Have you met Amy Bayliss yet? I first “met” her when I became a writer for Homemakers Challenge. She is an amazingly talented woman! I love all that she offers to the blogging world and have learned so much from her through Homemakers Challenge and DIY Ministry. I’m currently reading through her new e-book called In Pursuit of Proverbs 31 and so far, I’m loving what I’m reading.
She talks about not comparing yourself too closely to that woman who was written about in Proverbs 31. She also talks about not beating yourself up if you feel like you’re never going to become exactly like that woman. Yes, the Proverbs 31 woman is a great woman to become like, but this list in Proverbs was a list written by a mother who was writing about the woman she desired for her son to marry. Don’t we all wish for our children to marry amazing, spiritual, motivated, successful people? Yes, we do! Of course, the fact that it was written by a mother doesn’t mean we should throw that passage of Scripture out and not pay any attention to it. We should still aim to become the woman that God intends for us to be. However, we should not put the wrong things up on a pedestal. Yes, we can use Proverbs 31 as an excellent guide, but perhaps, maybe we should not use it to compare ourselves to other women. God has a specific plan for each one of us and the are not all exactly the same!
That reminds me about a time when I decided that I really must rise early in order to be a good Proverbs 31 woman. I would rise early and be miserable all day. Why? Because I couldn’t fall asleep at an early enough time at night, so I would be literally exhausted! I would try and try to go to sleep early so that I could wake up well rested but then I would fail miserably. I finally realized that, yes, it is good to be productive and a good steward of my time, but I don’t necessarily have to rise super early in order to do that. For me, being a good steward of my time doesn’t mean rising at 4 a.m. or even 6 a.m. I do struggle with staying up too late in the quiet hours of the night. I find that when I do that, I don’t want to get up at a decent hour. There is a fine line that I need to walk and I know I need improvement that only He can help me with.
Other areas of Amy’s book include walking you through aspects of your marriage, including submission to your husband; being a mother; being a keeper of your home; being resourceful; being a good steward of your time; as well as growing your ministry. But most of all, she really focuses on how we should really, really get to know our Creator. Amy has a great way of communicating this from a humble heart and she really motivates you to think about who you are in Christ.
Here’s a short video clip from Amy. If you’re reading this in an email, you’ll need to click onto my site in order to view it.
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