up in our lives constantly.

Being a Woman of Excellence...

April 15, 2011


Proverbs 31:31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates

A woman of this magnitude who is excellent in her love for God, her taking care of her family, and her strength of character is known by those around her. In an earlier verse, it was noted that because of her taking such great care of her family her husband was well known in the city gates. Well the same is said for her here. Perhaps it is a case of others being able to “look” into her life and see all the riches, and I don’t just mean monetary, found there. The bible calls us, as believers, to be lights in a dark world; to show the world what living a life for Christ looks like. What sort of picture would we be if we act as if life is horrible for us? If we act as if our lives are lacking something, how can we show what an awesome savior we serve. As women, how can we point others to Christ if we act as though our lives are terrible? We can be women of excellence; everything we need in order to live like we are has been given to us. Remember earlier I noted that these verses are a picture of what her whole life looked like…if we were to look at what the total sum of all our days show what would we see? What would we need to change in order to be women of excellence? I don’t think that this great lady is someone we can never aspire to be but I do think that in order to exemplify some of her characteristics we must decide to let go of our self’s and put what we have into the family God has given to us.

What Makes Us Worthy?

April 14, 2011


Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised

Of all the many wonderful and inspiring things we could say about this lady, and there are many, the most important is her godliness. This surpasses them all; in fact, without it the others are worthless. That is what is meant by charm being deceitful; obviously there is nothing wrong with being charming, but if your charm is not tempered with godliness it could be used as untrue flattery to only get your way. The same is true for beauty. We, as women, should relish in our femininity, we should love to accentuate our beauty. However, if it is not tempered with godliness, beauty like charm will become a distortion to what God intended. Proverbs is a book full of wisdom for living a life full of godliness, and as the author points out, this wonderful, excellent lady was praised for fearing, or loving, God as her utmost character trait. If at the end of my life, others could say the same about me, that I loved God most, I will have lived a fulfilling life.

Needing the Words...

April 13, 2011


Proverbs 31:29 Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all

This goes along with verse 28 where we see that both her husband and her children praise her for how she takes care of them. This is an extension to that verse. “Words of Affirmation and Love” is one of my love languages, or for those who are not sure what that is, “Words of Affirmation and Love” is a way that I feel love, a way that makes me realize that others love and appreciate me. (If you have no clue what I’m talking about google Gary Chapman 5 Love Languages.) I wonder if this woman was the same; I wonder if hearing this beautiful praise out of the mouths of her husband and children gave her a wonderful sense of love. Yet, as I had that thought, I realized, she would have done all she did anyway, despite a lack of praise, because she did it out of a sense of loving God. He was the reason she sacrificed, she worked, and she toiled day and night. Had she lived her life without knowing how much her family loved and appreciated her that would have been fine; not to say she wouldn’t have missed it, but God’s glory would have been more important to her. Having said that, I must say that I’m sure hearing these words of praise from her family must have swelled her heart. Is there anyone in our lives that deserve hearing some words of praise? If so…give it to them!

Better Than Cinderella...

April 12, 2011


Proverbs 31:28 …her husband also, and he praises her

It’s funny how early we get our ideas of love and what it should be and what it should look like; those who are fortunate enough to have it displayed in their homes by their parents are blessed immensely. But if you’re not so fortunate, many times you turn to fairytales; I love fairytales, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White (this is only one of the many reasons I love Walt Disney World). However, as fun as each of those stories are to read and pretend; they are not a very honest interpretation of love. Being “in love” is not exactly like that. Instead, being “in love” is both more complicated and easier than that. Honest true love that should define a marriage of believers is one of choice. You choose each day to love your husband no matter what. You choose to show him love in small and big ways each day. Hopefully the same if being done for you too! How much more liberating is it to rest in the knowledge that your husband’s love isn’t based on some fleeting emotion that might leave as quickly as it came, instead, his love is based on his choosing to love you. One of my most favorite verses in the bible is Song of Solomon 2:17 “My beloved is mine and I am his…”. What an intimate portrait of marriage is this. We, husbands and wives, are not just two people who live together, raise children together, but are not together. Nope, we are a couple, we are two people whose lives are so intertwined that you cannot separate the two. I am deeply in love with my husband, and our marriage is not perfect, we fight, we make up, we argue but every day we choose to love each other more. This is the marriage I would guess that our Excellent Woman enjoyed with her husband!

What will make us blessed?

April 11, 2011


Proverbs 31:28 Her children rise up and call her blessed…

Is there any greater blessing a mother desires? For me, no, there is nothing I desire out of my life more than this. I mean, of course, I want to be of great use to God and I want to be a wonderful wife for my husband (I’ll deal with this tomorrow.) Yet, to hear my children say this is something my heart desires greatly. Proverbs 30:11 says “There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers”, we have two options here. We can be a mother worthy of blessing or one who is not. The choice is ours. The Proverbs 31 woman is a woman who embodies being a great mother while at the same time is hard working, entrepreneurial, and not in any way selfish with her time and abilities. I would have to say she was a woman who felt fulfilled with her life. I doubt she ever felt like her life was missing something; yet, she is a woman defined by motherhood and a strong desire to make sure her household prospered. I’m going out on a limb here and say that as a woman with children this should be our greatest desire. We may, as women, have many things that we will love in each season of our lives, but above it all should be a desire to be a mother worthy of praise. MacArthur says, “There can be no higher joy for a mother than for her children to grow up to praise her as the source of the wisdom that made them godly.” No sacrifice is too great, no work too demeaning, no morning to early to get up that should keep us from this. In today’s society, it’s sort of taboo to admit that being a great mom is all you want out of life; as if I should be ashamed to not want more. Well, I don’t; this is the greatest desire of my life, to be a Mother worthy of praise. Can’t we have it all as women; well, of course our Excellent woman did many things but she never lost sight of her family’s well-being as her first priority. So, I guess we have to ask ourselves what do we mean by “having it all.”

The Taste of Idleness...

April 8, 2011


Proverbs 31:27 She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness

One of the more recognized verses associated with The Proverbs 31 Woman, right. I mean we’ve all read this; we’ve all compared ourselves to her in this matter and come up short, right. Well let me just say that I have. Again, I think it’s important to remember this embodied her whole life, this was a characteristic that was woven into each day. Maybe for us we can’t say we never “eat the bread of idleness” at some point, but we could say that we strive very hard not to. I have a great friend who once shared a story with me on how she came to be the immaculate keeper of the home she is today. What did she do?...she prayed about it; she prayed that God would make her a good housekeeper, and you know what, He did. Many times when we pray there is a sense of uncertainty, like we don’t really know if God will answer in the way we want. However, I believe that if you pray for biblical things to be added to your life, God delights in answering those. If you no longer want the taste of idleness on your tongue, pray it away. Pray that God would make you a woman who looks well to the ways of her house hold and who does not eat the bread of idleness. It worked for my friend and it will work for you. How did it work for me? Well, pretty good; I’m so much better than I used to be but not where I want to be yet!

The Loudness of Our Actions...The Kindness of Our Speech

April 7, 2011


Proverbs 31:26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue

For most of Proverbs men have been used as “concrete examples” of the holders of wisdom. The Proverbs 31 woman is our example that women are 100% capable and responsible for understanding and having the wisdom found here in the book of Proverbs. We, as women, can’t use the excuse that the Bible is sometimes seen as masculine to neglect reading, understanding, and obeying what it tells us to do. The fact is God’s word is full of wonderful examples for Godly women for us to learn from; this great woman is only one of them. Not only is she wise, but also kind. The MacArthur Study Bible uses the word mercy instead of kindness. Though this lady is wise, she also tempers her wisdom with mercy. Mercy is defined as “Compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish.” Mercy is a fruit of the Spirit and is given to all at Salvation. So, even though it may not be your spiritual gift, it is yours in Christ Jesus. Knowing what God’s Word says for us to do on any given subject is great, it’s really half the battle, but if we can’t express that wisdom in a way that will not alienate everyone we talk to, what good are we. As Mom’s we have a great burden to make sure that our children have a right view of God, because make no mistake they will have an opinion, it is up to how we live that will show them how important He is to us. As the old saying goes…actions speak louder than words. But remember, when we do speak, do so in love and kindness along with wisdom.

Strength and Dignity are Her Clothing...

April 6, 2011


Proverbs 31:25 Strength and dignity are her clothing and she laughs at the time to come

Strength and dignity, what powerful words used to descried our “Excellent Woman.” Perhaps dignity is a word commonly associated with Christian women, but I doubt seriously that the world considers Christian women strong. After all, are we not called to submit; how can someone in submission be strong? Yet, here in God’s word, this big word is used as a character trait of this woman; it is so much a part of who she is that she wears it like clothing. It covers her; every decision, every attitude, every emotion is bathed in her strength. Strength is defined as “moral power, firmness or courage.” She has what it takes to face her future because she is strong enough to trust God and His will for her life. Yet, at the same time her life, attitude, and emotions are bathed in her dignity. She is able to be gracious in her strength. Her dignity balances out her strength. Dignity is defined as “inherent nobility and worth, poise and self-respect,” her dignity came from within.

Learning and Living...

April 5, 2011


Proverbs 31:24 She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchants

This is yet another example of her skill, entrepreneurial abilities, and responsibility to her family. Not only is she able to make beautiful things worthy to be sold in the market place, many people probably had the ability, but what is more impressive to me is that she had the self-drive to do it. I can imagine that this being several years ahead to the electric sewing machine that one didn’t just whip out clothes easily, I’m sure that even with an electric sewing machine one doesn’t whip out clothes easily; nope, I’d say she had to be diligent in planning her day to make sure that along with all her other responsibilities there was time for her sewing. I would love to know this lady’s heart; I would love to have seen her children. To know how they were impacted by living with such a woman. To expect to live up to this standard every day is unattainable and unnecessary. This “poem” is an “ideal” that we look to but realize that we will never truly be like every day of our lives. Like I’ve mentioned before I’m sure there were days when she was a little off; yet, for the whole of her life the desire for her household to thrive was greater than all else. The ability to put others in front of ourselves is a hard lesson but a necessary one. So, instead, of looking at this lady’s life and getting immediately depressed because our lives look nothing like this, and then giving up; pray about then pick one aspect of her life and add it to ours. If we have problems in the area of time management, or our appearances, or our self-discipline, work on one area until it’s complete. Then move on to the next one. Life is a learning experience, and will be greater for our having the patience to grow.

Reflections...

April 4, 2011


Proverbs 31:23 Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land

This verse, to me, really is totally opposite to what the world would say is necessary for women today. Most women today either would not realize or would not care that their conduct would affect their husband. However the basic fact is, how we conduct ourselves is a reflection on our husband and family, whether we admit it or not. Each aspect of our lives is like a mirror reflecting back on those that we love. Denying it does not mean it is not true. The Proverbs 31 lady knew this, and she used this to the betterment of her husband. Her conduct furthered her husband’s importance in their town. More to the point she wanted it to. This is also contrary to what the world teaches. This lady was actually able to put aside any selfish desire to look good and willingly promoted her husband. This doesn’t mean she was unknown or always in the background; it is obvious from what I’ve read so far that she was very well known and respected in her own right. Yet, she never selfishly set out to promote herself. She willingly desired that her husband be known “in the gates”. I think that it’s important to realize that this lady was not without sinful flesh herself. She would have had to battle the desire to promote herself just like we do; yet, she was successful. She was able to put aside what “she” might have wanted and embrace God’s will for her life... And lived happily for it.

Strength in Softness...

April 1, 2011


Proverbs 31:22 she makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple


The fact that her clothing was “fine linen and purple” shows us how successful she was in all her activities; as these were expensive materials to have your clothes made from. I cannot imagine that this woman who has been so diligent in every aspect of her life would let her personal appearance go. I love being a girl; l love dressing up, putting on make-up, jewelry, you name it, if it’s girly I’ll love it. I relish in that aspect of my femininity; it doesn’t define me but I believe it adds to who I am. I often wonder what causes women to lose this about themselves. I wonder why women can’t see that there is strength in softness. God created us to be feminine, but that does not mean He made us weak. Of course, as believers, both male and female, our strength comes from God’s indwelling spirit, and to think otherwise is pride. I’m not talking about that, instead, what I’m referring to is how many women refuse to be women. They refuse to embrace what makes us feminine, makes us soft. Then of course you have the opposite woman who thinks it’s necessary to show every asset she has at the ballpark. I’m not talking about that either; there is beauty in modesty also. What I’m getting at here is be the “woman” God created you to be. Take care of yourself, take care of what you wear (make the clothes you go to bed in be different from the clothes you go to wal-mart in!) take care of that you look like when you go out the door. This lady did, and I think she did so because she knew that she represented her husband, her family, her household and most importantly her God.

Be Prepared...

March 31, 2011


Proverbs 31:21 She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet

Snow here represents the cold that would have reached her home in early Palestine. Yet, she was not concerned about it, but she was prepared for it. Being prepared is not something that just happens, unfortunately. It is something that must be planned for. Prepared is defined as “organized or equipped; ready”. I have in the past few years discovered the blessings of living an organized life. Although, this is not my normal inclination; it is a state that I relish being in. However, for me this is work. I’m not one of those ladies that this comes natural for. I recently spent all our spring break cleaning up kid’s closets, rooms and our playroom. I felt so much better when it was completed but it was hard work. Not only was it hard to clean but it’s hard to make sure it stays that way. I believe there is no way to be prepared, or to have our family prepared, without being organized on a daily basis. And for some of us this means work and more work!

Opening Our Hands and Our Hearts

March 30, 2011


Proverbs 31:20 she opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy

It’s obvious that this lady is not in any way selfish; she freely gives of her time and money to her family. However, it’s one thing to sacrifice for, to work for, your family. It’s one thing to do all in your power to make sure that they not only have what they need, but they have it in abundance. Yet, it’s something altogether different to do it for someone less fortunate, for strangers. Here, once again, this lady is an excellent example for us. Since she has worked so hard for her family, God has given her an abundance, and she is choosing to help others with it. She isn’t keeping it, but giving it away. In order to do this, she must first see and recognize that there are others less fortunate; how easy is it to get in our own little bubbles of need and ignore that there might be others even worse off than ourselves? I think it’s easy to do that. I think that it’s probably easier to ignore others in need than to open our hands, hearts and homes to those with less than us. We try very hard to teach our children that what we have was given to us by God, and we have to take care of it because He has entrusted it to us. Part of the “taking care of” is helping others; is going outside ourselves and seeing that there is a whole world of people in need.

Her Hands were Dirty and Calloused...Sometimes

March 29, 2011


Proverbs 31:19 she puts her hands to the distaff and her hands hold the spindle.

These tools were used to turn wool to thread in order to make clothes. I find it interesting that even though this lady was wealthy, she still worked hard for her family. Never having actually used a spindle to make thread I’m just guessing, but I would assume that, this was hard work and not something glamorous or fun. I like knowing that she wasn’t afraid to do the hard stuff. She got her hands dirty in the fields, and her hands were calloused from her work at the spindle. Yet, she still had the finesse necessary to deal with the merchants when selling land and buying fine clothing. She wasn’t a woman defined by only one thing. She was a woman willing to do anything. I doubt that she was too concerned that working with a spindle was considered “woman’s work”, instead, I’d say she just looked at it as necessary work. I think many Christian women would prefer to pretend the Proverbs 31 woman didn’t exist because she portrays a hard ideal to live up to. Yet, I look at her as someone with great wisdom to add to our lives. We can learn great things from her, and I would imagine she would be glad we were learning from her.

Her Lamp Does Not Go Out at Night...

March 28, 2011


Proverbs 31:18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable Her lamp does not go out at night

I’ll admit to being confused a bit at this verse; so, I assumed that there was probably some deep meaning behind the words. However, they pretty much are literal translations. She makes sure that all the things she has produced for her family is good; she has no desire for them to have less than the best she can provide, no matter the cost to herself. “Her lamp does not go out at night” is also a literal translation. This lady who we learned a few verses ago gets up before dawn will also work until after dark. Her lamp is on to allow her to continue with the work she needs to do. There would be no way she would do this if her family was not her first priority, second only to her relationship with God of course. I also like knowing that these 22 verses are not a “day in the life of…” but more of a picture of what her whole life looked like. I’m sure (well, I’m hoping) that she had days that were less active; yet, for the most part she worked hard for her family whom she loved and sacrificed for. How easy it is for us to forget how much our families depend on us? How easy it is for us to fall into the trap of self-pity and laziness? Of course, we all need a break every now and then, but like this lady a life of working for the benefit of our families should be a picture of what our lives look like!

Dressing with Strength and A Really Cute Outfit...

March 26, 2011


Proverbs 31:17 She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong

I believe that this woman was feminine; I believe that she took great pains with her appearance, and that of her family (we’ll get to that verse soon). Yet, her femininity was not an excuse to avoid the hard work. I think there can be two extremes here: I think that women can use their femininity to get out of hard work or they can totally ignore their femininity, deny their woman-ness. I am a firm believer that in this one area women can have it all. You can be as feminine as you want to, go ahead be an all out girly girl, but you can also be strong. You can do the hard work, you can get dirty (true you may not like it, I don’t), but you can do it.

Being Resourceful...and Good at Math!!

March 25, 2011


Proverbs 31:16 She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard

Let me start off by saying that Terry handles all our financial stuff; mainly, I think because his mind is geared to that much better than mine. I freak out at any and all thoughts of math; however, I love money!! I think this lady I’m learning so much about was resourceful, and just maybe pretty good at math!! I’m not a biblical scholar but I wonder if she did these things because that’s how her mind was geared, like Terry’s. But just because this might not be my strong suit gives me no excuse not to use my gifts to better my family’s life. That’s what I think the Proverbs 31 woman is doing here; she is taking a gift God has given her, her entrepreneurial mind, and using it to make her family prosper. I may not be able to comprehend how to sell a field and buy another one, or really anything in the realm of “business” but perhaps, God has other ways for me to help my family. I’m sure that He has; I just have to open to any possibility that may present itself. Also, I’d like to point out the fact that this lady obliviously worked outside her home. I’m not sure because the bible isn’t specific of exactly what that entailed, but I can be sure of one thing. Her family never suffered for her extra activities. She did what she did not out of a sense to be a better “woman”, but to make her family better. There was no selfish motive behind her; instead, there was great selfless-ness (is that a word?). I can say that because it was done with a great amount of self-sacrifice. Yesterday’s verse is a great example “She rises while it is yet night…” she willingly sacrificed her sleep to see that she accomplished all she needed to.

She Rises While it is Still Night...

March 24, 2011


Proverbs 31:15 She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens

Since this was not the age of microwaves and cold cereal, this lady had to get up before dawn in order to make sure that her household, her family, had food. I’ll admit to being in awe of that. There was a time in my life that I had myself “trained” to get up early, and I loved it. However, once lost it’s a very difficult habit to get back in to. MacArthur states that the Proverbs 31 woman did this “gladly.” This is a sacrifice that’s difficult to make grudgingly, not to mention gladly. One of my favorite sayings is, “God gives you exactly what you can do in the twenty-four hours He grants us…”; if we “run out of time”, perhaps we are doing things He hasn’t meant for us to. I doubt very seriously that those “things” are extra work; for me at least, those “things” could certainly be in the realm of lazy or selfish. I have often wondered if maybe one of the reasons God called us to home school our children was to show me how selfish I was with my time. I also think that one of the reasons this year has been so difficult for me is because I am rebelling against the constraints placed on what “I” want to do. “She rises while it is still night..” symbolizes, for me at least, a woman willing to give what is necessary, even as a sacrifice of herself, for the betterment of her family. To her, her family is worth it; is mine?

An Excellent Woman, Couponing, and Kroger

March 23, 2011


Proverbs 31:14 She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar

This verse reminds me of a few years ago; one Sunday night, we come home from church, and caught the very end of a program on the Food Network. It was about this lady who had made couponing and stockpiling her life’s work. Well, after some research, Terry and I decided to give it a shot. I well remember my first trip, ever, to Kroger. For some reason I was so nervous, yet, that trip changed our lives, as far as grocery shopping went. Then like most things that are hard and require work, I gave it up or rather wasn’t diligent in it anymore. Then through the life of my great sis-in-law, Jen (read about her couponing adventures here), I was convicted to give couponing another shot. Sadly, it wasn’t that I decided that couponing wasn’t working or worth the effort; I had just gotten lazy. This is a great way for our family to: a.) eat great food and b.) save LOTS of money. Despite the amount of time couponing takes I am determined to see this through (this time.) “Excellent women would go far to secure the best food for their families (MSB).”