Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Striving to be the Proverbs 31 Woman


For those of you who don’t know, the Hubby and I are excitedly expecting our second child this coming January. So naturally I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. Chalk it up to pregnancy brain (when combined with “mommy brain” is a very dangerous thing!), but lately I've been feeling a little overwhelmed. If I take a lazy day because I’m feeling sickish, all of the housework is still there the next day (and the piles are even bigger!).  It seems like I already have my hands so full, so how in the world am I going to manage taking care of another little person?

Well, it all comes down to just a few basic things, folks – priorities and time management. And to be completely honest, I know that I could do a lot better managing the time that I have.

Let’s take a look at the woman from Proverbs 31. I’m putting the whole passage here for convenience sake, but feel free to pull out your own Bible and look it up. 

10 Who[b] can find a virtuous[c] wife?

For her worth is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
15 She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.
20 She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
25 Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.



My initial thoughts on this passage are, wow! This lady sure has it all together. She’s superwoman! There’s no way that anyone can do all that!

But a closer look makes me realize that yes—I can be like this woman. Not literally, since I don’t have any servants and I don’t wear a lot of linen or wool. But I can be like her in how I set my priorities. When I take a look at all that this woman accomplishes, and then compare it to my own life, I see the biggest thing that stands in my way – time wasters.

What do I mean by time wasters? They are simply anything you spend a lot of time on that doesn't necessarily accomplish anything. Like when you say you’re going to do laundry, but you sit down at the computer and get sucked into something and all of a sudden the Munchkin is waking up from his nap and you didn't even start the first load. Time wasters can be anything, and they are not the same thing for everyone. But if you are truly honest with yourself, you know what your biggest time wasters are.

The Proverbs 31 woman was diligent, willingly working to provide for her family. She “does not eat the bread of idleness” (v 27). If this woman lived today, she wouldn't spend hours on Pinterest collecting hundreds of new recipes to try or new crafts to do in her “spare time.” She wouldn't spend time on Facebook posting about all of the great things she was doing or tooting her own horn, so to speak. She would probably be a lot like many of the good Christian women that we all know. One of those women that does so much but you wouldn't know it because she don’t go around talking about all that she does – she just simply does it.

Today’s society spends so much time with social media, myself included. I can’t pinpoint exactly why it is so “big” these days. It could be that we need validation from others for the things we do. It could be for competition – perhaps we’re trying to show others how no one else could possibly be as busy/overworked/etc as we are.  But whatever the reason, we need to ask ourselves, are we accomplishing anything good with these time wasters, or are we eating the bread of idleness?

I guess my main point is this – I don’t need to feel overwhelmed at the promise of a new baby. He or she will simply be fit into our family puzzle and things will work themselves out. As long as I make taking care of my family and their needs my priority, God will make sure that I can handle it all.


I hope this makes sense. If not, I’m blaming it on my crazy hormones!