She Watches Over the Affairs of Her Household

Has there ever been better direction for time-management than that which comes from, Proverbs 31? I'm reminded of one popular rule in dieting, "Don't waste calories by diving into the bread basket." Here, the same rings true about life:

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. ~ Proverbs 31:27, KJV

My job as a keeper of the home is to watch over the affairs of my household. This means that I need to engage myself in the home, watching over the affairs of each and every person therein. Where are my children? What video games are they playing? What books are they reading? Who are their friends? Is anything troubling my husband?

These are a few of the things we notice when we're actively involved with the family. With one look my husband can tell when something is bothering me, and I can tell in a split-second when Nathaniel is guilty about something. The more face-time (and I'm not talking about iPhones here) I have with these people the more I'll understand their needs and how fulfill them.

The thing is, moms are busy. There's no doubt about it, but yet I see some incredible moms who manage their house well, raise God-fearing children, have a great marriage, and still find time to write books, take classes, run small businesses, or work outside the home--the Proverbs 31 woman was a prime example of that. But how is it possible for anyone of us to do it all and still be engaged with the family?

It isn't. There isn't one of us who can do "it all," but we can manage to get a lot done when we put our affairs in order. That's where the second part of this verse comes in when it talks about eating the bread of idleness.

Consider the old saying, "There's a place for everything, when everything is in its place." While that's true, I'll also add this, there is no place for anything when junk is in it's place. I can't find the space to put my bath towels when my hall closet is packed with sewing supplies dating back as far as 1992. I can't find room for soup ladles in a drawer that's accumulated broken and useless utensils for the past 23 years.

We can visualize this problem when it comes to the drawers and closets in our home because the stuff eventually starts to fall out, but it's a little harder to see when we're talking about the closets and drawers of our life. What I mean by this is that the storage spaces we refer to as "time" tend to fill up with phone calls, watching television, browsing the internet, hanging out our friends, being over-committed, sitting out in the sun, over sleeping, and the like.

Any one of those things are okay, but just like anything else, they can add up to cramped spaces. The question to ask yourself is what is most valuable to you? Prioritize faith and family first-- the rest will fall into place. Be willing to shed some "idle bread" and you'll free up valuable space in your life.

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

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