Thursday, July 5, 2012

Proverbs 31:15: A Pattern for the Household

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Proverbs 31:15 “She rises also while it is yet night, and gives food to her household and work to her maids.”
I don’t like this verse J Oh how I love to stay in my comfy bed in the mornings. I can say that I got up at a decent time this morning, but only because my husbands alarm didn't go off and he needed to get up for work. Silly power outage!
Another verse that has been a challenge to me lately is the following:
Proverbs 26:14 "As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed."
Elizabeth was able to observe a Jewish woman early in the morning on her trip to Israel. She had her laundry hung out to dry and her windows open to let in the cool air early in the morning. This makes me think of my mom. On Saturdays, I usually woke up to hearing her hanging laundry on the clothes line in the back yard. Oh, to be more like these ladies!


Elizabeth gives us 3 disciplines in order to be successful in the home:
#1 An Early Start
The Proverbs 31 woman rose early in order to keep the fire going in her home. She also rose in order to spend time with her God and then to pass that knowledge on to her children.
#2- Food for the Family
She needed to grind the grain and make bread for her household. They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I love breakfast, just not getting up early to prepare it! I have an amazing husband who like to make breakfast. Pancakes anyone!

#3 A Plan for the Day
She planned out her day and also gave jobs to those who were under her roof. What would it be like to have maid’s working for you? I am sure that she needed them!

How-to’s of beauty
Oh how simple they seem, but how hard they are to follow through.
#1 Determine a time- when will you wake up?
#2 Get to bed- determine when you need to get to bed in order to get up when you need to. Sometimes I lack the gumption to get up and go to bed. Rather just chill out on the couch for a while. Anyone else there?
#3 Say a prayer- I need this one J
#4 Get up!- any advice on this one? I think I need a bed that ejects me. I would probably end up back in it though!

You can find the previous posts here.

6 comments:

  1. If you find the eject-able bed let me know! I'm struggling with this as well, but know it is important. A friend reminded me that the maids referred to in this passage have been replaced with washing machines and vacuums, guess we do have maids,,, just not as easy to pass out orders.

    Marissa @ forfunreadinglist.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for visiting! Checked out your blog! And I will let you know when I find an ejectable bed :)

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  2. This is my issue, too! I have a love/hate relationship with rise and shine.

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  3. Glad I am not alone on this one :)

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  4. Well, I believe this is an area where we need to give ourselves grace. I LOVE getting up early, grew up in a family of early risers, and hated sleeping "late" (probably not late by some standards but way later than I wanted to). Yet physical challenges plus 5 little babies in 10 years made it impossible for me to jump out of bed early. I felt so guilty for so long.

    Finally I just decided that being a rested, safe mom was more important than an arbitrary, legalistic wake-up time. However, now that my last baby is getting bigger, i am able to get up early almost every day. It is like God has given me special grace because I was not able to imagine doing this even a year ago. Most days I wake up on my own around 4:30 or 5:00. I have to admit that I have started drinking a little coffee, which helps--but I am OK with it--I adore the head start that rising early gives me on my day.

    So the point of that long comment is that YES getting up early is helpful, but I don't believe that scripturally it's a legalistic rule. He gently leads those who have young (Is. 40)...He knows we are dust, knows our weakness...Gives grace...Just listen to Him and ask Him when he wants you to get up! :)

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    1. Thanks for the encouragment! It was good to see that point of view :)

      However, laying in bed for a while awake, but not wanting to get up, zaps me of my energy. Not necessarily a good thing!

      It is good to remember that God does give us different seasons of our lives for different reasons. Very encouraging!

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