Women Like God

"Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all."

Proverbs 31:29


As the wave of the coronavirus is subsiding we all around the world have reason to celebrate. For me and my wife today is a day of reflection and celebration as our first born child, our daughter, Bree celebrates her thirty-fifth birthday! When I look back over her life and at the woman she has become today, I see an amazing journey of faith that brings to mind the words of Proverbs 31:25, “strength and honor are her clothing.” As her dad I have had the privilege of watching her since she was born and how her life has been marked by a steady course that has helped to navigate her through life’s storms safely to calmer seas. Her birthday this year comes as the coronavirus wave is passing which prevented us from celebrating her the way we would have hoped but she is taking life in stride as she always does. Like verse 25, her hope is in knowing today, “she shall rejoice in time to come.”

Proverbs 31 is a great reminder that there are women in this world whose lives are a beautiful reflection of God in how they love and care for their families and their homes all the while living sacrificially for not only personal benefit but for the well being of others. I happen to be married to a woman like this who gave birth to a baby girl who grew up to be a woman like her, a woman like God.

Proverbs 31 paints for us a picture of many women in the world today, like those front line essential workers that we keep reading and hearing about who even in the midst of a global pandemic did exactly what verse 15 declares, “She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants.” Verse 14 made me chuckle after reading what some families faced in just finding toilet paper in the early days of the pandemic, “She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar.”  


When I think of our daughter on her birthday and the Proverbs 31 woman, verse 18 stands out as it says, “She perceives that her merchandise is good, And her lamp does not go out by night.” Like her daddy, our daughter is a night owl. She will be up long after everyone else has gone to bed doing crafts and trying out delicious recipes for her family to enjoy the next day.
  

Proverbs 31:26-27 speaks of women like God in that, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.”  If there was a couple of verses in the Bible that best capture who Bree is its verses 26-27. She is wise beyond her years, kindness is always on her tongue as it has guided her words all of her life. Being far from idle, Bree is a stay at home mom with two very active children whom she loves and adores but can’t take her eyes off for two-seconds, not knowing what they might get into or up on. She loves bread, making all sorts of varieties, as well as enjoying the taste of it when baked. Due to the coronavirus “sheltering in place” order she has tried out numerous new sourdough bread recipes. Some her family can't wait to enjoy in the days ahead. 

Yes, on this May 25, 2020 I am reminded afresh that there are women like God in this world today. Women who continually lay their lives down so that others might live. From our women in military who have paid the ultimate sacrifice on the battle field to the moms and grandmothers, sisters and aunts, family members and friends who fight on their knees at home each day in prayer. Our world is a better place because of these women like God. Today, my wife and I celebrate the birth of our daughter Bree, who is one such woman and whose very life makes our families world a beautiful place to be. 

“Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.”

Proverbs 31:25

I LOVE YOU!