You know the one.
She sits across from you in your women's Bible study group with her perfectly manicured fingernails, nice figure, coordinated outfit (without spit-up stains), trendy hairstyle, adoring husband, well-behaved children,...
And did I mention that she homeschools? Her seven children? And has a business from her home? That she created? She is also the president of her homeschool support group. And she is on the missions committee. And she teaches the third and fourth grade Sunday school class. And the blog she writes? It's one of those inspirational blogs. One of those that has hundreds of followers. Oh, yes, and she does that monthly meal preparation thing so that she has homemade meals every evening. Not McDonalds.
Is that totally unfair?
A very, very wrong assessment?
I know it is...
Don't get me wrong.
I love her. I admire her. I find inspiration in her.
And I so want to be like her.
And if I look past the exterior beauty, I see a beauty within that is far superior to her outward appearance.
But reading about her makes me feel so inadequate.
That Wife of Noble Character.
I know that's not the point of Proverbs 31...and I feel guilty baring my soul to you about this. I feel guilty telling you that when I read about her I feel guilty.
That's pretty ugly stuff, huh?
Have I mentioned that I have a problem with guilt?
Now that Titus 2 Woman!
She's a different story.
I'm not quite her either, but I feel like I have more of a chance to become like her.
Or is it them...you know, the older one and the younger one.
Titus 2:3-5
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
Which one am I?
I've often wondered which category I fall into...the older woman or the younger woman. I'm sort of at that in-between time of my life.
Then it occured to me that the Titus 2 woman really is just one woman.
After all, there will always be older women and younger women in my life.
I can be "those" women.
That woman.
Elisa over at Extravagant Grace is taking a close look at the Titus 2 Woman this year. On the second Tuesday of every month, she will be meditating on and studying a portion of Titus 2: 3-5. I'm looking forward to studying along with her in order to be become that Titus 2 woman.
Don't think that I'm giving up on being that Proverbs 31 woman.
I know that God is calling me in different ways to be like her. Maybe I don't make monthly meals, but I do make "pigs-in-a-blanket." I may not sew my children's clothes, but I've found some pretty good deals at Walmart!
And do I love my family.
You bet I do!
How about just being the woman God created you to be. Jodi. PS. I love pig-in-a-blanket!!!
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Lauri.
ReplyDeleteA big part of being the woman that God created, I think, is searching His Word to find out how to be the very best woman I can be.
Of course, as you can see, I let guilt weigh me down too, but I still feel the conviction to really understand who it is that I could be if I would just let God lead.
As I get older, I do get more comfortable with who God has made me to be. I still look at others sometimes instead of God and make my "wish list," but for the most part, I am becoming more content with where I'm going and where I've been.
And boy, do I love pigs-in-a-blanket! :)
I think the Proverbs 31 woman is something we have to grow and develop into. Some of the description just doesn't seem to fit a mother of toddlers, at least not to me. But life changes. I hope when my children are grown that they will speak highly of me and that I will have become the woman from Proverbs 31.
ReplyDeleteYou are seeing what she wants you to see. Where are her imperfections? Where are her flaws? No one but Jesus is perfect.
ReplyDeleteI feel guilty when I am faced with this woman. Most women do. I have a friend who could be this woman. But, guess what? She envies someone else for something. She cries at times. She also loses socks in the washer. She worries about her children. She worries about her husband. She feels insecure about herself at times. She has PMS. She has skinny jeans and fat jeans. She sometimes gets zits. She gets frustrated with her kids. She sometimes does not know the answer. So, even though she seems to have it all together, there are times when she is falling apart.
I would rather be crazy and mismatched and late and have a so-so clean home. That way people expect me to do/say whatever pops into my head and feel comfortable telling me anything. I have had rank strangers tell me their entire life story in the grocery store b/c they said I looked like a person they could talk to. My DH says I attract the weird people but that's okay with me b/c I figure they need someone to talk to and all it costs is a little time.
So be gloriously imperfect. You never know if today will be the day another woman who is at her wits end looks at you and thinks "Thank goodness I'm not the only one struggling." And that, to me, is worth more than all manicured fingernails in the world.