Proverbs 31:18
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18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
Do you remember that field she bought? And the vineyard she planted?
Her trading was profitable, right? She considered the field before she bought it. She made sure it was a good purchase. Then she planted a vineyard out of her earnings. She didn’t do this on a whim. She thought through it and she made sure that what she was about to do would be profitable for her family.
This verse tells me that she did a good job handling her family’s finances.
Her trading was profitable and her lamp did not go out at night. Bear in mind that her lamp required oil in order to provide light. She had to make sure there was plenty of oil for the lamps so her family wasn’t in the dark at night. In a sense, she paid the bills!
She saw to it that her family was well cared for. Their needs were being met. The bills were being paid. They didn’t have to worry about whether or not there was enough oil for the lamps because she saw that her trading was profitable.
She worked hard for her family. She made things with her hands and she worked vigorously. She likely either traded her wares for the things her family needed or she sold them and used the money to buy the things her family needed. Either way, she worked hard to provide for her family.
You know, if you read about my family you’ll see that I have described Hubby as “Hard-working husband and father. He works hard so I don’t have to.”
Um, yeah.
He works hard so I don’t have to.
Let me just tell you at this point that I usually have something in mind when I sit down to type out my Proverbs 31 posts. I read the verses and I pray over them, as I have been for quite some time now. I know what God is telling me. Or at least I think I do. When I sat down to type this post, I was going in the direction of “you have to pay your bills and be responsible for your family’s well-being”. But, God had another plan. He pointed me in the direction I’m headed now and He just stepped all over my toes! Ouch!
For the last 9 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home mom. Hubby works in finance. He handles most of our money. He invests. He saves. He refuses to let me spend, spend, spend when we really need to save, save, save. He reigns me in when I start getting “spend happy”.
He’s a total tightwad. Heh.
I used to have a problem with that. I used to get upset when there was something I wanted and he wouldn’t let me buy it because we didn’t really have the money for it. But, over the years, I’ve come to appreciate it. There have been so many times that we were able to do something or buy something that we wouldn’t have had the money for if Hubby hadn’t made me save. He’s pretty awesome like that.
Hubby is a hard working husband and father. He currently drives over an hour each way to work, just so we can live in the community we desire. This makes for a very long day for him – two or more hours longer than it has to be! Add to that, the fact that he still does yard work or plays ball with the boys once he gets home and I know he’s exhausted.
So just because he works hard, that means I don’t have to?
Um, no!
For so long now, I’ve been telling myself that my job is never finished because my job is at home. I’ve felt a sense of entitlement. I’ve thought that since I have to take care of three kids every single day, I should get some kind of “free pass” when I don’t feel like doing something because I’m tired….or lazy.
I’m just as responsible as he is for our family. Yes, he may be the main bread winner but I still have to work hard to see that our family is taken care of too.
Does Hubby get a “free pass” when he’s tired and doesn’t feel like going to work? No. Does he get to sit around and goof off on the computer for a while until he feels like getting with the program? No. He has to get up and get ready for work and drive an hour to the office and work hard all day. Then he drives an hour home so he can eat supper, play with the kids, mow the yard, trim the shrubs, and/or do whatever else needs to be done! No free passes!
So, God has showed me (and maybe you too!) that even though I don’t always leave the house and drive to a “job”, I am still required to work hard. Just because my husband works hard each day does NOT mean I don’t have to.
I still need to work hard to ensure that my family is taken care of and that our lamp does not go out at night.
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An hour each day for work? That IS a devoted hubby. My commute is about half that, though sometimes it goes up to an hour when I have to sit in traffic forever. No fun!!
Kayla