Forever Beloved

She gets up while it is still dark; 

she provides food for her family 

this week we see a picture of a woman who is clearly not afraid to work and is certainly not lazy.  shes’ a humble woman who see’s a task that needs completed and dives in and does it. 

there may be some of you who make clothes for your family, but this chickie right here isn’t one of them.  sewing and i are not friends.  so how can i apply this verse to my life?  in our modern times, we are blessed with inexpensive clothes.  i might not be able to sew but i can shop a mean clearance rack.  even further than that, doing the laundry and ensuring our family has clean clothes to wear.  i know laundry can seem like a never-ending task…washing it, drying it, folding it and putting it away.  sometimes in my house it feels like it’s never ending.  especially with a teenage boy who changes his clothes a minimum of 3 times a day.  but laundry is a task we should not be above and a task we should approach with eager hands.  that is what is honoring to God.  God is honored when we come to it with eager hands and don’t look at it with dread.  think it’s impossible to do your laundry with joy?  nothing is impossible with God.  when you sit down to fold it, pray and ask God to help you to have joy in your heart about it.  

this woman is willing to go to great lengths to get good food for her family.  i think it’s important that as women, we learn how to cook good meals for our family.  with the access to the internet and pinterest, there really isn’t any reason we wives shouldn’t be good cooks.  we don’t just turn to easy meals every night like hamburger helper or fries and fish sticks.  but we take the time to prepare a good, healthy, home-cooked meal for them to come home to.  that is a way we can show love and care to them.  be willing to go the distance to get the meal done, cooking for a few hours if need be.  i like to cook homemade bread, rolls or cinnamon rolls once a week for my family as a treat.  yes, it takes time…but seeing how much they enjoy it makes it totally worth it.  

also, take the time to clip coupons and save your family as much money as you can.  we should also be willing to work hard in the way we grocery shop.  and approach it with the same eager heart that we do other chores.  we want to care for our family and bless them.

the Proverbs 31 woman certainly isn’t lazy.  she rises before the sun to feed her family.  she just gets right at getting things done.  her children would not have went to school hungry because their mother was lazy and didn’t feel like feeding them.  she sings praises to God and does not grumble under her breath while completing her tasks.  wow, i sure can’t say that.  she just can’t wait to work for her family each day.  she figures if she is the first up and last to sleep that it just leaves more room for laughter, delicious food, a comfortable home and nice clothes for her family.  do we do anything near that?  do we give our families the first part of us or do we only give them what is leftover?

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

Colossians 3:23

so i encourage you this week to do your laundry and you grocery shopping and cooking to the glory of God.  take care of your responsibilities and do your work eagerly without complaining.  there were times this past week where i just had to keep repeating “i will not complain, i will not complain” inside my head, rather than actually grumbling.  create a warm and loving atmosphere for your family to come home to with eager hands and a joyful heart. know that it will not only bless our husbands and our family but also know it’s in Gods word and He is honored when we do these things.

out for now

~kisses