The PROVERBS 31 Wife, A Fuller Glimpse: My Farewell To Age 31 (Part 1)

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Today marks my 32nd Birthday! Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!

Life has taught me to celebrate the small joys and I am so very grateful for the blessings and the lessons along the way!  During my 31^st year of life, I quit a job in my dream career, became a stay-at-home-mom, completed my Masters in Social Work, and started a blog…. I didn’t see any of that coming, but as I surrender to God, I realize that I am giving Him unlimited access to rewrite my plans in alignment with His.

Each year I pray for further revelation in God’s purpose for my life and a continuous submission to His will. One area that He continues to reveal is my purpose in connecting with women through my personal testimony as a wife and mother. 

As I welcome 32, I’d like to pay tribute to age 31 by taking a fuller glimpse into the Proverbs 31 Wife.

THE PROVERBS 31 WIFE: 

This weekend I joked with a friend about the woman in Proverbs 31; she’s described as the wife of noble character. We both agreed that she doesn’t exist and if she does, we’d love to hire her, ha! She seems perfect though, doesn’t she? For me her attributes have always appeared to be out of reach and impossible for any one person to uphold. 

However, with a deeper look and review of the scriptures I began to see glimpses of several of the women in my life, and dare I say it, even glimpses of myself.

She has so many beautiful characteristics that we will unbox them in a 4-part series. 

Today we will start with the first 5 attributes: 

1. She Is Trustworthy: When we describe someone as trustworthy, we are saying that they are dependable and worthy of confidence. What immediately comes to mind is gossip.  Unfortunately, women are stereotyped as gossips.  Gossiping has the possibility of crushing relationships both inside and outside of the home.  Our words are powerful and should be used to enrich the lives of our husbands, families, and those around us.  If we can’t be trusted with our words then we fail in this category.   
2. She Brings Her Husband Good, Not Harm:  In some cases, we can bring our mates harm by unintentionally making their days harder; I’ve been guilty of this.  A few weeks ago, my husband came in from work and I immediately told him he forgot to take out the trash.  After a long day he was grumpy and not happy with the greeting of a failed chore. This brought him harm in the form of frustration. Often times, ‘bringing our husband’s good’ means extending grace even in times when we don’t feel we have the energy left to give. 
3. She Is Productive: This doesn’t mean that we have to fill every single part of our day but that we should be mindful of time management. Pre-COVID-19, my son and I had a weekly schedule that was jam packed with play dates, mom of preschooler events, museums, picnics and other random outings.  We thrived off of a full schedule. Now with the pandemic I’m refocusing my productivity into spending quality time with my husband and son, working on my blog, and other projects that the Lord has put on my heart.  As we go throughout our day, we should surrender our time to the Lord to align with his plans for us. (Note: Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Netflix binge just like you mommas, but I also pray for the Lord to lead me throughout the day. Netflix included, ha!)
4. She Provides For Her Family: Provision comes in many different forms, from financial to domestic contribution. Regardless of the type of provision, marriage is a partnership of husband and wife.  Each marriage if different, but for my husband and I we speak about expectations. We constantly express personal expectations along with expectations for each other to ensure they are realistic and attainable.  
5. She Awakens To Prepare For the Day: I’m not a morning person, so no early awakenings here! However, each morning I prepare for the day by inviting the Lord in to lead me and my family in all things.  I can imagine that the Proverbs 31 woman would also include this in her preparations for the day.  We must maintain connection with the Lord constantly to keep us prepared for whatever challenges may meet us along the way.  

THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE: 

I won’t challenge us to embody every characteristic of the Proverbs 31 woman, or even to master the five above.  This week, let’s hone into one of these attributes and challenge ourselves to focus on it throughout the week.  What each of these traits share in common is a surrender of self to serve our families and the Lord.  We do this daily, but this week I’m asking us to be intentional and mindful of how we are serving through one chosen attribute from the list above.  

As I seek the intention of God’s word, I’ve found it helpful to have a good study bible at my side as I go along. The one I’m using now is Tony Evan’s Study Bible; some other’s I’m familiar with are The Woman’s Study Bible, and The Student Bible (My mom loves this one!). Using these aids will help us gain further clarity as we study the Proverbs 31 Wife.

APPLICABLE BIBLE VERSE: 

Proverbs 31: 10-15

With year 32 I feel more confident in who I am than I ever have before. In the past I’ve struggled with setting realistic goals, much like the idea of fitting perfectly into the mold of the Proverbs 31 wife. This year I’m committing to seeking clarity and focusing on simple specified goals.  There’s no way I can do it all perfectly, but I can focus on what I do well and pray for alignment with God’s will. I’d like to extend a heartfelt welcome to my 32-year-old self! Happy Birthday to me, 32 is going to be amazing!

If you’re reading, tell me which of the five attributes above you’ll be focusing on this week.  Thanks for chatting, I’ll continue next week with part 2 as we share REAL LIFE, FROM ONE MOM TO ANOTHER.