Continued

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. Proverbs 31: 13-14

I have lost a lot of the skills my mother had. She could look at a dress, draw a pattern on newspaper, cut it out sew a dress. I didn't really want to learn to sew because, I was going to be able to by my dresses new. I didn't want any more hand-me-downs. Now I wish had learned a lot more from her than I did. I can sew enough to make simple things, but I wish I had learned to put in a zipper or make a button hole. I am totally lost when it comes to those things.

I would imagine that a lot of women are in the same situation. The Proverbs 31 woman not only sewed her clothes, she gathered the wool, spun it into yarn and made the fabric. While there are women out there that can still do this, I wouldn't know where to begin or have the time to do it. I can however, keep the clothes that we have in good repair, clean and ironed. If they are taken care of they last longer. At the least, we should be able to sew on buttons, mend or patch small rips, and remove stains. I encourage you to learn these basic skills, even if you don't make a whole garment you can preserve the ones you have.

She is like the merchants ships; she bringeth her food from afar. This means, to me, that she did whatever it took to keep her family well fed. While I really don't have to go very far to get food; I am always looking for ways to save on the food bill. Spending time clipping coupons, making meal plans, checking the pantry and freezer, saves a lot of money. I hear ladies all the time saying how they don't have time to clip coupons and I can't imagine how they can't have the time to save at the very least $30-40 every time they shop. That's a chunk of change to me and over a year that's quiet a great savings. If you shop every week and save $30 doing it, that's over $1500 a year. That's a vacation! We grow some of the food we eat and that's a help, too. We also have chickens and sell some of the eggs. Basically I think these days, that food is readily available, but we still have to work for it.

To be continued.

The Perfect Wife - 2

10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. Proverbs 31: 10 - 12

No, I am not claiming to be the perfect wife, in fact I am far from it even though my sweet husband disagrees, I know my self better. I am just hoping to compare myself honestly to God's standards and make some improvements. Looking into God's mirror to examine my true self. It is not easy to pick out your faults and try to improve them, but it must be done. Proverbs 31 is a mirror of what God wants us to be as Godly, virtuous women.

Back to where I left off. So that he shall have no need of spoil. Spoil in the bible is money gotten from some way other than working. Usually it was from a battle, or robbery. These days, it's from credit cards, loan companies and the like. It means living beyond you means. Now I have never been one that loved shopping or had to have the latest and greatest fashion, but I have not always been the best shopper either. I will work harder at living within our means. Try to find ways to cut back more, earn extra cash when possible. I don't want to be living off of "spoils". That word is a really fitting word, women who are spoiled financially, are often living off of spoils.

She will do him good and not evil all the days of HER life. The word HER really struck me as I was typing it. You might think it would say HIS life. Most men die before their wives do. You can do evil to someone even after they have died. I have seen spouses, men and women, who have done evil to their spouses after they died. I know someone that after their spouse died, told their children what a terrible parent the spouse had been, and how horrible their marriage had been. How do you think that made the children feel?

Doing them good and not evil-Since studying this, I have tried to ask myself on a daily basis, am I doing him good. Doing him good means, to me, more than just keeping him fed and clothed. It means helping him to do what needs to be done so that he can concentrate on his work when he is at work. Or helping him to be what God would have him be. I had a pastor once, that said a woman's role is that of the Holy Spirit in the marriage. We can influence our husbands in ways that sometimes we are not even aware of. Make sure you are influencing your husbands in good ways. Pray for him, love him, and care for him.

Until next time.

Mae

Sorry

But for some reason, I can't seem to keep the spaces between my paragraphs.

The Perfect Wife

10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. 11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. 12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. Proverbs 31: 10-12

I have been studying Proverbs 31 for a while now but recently came across a new book on this chapter of the bible and am trying my best to learn everything I can about the woman God wants me to be.

One of the first things that struck me was Ruth is the only woman I can find that the bible actually calls virtuous. So I began studying the book of Ruth. What a remarkable woman she was. When her husband died and she could have gone back to her family, she stayed with her mother in law saying, for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. You have to understand that Ruth needed a Redeemer and Naomi didn't have any other sons for her to marry and was too old to have more sons. And even if she did Ruth would have had to wait a long time to marry again and Naomi knew she couldn't wait that long. So Ruth went to work gleaning, (She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens Proverbs 31:15) the fields of Boaz. She worked hard and Boaz saw how worthy she was and became her Redeemer. Her price was far above rubies.

The next verse speaks about trust. Can your husband truly trust you. Can he tell you anything, bear his soul to you with the complete confidence that you are the only person that will ever hear what he is telling you? Do you keep his confidences? I know that when you have a good girl friend sometimes it's easy to let things about your husband slip. She starts saying things about her husband and the next thing you know you're telling things you shouldn't tell. I have always tried to never say anything bad about my husband. I really believe that if you say something enough times you begin to believe it, whether it is true or not. Guard what you say about your husband. There have been times that I have teased my husband in front of others and said things that embarrassed him, and I regret those moments.

Can your husband trust you with financial matters? Or are you one of those women who can only be happy with material things. I know several women who have spent and spent their husbands hard earned money until the husband can no longer trust them. If you are a shopaholic, I would suggest that you consider why that makes you happy. Material things come and go, but if taken care of properly a husband's love will last forever.

I am writing these things for myself. Please don't take offense to anything I say here. If you are interested in this study, I will be posting more as I learn more.

Let's all be the Women God is Looking For.

Mae