Proverbs 31 Study

I hold the Proverbs 31 Woman, as a woman who's standard's, we, as women, need to follow. Or STRIVE to follow.

She has many qualities, that are very desirable to us, but more desirable to the Lord.

I encourage you to read Proverbs 31.

You will find that this woman has many traits. Elizabeth George wrote "Beautiful in God's Eyes". In her book, she outlines the different characteristics that each of us should strive for. They are as follows:

• Her Character
• Her Value
• Her Loyalty
• Her Contribution
• Her Mission
• Her Heart
• Her Provision
• Her Discipline
• Her Vision
• Her Work
• Her Confidence
• Her diligence
• Her Mercy
• Her Preparation
• Her Handiwork
• Her Husband
• Her Industry
• Her Clothing
• Her Words
• Her Management
• Her Family
• Her Praise
• Her Faith
• Her Reward

Wow. So many qualities.... Are we good in each of these??? Would each of these areas in our lives be pleasing to God??? Ouch. I can personally say, I have a long way to go. A LONG way.

Starting today, I want to cover each of these qualities, as outlined in Elizabeth's George's Book. If you have this book, get it out, and follow along! If you don't, I encourage you to get it. You can go to her site HERE and check it out. She has some very decent prices.

So, my first question for you is, which qualities of the Proverbs 31 woman, do you want to improve on? Which verse convicts you the most?

I hope you join me everyday, as we review these qualities, and strive for God's understanding in who HE wants us to be.

Cheap Date

Yeah, I can be a cheap date. Although, hubby and I do not go out enough. Last week, we did make it out 2 nights! But that's definitely is NOT the norm.

And when we go out, what do we talk about? The kids! What did we used to talk about before we were married? I honestly cannot tell you!

But in today's entry, I am going to try to encourage you all to get out there, and be a CHEAP DATE! With money these days, being so, umm, crazy (???), we all need to think of ways to conserve what we have. And still get alone time with your husbands.

These ideas are not all my own, I have seen suggestions on various blogs and maybe I'll make up some, you just never know.

*** One thing Hubby and I did do back in the day, was go to bookstores like Barnes & Noble or Borders and just look at the books and hang out. Well, right now until the end of October, you can get a coupon for a free Cappuccino to Barnes & Nobles. Go here.

***Send the kids to grandma's and just go out on a "dessert date". Paying for a dessert and a coffee is a lot cheaper than paying for a whole dinner, times 2.

*** But if you want to go out to dinner with your man, I would suggest contacting your favorite restaurants and getting on the e-mail lists. They will often send you coupons for dollars off of dinners or lunches. I did this recently for my birthday. I read the Lonestar Steakhouse has a program where they gave you a free dinner for your birthday. It was true! They gave me $15 off of a dinner. They have since then sent me a coupon for a free appetizer, and some lunch specials. Also, try going through this site to find out how you can get a free taco at Taco Bell on October 28th!

*** Go for a walk without the kids. I know this is a little difficult sometimes, but it is so refreshing! Spend NO money, get some exercise and reconnect that day with your husband. Where I live, my husband has some trails for the boys to walk and play on, but I can put the baby in bed (even take the monitor, if I want), leave the kids in the house playing Legos or with a movie... And we get a walk by ourselves!

*** Rent a movie and put the kids to bed early! Go here and on Mondays and Wednesdays she puts a code on her site for a free RedBox movie. You may have seen these before and ignored them. My Friend, DO NOT IGNORE THE REDBOX! These have movies for $1. everyday! Current movies too! Take the code off of the site and go to the nearest RedBox location (ours is in Kroger (Scott's) in Angola). They just need your credit or debit card information.

*** How about just pawn the kids off on some unsuspecting aunt, and have a date night at home? Eating at home can be cheaper then eating out. So make a nice dinner at home, light some candles, enjoy the quiet of your own home... Ahhh...

Hopefully this will give you all some ideas and encourage you to reconnect with your husbands. We all need to do this, often. Very often. Do you have any other cheap date ideas? Feel free to post them here! Now stop reading blogs... and go make yourself a cheap date!

Crown of Your Husband

In my Bible, one verse that I have marked (in pink) is this verse:

"An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, But she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones." Proverbs 12:4

I love this verse. It shows us LITERALLY what our actions do to our husbands! Do I want to be a crown on my husband's head, or do I want to be like rottenness to his bones?

There are other translations that help us paint a clearer picture here. Some, instead of excellent wife, say virtuous wife, helpful wife, worthy woman. And some, instead of rottenness to his bones, say cancer to his bones.

This shows us so clearly what we do to our husbands when we do good all the days of our lives (Proverbs 31:12), or when we tear our house down with our hands (Proverbs 14:1).

Besides, I want to be a CROWN rather than CANCER, right?

Lord- Help me to remember that my actions not only affect ME, but they also directly affect my husband. Help me to make my husband proud and to be a jewel to him. Help me to be precious in Your sight, more importantly, God. I love You, and praise You for being so loving and forgiving. Thank you, Jesus. In Your precious name- Amen.

Challenges in Marriage II

Thank you to those of you who commented on what you see as the biggest challenge in your marriage, and also what you thought your husband would also say. Thank you for your honesty!

For me, I think my biggest challenge in our marriage, in this season, is making my husband #1! I tend to jump a little quicker for my boys sometimes, especially baby. I need to make sure HE is first. At dinner, I always get the kids plates first. HIS should be first. Among other things... He even jokes that they come first. I know in a way he is serious. Although I am getting better, I still have a ways to go.

Also, submitting myself to him at all times, in all matters, is another difficulty for me. Sometimes, I have other plans! We have the same issues with the Lord, right?

Eph 5:22-24 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband has authority over his wife just as Christ has authority over the church; and Christ is himself the Savior of the church, his body. And so wives must submit themselves completely to their husbands just as the church submits itself to Christ.

I'm not discussing the matter of a husband abusing his wife, that is another matter all together. I am talking about a healthy marriage, in which both both people are committed to the long haul!

But, I can glean a lot from this verse. I NEED to. Because that is what the Lord calls us to do!

I think my husband would probably say the same thing! His biggest challenge would probably be me being available to him, in whatever. Also, probably our differences in things: He is a get stuff done (even if it's not done well!), when you're not using it throw it out, don't just expect me to KNOW how you're feeling, kind of guy.

Now, if you are brave enough: ASK your husband what HE would say is the biggest challenge to HIM in your marriage. Ask him what he thinks that YOU think is the biggest challenge. I'm sure some of us might be surprised, and it might spark some good conversation! Communication on especially these issues are very important.

I told you yesterday that I had read an article in the Parade Magazine on Sunday. I am going to give you some of the highlighted numbers that they gave.

Under the heading of LOVE, they said 56% of the people surveyed said they would definitely marry the same person again (the people surveyed were married). 44% of women have thought about leaving their husbands, and 31% of men have thought about leaving their wives.

Under the heading of SEX, they said 31% have sex less than once a month. 48% of men don't have sex more often because their spouse isn't interested. 33% of women don't have sex more often because they're tired. 25% describe marital sex either tolerable or terrible.

Under SECRETS, they said 24% have kept an important secret from their spouse, 63% would try to save their marriage if their spouse was unfaithful. And 19% of men have had sex outside of marriage.

In the article they also stated that "marriage seemed to be working quite well" for the people surveyed. I would not say those statistics were good!

What can we do,as women, to make our marriages better? Do you remember why you married your husband? What do you love about him? How does he make your life better? How does he "complete you"? One of the blogs I love to read, the woman wrote a love letter to her husband. It made me think how much I think my husband would like to hear words like that, reasons I fell in love with him and reasons I still love him.

If you have time this week, do the same for your husband. We all need to be reminded, in the chaos of life, why we fell in love and why we still love them with all of our hearts.

God- Remind us of all of things that we can do in our marriages to make them better. Not only because it will work better for ME, but because it will help to make my husband a better man. I want to serve him, and by doing that I am serving YOU. Help me to be obedient to Your Words, God. I love You. -Amen

Pro 31:11-12 Her husband trusts her with all his heart, and he does not lack anything good. She helps him and never harms him all the days of her life.

Challenges In a Marriage

I had a whole other idea for today's entry, but like most days, it changes! The Lord had something else in mind, I guess. I saw an article in Parade Magazine in Sunday's Paper. There was an article in there called The Truth About American Marriage, by Leslie Bennetts.

Some of the statistics in there were very, well, sad. Pictures of people they highlighted were John Edwards and his wife, Madonna and her fling baseball player Alex Rodriguez, also Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Today, I am just thinking about marriages. And I want some input! I want comments from you. Please tell me what do you think the biggest challenge in your marriage is and what do you think your husband would say is the biggest challenge in marriage is? Don't ask him yet. Just tell us what you think he would say. You can answer anonymously if you would like. But please share what you think.

I may have some future questions, so stay tuned to what goes on! I will let you know what my answers are tomorrow.