“She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.”
Proverbs 31:15
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 rather 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. 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 at any time.
Everyone knew they could count on her. People would call all through the night if they had a need or a question. When I had my accident, she took a leave of absence from work to take me into her home to 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 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 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 that 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. Years 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.
Here is the Talk Show we did today on this topic. Make sure to watch for the tips for new mothers and their babies. Next week we will be talking about some good old fashioned hospitality.
