Monday, January 21, 2008
Proverbs 31 woman - Day 5
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"She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast for her family and organizing her day". THAT'S IT.....THAT'S HOW SHE DID IT!!!! With the New Year, I decided to take a personal plunge into 'she riseth also while it is yet night' (as the King James version says). Yep, that would be BEFORE dawn. And if any of you fine ladies have ever been adherents to "Flylady", then you dutifully put on your "uniform" (got dressed) and even laced up those tennies!!!! Having been a devotee of not only Flylady, but the original Sidetracked sisters.....I KNEW this way of greeting the day was MUCH more beneficial not only to my family, but to myself......but......I had somewhat strayed off the primrose path! Having found myself in a personal slump, I decided to take the proverbial bull by the horns and just GET UP EARLIER. Not only did I need to get dressed earlier, start school earlier, but I REALLY needed to get honest with myself and spend more time with God.....quiet time, prayer time, devotion time. Just TIME. Without interruption. Only time that happens around here is before anyone else hits the floor!!! I assumed I would need to set an alarm. However, my menopausal body needs to get up and potty several times a night right now regardless of how little I drink after 6 pm, so the only discipline I needed was in actually OPENING my eyeballs to see what time it was during one of my 2 hour bladder trips. Sure enough, one of them was close enough to the self appointed 'early' hour of 5:30.....so.....I got up. And I should insert here....that if any of you have animals, they 'reset' fairly easily. It took our Jack Russell who sleeps with me exactly ONE DAY to figure out Mommy was going to get up before daylight to let her out to go potty......and feed and water them.....and have coffee.....and sit with my Bible and ignore her!! So after making sure I'm "up", she messes with the cat and then gives up and THEN goes back to bed with small son (most mornings hubby's on the road from Indy....not available to snuggle with!) Seriously, as an older Titus 2 woman who has mentored a few younger women in my time, I have ALWAYS wanted to know the complete 'story' behind that Proverbs 31 woman. I am honest enough to admit I do NOT have all the answers, yet I know my Bible does. How on EARTH is it that she could "riseth also while it is yet night", yet 3 verses down, "her candle goeth not out by night"???? I mean, did this woman EVER sleep??? Was she like a Middle East version of Superwoman or something, for crying out loud?? I've been told by several that this is simple a "montage", a veritable collection of events this woman could do throughout an entire lifetime......I don't know, I'm not sure I could live LONG enough to accomplish all that in ONE lifetime, let alone TWO..... SOOOO.......how did she do what she did?? And today's verse, I personally believe.....is the secret!!! I know there are many Bible scholars out there or those of you who are MARRIED to Bible scholars.....but in my completely womanish non-theological mind, this is what works for me!!! And when I came upon THIS version, knew I had the answer!!! If I go back to the beginning of this......study.......the day b4 day 1, and read the whole thing thru......technically I can actually SEE her accomplishing all this in one day.....well, not a day....more like a year, seasons what they are and such. You know, year in and year out......NOT the whole lifetime thing. NOT the hopeless, life engulfing and then you STILL didn't do it all version I was used to reading. SO......not only has this verse from this version 'shown me the way'.......it has given me HOPE. And ladies, sometimes HOPE is all we have. Especially when there's children running to and fro, school work to be done - whether you home school or not, husbands to be paid attention to, money to be ......spent, saved, scrimped and salvaged. There's always all that 'keeper of the home' stuff.....not to mention church, community and extended family. And various and sundry OTHER things we get ourselves involved in. How on earth was I supposed to keep it all straight?? One way that works.......at least for me......is getting up early. Now, the breakfast thing......I might need some improvement on that. BUT, I do know how to make 'from scratch' muffins to DIE for in less time than it takes to open a box and say "betty crocker". And I make the lightest, fluffiest 'from scratch' pancakes and waffles......we just don't "do" breakfast every morning. Like yesterday. My focus was on DINNER and getting it in the crock pot.....NOT breakfast....isn't that why God allowed man to invent cereal?? BUT.....I had gotten up early.....and I HAD already taken my shower, gotten dressed, fixed my hair and makeup.....and was basically ready to go out the door for church BEFORE hubby got up. Not bad, considering Sundays are usually a race until we leave the door.....and not always in such a 'worshipful' mood, I am sad to report. Preparing breakfast, organizing my day. And the second half I will leave to the much more informed than I. All those organizers, planners, calendars that are available out there make the Franklin Planner I carried faithfully thuout my career look like a blank Kindergarten handwriting primer. Most of you out there have used these aids and can report on their usefulness......me......it's the yellow legal pad/sticky pad method. Which was revised from the notecard method of the S.H.E.'s of the 80's. And btw, that system really worked for me, in fact, after we uncovered all the things that had been in storage after this move.....small son actually FOUND some of my old note cards.....what a hoot!!!! But....what a great reminder. I had made those cards up probably over 20 years ago. In another lifetime. BUT, it said one thing to me. If I want to be like that Proverbs 31 woman, I must be consistent. I must do the planning, the getting up early and even the breakfasts.......CONTINUALLY. Like the example in the Bible. So I CAN turn around 5 years from now and say I DID make enough aprons to sell in order to plant that vineyard or garden and even 'buy a field'.....but I'm getting ahead of myself, that's TOMORROW'S verse. All I can say, ladies, is that getting up early and being organized has made ALL the difference in our lives. Not just MY life......OUR life. My family. Try it. But you HAVE to do it consistently for 21 days or more......the formation of habits and all. I expect to see many more lights on over in yonder horizon tomorrow morning!!!! Denise aka The Domestic Angel |
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