Stefan’s office

I think she might have needed a set up like this–I know I do.

Who is “she”…the Proverbs 31 woman.  Let’s jump in to our passage today:

¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;

out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

Its So Very Cheri… to accidentally skip a verse–how did I do that?  funny because it actually will tie in together quite well.

So on top of everything else she does she get involved in Real Estate.  She’s out looking at property and picks a choice piece of land and plants a vineyard.  If you notice, the Bible does not tell us that she uses her husbands income or that she asks her husband about this piece of property.  This tells us that she has her own money from her business dealings and yet we know from previous verses that she finds JOY in the things that he is involved in.  This is not a sign that she has an attitude, this is a sign that they have enough trust in each other to make wise decisions.  The other thing we notice is she not only had enough money to buy the land but she also have enough money to plant a vineyard (and I am sure pay extra people to take care of it.)

She analyzed the situation and decided this will be good for my family in the long run.    Although she is independent, she still thinks about her family in all of her decisions.

In most cases, I choose to talk to Prince Charming about large purchases, for several reasons.  1- I want his input  2- I see it as a sign of respect  3-  sometimes he has options I had not considered.  When we first got married-he did not ask this of me.  I don’t think his parents operate this way.  NOW–Do I always like what he has to say–NO-but I still want his opinion in the end, and have continued to want it throughout our marriage.  There are times, that he is not available and I need to make a decision with out him and I have to analyze the situation and my options and make the best decision I can.

I remember one time, when he had already been transferred out of town, I was working trying to take care of the house and our dog, the yard work, our house was being shown by realtors all the time.  We had an in-ground pool to take care of and I was working full time–we did not have kiddos at the time.  I came back from some sales calls and had a smokey smell to my car–My Mustang Convertible. It was my last day of work, the following day I needed to run all over town and get some things done because  Prince Charming was flying in 2 days later and we would drive my car to New Jersey.   I asked my boss about it but he thought it was nothing.  He told me if I noticed it as we were leaving he would take a look.  Nothing happened on my way home that night.  The movers had already picked up all of our furniture and it was in route to New Jersey, where Prince Charming was working.  I was staying at my parents since I had no furniture in my home. When I talked to Prince Charming that night he told me to run it by the dealership the next morning.  I was making one of my stops on the way to the dealership when my car quit working-died-nothing–notta–no power at all.  Prince Charming was flying in the next day and we were supposed to drive back, now what!  I had the car towed to the dealership and got the assessment, later that afternoon-it took quite a bit of the day-so much for my errands before leaving town.  The repairs were extraordinary–Prince Charming told me to go buy a new car–now that is a big purchase to make without your hubby but I did it–that afternoon, and picked him up at the airport the next day.

¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;

out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

Sometimes we, as woman are very supportive of each other and other times we are very critical of each other.  Some stay at home Moms think that being a Stay at home mom (you know the highest calling job) sets us up a little higher than those who work outside the home.  God has obviously given his stamp of approval on this working woman. I do agree that she is at home with her family, intertwining business and family.  She doesn’t sit on the couch eating bon bons and watching soap operas.  She takes care of her family but she is busy taking care of business too.  I have friends who are Stay at home moms and I have friends who work outside the home, that is not my business or my decision and I am not privy to the inner workings of their family.  They are my friends and I support them.

If it is your desire to stay at home, I would encourage you to do one of two things.  While you are working, start a home business–yes it will be crazy and hectic but it will be if you stay at home and try to do business and family, it will get your business off the ground before you leave your salaried job–cold turkey.  The other option is to live on just your hubbies income, if you have bills to pay off use your income to pay those things off and if you have no bills to pay off put that money in the bank for when those unexpected expenses arise.

²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

She is not worried about “those times when the unexpected comes, or the worst possible situation arises”-her family is prepared. And even though she is nobility, she still works, so she knows she has money set aside and has money working for her.  It sounds like she is an investor as well.  She does not live in fear.  So does it snow in Jerusalem?–sometimes it does and it can get very cold.

for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

So why is it important that they were scarlet–Well, dark colors will help retain the heat better than light colors and she didn’t go for just wool, she wanted it to be beautiful–not just functional.  They did not have access to dyes and colored fabric like we do today.  Crimson was a sign of wealth.  In the Bible–when Jesus was being tried and they striped him of his clothing–he was placed in a fine robe–a king’s robe.  The soldier’s cast lots for the robe.  WHY-not because HE WAS the King of Kings, if they had believed that they wouldn’t have been crucifying Him, Because this robe was like a Christy’s auction piece-it was a KING’S robe.  He was in front of Pilot and Herod that night, they striped him of HIS clothing and placed a robe on Him.  They aren’t going to rip it and split it up, this is a valuable piece.  Colors like Scarlet, Purple, & Indigo were hard to come by and so they were expensive.  This is a good place to stop with Next Sunday being Easter.

Matthew 27:28-31 (New King James Version)

²⁸ And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. ²⁹ When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.