#4 - It Begins with a Step

Yummy... coffee. Who would've thought I enjoyed my "blonde" coffee so much!?! What a great way to wake up! Just thinking about it and remembering back, I guess I can blame it on my Grandma Ellis! Yes, my Grandma could be to blame for my coffee love. I remember when we were little, us kids would go over to grandma & grandpa's house and the adults would be drinking coffee. Well, of course us kids wanted some too! So, grandma would get us some. We called it Alligator Juice! lol! What!? Well, she had this alligator cup that we drank out of, and she REALLY doctored it up! It was probably half milk & half sugar! Maybe that's why I drink my coffee still so blonde. :) What a sweet memory. The alligator cup and coffee at grandma's. That in itself is a great reminder of why to cherish time with the ones you love. Memories last forever but it's the creating of the memories that we need to take time to do. 


As a side note....I recently heard an interview with a gentleman named Gary Vee (@darrenhardy, Success Magazine). He's a great entrepreneur and he said something like this, "Often on planes, I will look to see who is sitting around me. If I can sit with someone who is in their 80's, I will do it every time. I am always curious to know their tips on living a successful, long life. Not one of them has said they wished they had spent more time at the office, they all would've spent more time taking the vacations with family, enjoying their kids ball games and loving their family more...." Memories truly do last.


Well with that, let's go ahead and jump into some other things that last forever, and that is the WORD! The same yesterday, today & tomorrow! Praise the Lord! 

Proverbs 27:23 -27 - Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and look well to your herds .......The lambs will be for your clothing, and the goats [will furnish you] the price of a field. And there will be goats' milk enough for your food, for the food of your household, and for the maintenance of your maids.

Proverbs 31:15 - She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household and assigns her maids their tasks.

So let's begin to pull a few things from these verses. First of all...Be diligent to know the state of your flocks ... Can you balance a checkbook? Do you have a budget? Do you know the flow of your money? What is going in & what is going out? Well, that is a pretty important step. ESPECIALLY if you aspire to do even a SMALL PORTION of what the Proverbs 31 woman does! Be diligent to know the state of your flocks. 


As a business owner with my husband, we have definitely had times where we have been guilty of not know this information. We have just thought, well we will just "out-earn" the problem. We will just make enough money so that we don't "have" to balance our checkbook, or work off a budget. We simply were not being fiscally responsible. We would throw things off as "broke thinking" or "lack mentality". Well, there may be partial truths in that, but it still boils down to being financially/fiscally responsible. Even with the Proverbs 31 woman, we see that she does have a SAVINGS! (Proverbs 31:16 - ...with her savings she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard.) When you are responsible with a little, you allow God to bless you with more. This Proverbs 31 woman was indeed fiscally responsible. 


So, I guess we are covering the second part of these verses first, then we will circle back around to the beginning of them. 


When she wakes up, what is she doing? Assigning her maids their tasks. When you think of someone who has maids, who do you think of? Who or what pops to mind first. Yep! The rich! The wealthy! The people on the Soap Opera's, All My Children (which my brother is in that soap right now! Go Jamie! @jamesellis3) Yes, we tend to think of the wealthy having maids. And guess what else is pretty neat, "maids" in these verses is PLURAL!!! Now, that gets me excited. She has more than one maid. 


When YOU, woman of God, are walking in your calling, what God has assigned ONLY YOU to do, you too will need maids. This Proverbs 31 woman is a wife, mother, business owner, seamstress, real estate owner, farmer, salesperson, physically fit woman, shopper, counseling others, etc, etc... when you are walking out God's FULL calling on your life you may not have time to do everything you currently do. You may not have time to do laundry for your household. And guess what, that is OK! Whether you are creating memories with your family, helping the needy (31:20) or selling your goods to other business' (31:24). There are some things that only you can do & someone else can not do it for you. For example...if you are a great salesperson, and you have time to sell something or do your laundry, and can delegate one of those tasks to someone else. Well, most anyone is capable of throwing in a load of clothes, folding and putting them away. It does not take great talent, it just takes time. BUT, you may be the only one who knows how to listen to what the customer needs, hear what he is saying between the words, know his situation, know your products benefits, best features, selling points. There are some things only YOU can do! 


I know there is some mentality that people feel like THEY are the ones who have to be super woman and do it ALL. Well, ladies, let's be open minded. Do you think, possibly, just maybe that God could one day have a bigger calling on you than scrubbing toilets? Maybe? Just maybe? Just be open-minded. :)


PRAISE GOD! Maids are BIBLICAL! We have a lady, Ms Sherrie, who does our laundry & does some light cleaning. She is a GOD-SEND! It is so nice to come home after she has been here to have fresh new sheets on our bed, an empty dishwasher, pillows neatly organized on the couch, no dirty clothes in the clothes basket. Ahhhhhhhhh. What peace! But, I still have a ways to go to catch up to the Proverbs 31 woman.... I don't yet have "maidS" plural! :) I will get there though! 


So this Proverbs 31 woman is in charge of getting food for her household & her maids.... interesting.... do these maids live with her then? Or have living quarters? Possibly. 


OK...let's circle back to the beginning part of Proverbs 31:16... She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household...


She rises while it is yet "night". I have meditated on this verse A LOT! I kept thinking...so, does this woman not sleep? How much sleep does she get? I mean, if you know me at all, you know that I like my sleep. Well, the more I spent time meditating on it, this is what was revealed to me. Once your household gets up, what begins to happen? Interruptions. Noise. Movement. Action. Kids wanting food. It is no longer a quiet place conducive or really getting before the Lord to listen to his voice. This Proverbs 31 woman is waking up FIRST! She is getting up before her kids...before her husband. Because otherwise, she would be making breakfast, getting her husband coffee, doing this, doing that... she is getting in some very valuable "ME-TIME" with the Lord! 


She is getting spiritual food for her household. SOMEONE needs to teach your kids Biblical principles, and as a woman of God, it is your responsibility. We can not leave it up to society or others to teach our kids the truths in the Bible. She is getting spiritual food to teach her kids throughout the day. She is getting spiritual food to teach her maids also, her employees. She is not leaving them without getting the Word. She is PREPARING for the day. She is making her "To-Do" list. She is assigning the maids what needs to be done today. She is spending valuable time loving on and spending that quiet intimate time with her Lord, with her Savior....listening what He has to say to HER for the day. She is being strengthened so that she doesn't grow weary throughout her day. She is putting on her armor (Eph 6). She is preparing. 


And I will end with what I received this morning.....

Amy, yes she is the picture of the ideal woman. But, don't think it is too far fetched to aspire to be like this woman. It did not happen over night. She had to start somewhere & then she allowed good to build upon good. Positive habits & attributes to build up. What one person has to work on, she has developed into a habit which now is 2nd nature to her. It starts with a single step. It starts with positive action in one area of life. Some it may be getting personal time in the Word or getting "spiritual" food for her family, kids - to teach them godly principle. Amy - it begins with a step. Knowing who she is, is a great place to start. She WORKED at being who she is. She aspired to DO great things. And she DID do great things. Look at through time, people have read about her for thousands of years. She did make her impact & so can you!

It begins with a step.