proverbs31-woman.com

In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

In her day, the Proverbs 31 woman would have had chores that had to be done, irrespective of how she felt about them. And this would have included spinning and making fabric for her family’s needs. Some would have enjoyed doing this and others wouldn’t have. Guess it’s the same today. Some enjoy cooking and others don’t. Some enjoy knitting and sewing and others don’t. But we have more choices available to us as to whether or not we do those things, so probably don’t think of it in the same light.

I work at home and prefer to be in front of my computer but there was a time when I loved knitting and created many new items for my family members. When the girls were little I even sewed dresses and trousers for them. Those days are long past, but perhaps once I’m a grandmother, they might return. Depends :-). I keep telling my girls I’m not ready to be a grandmother yet but the eldest is almost 26 and has been married over 2 years. I know it won’t be much longer before she becomes a mother as she is always commenting on her friends’ babies.

Going back to doing the chores of the household – even that word ‘chores’ sounds a burden, doesn’t it? We should really feel blessed we can do those things, even if we don’t enjoy it. There are many who don’t have the use of their limbs, or have bodies that have restricted usage. It is a blessing to be able to look after our own homes and our own families but often we forget that. What do you do when you’re working around your home? Do you talk to our Lord and praise Him? Perhaps sing to Him or discuss things with Him? Having Him join you in your daily work around the house will lighten your load and allow you to enjoy the day more, and even the chores. Why not see those chores as a Proverbs 31 woman activity and perhaps you’ll appreciate what you can do a little more.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the giftings you have given us, and the abilities we have to provide for our families and for making a house a home. Please help us to bless others with our giftings, and in those areas we where have need, perhaps someone else may come along to bless us with their giftings. We thank you Father. Amen.

knitting, sewing, virtuous woman, work at home, giftings, burden, chore

One of the Christian Women’s groups I belong to was having a discussion about working at home versus working out of the home and why mothers should be working at all. I immediately thought of the study I’ve been doing here and posted the following comment.

I encourage you all to go back and read Proverbs 31, particularly from verse
13 onwards. The wife/mother did go out and work and came back and did things around the home. The Proverbs 31 woman provided for her home both financially and with her own hands, she cooked (and had help), she wove, she sold, she bought, she owned land, she worked the land, she got up early and stayed up late, she dealt with merchants and clothed the family, she watched over the affairs of the household and was not idle.

Now, I don’t think for a minute that any woman I know (including all of you) is idle – life is sooooooo busy these days. But we need to recognise that the wife who stayed home and did not work has only been a recent generational thing – women have nearly always been involved in helping with the income and working in some way, and in the past she had her children with her. If working on the land the kids were there too. Or she got help to look after her children (often there was help in the home) whilst she went out and travelled, bargained, bartered, bought and sold.

Don’t forget that families were extended in those days with grandparents, aunts, uncles and others frequently in the same household, just next door or on the same land. Often this was the ‘help’ that provided care for the children when it was needed. Today this is all too frequently not the case with families becoming ‘satellites’ and isolated from the rest of their relatives, living far away, interstate (as is the case for us) or overseas. And for many others, the single parent family is the ‘norm’ with no family members close by to assist.

With respect to the husband/man not being willing to support the household – this is not true in most cases. As was said, society has recreated the situation where it is necessary that women go out to work and with how things have developed through the industrial age and now technologically, it means that women no longer go and work out on the land, sew and weave, etc to earn an income, but instead they go out to an office job, a factory job, a job in a hospital or other helps type organisation, and so on. The nature of the work done and how the income is earnt has changed.

My husband earns a good income and we may have been able to stretch his income for most things but we wouldn’t have been able to buy the home we have (and now own), and there are other things we would have had to go without if I hadn’t worked. I just thank God that He allowed me to do my work at home – which so many mothers want to do today, so that once again, the mother and the children are together whilst she works – just as it was in years gone by, except that the grandparents and other extended family members are generally no longer present in the home. Whilst for some it may be a case of ‘keeping up with the joneses’ for many it is purely a case of survival and very necessary.

What are your thoughts about women/mothers going out to work, versus, staying in the home with the children? KMT

work at home, proverbs 31, survival, mothers working, single parent

She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.

Have you ever felt you just can’t do it all? That you just want to curl up, go to sleep, and let the world go by? I’m sure you’ve had times like that, I think we all do. They are the times when we need to draw on our Lord for the strength to go on, and to do the things that our family and those dependent upon us, need from us.

When we’re feeling good, well, strong it’s not difficult to feel like this Proverbs 31 woman – our arms being strong, our ability to get a lot of things done in one day. Being able to keep getting it all done, being profitable with both finance and with our time and for our lamp (and our energies) not to go out at night.

I get lots of people asking me how I manage to get so much done? How do I do all that I do? I like to think it’s because I’m focussed and that God blessed me in being able to work in an area that I totally enjoy. I like to think it’s because I know my purpose and am happy in it. Most people who know me, know me as someone who is bright, cheerful, positive, happy, motivating and encouraging. But I’m not like that all the time and there are times when I’m down and very dependent on our Lord to pull me back up again, to shine His light even stronger within when I feel my own has gone out. Just last night at church our Pastor spoke of how through our own weaknesses the strength of God shows through. That He is glorified when things happen at times when we are feeling our weakest. And I’m sure that’s the secret of the Proverbs 31 woman – she has her (our) Lord within guiding her and helping her throughout her days.

These two verses show a woman who endures, who keeps going, who is strong for all that she must do and be. Do you want to have endurance, stamina and strength to carry on?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we have struggles every day that threaten to knock us down, to stop us in our tracks, to keep us from our purpose in life. We pray that you will instil in us the virtues of this Proverbs 31 Woman and plant within us the strength and endurance depicted in these verses.

proverbs31:17, proverbs31:18, proverbs 31 woman, virtuous woman, endurance, strength

She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

I’m currently reading a book by Larry Burkett called Personal Finances for background research on a budgetting session I’ll be presenting on at my church next month. In one section he writes about striving for excellence and quotes 1 Peter 4:11, reminding the reader how important it is that we use our abilities for God’s glory. He then goes on to say that “it is important that wives and mothers excel at what they do. Usually the mother becomes the teacher of habits in the home, and her attitudes are generally reflected by her children. If she excels at what she does and keeps the home well-organized, she can be a great asset to home financial planning.” I wrote after that paragraph ‘Proverbs31 Woman’ because that is exactly what he was describing (he missed it!).

Verse 16 of Proverbs 31 shows us that this woman spends her money wisely and makes it work for her. She uses her earnings to provide for the family. Not only that but what she chooses to do with the money is something that would keep producing over time, i.e. the vineyard that would keep producing grapes for wine, that she can sell, and then plant more vines, or buy more land, or do something else with those funds. Above I mentioned Larry Burkett and how he talks of the wife and mother excelling at what she does and being an asset to the home financial planning and in Proverbs 31:16 we see the same thing.

If I’d not been doing this study I probably wouldn’t have seen this passage in Larry’s book in the same way. But I feel that as you’re learning one thing, God backs it up with other things, to reinforce the lesson. Have you found that to be so? It now means that as I present on budgetting next month at my church, I’ll be able to share what I’ve been learning from Proverbs 31 as well as from Larry Burkett’s book and other things I’ve been reading also.

Prayer: Father, help me to recognise when you are sending lessons that are from you. Help me to see the connections where you are involved. Thank you that you care enough to keep sending messages and messengers through various avenues until my ears, eyes and mind recognise they are from you.