The Wife of Noble Character: A Case Study in Proactivity

In Proverbs 31, verses 10 through 31 there is a pretty inclusive description of this woman's activities--the kind of wife she is--and the reader is encouraged to understand her activities in light of her character, a word that doesn't always have much meaning in our increasingly corrupt society.

This passage has been a bastion of hope for me for several years, because it depicts a business savvy, generous-spirited, practical, entrepreneurial, discerning, shrewd, multitasker. A woman whose pervasive and influential gifts are a benefit to her, her children, and her community, and that, in effect, crown her husband's life with respect because of who she is. I want to be this woman, who in addition to being on the ball, can be a source of strength, encouragement, pleasure, and sexual fulfillment for a man who is doing his best to be those things for me.

I try to begin every morning by reading a passage of scripture. It's a way of centering my day and welcoming God into it, asserting my dependence on him to help me with whatever is going to happen, and to know Him better. The other morning I came across this passage, and I understood that this woman is free to be who she is, and out of that freedom results appropriately aggressive (meaning that it does not violate others) behavior.

Later that day my boss told me he wants me to be more aggressive about getting his attention, getting on his calendar, if you will...And I saw that hesitance to "bother" him that is so native to my dealings with men, even the ones with whom I have the context to support proactivity and some level of assumption of acceptance.

I saw how much this fear holds me back professionally and personally. It was a gift of an object lesson. I am committed to working on this now.