She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her maidens.
She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
Proverbs 31:13-16
As you can see from the above verses, the Proverbs 31 woman certainly isn't lazy! She does handwork (like knitting, sewing, embroidery), and does it cheerfully, as the 'works with eager hands' part indicates. She brings her food from afar. That doesn't mean she goes to China everyday to get her food, however. It really means that she doesn't just take the first produce that she can find. She is willing to look all over to find good food for her family!
'She gets up while it is still dark; and provides food for her family'. That is showing that she works hard and diligently to make sure her family can be fed properly. She doesn't lay around in bed, expecting her servants to prepare the food for her. Maidens is another term for 'servant girls', and from the ending of verse 15, it sure looks like she prepares the food for them!
Verse 16's meaning is often mistaken to be that the Proverbs 31 woman has a job outside the home, instead of being a home-keeper. This actually isn't true. It's possible to have a job from inside your home. I just finished butterfly-sitting, turtle-sitting, and I often dog-sit, too! I know someone who bakes and sells bread from inside their home, too. The considering, and then buying a field out of her own earnings indicates that she is a steward of her money. Notice that she just doesn't buy the field at random without considering carefully what she was investing in.
The Proverbs 31 woman, as we will see later on, serves other people willingly (see verse 20 and others). Princess Catherine has two excellent posts about service called "Ways to Serve, Idea 1", and Ways to Serve. Here are some more ways to serve:
Do you know someone who just had a baby, has had a hard time lately, or just needs some cheering up? A good way to serve them is to give them food, like some fresh-baked, homemade cookies, or chicken soup, or meatloaf. My mom had a baby about a year ago, and we really appreciated all the good meals we got from generous people willing to serve! We didn't have to cook anything for several weeks, which was good for all of us. Also, my dad recently got diagnosed with cancer (please pray for him, fellow princesses) and we got several more meals. I know from experience that this is a good way to serve others.
See any mothers at your church trying to deal with a cranky two year old while juggling a baby and a coffee cup at the same time? I sure have! A good way to serve in this situation is to offer to hold the baby or/and the coffee cup for her. I'm sure she would appreciate that greatly.
Do you know someone who's having trouble with fair-weather friends? I have a few friends whose friends are 'fair-weather' friends. They like you if your popular and pretty, but when you show signs of unpopularity, they aren't your friends anymore. I have also experienced this, and it's wonderful having real friends to cheer you up. Try to be a very good friend to people that you see are in this situation.
More's coming soon!
In Christ,
Princess Izori
and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her maidens.
She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
Proverbs 31:13-16
As you can see from the above verses, the Proverbs 31 woman certainly isn't lazy! She does handwork (like knitting, sewing, embroidery), and does it cheerfully, as the 'works with eager hands' part indicates. She brings her food from afar. That doesn't mean she goes to China everyday to get her food, however. It really means that she doesn't just take the first produce that she can find. She is willing to look all over to find good food for her family!
'She gets up while it is still dark; and provides food for her family'. That is showing that she works hard and diligently to make sure her family can be fed properly. She doesn't lay around in bed, expecting her servants to prepare the food for her. Maidens is another term for 'servant girls', and from the ending of verse 15, it sure looks like she prepares the food for them!
Verse 16's meaning is often mistaken to be that the Proverbs 31 woman has a job outside the home, instead of being a home-keeper. This actually isn't true. It's possible to have a job from inside your home. I just finished butterfly-sitting, turtle-sitting, and I often dog-sit, too! I know someone who bakes and sells bread from inside their home, too. The considering, and then buying a field out of her own earnings indicates that she is a steward of her money. Notice that she just doesn't buy the field at random without considering carefully what she was investing in.
The Proverbs 31 woman, as we will see later on, serves other people willingly (see verse 20 and others). Princess Catherine has two excellent posts about service called "Ways to Serve, Idea 1", and Ways to Serve. Here are some more ways to serve:
Do you know someone who just had a baby, has had a hard time lately, or just needs some cheering up? A good way to serve them is to give them food, like some fresh-baked, homemade cookies, or chicken soup, or meatloaf. My mom had a baby about a year ago, and we really appreciated all the good meals we got from generous people willing to serve! We didn't have to cook anything for several weeks, which was good for all of us. Also, my dad recently got diagnosed with cancer (please pray for him, fellow princesses) and we got several more meals. I know from experience that this is a good way to serve others.
See any mothers at your church trying to deal with a cranky two year old while juggling a baby and a coffee cup at the same time? I sure have! A good way to serve in this situation is to offer to hold the baby or/and the coffee cup for her. I'm sure she would appreciate that greatly.
Do you know someone who's having trouble with fair-weather friends? I have a few friends whose friends are 'fair-weather' friends. They like you if your popular and pretty, but when you show signs of unpopularity, they aren't your friends anymore. I have also experienced this, and it's wonderful having real friends to cheer you up. Try to be a very good friend to people that you see are in this situation.
More's coming soon!
In Christ,
Princess Izori
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