Proverbs 31:16, Part 1

If you’re new here and want to catch up on all my Proverbs 31 posts, please search Proverbs 31 in the box in the upper right hand corner

I hope you’ve been getting something (anything!) out of my Proverbs 31 posts. God has just laid these verses on my heart and given me a burden to share them. I guess it’s all up to Him from there

Today, we’re going to look at Proverbs 31:16.

¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

Now, as I’ve said before, I’m not going to be planting a vineyard anytime soon! But, this verse isn’t so much about buying a field or planting a vineyard. To me, it speaks more about making thoughtful purchases and being frugal.

With the economy in the state it’s in, I think just about everyone is looking to save money these days. What better way to save money than not to spend it? Right? Riiight???

¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;

She considers a field. She thinks about her purchase before she goes through with it. Is it at a decent price? Does she really need it? How can this purchase benefit her or her family? Can she get a better deal on another field in another location? I don’t know what questions she asked herself, but the fact that she considers the field tells me that she thought long and hard before she bought it.

Image: Ambro / www.freedigitalphotos.net

Are you an impulse shopper? Oh man, I am! Especially if it’s on sale.

God is really working on me with this one.

I’ve been using coupons for about a year and a half now. I have my super-duper awesome binder that I won from Fab Steals & Deals. I’ve filled it to overflowing with coupons and I’ve cut my grocery bill way down.

I am a semi-lazy couponer, though. I like to clip my coupons and I love using them but I’m too lazy to do my own coupon match-ups. So, I rely on other bloggers and websites for that. Here are my faves:

Southern Savers is a great site if you live in the south. I recently moved from a city to a little bitty town and she’s one of the only sites I can find that does match-ups for Food City, which is basically my only grocery store chain aside from Wally World.

Coupon Mom is an awesome resource. You have to sign up using your email address* but I’ve never had a problem with that. She has coupon match-ups for tons of grocery chains, as well as Walmart and all the major drug store chains.

*I suggest you create a free email account at Yahoo or Google that you use for couponing. This way, your inbox isn’t overflowing with junk emails that you don’t want to read simply because you signed up for something free online.

Moms Need To Know is another great site for coupon match-ups and great deals. She is “up north” so I don’t have some of the same stores as she does (totally jealous!) but she does list match-ups for many of the stores in my area.

I also love to get lots of free stuff in the mail! I mean, hello?!?! Free stuff! Sometimes it may just be a sample but, a lot of times, it’s a full size product. Or maybe that sample comes with a really awesome coupon! You may not really care whether or not you have a tiny bottle of shampoo but you will want to $1.00 off coupon that might come with that tiny bottle of shampoo.

I find the best place to find out about all the freebies and samples is Facebook. Yep, Facebook. I follow all of the sites I have just listed above, plus several others. Here are a couple more that I follow on Facebook.

I love, love, love Coupon Pro. He keeps me “in the loop” about all the awesome freebies out there. Thanks to him, we get lots of free magazines each month and my hubby gets the Wall Street Journal every day for FREE! I have scored so many awesome deals and freebies, thanks to Roland’s Facebook page.

A few more I recommend following:

Now that I’ve given you lots of resources for coupons and freebies, I will tell you that I don’t coupon as much as I used to. For me, it’s more about frugal living. I will share more about that with you tomorrow.

Until then, go see what kinds of awesome deals these great folks can hook you up with today!

July 26, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Proverbs 31:14-15

If you want to catch up on my Proverbs 31 posts, search “Proverbs 31″ in the search box to the right. That should bring up all my posts on this subject.

Today we’re going to be looking at Proverbs 31:14-15.

Let’s get started with verse 14, shall we?

¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.

As I said in verse 11, it is up to me to plan for, buy for, and prepare all of my family’s meals. I am fairly organized in “bringing food from afar”, although the grocery store around the corner isn’t exactly what I would call “afar”.

Since my husband gets paid twice a month, I make a menu each pay period for fifteen meals and make my grocery list from that. However, at some point during that fifteen day period, I will inevitably run out of milk or bread or pull-ups or….something. That’s just the way it is. It’s my job to bring more food (or pull-ups) from afar….or at least from Food City.

Does that mean that I never rely on my husband to pick up something on his way home? No.

But, as the person who runs the household, it is my job to recognize when we are running low or out of something and see to it that it gets replaced.

To me, this verse goes right along with verse 11. A husband should be able to place his full confidence in his wife to keep the fridge and pantry stocked!

¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.

Before I decided to share all that God has been telling me through Proverbs 31 with you, I wrote a post about kicking the cold cereal habit. God has been using Proverbs 31:15 to motivate me out of bed and into the kitchen in the mornings. I’m pleased to report that my children have survived and they have not missed their cold cereal one bit! Unfortunately, Hubby still wakes up before me (I just can’t seem to “do” 5:00 am yet) so he’s been eating a lot of oatmeal and Cream of Wheat. Even when I tell him to wake me up so I can fix his breakfast too, he doesn’t. He lets me sleep because he’s sweet like that. But you better believe he wakes me up on the weekends!

Since I’ve already told you how God is using this verse to motivate me, I thought I might share some of my favorite breakfast recipes with you. I’m always on the lookout for breakfast recipes now. Here are just a few of the ones we’ve been doing lately.

My whole family loves, loves, loves Sausage Gravy and Biscuits. I usually make this on Saturday so I have enough biscuits left over for sausage biscuits or bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits before church on Sunday.

My kids absolutely LOVE when they wake up to cinnamon rolls. However, I’m not willing to buy the refrigerated kind and it takes too long to make the yeast kind early in the morning. So, I’ve been making Quick Sweet Rolls. I think the kids prefer them this way anyway!

Muffins are really popular around here. I can mix up all the dry ingredients in a bowl and cover it until morning when I add the wet ingredients. I pop them in the oven and take a shower while they bake. Easy peasy.

A lot of my muffin recipes are quick bread recipes. I just put them in muffin pans instead of loaf pans and bake them approximately 18-20 minutes. Here are some of our faves:

Applesauce Muffins

Banana Nut Muffins (recipe coming soon!)

French Breakfast Muffins

Oatmeal Muffins (recipe coming soon!)

We also like:

Bacon, Egg, & Toast Cups

Buttermilk Pancakes

Amish Baked Oatmeal

Like I said, these are just a few of the recipes I use. I’ll be sharing more recipes with you in the future. I have a ton of breakfast recipes saved on my computer, just waiting for us to try them!

I hope I have somehow inspired you to think more about the food you are serving your family. As always, it is my prayer that you will open your heart to God’s leading through these verses.

July 25, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Proverbs 31:13

Here I am again, sharing how God is using Proverbs 31 to make me a better wife and mother. If you’ve missed my previous Proverbs 31 posts, go here to read why I feel led to share these verses with you and go here to read my take on Proverbs 31:10-12

Let’s get started, shall we?

Today I’m going to share with you from Proverbs 31:13.

¹³ She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.

You may have just read that and thought to yourself “She selects wool and flax? What? How does this apply to me? I don’t select wool or flax!”

There was a time when women made everything their families needed. They didn’t have a choice. They grew and preserved their own food. They sewed clothes and home furnishings. They made their own soap. Not to be “hip” or “green” or “frugal”. They did it because, otherwise, they wouldn’t have the things they needed. That’s just not the case these days. When we need curtains or a new rug or a new dress to wear to church, we just go to the store or search the world wide web!

Some women choose to make their children’s clothing. Many women, myself included, make their own laundry detergent and cleaning supplies. Lots of women make a lot of the things their families need but the vast majority of us just make a quick run to Wally World or Target. And that’s okay. Not everyone has the desire or the need to make their own stuff.

So, perhaps you aren’t choosing wool and flax (or Fels Naptha and washing soda) on a daily basis but you can still work with eager hands!

I use my NIV Bible most often but I like to go back and read the same verses in other versions. The King James version of verse 13 says “…she works with her hands with delight.” I like that. I delight in working with my hands but most of the time it is for someone else. I love to crochet baby gifts and decorate cakes. I put a lot of time and effort into those kinds of things but it usually doesn’t directly benefit my family. Honestly, it’s mostly for my own enjoyment. God has been telling me lately that I need to put more effort into the things that benefit my family. It’s pretty sad when I’m making a cake and one of my kids asks me who I’m taking it to. It takes a lot to convince them now that I’m just making it for us to enjoy.

Is there something you can make or do to benefit your family? Maybe it’s crocheting dishcloths or sewing a dress for your little one. Maybe it’s cooking a nice dinner each day or baking homemade bread for your family’s enjoyment. Whatever you can do with your hand for your family or home, do it with eager hands!

I encourage you to pray and ask God to show you the things you can be doing for your family with eager hands.

Until next time,

July 21, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Proverbs 31:10-12

If you haven’t read why I feel led to share these verses with you, please go here to read my post about how God is using Proverbs 31 in my life.

Proverbs 31:10-12 says:

Let’s get started with verse 10.

¹⁰A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.

What does it mean to be a wife “of noble character?” What does it mean to be noble? I’ll give you the exact definition:

noble |ˈnōbəl|adjective ( -bler , -blest )1 belonging to a hereditary class with high social or political status; aristocratic : the Duchess of Kent and other noble ladies.2 having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles and ideals : the promotion of human rights was a noble aspiration.• of imposing or magnificent size or appearance : entering the building with its noble arches and massive granite columns.• of excellent or superior quality.

“Having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles and ideals.”

God desires for us to have high moral principles and ideals. He desires for us to show fine personal qualities. Proverbs 31:11-31 shows us the qualities God desires from us a women.

Does it mean that we should all fit a “cookie cutter” mold? No. What God desires from you or what your family needs from you may be different than what God or my family desire from me. Make sense?

Personally, I used to feel like becoming the “Proverbs 31 Woman” was impossible. But, God has been working in my heart and He is showing me that, not only is it possible to be a woman of noble character, but it is in the best interest of myself and my family.

¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.

Often times, the wife runs the household. For the most part, that is the case at my house. As a stay-at-home mom who homeschool(ed) her children, it is my job to plan for, buy for, and cook the meals; keep up with the seemingly endless pile of laundry, making sure baseball uniforms are clean on game day and everybody has clean socks and underwear; keep our home clean and orderly so as to control the dust bunny population (those things breed like crazy, you know?!?); see to it that my children are getting a good education – no matter where they are attending school (home or public); check the mail and organize the bills to make sure they all get paid on time; make sure the children arrive at all of the activities; the list goes on…

BUT, I am learning to appreciate these tasks more.

My husband goes to work each day, currently driving over an hour each way, so that I can stay home with our children. He trusts me and relies on me to do the job of running our household. A husband should be able to place his full confidence in his wife to take care of their household.

I want that. I want Hubby to be able to place his FULL confidence in me to run our household. To make sure that we don’t run out of milk or pull-ups (at bedtime…again). To make sure that the bills are paid on time. To make sure he has clean clothes to wear to work and the boys have clean uniforms when they need them.

He’s busy enough with work as it is. He shouldn’t have to go behind me to make sure I’ve done what needs to be done.

¹² She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

Although I am sure there are some out there, I’ve never met a wife who sets out to do harm to her husband. But, if you don’t set out to bring him good, what will you bring him?

If he isn’t able to place his full confidence in you (as in verse 11), doesn’t that bring him harm?

Is everything you do for him good?

A wife should set out to bring good to her husband ALL the days of her life – not just on days she feels like it or day she isn’t tired or stressed or PMS-ing or days when he hasn’t made her mad or hurt her feelings. No, ALL the days. I’m trying

Again, I pray that you will read over these verses again and again and allow God to speak to your heart. I’ll be back with more tomorrow!

July 20, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Proverbs 31 and Me

I try to be a good wife and mother, really I do.

The problem is, I try to be everything to everyone. I spread myself too thin. I forget things. I overlook things…like the huge pile of laundry running out of the hamper. I get distracted doing so many different things that nothing really ever gets done. Or at least that’s the way it seems to me most of the time.

When I have days like that, I get so down on myself. I place so much of my value in my home. If my house is a mess, I feel like I’ve failed miserably at the end of the day. I beat myself up. I cry. I tell myself how worthless I am.

I’m just keepin’ it real here.

A couple of months ago, I committed a major NO-NO. I forgot to pay a bill. Not just any bill – Hubby’s credit card bill. The one with a lifetime ridiculously low rate – as long as you pay your bill on time! We always pay the bills together. I forgot to give him the credit card bill. I just overlooked it. I had just rewritten the budget and I somehow left it off.

Hubby was so upset with me. I was even more upset with me than he was!

I felt worthless. I felt like a failure. I felt like a horrible wife. How had I let something like this happen?

That night, I couldn’t sleep. I sat in the “school room” with my Bible and I cried and I prayed. I asked God to speak to me. I asked Him to show me how to be the wife that Hubby needs and the mother that my children need. More importantly, I asked Him to show me how to be the wife and mother He intends for me to be.

He led me to Proverbs 31.

Through Proverbs 31, He is showing me how to be a better wife and mother. I used to think the whole “Proverbs 31 Woman” thing was unattainable. I brushed it off as something that could not really be applied to my life in today’s time.

“She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.” Proverbs 31:16

Yeah, not me. I don’t see me buying a field or planting a vineyard any time soon. Ya know?

But, God has been speaking to me through these verses and He’s showing me how I really can apply them to my life every day. I want to share that with you. Maybe it will encourage you somehow.

Now, let me say this: I am not a Biblical scholar. I am simply going to tell you how I feel about these verses and how I feel that God is leading me to live them out in my everyday life. Take it or leave it. I’m not telling you how to live or what you should do to be a good wife or mother. This is really just me and my opinion.

I’m going to break this down into several posts. Otherwise, it will end up being ridiculously long.

Let’s start with Proverbs 31:10-31

¹⁰ A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
¹³ She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
²² She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.