There's Something About A Woman...

So, this whole being single again thing has had me thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a woman, and especially what it means to be a woman worth wanting, and a woman who can be a support to her man.

The most extensive passage on being a woman of virtue and a woman who is a blessing not only to her man but to her family is Proverbs 31. This woman is described as being trusted by her husband, she works with her hands, feeds her family and maidens, she clothes her family and has the financial smarts to buy a field and plant a vineyard, she is strong and serves the needy, and knowledge and wisdom are on her lips. When I first read this passage it leaves me feeling a little unqualified and overwhelmed, but the passage doesn't just give a lengthy "to-do" list, there are also rewards sprinkled among the verses. She does not fear for her family because they are provided for, she will be known as a woman who fears the Lord, her husband is known in the gates, her husband trusts in her, she may be hard to find but that makes her worth far more than jewels. When first viewed as a whole the idea of even possibly being that woman appears daunting, kind of like first getting the syllabus for school at the beginning of a semester, but after stepping back and looking at the individual pieces it really isn't all that hard. Each "task" or "characteristic" simply takes daily dedication, a little bit of time each day and it isn't so hard. The best daily picture for me is my housecleaning, I tend to let it pile up until the weekends because my days are so long at work right now, but then on Saturday it is like this huge task I have to take on and it looks impossible. If I simply did a little bit here and there every day when Saturday came around there might just be one or two things left to do and then I could enjoy my day.

What place a woman should hold in society has been controversial, and will continue to be, but in whatever "status" God has placed a woman she still wields immense power through how she influences the men in her life. If you listen to country music for any length of time you'll here songs about moms, wives, girlfriends, and how they swayed the men around them. The question is, do I want to be the wife that empowers her man, or the woman who drives her man to want to live on the corner of the rooftop?

"There's somethin about a woman that makes a man a man"