Friday, May 12, 2017

Excellent Moms, or Existentless?

10 An excellent wife who can find?
    She is far more precious than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
    and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm,
    all the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
    and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant;
    she brings her food from afar.
15 She rises while it is yet night
    and provides food for her household
    and portions for her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
    with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She dresses herself with strength
    and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
    Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff,
    and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She opens her hand to the poor
    and reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
    for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes bed coverings for herself;
    her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates
    when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them;
    she delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,
    and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
    and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women have done excellently,
    but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
    and let her works praise her in the gates.

(Proverbs 31:10-31)
Though beginning with the search for an "excellent" wife, eventually that usually leads to motherhood as well, as it does here.  "Her children rise up and call her blessed."  Excellent, as in five stars out of five stars on Amazon.  How does that work?  We cannot have the same woman tried out by 5436 husbands who each rate her.  We cannot play musical moms with a different "child" of every age and demeanor each hour.  There really is only one litmus test: "a woman who fears the LORD."  Everything else is a result, a symptom, some proof in the pudding. It is not some comparison between two "brands" of mothers; it is simply a mom knowing Whose child she is, and seeing everything else in relationship to that. Excellent moms do exist. Often we just do not know it right before our very eyes.  Rise up and calle her blessed, and see if your vision doesn't improve. (and yes, I did make up that word: "existentless" - synonym for "vapor, smoke screen, pipe dream, figment of your imagination." )

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