Proverbs 31:13-15

"She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchant-ships; she bringeth her bread from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth food to her household, and their task to her maidens."

Whenever I read this, I always get the feeling of passion and zeal that this exemplifies for a woman's family. She goes great lengths to provide for her family and does it willingly! What a lesson for us!

I realize that we don't necessarily have the same tasks, such as making our clothes from the plant and sheep up, but the principle is the same. That of working willingly, working hard and working with a specific end in mind.

The example of wool is rather close to home for me. We used to have wool sheep and my Mom loved the whole sock making process! We have a whole bin full of the beautiful work she's made. Dad would shear the sheep, then Mom would take the wool, wash it, spin it on her spinning wheel and then dye sometimes. She took that woolen yarn and knitted it into socks and mittens. It takes a lot of work to do all that, and the end result is amazing! I love Mom's hand knitted wool socks! They kept us warm and dry in the winter....and they were beautiful too. She taught us the value of hard work and to realize what it really takes to do a good job. (I knitted a pair of socks too...from wool I spun and let me tell you, they needed some help! I'm still trying to figure out how they ended up twisted!!....Maybe I need to work on that!)

It's so easy, (and I know my last post was about attitude, but it still applies!) to fall into the trap of a bad attitude. While there may be certain tasks that are distasteful, or boring to us, that doesn't mean our attitudes should change. God has given us the beautiful opportunity to bless our families (and as we'll see in later verses, we will be blessed by so doing) and care for them.

Let's take these words and not feel daunted by tasks, but encouraged to love and serve our families even more! We don't work to keep the laundry clean, and the beds made, we work because we love our families and care for their well-being.