Proverbs 31:14-15 Her Kitchen
Our wife of excellence is a master in her kitchen. She cares about what her household eats and searches diligently for the best. It’s ready and waiting for them.
We are breaking down the tasks of our wife of excellence. We looked at her character the last time. Today we will start looking at her different skills. Cooking is first up. There are only two verses that specifically mention her cooking activities.
My bible helps tells me that she doesn’t really have to travel a great distance to get the food she feeds her family but diligently searches out choice foods that are brought in from far places. That makes sense to me as she is certainly too busy to be traveling to gather food too. I have no doubt that she knows how to find the best bargains in her searching.
Our woman not only looks for new and nutritious foods but she gets up early to prepare the morning meal for everyone in her household. Believe me, this is a labor of love! She doesn’t put boxes of cereal on the table and let her kids serve themselves. She prepares a full meal that will carry her family well into their daily activities. This takes planning and dedication to make this happen every morning.
I’m wondering about her “maidens.” Are these maidservants? Are they older daughters? Maybe they are younger women that she works with or teaches skills to. Whatever their position, our wife of excellence sees to their needs instead of insisting they meet her needs.
I don’t believe her culinary care ends at the breakfast table. I have a feeling that the “portions” she passes out are for the midday meal for her family that are away from home at midday. She would also have the evening meal prepared and ready to serve when her husband returned home from his work.
My talents in the kitchen lay in baking. I was the baker when I was growing up. My mom would give me a recipe and I would create it for our family. My most memorable was making carrot cake. I had never eaten carrot cake before and after grating up fresh carrots into this cake creation I was NOT about to try it. The cake generated many compliments that I just shook my head at thinking, “if they only knew.” One guest insisted I try a bite of it. Carrot cake is now my FAVORITE cake of all, but only when made with fresh ingredients. My family loves it when I make it too.
With the day-to-day cooking, I have become a microwave slave. I never know when my husband will be awake or even make it through the prep time without falling asleep. He may ask for something, I cook it, then it goes cold because he refuses to get up and eat. If it can’t be fixed in 10 minutes or less, it doesn’t make it on my daily table.
I used to cook regular meals when my children were growing up. But I rarely made anything, besides baked goods, from scratch. I told my children that there were people who went to great trouble to put good food in the box, bag, bottle, and can. The least I could do is eat it. Thank you Rago and Betty Crocker. I suppose this alone would disqualify me for the wife of excellence award. I think I can live with this. I do, however, look for foods my family will enjoy and that are healthy for them.
Father God, thank You for providing me with the ability to cook, including a mother who taught me how to cook. Thank You for all the people I have been able to bless throughout my life with these skills. Thank You also for the removal of guilt for not living up to the ideal presented in these verses. You love me just the way I am while encouraging me to be more too. You are giving me opportunities lately for regrowth. I wonder where You will take me from here in this area. My grand children don’t visit often enough to even bake anymore; much anyway.
