The Woman Who Fears the Lord
A Study of Proverbs 31
Verse 14
"She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar."
I should have someone else write about this verse. Someone who enjoys finding all those awesome sales and knows just where to go and goes to get all the food her family needs.
As I write this post, my fridge is full of uneaten leftovers and takeout boxes.
My pantry is mostly empty.
My husband is the last one who went to the grocery store. He got milk, almond milk for our youngest who is sensitive to cow's milk and coffee creamer for me because he knows how miserable everyone would be if I didn't get my morning cup of Joe. We had been out of milk for about three days when he stopped to pick it up.
I despise grocery shopping... with a passion.
I have tried just giving my husband the list and sending him. He enjoys shopping and so the plan made sense, until I looked at the receipt. When my shop 'til you drop, love to spend money and buy things husband goes to the store with a list, he will return with everything on the list, multiples of the items that he thought were a good price, economy sized products, the three things from the clearance isle that he/we can't live without and just a couple of extra things that looked good.
BUDGET go K.A.B.O.O.M!
So, that leaves me to do the majority of the grocery shopping. I spend days avoiding making the menu and the corresponding list, until I force myself to sit down and do it. Then I make a whole bunch of reasons why I can't go right now. I worked late, I want to spend time with my children without having to become the one-woman-circus you hear singing three isles over, the two year old is tired, I'm tired, the discount store I shop at is closed, and the list goes on and on and on...
So that leaves me with an empty pantry and a fridge full of takeout leftovers. Not good.
This is how I picture our Proverbs 31 woman.
She has a plan. She knows what she needs to make meals for her family. There's no way she's coming home after a long day visiting relations in the village over without knowing what they're going to have for dinner.
If they had had electricity back then, I bet she would have used a crockpot.
She goes to several market stands to find the healthiest and least expensive food. If she lived in the 21st century, she would have had a coupon organizer and spent $42.28 for $197.73 worth of food. She would have price matched and gone to various stores to get the best deals.
(sigh)
Since I'm pretty sure that these verses were meant to guide and inspire us, I'm going to shake off the feeling of total and complete inadequacy.
What can I learn from this verse?
I need to make sure my family has healthy, yummy food to eat. Without blowing our budget. I need to plan ahead and also have backup plans in place. For me, it means I consistently need to go to the grocery store, according to the workable plan I have made. I also need to cut myself a break if I'm having a hard time with things...
and give my husband cash when he goes to the store.
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