Different and Differently
This week has really been that which makes you step back and look at your life. Days you wish you could do differently. Not regrets necessarily, just differently. I see my children so grown and in different stages of their lives from age 6-16. I ponder where the days went. Motherhood can make your head spin when you look up from actually doing the Mom job.
A week ago this past Thursday the baby of the family was promoted to the first grade and my fifth grader graduated from elementary school. The latter keeps asking me if she has to grow up. If I could shellac her and leave room for her to breathe, I would, and she asks me this? My babies are all in a different season in the cycle of life. But, this week there was more.
Proverbs and Promotion
During the promotion ceremony a baby was born on my husband’s side of the family. We attended a wedding on Saturday on the other side of his family. Then the following Monday his grandmother went to be with the Lord. His uncle gave his daughter away to one of our great friends at the wedding, and then buried his mother within a week. She, however, was given to Jesus.
10 [b]A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Proverbs 31 NIV
Remembering and Reflecting
We attended her Memorial service yesterday. A beautiful expression of the legacy she lived that was so inspiring. We, although hearts heavy with sorrow, had the ability to laugh at the jokes she made, and sat in awe at the lives of two people with nine children, twenty grandchildren, and fifteen great-grandchildren. Together they were married for nigh on fifty-three years. She was honored by her children in their words, and by her husband who loved her so dearly. During that time she not only taught them about Jesus, but she also served them, and the community all their lives in some fashion.
I think of her and how she brought joy to so many lives, and I think I wanna be her when I grow up. I want to leave a legacy of love, and commitment to God, family, and mankind like she did. Today I thank God she was a part of my life. Always warm and welcoming. A riot of laughs and full of love to give. She had that twinkle in her eye too that always brought comfort and a smile to my heart.
Eventful Events
So you can see how this series of events has sparked a new view on my present life and the future. I want to be present in the present. I want to make plans for the future that have to entirely lean on God so that my children, as hers, will rise up and call me blessed.
The Proverbs 31 woman is not a woman who does all the proverb says all at once, but one who was present, tried her best, and was present in the moments she lived as she leaned on God.
Whatever season we find ourselves in we can step back from the cycles of life and lean hard into the soft, strong, broad shoulders of our God as guide, guardian, and governor. Realizing that with Him our lives, and of the full cycle of them, can be a display of His glory. Pieces of heaven on earth that live on after we are gone. If we put our expectation in Him when the puzzle comes together it will have been a life worth living.
5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Psalm 62:5
Another Samaritan Woman 