Proverbs 31 woman

Proverbs 31:10-31

New International Version (NIV)

Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character

^{10 [a]}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.

 

WoW. When I look at that, when I read that, when I even try to wrap my mind around one sentence of that I get overwhelmed. On a bad day  I struggle with my fibromyalgia  just getting out of bed and a shower is a bonus! It is on those days that images of these verses tear through my heart as I watch my husband come home from another long workday to no home cooked meal. But lately I am starting to realize, that God didn't mean for a woman to necessarily be all of these things all the time at one point in her life. She may have been all these things, but at different points in her life, what was important, and what was sustaining, and what was the focus, was that her eyes were always on The LORD. She praised Him, feared Him, raised her children to fear and love Him, and that was why the work of her hands were blessed. I think that is what I have lost sight of myself.
So I started to find ways to change that. One has been my health. There are many things I cannot change about it, but there are many things I can. Like quitting smoking, eating better, getting better diagnosis, fighting with Dr's for better treatments, researching alternative treatments and just plain not giving up and giving in (which I had).
Another is starting my make ahead meals. I am slowly changing over some of my family favorite recipies to healthier versions, and making them freezer friendly. This is not only helping with the having a hot meal ready issue, but it also might turn out to be a future income maker for me. I am not sure where God is taking me, but this is another adventure. There is one thing that is for sure, with Him it is always exciting, and you always end up better off than you were!

Please, give me something, to blog about!

So yeah, it has been forever since that first blog, and each month, then each year that I haven't posted another word I have felt more and more useless as a blogger. I just couldnt seem to get the hang of how it all worked and what should have been so easy to do (after all I type like 140 wpm or something like that) was taking hours upon hours to figure out! Well, there was that AND the fact that I simply had nothing worthwhile to say. Facebook allowed me to get all of my whiney B&Moaning out of my system so really, what was left?
I am thinking, what I could start doing is blog about some of the things I have been dabbeling in lately. I know everyone does that, and we are all oh-so-proud- of our back-to-our-roots movements (nothing is new under the sun!) but someone has to be! If it weren't for all of us these arts would die out, never to be heard from again (and let's be honest some of them should be)!
So my newest foray, besides the fact that I am still learning and broadening my sewing abilities, is into the world of coming up with workable freezer/slowcooker recipes for people (family and friends) who live around me and are much much to busy to surf the web, try them out and see if they work and adapt them as needed for thier families or lifestyles (I.e. vegan, gluten free, other allergens etc etc) So here I am, surging the net and trying to make heads or tails of it all and still come up with workable, easy meals that taste good and that my husband will eat. I am also trying to balance it out with making as much of it homemade as possible, yet knowing when and where to cut the corners. A great example here is my meatloaf recipe. I spent YEARS in search of the perfect meatloaf recipe and I am not exagerating one iota when I state that I have probably tried at somewhere between 30-50 different ones in my quest. I finally came upon what I feel is the perfect balance by pure chance and now, I will not change it even though... yes... it contains.... stove top stuffing. Yep. You read that right. I know, I know... But it MAKES the meatloaf. And if you do not believe me, try my recipe and you will agree. You really will.
Anywhoo... no promises, but my plan as of now is to try and post my successful freezer meals on here along with pics and recipes and shopping lists as I get them.
Lemme know if there is anything you would like me to try to work out.
xoxo
Jessica