Ahh, Interesting

So my scripture study last night inspired me, and I thought I'd share and get your opinions on some things. It was Proverbs 31 about a virtuous woman. Don't get bored, trust me, this is a good one! Starting with verse 10. "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Alright...let's define virtuous. According to the Random House Websters College Dictionary it means 1-Conforming to moral & ethical principles; upright 2-Chaste. Okay. Now we know what we are talking about, let's continue. Verse 11. "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil." Excellent. To me this means that the husband will depend on her and that he doesn't need anything else (ie spoils. Okay, he will need other things obviously, but he's not going to depend on c0-workers or his job to satisfy him...these are all just things that need to be done, that he might even enjoy, but that he doesn't need). Verse 12- "She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life." So when you do your husband good you are putting him first...taking care of him. I'll admit, I struggle with this one quite a bit. I'm an inherently selfish creature and I'd like to think it's all about me...but it isn't...sigh. Verse 13- "She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands." She's a hard worker. Not sure about the wool and flax bit, unless it's referring to the fact that someone had to get the wool from the sheep and someone had to harvest the flax and she would be willing and able to do it. Verse 14- "She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar." Alright, I admit I'm stumped here and would like your input. the only thing I can think of is that she is cultured. But that is probably stretching it a bit. Verse 15- "She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens." Yuck...I don't like getting up early...sigh. I'll definitely have to work on that one. Verse 16- "She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard." Verse 17- “She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.” Obviously (well, to me any way…I’ve never claimed to be a deep thinker…if the poem is talking about blueberries, it means blueberries…not riches and treasure…don’t ask) she’s a strong woman, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Her body will handle what she puts it through because she is taking care of it, and in so doing is becoming strong. Verse 18- “She perceiveth that he merchandises is good: her candle goeth not out by night.” Love this verse. I take it to mean that she has good self-esteem. She knows who she is, she knows she’s a daughter of God and that she is worth something. She is constantly working on her testimony so it doesn’t dim like in the parable of the ten virgins.
I was going to just skip around to my favorite verses so if anyone is still reading they don’t bore themselves, but I just liked the whole thing, so if you are still reading you’ll just have to bear with me. Verse 19- “She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.” Which is a stick on which spinning materials are wound. So really, I have no idea other than she can sew (smile) Any thoughts? Verse 20- “She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.” Good things to do. Good things. Verse 21- “She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.” So I’m not going to pretend I have any idea what it means to be clothed with scarlet (it’s a color isn’t it?) But I love this verse because it says to me that she is prepared for whatever. Perhaps her she has a good food storage going, money saved in the bank, 72 hour kits, whatever, this is a lady who is prepared for it. She’s like the woman who whenever a crisis arrives she reaches into her purse and pulls out just what you need. ‘Your kid is poopy and you don’t have wipes, here I have some.’ ‘Band-aid? Not a problem. Would they like a princess one or spiderman?’ Okay, maybe that’s a little overboard, but whatever being prepared means to you, that’s what it should be. Verse 22- “She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.” Again, I love this verse. I’m not sure if I’m reading it right, but to me it translates to this. She is a daughter of God and since she knows this she dresses accordingly. She is put together. Did you guys read that article in the Ensign about this? I wish I could remember the name or the author, but it was amazing. Oh, it had something to do with refining our homes…maybe that was the title. It was recent...two or so months ago. It was awesome. Read it, love it. Verse 23- “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.” No real thoughts about this…maybe it means when someone in the family achieves something, it is good for the whole family (see September Ensign Q&A article)? Maybe it’s the whole behind every good man there is a good woman bit. I don’t know. Verse 24- “She maketh find linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.” Well, since I can’t sew, and have no desire to wear a girdle I’m going to take this to mean that she is using her talents to the best of her abilities and making them grow. Verse 25- “Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.” Cool. Verse 26- “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” K, this is awesome and something I would really like to work on…with my kids, Dan, friends, everyone. Kindness, we could all use a little more couldn’t we? Verse 27- “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.” She isn’t lazy and she takes care of her house (sigh, I guess I should get the laundry done…) Verse 28- “Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.” I can only hope that someday my children will say nice things about me. But to get them to do this, this woman was a good mother. She focused on her family and had her priorities straight. Verse 29- “Many daughters have done virtuoutsly, but thou excellest them all.” Umm..okay.
Verse 30- “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.” Look up fear in the Bible Dicionary. Very interesting. But again, this woman knows who God is. Verse 31- “Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.” Sweet. So are my works going to praise me? I hope so. And if not maybe I need to get my works in order.
Anyway, if you made it through this, wasn’t that an awesome 21 verses? I was inspired by it. It made me extremely excited and I just wanted to share it with everyone. So go be that virtuous woman that God knows you are (or if you are a guy go support that virtuous woman in your life and be a man worthy of her)!