She is On Call

A Virtuous Woman is ready to serve others at all hours.  She is on call.
Whether it be waking in the night feeding babies or nursing her sick children to health, she is ready for the task.  No matter the cost, she gives of herself fully in the hour she is needed most.  When her husband has a job that requires him to rise early, she is at his side making him breakfast and packing him a lunch.  She is ready to serve even if she is tired.  If a friend is having troubles, she is a phone call away.   If she is lying awake in the night, she is thinking about others and praying for their needs.  


She is not selfish…
When you become a wife, you become a helper.  You are your husband’s right hand.  When I first got married, I was ill equipped.  I did not know the first thing about serving his needs.  Looking out for ME was what I knew best.  I was not raised in a home where the Bible was preached.  There were no lessons on “How to be a Good Help Meet to your Husband”.  If I would have just opened my eyes, I could have seen it.  My mother worked a full time job as a nurse but she was always there for my dad and for anyone.  Little did I know that she was a good example of a helper with a true servant’s heart.She never failed to have a meal on the table.  Planning way ahead for each meal was something she excelled at.  I never had to worry that supper would be late.  Breakfast was always available at the crack of dawn.  The food was always fresh, always good, and always there.  If my dad was planning a hunting trip, she would fix every meal ahead for him, so all he had to do was pop it in the oven to heat it up.  I wish now I would have spent my days learning from her example than pursuing all the many things I had interest in while yet at home.My mom always on call.  She would stay up all night with me if I was sick.  When I had small children that would have an illness, she would help me nurse them back to health.  She did not consider her risk of infection.  She did not worry about getting dirty with vomit.  Though when I was young, I did not appreciate my mother, I see now what a selfless person she was.  She was always willing to serve.  Always early, ready to feed anyone.

Everyone knows they can count on her.  People would call all through the night if they had a need or even a question.  When I had my accident, she took a leave of absence from work to take me into her home and care for me day in and day out.  When I would scream in pain, she would be right at my bedside holding me.  Every time I needed to go to the doctor, she would haul me around in my wheel chair.  When I returned home to my family, she would make meals for the children and help clean our home.

I forgot to eat.  That was always my biggest trouble.  For some reason, I just do not feel hunger like normal people do.  When I would have a friend visit for the day in my growing up years, I would never offer food unless my mother prepared it for us.  I brought that into my marriage.  I did not think about cooking or feeding my husband.  I did not KNOW how to cook.  I resorted to macaroni and cheese or chef boyardi ravioli that was in a can.  I could have learned from my mother who is an excellent cook, but I just did not have an interest.

When I became a mother, I HAD to feed my baby.  It was the best thing for me.  Becoming a mother taught me how to serve.  God puts an urgency in our hearts to care for our wee ones.  They look up into our eyes and we just know they are hungry.  With a baby at my breast all day and night, I was being trained by God to serve.  I learned by long nights of babies who needed me.   When they were in the hospital, I was the one that took them and sat by their bedsides.  Laying aside all things to be there for them was something that I did without thinking.  God puts that desire in our hearts.

I started having a desire to learn how to cook and how to be a better wife.  

It did not come natural to me at first, but I soon learned the art of being a wife and mother.  I started visiting my grandmother each week to learn things like how to bake bread or how to slow cook a roast in a crock pot.  I still remember our hands punching into the dough together.  Later, my hands were punching into the dough with my daughter’s hands.  Hands intertwining for a greater purpose than just bread for a day.  It was a skill that could feed my family for a lifetime.  A skill that will come in handy for my daughters and their future families.

Meals
Making meals is something I love to do.  I love cooking.  Little by little I am still learning to have meals ready at a certain time.  My husband feels so much love when he walks into the door from a long tiresome day at work, to the smell of food cooking.  He has never made me feel badly all the years he came home and had to help me figure out what we were going to eat at the last minute.

I have been working on having breakfast each morning for my family.  My kids are old enough to make their own, but it sure is nice to have a meal waiting on the table.  If there is a meal, their is a prayer, and that is a wonderful start to our day.  Fresh buttermilk biscuits and eggs never gets old.  Making a practice of setting the table for a nice meal, is such a good thing.  Everyone feels relaxed and ready to get more things done in their day.

Planning Ahead
The simple task of planning ahead saves a lot of frustration.  Before bed I must determine to think about what we are having for breakfast.  After breakfast I must determine to think about what I will make for lunch.  After lunch, I must determine to figure out what we are going to make for supper.  Sometimes I make enough food for lunch that there is plenty to eat for supper.  When I make a BIG meal, I try to make it stretch for another meal or two.  If I make a chicken dinner one evening, I fix a shepherd pie for the following day.  I have enough meat left to layer into the bottom of a baking pan with gravy poured over and mashed potatoes spooned on top.  I store it in the refrigerator overnight.  The next day, I have to put it in the oven an hour before meal time.  I reserve the bones for soup the next day.  It is really easy when you plan ahead.

The Early Bird Gets the Worm…
This is an old saying.  My dad was always an early riser and taught me the wisdom to waking early.  When you wake early, you have more time in the day.  It sounds crazy, but it is true.  For most of my life I have lived by this wisdom and it has proven to add a lot of productivity to my days.  The days feel less rushed and I have more TIME.  Time is precious.  I want to wake early, give a portion to my dear husband and my children.  I want them to remember me like I remember my mother, as a woman who was always ready and willing to serve.