"A Virtuous Woman"

I’ve joined a ning (a social network website) called the above, obviously taken from Proverbs 31. I’m not sure we can just go around congratulating ourselves on our virtue (as pride is not a virtue), but in the context of Proverbs 31, it’s a fair title.

The virtuous woman, or industrious wife, of Proverbs 31 is skilled int he household arts, in managing her own ekonomia. She has her own business manufacturing and trading textiles. In daily life and in bad times, she has provided for her household.

I consider myself a Proverbs 31 woman. My chief concern is for my ekonomia, and its care is part of my Christian service. I trust my husband is comfortable with my management and provision, and he has time for his own Christian ministry and pursuits.  I make my income chiefly from textiles, as well, including the various skills mentioned in the passage. I can shear, wash wool, card, spin, dye, knit, weave and sew.

Now, this particular group is heavily Adventist and Protestant in ways I am not, but we have a lot in common. Some of the women homestead with their families. Many homeschool. The group promotes active management of the household, and there are pages on line to compile into a household notebook, similar to my more loosely defined kitchen journal.

The household is an industry in itself. It needs care and planning. Modern life seems to be so whimsical and unplanned, that the idea of keeping a household journal, of budgetting and forecasting for the week, month and the year may be totally foreign to many. We are impulsive people. “What I want, now!” is the motto of moderns. Plan? That’s boring. Too limiting. Live in the moment! Eat, drink and be merry…

And who wants to worry about all that stuff? Who wants to cook, clean, sew? That’s so nineteenth century. Buy it, buy it now, buy it on credit, forget about tomorrow, tomorrow never comes.

Still, the Visa bill will come in the mail. The taxman wants his share. The roof will need repairing, and the children need shoes. It’s like the time of Noah, isn’t it? And then the deluge.

Maybe “A Virtuous Woman” will be a good fit for some of you. Maybe not. I’d say give it a look, at http://avirtuouswoman.ning.com.