Proverbs 31 & My Funeral
I read a blog a few days ago where 2 men were arguing about the Proverbs 31 woman. Their argument centered around whether or not the woman was being praised or her husband was being praised. If the husband gets praised at the gates because of his wife, where's her due for all her hard work?
Hello! They're one-flesh. They both work, they work together, and they both get praised.
Most of us strive to be the woman in Proverbs 31:10-31. She's the one who reminds us of the Little Red Hen who plants the wheat, harvests the wheat, takes it to the mill, and bakes the bread. She loves her husband, makes clothes with her hands, she searches far for food, she gets up before the sun to start breakfast, she buys a field and plants a vineyard (entrepreneur), she's strong, she's discerning and prepared, she cares for the poor, and prepares for every possible ill that could happen to her family. She speaks wisely and kindly. She's never idle. Her kids make her happy and her husband tells her how wonderful she is.
Are you a Proverbs 31 woman? Personally, I think it's an unreachable goal. Too many of us (me included) have tried and tried to do everything she does, including get up before the sun. Personally, I just tried and tried to 'get up shortly AFTER the sun'. So far, I've only made it to 'get up when the baby wakes up' (because he yells for me).
I could look at myself as a failure, or I can look at myself as a woman who's imperfect and doing her best to learn to become the best she can be.
I'm convinced that any woman who thinks she can do everything the Proverbs 31 woman can is a miserable, grumpy woman. It's too much to do.
Perhaps as I learn to be the best I can be, I'll be amazed at what my life looks like when I look back.
A friend's father died last week. He was 70 years old, the owner of a large landscaping company who refused to retire, and a reverend who preached in a nursing home every weekend. His funeral service lasted for hours, because so many people wanted to remember the wonderful things he'd done for them.
I hope that someday people will be at my funeral remembering the wonderful things I did for them and wondering how God enabled me to do what I did. Or, as my husband's seminary professor said, "If I'm not a saint when I die, I have no one to blame but myself." (Saint's meaning those Christians who have an astounding closeness to God that empowers them to perform remarkable feats during their lives.)
But, hey. I've heard it said that if we shoot for the stars we'll at least reach the moon. I may never be a saint, but maybe I'll get halfway there.
posted by Terri | 1:18 PM
1 Comments:
I would much rather burn the midnight oil than get up before the rooster crows!
I hadn't thought of it before, but Prov 31 is not written in the first person - it's Solomon's perception of a woman . . . hummm . . . I've found that often others perceive me much differently than I perceive myself.
Others have thought me a wonder woman and I think, "gosh, do they really know me?" One friend introduced me as "a saint" putting me on a pedestal that I'm not sure I fit on.
As I find the years moving from future to present to past, I find the way some focus on this whole thing of the Prov 31 woman interesting. People seem to isolate these verses from the rest of the Bible...this woman who has it all together is supposed to be our goal. Ummmmm . . . I don't think that really lines up with the whole of scripture. And I think that following this as our only guide would put us into the role thing you talked about earlier.
Our lives are a race. We need to train ourselves. We need to make conscious choices for and against. And older women were instructed to train younger woman because, well, we/they need it! It's a process, a journey. We're not gonna be there till we're Home.
I think the focus on Prov 31 is overdone. Perhaps focusing on developing a deep, intimate relationship with Almighty God, depending on Him to enable me to be and become what He desires, and allowing Him to produce fruit that He creates . . . so much more freeing that trying to live by such a severe, arbitrary guideline.
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