proverbs31-woman.com

I hope you enjoy this Powerpoint Presentation I’ve made of the Proverbs 31 Woman.

I receive a daily devotional and this came through last week. I thought I’d share it here as it’s such a good message.

A Mother’s Work
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman
Thursday, May 01 2008

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother - which is the first commandment with a promise - that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth” (Eph 6:1-3).

One of the great tragedies of society today is the minimizing of the work performed daily by stay-at-home moms. Women who decide to stay home to raise their kids are a rare breed indeed. They must overcome the stigma of comparison to others who pursue careers outside the home. They fail to get the feelings of accomplishment that can come from a career. They are the unseen missionaries of our day. There will be a special reward for these selfless servants.

Without the commitment of our stay-at-home moms we would not have some of our greatest leaders. “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother,” said Abraham Lincoln.

Though poor, Ida Stover was determined to go to college. She scraped together enough money to attend Lane College in Lecompton, Kan., where she met fellow student David Eisenhower. She was known as a firm but gentle disciplinarian and was deeply religious. It is said she once won a prize for memorizing 1,365 Bible verses. As a pacifist, she was not in favor of her son attending West Point but decided to let him go. She was the mother of Dwight David Eisenhower, one of the greatest U.S. presidents.

Mary Litogot grew up on a farm, and met her future husband, William Ford, when he came to work on their farm. She was 12 and he was 26. They married nine years later. Mary was self-sufficient and a diligent worker. Henry later attributed his clean factories to her belief in cleanliness. She encouraged his interest in machines early on. He later said, “I have tried to live my life as my mother would have wished. I believe I have done, as far as I could, just what she hoped for me.” She was the mother of Henry Ford.*

Has God called you to be a stay-at-home mom? Know that your obedience and sacrifice will be recognized by the Lord.

*Adapted from Source: “Mothers: 100 Mothers of the Famous and Infamous,” edited by Richard Ehrlich; Paddington Press Ltd.

“Reprinted by permission from the author. Os Hillman is an international speaker and author of more than 11 books on workplace calling and faith at work. To learn more, visit http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org“

I love the Proverbs 31 woman and what she represents - a safe home and family environment, filled with love, warmth, caring, nurturing, provision. I believe, where possible, women should be at home with their children and they too, can be a business woman, just as the Proverbs 31 woman was. Below is an interview I did late last year after my book “Worth More Than Rubies: The Value of a Work At Home Mum” was launched.
The clip below comes from Youtube.

I’m very fortunate to be a member of the Baby Boomer Divas, a wonderful group of women, mainly from the US, but with a few from Australia, who are dedicated to sharing, uplifting and helping other women. In fact, I guess you could almost say we’re Titus 2 women too - as many of us work towards helping those younger than us based on our own life experiences.

These are a great group of women and if you’re in a suitable location you could be lucky enough to meet up with them!

They are going to have their first get together event - unfortunately for me, I can’t get there, although I’d love to!

April 18-20: Join hundreds of fellow Baby Boomers for Spring Break. The event will kick off Friday, April 18, with the taping of a town hall meeting by WCEU-TV to address issues and concerns of women at midlife. It will be followed by a meet and greet reception.

On Saturday, April 19 there will be a host of activities including a vendor shopping area, celebrity luncheon, aerobic workout session, pamper me mini-spas and seminars. The first 200 women to enter will receive a special gift bag fit for a Diva and $100 Visa Gift Cards will be given away as prizes during the seminars.

Tickets are still available and may be purchased at the door. Those interested in attending the luncheon and/or dinner must purchase their tickets in advance. For more information, go to http://www.beverlymahone.com.

Proverbs 31:10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.

Mothers Day is just weeks away, did you know that?  The days and hours are ticking away…

Last year I published a book based on this famous Proverbs 31 verse “She is Worth More Than Rubies” because it spoke of the value of a wife and mother in the home.  Not just a wife and a mother, but a work at home mum and business woman.

With the demands we have in life, jobs, interests, needs, family, friends, etc it is sometimes very hard to focus on our near and dear, those who really have need of us. The Proverbs 31 woman gives us the perfect example of a business mum and work at home mother, there for her family, running everything perfectly and contributing to the household income.

Now, I’m not expecting any of us to be running our households perfectly - there’s just no way we can do that, but we can learn a lot from this perfect role model.

Nearly 15 years ago I went through a real struggle, trying to cope with a corporate job and managing a household which consisted of a husband and 5 young daughters. I thought I was going to go crazy and if it weren’t for something that happened in 1993, I probably would have.

Have you noticed that when you are desperate and leaning towards a particular thought, that other things around you seem to congregate together to reinforce and confirm that thing? Both for the good and the bad?

This has been known as a number of things - I like to think of it as the RAS or the reticular activation system - what you think about you are drawn towards. Today many talk of The Secret or the Law of Attraction - it’s the same thing. But this is also a biblical principal as I mentioned in a post at my blog Workplace-Ministry.com “The Law of Attraction - a Christian View”.

For me, it was simple. I desperately wanted to be at home for my family. I needed to earn an income. I had good skills and needed to find a way I could use them and earn money at home.  Can you relate to this? I’m sure many of you can.

I won a wonderful prize in my city – Secretary of the Year in 1993 for the state of Victoria (Australia) and this was sponsored by Microsoft. Amongst my prize package was the full MS Office suite of that time.

We didn’t have a PC at home in those days but I said to my husband if we did, I could work at home. So we set about shopping for a PC for home - funny but not many people had computers at home in those days. I already had an Atari I used for music and simple databases and typing of stories but now I was moving into the ‘big stuff’. From that moment on a seed was sown in my head and within 6 months I’d left my safe, secure, government job and was setting up business at home.  Can you imagine doing that? Leaving the security of your job?  Or perhaps your job isn’t that secure these days?

I have not looked back – I love being home, I love that I have been here for our daughters as they grew up. They’re all now in their 20s but have very little recollection of a mum who worked in a job - my ‘job’ was at home where I belonged.

Going back to Mothers Day. The book I mentioned would make a wonderful gift for anyone you know who has the same hankering, the same passion, desire, call it what you will. I do believe that “Worth More Than Rubies” will not only confirm for the reader of their true worth but will also set them on the path to discovering what they can do to return home to work. I researched a number of businesses that could be run from home and list 64 different roles at the back of the book so that anyone reading it can see they have the same opportunities I did.

Now, wouldn’t that make a wonderful Mothers Day gift?