Are you a Proverbs31 woman?

I know that when I first got married, I thought I knew a lot about being a good wife and godly woman. Then I started wanting to learn more and more about this new role I had taken on. I was still a "baby" Christian and newly married (still under a year). I joined lots of women's ministry groups on the web.

And then I heard complaints from hundreds of women. They were all comparing themselves to the Proverbs 31 woman and found themselves coming up short. They complained that they never had time to read God's word and felt like a failure for it.

Then I became a mother, and more and more I was starting to badger myself for not measuring up to the Proverbs 31 woman and not spending hours upon hours of my morning (before anyone else was up) in the Word of God.

So with having daughters, I starting learning about the Titus2 woman. Now I was really a failure. I had never learned those things, how could I be expected to teach them to my daughters??

So ten years after starting my journey (and ten years of beating myself up because I fall so short), I have started to realize that while quiet time with the Lord is nice (and important), it is not the end all be all of being a good and godly wife/mother/woman of God.

Can anyone tell me WHERE in those passages of Scripture it talks about the woman/wife/mother spending time in God's word? I am not saying that it is not important to spend time in His word, but if we are going to compare ourselves to this Proverbs 31 woman, why are we bringing Scripture and the amount of time we spend in it into the picture?? Why are we beating ourselves up over the lack of time we are spending in God's word?

We are instructed in Duet. to dilligently teach God's word to our children. This is a WONDERFUL way to be in God's word throughout the day. While it may take a while for the children (especially the older ones) to accept this new routine, jump in and start reading God's word and discussing it with your children. Look for ways to incorporate Scripture into everyday living: when the children are disobedient, bring in relevant Scripture about how they are to behave; when looking at the beautiful outdoors, bring in relevant Scripture about how God created the world and how we are to care for it.

I have read in God's word about how to are to meditate on His word day and night. I have read in God's word that we are to make our request known before God. I have read in God's word about how we are to pray. I have read in God's word about how we are to sing praise to Him. I have read in God's word about how we are to teach of His lovingkindess and wonderous work to our chilren. I have read in God's word about how we are to share the turth and love of Jesus with others. All of these are things that can be done throughout the day with our children (even the meditating on God's word day and night can be done in the quiet times throughout the day while the children are napping or playing quietly).

Sarah and other women of the Bible whom we are told to admire and act after are commended on the way they loved their husbands, not on the amount of time they had in God's word. I have no doubt they did have those times of quiet with the Lord, and that they knew His word (most likely through their husband/family as I am not sure about them being able to read Scripture back then or that it had even been written down).

Ladies, I want to encourage you to stop beating yourself up because you are not able to spend hours of quiet time with the Lord (and how discouraging that can be for a new wife/mother who is looking for encouragement and sees these godly women she admires doing such a thing). There is a time and season for everything, and right now, we are in the season of raising our children. We can still get in those things we are commended to do (meditating on His word, teaching it to our children, etc.) without the hours of neglecting them in order to have that quiet time we feel we need with the Lord. He is ALWAYS with us (even in the midst of screaming children when it isn't so quiet). Be faithful in the "small" things right now (your children and teaching God's word to them, singing praises to the Lord and other things we are commended to do in His word) and once the children are grown and gone, you will have plenty of time to spend hours of quiet time with the Lord.