The Woman Who Fears the Lord #7

The Woman Who Fears the Lord

 

A Study of Proverbs 31

Verse 16

 

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

 

 

 

Our Proverbs 31 gal is quite the business woman.  She researched and planned before purchasing a field and the field made her enough profit that she bought a vineyard. 

 

Let's put this into 21st century terms.

 

There are two businesses down the road that are up for sale.  One is a restaurant and the other is a hair salon.  There are about 5 other restaurants in town and they are always busier than the one that is for sale.  That's actually the reason it's for sale, the owner can't get enough customers to break even.  The hair salon has five experienced stylists, is one of two hair salons in the community and has an established client base. The owner is retiring and moving to Florida.

 

Mrs. Proverbs purchases the hair salon.  She invests money into some advertising, does a hair cutting fund raiser for the local school and gives all her employees long overdue raise.  In the matter of a year, she has had to extend hours and hire four more stylists.  If things continue in this direction, she will have add on to the building next year.

 

With the profit, Mrs. Proverbs purchases an Orchard and plans on hiring people to help out during the busy season.  This business sells, apples, apple cider, apple butter, dried apples, apple pie and apple dumpling.

 

 

 

When I was younger, my father had my sister and me read a chapter of Proverbs every day.  Most months have 30 or 31 days in them, so we would pick that day's date and read that chapter.  I can't even tell you how many times I have read through this book but I never realized Proverbs 31:16 was about a business woman.  A woman who had a business.  She worked outside her home and made a profit.

 

That is huge for me.

 

My mom was a stay-at-home mom.  She was the bake cookies, cart her children around, make her house a home, homeschool her children mama.  (Which was back when homeschooling was not as popular as it is now.) 

 

My dad always said that they had looked at other people's lives, saw what the moms working outside the home did for the family, and made a goal to do anything and everything to keep my mom from having to work outside the home. 

 

My mom was a little more vocal about why she stayed at home and how it was the right way to do it.  God's original plan was mentioned several times.

 

This became my goal, too.  I was going to grow up, get married, have lots and lots of babies and stay home with them.  I would be fulfilling God's plan.

 

Only, I wasn't and am not fulfilling what I thought was God's plan... 

 

I did get married, but I also went to college and I have a career. 

 

We did have children, but I currently work full time five months out of the year. 

 

Does that mean I am not aligning my life to God's plan?

 

I felt terrible about having to work and yet couldn't come up with any responsible reason to quit.  In fact, all I could come up with were responsible reasons to stay at my job.

 

So, why am I emotionally torn up about working?

 

Part of it is because I just plain miss my kids. 

 

But the biggest part is the way I was raised and our culture.

 

So, I researched "Husbands Are The Sole Provider".

 

 I found lots of opinions but no scripture to back them up.

 

There is no verse in the bible that says "Husbands, thou shalt provide all the money your family needs."

 

Nope.  It's not there.  There's not even one that's close.

 

If it's not my husbands sole responsibility to financially provide for our family and we need an extra income, I can help out.

 

 

 

Do I still want to stay home with my children?  Very much.

 

 

So, here's what I am going to do. 

 

I'm going to enjoy my job and bringing in an income and pray...

 

After the season is over, try a few business ideas and pray... 

 

Enjoy the time I have at home with my children and pray.

 

 

I'm going to let go of feeling the need to plan and control everything...

 

Let go of the guilt.

 

 

I'm going to leave our lives in God's hands. 

 

He knows what is in my heart. 

 

He knows what my family needs.

 

I'm going to trust in His plan.

 

 

Wherever God places me, I'm going to be totally fabulous at it. 

 

'Cause that's what Mrs. Proverbs would have done.

 

 

I have Sara Horn to thank for opening my eyes to the business side of our Proverbs 31 gal.  Her book "My So-Called Life As A Proverbs 31 Wife" was a huge turning point for me.

 

 

Book Review of "My So-Called Life As A Proverbs 31 Wife" by Sara Horn

 

 

The link to the series "The Woman Who Fears the Lord"