Have I mentioned before that this lady is a hard worker? I don't know about you, but the gravity in my bed is stronger than in the rest of the house. It often takes superhuman strength to break free from its force.
I am not a morning person.
Now, my husband is a morning person. He is up at 5:00 every morning without an alarm. Earlier on vacation!
I have many days that I could easily envy him his early energy. Imagine how much more I could accomplish with that extra three hours every day.
But, do you know what? God didn't make me a morning person for a reason. If I got up at that hour everyday I probably would not get enough rest for my body. Between pregnancy, nursing and midnight childcare my body needs more sleep then his does, just to maintain health. It is OK that I am different.
I am blessed that he understands and doesn't mind letting me sleep in, even on Saturdays. In fact, I’ve been doubly blessed here. During the years when I had all small children and grocery shopping would have way too hard, he used this early Saturday morning time to go grocery shopping for me. After all, what else can you do at 5:00a.m?
Now by the time he had some health concerns that made it too hard for him to go in a grocery store, our kids had grown up until we had two adults and three teens (plus some youngers) to help out. We took over the shopping and he now has learned to enjoy sleeping in on Saturdays.
I think it is wonderful that God put us together, we complement each other so well. And the WAY we complement each other has changed over the years as we and our family has changed.
O.K. so much for rationalizing. The fact is I could easily stay up until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning and sleep until 10:00. This might be ok if I were the only one living here, or if Hubby worked hours that required him to sleep at these times also.
However, I live in the real world. I do not believe it would be good for my children to stay up that late and that is the only way that they would let me sleep that late.
So, when the kids were little, I made the effort to discipline myself to get up no later than 7:00, (I tried for 6:00 when I wasn’t pregnant). Now that I only have one toddler and the others are all school age or older (so my sleep isn’t interrupted in the night very often) I get up between 5:30 and 6 to have some quiet devotional time.
The wonderful woman in this verse may have felt about her bed as I do; yet she also got up early and fixed her family breakfast. Or at least made sure everyone had food to eat (it’s ok to assign breakfast cooking to children as part of their home-ec class).
She was SELF-disciplined. You know, once we are adults no one else can do it for us. We are the only ones who can make ourselves do what we need to; be it get up at a reasonable time, eat right, read our Bibles, or be nice to our neighbors. God will help us if we ask Him to, but when it comes right down to it, it is up to us to do the work of disciplining ourselves.
This often requires, (gasp) self-denial. We must learn how to tell ourselves "no" to things we want in order to have the better blessings that come from fulfilling our responsibilities.
In one book I read, the author made a distinction between wants, needs and desires. We in America tend to mix these three up;
"Hey honey. I NEED that $164,000.00 car."
No. I am not sure anyone NEEDS a $164,000.00 car. I may WANT it. I probably DESIRE it. But NEED? No, not likely.
Self-discipline comes in here. Making myself be content with an ugly $500.00 car that got me where I needed to go wasn't always easy. But for my faithfulness in doing so, God blessed me with the car I wanted, a twelve-passenger van. It is even a blue Ford like I desired.
Could I be discontent and desire more? Sure. There is always bigger and better out there. But I choose to be content.
God promises He will give us everything we need, and He always does. We can depend on it. He even gives us many things we want (like my car). Sometimes He gives us a few of our desires.
Like most parents, He likes to spoil His kids as much as He can without ruining us. But it is up to us to learn:
"In whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
It is up to us to make the hard choices between what will bring instant gratification, prestige, or pure pleasure and what is the responsible, right thing to do.
Sometimes this means choosing a lower standard of living than we could otherwise have so our children can have the superior "mommy-care" or so our hubby can pursue his dream business, or nursing ourselves through the conquering of our chocolate chip addiction.
Sometimes it even means putting the alarm across the room so we have to actually get out of bed to turn it off.
Self-discipline is not easy, but in the long run, it is worth it.
The “maidens” in this verse are her slaves/servant girls. Did you know we Americans do have servants? Taking care of them is part of being responsible.
My servants' names are Dina Dishwasher, Wanda Washing Machine, Rhonda Running Water, Vera Vacuum… well, you get the idea. Paying my electric bill and doing regular maintenance is how I "give a portion to my maidens."
Now if I could only teach one of them how to cook bacon and eggs!
I am not a morning person.
Now, my husband is a morning person. He is up at 5:00 every morning without an alarm. Earlier on vacation!
I have many days that I could easily envy him his early energy. Imagine how much more I could accomplish with that extra three hours every day.
But, do you know what? God didn't make me a morning person for a reason. If I got up at that hour everyday I probably would not get enough rest for my body. Between pregnancy, nursing and midnight childcare my body needs more sleep then his does, just to maintain health. It is OK that I am different.
I am blessed that he understands and doesn't mind letting me sleep in, even on Saturdays. In fact, I’ve been doubly blessed here. During the years when I had all small children and grocery shopping would have way too hard, he used this early Saturday morning time to go grocery shopping for me. After all, what else can you do at 5:00a.m?
Now by the time he had some health concerns that made it too hard for him to go in a grocery store, our kids had grown up until we had two adults and three teens (plus some youngers) to help out. We took over the shopping and he now has learned to enjoy sleeping in on Saturdays.
I think it is wonderful that God put us together, we complement each other so well. And the WAY we complement each other has changed over the years as we and our family has changed.
O.K. so much for rationalizing. The fact is I could easily stay up until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning and sleep until 10:00. This might be ok if I were the only one living here, or if Hubby worked hours that required him to sleep at these times also.
However, I live in the real world. I do not believe it would be good for my children to stay up that late and that is the only way that they would let me sleep that late.
So, when the kids were little, I made the effort to discipline myself to get up no later than 7:00, (I tried for 6:00 when I wasn’t pregnant). Now that I only have one toddler and the others are all school age or older (so my sleep isn’t interrupted in the night very often) I get up between 5:30 and 6 to have some quiet devotional time.
The wonderful woman in this verse may have felt about her bed as I do; yet she also got up early and fixed her family breakfast. Or at least made sure everyone had food to eat (it’s ok to assign breakfast cooking to children as part of their home-ec class).
She was SELF-disciplined. You know, once we are adults no one else can do it for us. We are the only ones who can make ourselves do what we need to; be it get up at a reasonable time, eat right, read our Bibles, or be nice to our neighbors. God will help us if we ask Him to, but when it comes right down to it, it is up to us to do the work of disciplining ourselves.
This often requires, (gasp) self-denial. We must learn how to tell ourselves "no" to things we want in order to have the better blessings that come from fulfilling our responsibilities.
In one book I read, the author made a distinction between wants, needs and desires. We in America tend to mix these three up;
"Hey honey. I NEED that $164,000.00 car."
No. I am not sure anyone NEEDS a $164,000.00 car. I may WANT it. I probably DESIRE it. But NEED? No, not likely.
Self-discipline comes in here. Making myself be content with an ugly $500.00 car that got me where I needed to go wasn't always easy. But for my faithfulness in doing so, God blessed me with the car I wanted, a twelve-passenger van. It is even a blue Ford like I desired.
Could I be discontent and desire more? Sure. There is always bigger and better out there. But I choose to be content.
God promises He will give us everything we need, and He always does. We can depend on it. He even gives us many things we want (like my car). Sometimes He gives us a few of our desires.
Like most parents, He likes to spoil His kids as much as He can without ruining us. But it is up to us to learn:
"In whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
It is up to us to make the hard choices between what will bring instant gratification, prestige, or pure pleasure and what is the responsible, right thing to do.
Sometimes this means choosing a lower standard of living than we could otherwise have so our children can have the superior "mommy-care" or so our hubby can pursue his dream business, or nursing ourselves through the conquering of our chocolate chip addiction.
Sometimes it even means putting the alarm across the room so we have to actually get out of bed to turn it off.
Self-discipline is not easy, but in the long run, it is worth it.
The “maidens” in this verse are her slaves/servant girls. Did you know we Americans do have servants? Taking care of them is part of being responsible.
My servants' names are Dina Dishwasher, Wanda Washing Machine, Rhonda Running Water, Vera Vacuum… well, you get the idea. Paying my electric bill and doing regular maintenance is how I "give a portion to my maidens."
Now if I could only teach one of them how to cook bacon and eggs!
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