by Gina L. from Virtuous Daughters, June/July 2017~Volume 17, Number 2 "Panning for Gold" Proverbs 31 Study Series Part 14 ~Proverbs 31:23~ This week we took a field trip to an aquarium to observe the marvelous fish God created. In a large tank, I oohed and ahhed at many beautifully colored exotic fish and at the sharks, sting rays, and the giant turtle. The expert biologist who was answering questions came around to talk to us. She told us her favorite fish was this tiny little three inch plain looking fish. I was shocked at first. Then she told us why. It turns out that little fish was loved by all in the tank because he would clean all the parasites off of the other fish and groom them. He was such a good little helper that he would even swim in and out of their gills, cleaning and making the fish look good and stay healthy all over. While I can’t even remember the name of the plain little fish, I certainly remember how good he made the others in the tank look. Like the biologist, I decided that I liked that plain little fish too and would like to be like him, helping others and making them better by his presence. That plain little fish reminds me of the Virtuous Woman.
As we have peered into the life of the Virtuous Woman in Proverbs 31, we have observed her many noble character qualities mentioned and have sought to emulate them. Now, however, as we come to verse 23, we find a stark change--the woman’s husband’s position and place are emphasized rather than hers. Proverbs 31:23 says, “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.” by Gina L. from Virtuous Daughters, November 2016~Volume 16, Number 8 "Panning for Gold" Proverbs 31 Study Series Part 8 ~Proverbs 31:17~ One day I was walking down the hallway in my home in Ohio singing, “He has made me strong. He has made me strong. I will rejoice for He has made me strong….” Now I often do sing as I go about my day, and it is not unusual for me to mix up words from various songs like I had done in the above example where the song actually says, “He has made me glad. He has made me glad. I will rejoice for He has made me glad.” The funny thing is I didn’t even realize that I had made an error in the lyrics until I was thinking about writing this down, but the mistake turned out to be a good thing because God taught me much by it.
As I was singing, all of a sudden, I came to a screeching halt as the question, “How has He made me strong?” flashed through my mind. Almost as quickly the answer came: by carrying burdens—weights. Wow! There was a twofold meaning right away in my heart as I stood there in the hallway. by Tiffany S. from Virtuous Daughters, August 2016~Volume 16, Number 5 When I was a little girl, I had a big imagination. Being the first-born, I was usually successful in convincing my younger brother to join me in make-believe games. One of our favorites was “Grown Up Today,” where we pretended to be grown and married with families of our own. Not content to settle for mediocre, we established a church in the forest, organized a sophisticated home school support group, and founded a delicious restaurant in our family kitchen. Every day we were living our picture-perfect future, and it was exhilarating. (Justin had twenty children. I only had twelve, but that was quite understandable, since my dozen consisted of six sets of twins.) One of our creative ideas was to compile a home school directory complete with family names and children’s birthdays. When I find these childhood memories in boxes in the attic, I laugh...how much fun we had together! But sometimes I sigh...this home school directory shows that my oldest children were born three years ago! (And at the time when I’d figured those dates, that was a “safe” estimation!)
Here I am, hardly able to believe that I, the girl who always considered late twenties “sooo old to be unmarried,” have actually joined the club. And yet I can honestly say as I look back on the past years, I wouldn’t trade any of them. Each day I rest confidently that I am in the center of God’s will for my life and nothing can be sweeter than that assurance. I still hope and pray fervently that the Lord will provide marriage and motherhood in His timing...I still prepare for that and look forward to it very much! And yet, my ultimate desire is to live the life He has ordained for me. It is only there that I have true joy, fulfillment, and sustenance. Proverbs 28:6 says, “Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.” I have personalized this in my journal: “Better to be single and within God’s will than married but unfaithful to my Lord.” (Though that isn’t to say marriage is the “rich life” and singleness “is poverty”! :) ) As single girls waiting on the Lord, there are moments when we struggle...but ultimately, we could not be more fulfilled anywhere else, if this is what God has ordained for us right now. |
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