The Proverbs 31 Woman – Week 4
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Welcome back to week 4 in our Proverbs 31 series!
This week we are reading:
Proverbs 31:15-16
She gets up while it is still dark;
She provides food for her family
And portions for her servant girls.
She considers a filed and buys it;
Out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
The Proverbs 31 woman knows the value of time. She doesn’t waste time in bed – she is not slothful. She rises so early that it is still dark out and in that darkness she provides food for her family. Rather than pulling something out of the freezer last minute – she starts the morning with her family’s need for food on her mind. To see two great examples of monthly meal plans that you could replicate go here or here.
Then she provides portions for her servant girls. Our servant girls are our washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, microwaves, telephones, computers, cars (thank goodness I don’t have to hitch a wagon in the morning) and vacuums! These little servants are huge time savers – but they do have to be managed. At times they break (both my washing machine and vacuum broke within the last 6 weeks – I learned how valuable both are to my daily life during that time!).
Next the Proverbs 31 woman has a dream – she dreams of planting a vineyard – so she considers, buys and plants a vineyard.
Do you have a dream? Follow the Proverbs 31 method of pursuing it.
1. Consider – take time to pray and think through your plan. Consider if this is best for your family in this season of life. Talk to your husband and let him lead you in the decision making process.
2. Buy – in order to buy you must first save. Patiently save the money you will need to make this project happen.
3. Plant – the Proverbs 31 woman put muscle to her dream. She worked diligently to plant her vineyard. In the same way we are going to have to diligently work day in and day out to see fruit from our labor.
I followed these steps when starting this blog. 🙂
Our challenge this week
Rise before your family!!! Come on girls I know YOU can do it!!! I know it’s hard! It’s hard for me too, but lets focus this week and RISE before our family does…..before our kids do! Let’s rise, have our quiet time and organize our day BEFORE it starts!!! Pray this week for strength and the discipline to rise early! Also pray about your finances and ask God for wisdom to help you make wise choices concerning how you spend the money He has given you.
What are some ways you can make your days easier by getting up before your family?
Walk with the King,
Thank you for posting, you always inspire me to do more and to do things right@!
This was a nice post to read today. The Lord nudged me out of bed this morning at 5:30 and I made my husband’s lunch and got to have some quiet time. It feels good to get an early start to my day. Next comes 3 miles on the treadmill. The first 5 minutes out of bed are hardest for me. But once a I splash a little cold water on my face, I’m always glad to be up early. Thanks for the inspiration to keep going!
Woohooo!!! Way-to-go!!! Sounds like you had a VERY productive morning!!! 🙂
I have no reason to NOT get up early, but it still hard for me to do. I can find so many reasons to stay cozy when hubby’s alarm goes. But by late morning, I can think of even more reasons to GET UP EARLY! I really need to work at this.
Thanks for the encouragement! You are an inspiration to me.
You can do it, Starla!!!! Once we get out of bed and start going……we realize it really is a blessing to get our day started early. The whole day runs smoother!!! 🙂 Start out small……just try to get up tomorrow morning early, then do it for the next day….then the next. 🙂 You can do this!!!!! 🙂
What a great post!!! And I did get up before everyone else and prepare the day…thanks for your encouragement and inspiration!!!!
GREAT job, Kelly!!!!!
Getting up before my family?!!! Whhhaaaaattt?!!! I tend to go to bed between the hours of 12midnight & 2am … mainly as I am a studying SAHM who is trying to struggle through uni while I am still single… Feeling God using this study as training for being a wife. It is at night, when my family (read, parents, sister and daughter) are asleep … so my daughter is in bed by 8pm usually (my folks don’t get home from work until 6.30, and we like to share dinner all together) … and my folks and sister are in bed between 10 & 11pm as they all need to be out of the house by about 7am (they wake by 5:45am!!) to get to work on time. My daughter and I don’t wake up until about 7.30/8am …
The thought of getting up BEFORE 5:45am just, to be honest, makes me SICK!! To think that in order for me to get up in the morning BEFORE MY FAMILY, I need to be up before then … and maybe even 5am – Oh My Goodness …
I know that going to bed at this time is super ridiculous (I use the excuse that I share my bedroom with my daughter, so I can’t work in there; and my study area is in the living room … where my father is usually watching the tele from 8pm till bed), but it is the habit I’ve gotten into due to needing things to be super quiet for me to be able to focus on my studies (plus it’s cooler in the evening, and living in Darwin … where the usual daytime temperature is 31˚C … and we only have air conditioners in the bedrooms …).
Lol, a lot of complaining here 🙂
Courtney & Angela, Is it alright if i try to work on getting my bedtime back down to between 11pm/12 midnight … and getting up around 7am? I really can’t face the idea of getting up before even 6am!!! (quick note, before I had my daughter I was doing late-night finishes at the local supermarket on checkout … not starting until 3pm, finishing until after midnight)
Since Courtney or Angela aren’t responding, I thought I’d give it a go. I think that any improvement is good, and personally, my goal is to wake at 7 a.m. (I say “goal” because today I was pleased to be up by 7:30.) My hubby was working second shift, getting home around midnight, for over a year. I work from home as a freelance writer, and I’d work from after my sons (ages 1 & 3) went to bed at 8:30 until my hubby got home. We’d have some time together and usually go to bed around 1 a.m. Thankfully, our sons sleep in until at least 8:30. Until recently, so did I.
For the past 5 months, my hubby has been working first shift, which we greatly appreciate. Instead of working after my sons go to bed, I’ve been whittling the time away with pointless “activities” like watching TV, often staying up too late to get up at a decent time. Of course, this has meant that my writing has suffered. I’ve now been trying to get up by 7 and write some before my sons get up.
Currently, I’m adding to that by doing my Bible reading and planning for the day before I even start writing. I think it would work best for me to go to bed by 10 and get up at 6, but right now, I’m content with the changes I’ve been making.
Oops! I guess Angela did respond. Sorry for mistaking that. Hope my comment was helpful as well, though!
Thanks so much for this post! It’s so timely! God is so good and gracious in that isn’t he!! Could you all pray for me this week! Thanks a bunch!
blessings,
Stacey
Praying!!! 🙂
Ohh Larissa, my heart goes out to you, my sweet friend!!!! It sounds like you have a lot on your plate. My first advice to you would be actually that you need to be getting MORE sleep!!! If you’re not going to bed until midnight – 2am, you’re not getting a lot of sleep. Can you try to start going to bed maybe around 10 or 10:30? Since your daughter goes to bed around 8 pm- can you take from 8-10 to study and prepare for the next day? Then you could get up around 6:30 have your quite time and some time to yourself to either study or organize your day before your daughter wakes up? I personally like to get as much done the night before so I don’t have to wake up way to early! 🙂 Hope that helps!
Oh yes Angela, this is definitely where I would ultimately like to get to!! I know it will be SO much easier for me next year, as my daughter will be going to Preschool then … and I’ll HAVE to get up earlier then, lol!. … But then, I’ll also have three ‘full’ days to focus on my studies, so I won’t have to stay up so late.
And yes, I agree, I definitely need MORE sleep, lol! Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement Angela! I will work on bringing my bedtime and wakeup time back to a more ‘normal’ time over the next few weeks/months. Last night I went to bed at 1am, so I hope this is a good indicator of the start of a good habit forming 🙂
Folowing the Proverb’s 31 Woman has been great. Altough I’m a single mom, I can still be the best mother I can possibly be to my girls. I play the role of mother and father. It works best for me when I get everything done before bedtime. (11PM) I wake up at 6AM, have my coffee, do my morning routine (very very helpful having a morning routine), which includes working out for 30 min., shower, coffee, my daily devotional to get my mind set in the right direction from the get go. Each daily devotional has a biblical path to follow for that day, I read my Bible, and then watch the morning news. I then open a page to the romantic ideas book and find something nice that I can do for my boyfriend that day. This is MY time. 🙂 Then I get the girls up, and they also have a little morning routine. Then we go on about our day. Having all the dishes and laundry done before going to bed really makes a differance. I love getting up to a nice clean kitchen and laundry room. (A load a day keeps the chaos away!) And getting up early to start my day and be done with my things before waking my children makes a HUGE differance! They don’t feel rushed and I don’t feel like I’m trying to get 3 people ready all at once. I am a single mom with an inhome daycare so getting all of these things done before kids start arriving really makes the day go smoothly. Although they do like doing a workout video with me and that makes nap time come easily later. haha
Hi Courtney!
You’re website is so inspiring:) I can’t thank you enough for all your posts! I was so encouraged this morning to read the verses in Proverbs. Even though it had been a while since I’ve visited your website, Proverbs 31 has been on my mind. God is so good!!!! I look forward to meditating on the following verse in more depth in the days to come. Even though it’s a somewhat gloomy day here in Thunder Bay, ON, I have a lot of light and hope in my heart for a wonderful day for my family and I.
Lots of Love,
~Lindsay A.
I think it’s important to get creative with how you apply this verse. I for one, have 3 jobs outside of the home. One of which is an overnight position from 11pm-7am. So my last hour of work is very low-key. I spend that last hour making a quick to-do list and considering recipes. That way when I get home I can put together a breakfast before the kids leave and I go to bed, and I can make a dinner option to either freeze or throw in the crock pot for dinner. That last hour of preparation ensures that my family is taken care of to the best of my ability. You just have to figure out how to do things my own way, but hey at least i’m up before it’s light! My job just took all the effort out of it, because I was going to be up anyway. : p
Aww man, and here I just told the kids that since it was summer break, they could watch a short video before Mommy gets up in the morning. LOL!!
I wouldn’t consider myself an early riser but rising earl has become a habit with all my children now in school. Their last day was May 18th and I’m still getting up by 630am but maybe not being as productive as I would like to be. I did start my morning off with coffee and study time but it was long that my autistic child joined me. He was extra busy and talkative today making it harder to get things done. I will rise early again tomorrow and hope the day brings better results.
Hi,
First thing first , I’d like you to forgive me if my written english is’nt correct or filled with mistakes, I,m french and , of course, will probably make some.
I really try to get up early but sometimes it’s so difficult!! For exemple; after my week of exams I just got so exhausted that I was even having a nap in the mornings to be able to be productive in the afternoon. I have two sons ( 4 and 5) and going to university and sometimes, I just can’t keep up.
Now the trimester is over, I have more time to sleep but it seems that the energy I had isnt coming back… I know that it is a lot of complaining , but I try so hard and sometime feel like it’s not giving me any results. I’ll just keep on trying and praying harder hoping that the Lord will help me! 🙂
Also, I really wanted to thank you, I just discovered Women living well about a week ago and your site really helped me. I’m from Québec ( Canada ) and a young woman here can feel really lonely when trying to walk with the King since the majority of people aren’t. It’s even considered as archaic to follow any religion, especially christian. So really, thank you , your website gave me the feeling that I wasnt alone to struggle and the opportunity to really communicate with women who try to live with the Lord!
Émilie
Thanks Angela and Courtney for your encouragement and teaching Bible!
I ‘know’ the importance of getting up early…before my family. But I just do not enjoy it nor do it.
I am a night person so it really requires lots of discipline not to read one more page or do one more thing in the evening. Also I am hypothyroid so mornings are hard for me. And then in the morning my husband is up earlier anyway and he doesn’t mind giving early rising kids breakfast (our son is up early, daughters sleep in). So if I am not crucial in the kitchen why rush in? 🙂
So I am in battle in my heart 🙂 I know many benefits for getting up early …only having a quiet time would be worth it. Jesus got up when it was still dark to be with his Father! On the other hand, our family seems to work ok even though I am not the first one up.
I am just thinking out loud and debating and wrestling…What would be the best for my husband and my family?….I know I feel better when I get up earlier and I really get much more done, but it is hard work and discipline in my part. Is it really Biblical to get up early? Is it in the New Testament? Is it loving my family and serving them? So many questions, if only I would just going to bed earlier and getting up when the alarm goes off! Thanks for the lessons…it woke up many questions in my heart that are good for me to go over and find answers for!
I try to get up early but its really hard to get up early. I’ve tried getting up around 6 and my kids can sense I’m up so they get up too. Its easy to stay up at night and get the rest of my chores done breakfast prep when everyone goes to sleep. Is there any advice for me?
I would put a clock in their room, digital if they’re younger, and enforce a rule, they can’t come out until 6:30 or whatever time would work for you. If they have to go to the bathroom, fine, but then back to their rooms where they can play quietly. We’ve done this with our boys and it has helped tremendously!
I really appreciate your encouragement from last week, Courtney, about working with eager hands, as well as this week’s thoughts about providing food for our families, Angela.
I did want to suggest a slight change from somethng you said, though–You mention “pulling something out of the freezer last minute,” as if it’s in contrast to the Proverbs 31 ideal, and yet using a washing machine or buying already-made clothes is acceptable. I’ve been utilizing my time wisely (I believe) by preparing meals ahead of time and stockpiling them in the freezer for those days when my mothering or ministry responsibilities make meal-preparation difficult. I’ve started seeing my freezer as just another one of my “servant girls” that can help me provide healthful meals for my family!
I think that the Money Saving Mom is an excellent example of a Proverbs 31 woman, and I’ve found her suggestions regarding meal planning and freezer cooking quite helpful. http://moneysavingmom.com/downloads/freezer-cooking-planners