Proverbs 31:17, 25, 27-28 Practice
Our wife of excellence didn’t start out being able to carry all this weight on her own. It took practice and patients to develop the woman we see before us.
We are continuing on our way, looking at the different aspects and talents of the wife of excellence presented to us. We started with recognizing how precious she is to her husband and family. Her foundation of good character is where we began our examination of her. So far, we have looked at her cooking skills and work with textiles (from plant to product). Today, I want to point out how she did not become this woman overnight. It took time to build this amazing life.
NOTHING happens in an instant. There is always a process behind it. Even the creation of our universe was a process. God had a concept, He spoke, and mater obeyed. I don’t know how long it took because God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation” (Genesis 1:11a) and it did. This was BEFORE He made the sun, moon, and stars to set out the 24-hour period of our world. After He created the “lights” He then created the aquatic life and birds. Next came all the species of animals. I’m guessing that He took His time making everything exactly as He wanted it before His final creation; man. I would be a fool to tell God exactly how long it took Him to complete His work and what consisted of “a day” to Him but I can just about bank on it not being in the blink of an eye. When Jesus returns THAT will be in the blink of an eye but it has, and will continue, taken a while to get there.
Our wife of excellence had to practice her ‘crafts’. From the videos shared yesterday alone, we can see that she would have to build up considerable strength to do those tasks on a regular basis. “She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong” (verse 17) is exactly what happened each morning when she ate a nutritious meal and went out to use the tools for her textile work. I know MY arms, as they are today, would NEVER be able to handle the brace used for breaking the stalks of the dried flax. One video I watched labeled that part as “man’s work” but I wouldn’t be so certain about that. Even washing and carrying wet wool would be a task that required strong arms.
She is not lazy. Her days start before dawn and go well into the night. She doesn’t complain about her workload but bears it with dignity. She is not afraid of what lies before her for she KNOWS she has the strength to face what each day brings. I believe a LARGE portion of her assurance comes from KNOWING that her family is beside her. She takes care of her household and her family provides her with praise for it. They are a large part of her foundation.
Her family trusts her because she has proven herself trustworthy. And they have proven themselves trustworthy in her eyes as well. It is from this position of trust, skill, and learning that she will launch the next phase of her amazing talents; tomorrow.
When I was a child, EVERYTHING my mother did amazed me! It still does but I understand now how she got to those places. She contacted me after reading the post about our wife of excellence’s kitchen skills. She told me how she knew how to make toast on a skillet as her ONLY culinary skills when she married my dad. He taught her how to cook and she also learned from cookbooks. She is EXCELLENT at following written directions; sometimes too good at it. By the time I could understand much about the task of cooking, she had already mastered much of it. Later on, she learned even more, including cake decorating. She became a professional cake decorator when I was in my late teen years.
My mom’s sewing skills were ALWAYS amazing to me! She made it look so easy. When I was in Junior High school, Home Economics was a class required of all girls. The cooking part was easy for me because I had been baking and helping cook family meals for some time. When it came to sewing though, I didn’t have any experience beyond watching my mom. I figured that somehow, she must have passed her skills on to me and I bit off MORE than I could chew on my first project. Actually, the very first project we all had to sew was an apron. Mine wound up with a twisted neck strap. I cut it and sewed it back together the right way. (Today, I would have taken out the seam on one end and fixed it right.) That mistake right there should have clued me into the fact that I was NOT skilled at sewing. Instead, I chose a project WAY above my skill level. My mother ended up making my project for me once she saw how unskilled I was. Later on, she taught me the basics of sewing and started me on some easy patterns when it came time to make clothes for my children.
My sewing skills have grown significantly since that first project. I still have room for improvement but my children, grandchildren, and all who I share my work with are full of compliments. I even “sew bed coverings” like the wife of excellence. I make quilts too. And I can use more practice there as well but my family loves them.
If you desire to be good at anything, know for a fact that it will take time, practice, patients and persistence. God gives us talents but even those have to be developed. And as my mother (and grandmother) says, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.” Enjoy the process along the way and accept the fact that your first attempts are not going to be perfect. Anything done with love though is worth the effort and the keeping.
Thank You Father God for allowing me to practice, including practicing in understanding Your word. I am FOREVER grateful for the insights You provide me along the way! I cannot imagine trying to understand Your word on my own.
Thank You for the talents You have put within me and for giving me good teachers to hone them. I know I still have a way to go before I can call myself a ‘master tradeswoman’ but I’m enjoying the journey. If I ever get there, tell me what to do with my products. My family can only use so many quilts or ‘princess dresses’.
Continue building in me the character of a wife of excellence. My desire is to be someone my whole family can trust with their needs. Not just physical needs but emotional, spiritual, and wisdom needs. Feed me Your wisdom so I will have something to share when needs arise.
