“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies” (Proverbs 31:10).
Some dread tax day in April. Folks in retail dread Black Friday. Customer service employees nationwide dread working their counters the day after Christmas.
Me? I dread the day each year when I’m expected to read about her—the Proverbs 31 woman. Ugggh.
Today I’ve decided to focus less on the Super Woman of the Bible and more on King Lemuel’s mother who wanted to provide her son with the most detailed list possible of qualities to look for in a future mate.
I’m no Bible scholar, but I’m just guessing she wasn’t anyone different than you or I. She wanted the best for her child. She wanted to give advice that would make her son’s life easier, happier and less stressed. She wanted to make sure her son repeated no mistakes she or her friends had made.
Down deep, I’m pretty sure of this: She wanted more for her son than she found in herself. Someone better, smarter, more productive, more business savvy, more generous, more frugal, more supportive, more—well, just more, than what she was.
Hence, the Proverbs 31 gal.
To King Lemuel’s mother, I can relate. I set much higher aspirations for my son’s future mate than a replica of me. I desire he marry and spend the rest of his life with someone more lovely, inside and out, than his father’s pick of a wife.
Nope, I’ll never be the Proverbs 31 woman, but I can pray my daughter-in-law will.
Malinda Edgell
Illinois
PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for Illinois and South Carolina women meeting together in state retreats today.
