proverbs31-woman.com

I’ve had some interesting discussions with many people recently in relation to the recent publishing of my new book “Worth More Than Rubies” which grew out of this blog. And I’ve also read several blog posts about the same subject.

So many see the role of a Proverbs 31 Woman as daunting and impossible to reach, and perhaps in some ways it is. But many overlook verse 15 which states, “She gets up whilst it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.”

When there are others involved in assisting with anything at all, the load is lightened. We don’t have ’servant girls’ these days for the most part, but we do have family members and friends and in a day and age of very busy lives, it is good to pull the family together to share in household chores and activities. It is not harmful for the children to learn at a young age to help around the household or even when you’re out somewhere else. To do simple things like picking up after themselves at home and elsewhere, help carry things to and fro the car or house, and to ask you if you need help when they see you are busy.

If there are no other family members and simply a couple, then sharing the load between the two as much as possible should definitely help. But there are other things you can do that might assist and I share some of them here.

I run a fulltime business at home and whilst the girls were growing up I didn’t have time to do everything around the house. But I was able to engage help and this was something my husband and I discussed and agreed upon. For as long as I can remember I’ve had someone come and pick up the ironing fortnightly and drop it back off again a couple of days later. I have another lady come on the alternate weeks and clean the house. We pick up everything and put things away (the girls had to throw everything on their beds when they were home, so the floors were clear) and the cleaner washes, wipes and vaccums. It is really nice to walk through our home after she’s gone and just smell the freshness and cleanness throughout the house. Once a month I have a man come and mow the lawns and do other odds and ends for us as needed.

Both my husband and I feel that investing the money to pay these three people a worthwhile thing to do – it gives me peace of mind and allows me to concentrate on what I do well without worrying about the house and garden, and it also assists three people to run their own businesses and contribute to their household incomes. In doing that, I am actually helping to provide ‘portions for my helpers’ as well as provide for my family.

Proverbs 31 woman, Proverbs 31:15, help around the home

There are lots of discussions these days about women working at home vs working in a job away from home. I strongly believe that the Proverbs 31 Woman was a Work At Home Mum – by today’s standards. If you look into the past, beyond our grandparents’ time and before the industrial revolution, women worked on the land and in their homes, contributing to the household needs and income, with their children by their side, on their backs, or in tow in some way or another. Children also learnt to help as soon as they were able to – because that was the way of life back then.

Whilst I am not advocating we should be taking advantage of our children and getting them to work at an early age, I am saying that if the mother (or father) is working on the home premises, the children benefit from watching and learning. They see exhibited before them a work ethic, planning, preparation, how the money is used and how it is earnt. Also how skills can be learnt, established and used for the benefit of the family – not just one person.

I’ve been working from home now for over 13 years and our daughters have grown up watching me at work and play. They have all developed skills and abilities because of what we had available in the household to them and they also had the benefit of work experience in their teens without having to leave their home and go to another business, if they chose.

The Rev Brian Abshire touches on this aspect amongst others in his lengthy post about the Proverbs 31 Woman. I never abandoned my career plans – my plan and dream had always been to be home for my family. However I wanted more than that – I wanted to apply myself, use my skills (not put them aside) and continue enjoying my life, and not putting it on hold.

I’ve read about and talked to some women who feel they put their career aside to have a family, some feel that they missed the boat. Other women (on the other side of the equasion) feel they’ve missed the [family] boat by putting their career first. I believe you can have both – if your desire is to have a family and a career.

Not all women are cut out to work at home. Depression and isolation can set in.  And it’s often not easy to keep disciplined and motivated and sometimes it can seem a thankless task if clients (and employees) are not appreciative of your efforts. You have to become your own PR person, marketer, salesperson and so much more but I can truly say, in looking back, that my decision to work at/from home and raise our girls in our home was the best decision I’ve made (outside of accepting Christ as my Saviour and marrying my husband ).  And I believe our girls have truly benefitted and are different people to what they might have been had their peers been the main daily influences in their lives, instead of having a parent to come home to every day after school.

If you have skills and abilities (which are God-given, don’t forget) that can be applied in the home to help bring income into the household, then I encourage you to consider this option and start exploring how it can be achieved. You might have noticed mention of the book ‘Worth More Than Rubies: The Value of a Work At Home Mum’ on this blog. The book covers the challenges and the benefits of working at home and even gives a list of different jobs/businesses that can be carried out at home – genuine roles using your existing skills.

Crystal on her post about the Proverbs 31 Woman and entrepreuneurialism raises some interesting points too, about Return on Investment into our families. Like me, she is encouraging women to return home to their families and consider how they can apply their skills in their home for the benefit of their family whilst remaining a shining light to their communities.