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Women Living Well Blog: Shop to the Glory of God

Women Living Well Blog

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Shop to the Glory of God

Word Filled Wednesday: Proverbs 31:14 "She is like the merchant ships bringing her food from afar."

Today is week six of our Proverbs 31 series. What an amazing woman she is! She is a treasure to her husband because she is fully trustworthy, a woman of action and she works hard with eager hands. In verse 14 we see a new character trait. She takes her shopping seriously! This is my kind of girl!


In verse 14, the Proverbs 31 woman is compared to a merchant ship. What was a merchant ship? It was a ship that brought in all different kinds of cargo to the port. It would have included dyes, fabrics, spices, oils, foods and pottery.


The Proverbs 31 woman did not have a refrigerator so she would have had to travel to the market daily and sometimes she would have to go a long way to get all of the things she needed for the day. She was willing to go the distance because of her love and care for her husband and children.


If someone was describing your style of shopping how would they describe you? Are you like a merchant ship? Are you willing to go to great heights to find the best, most cost effective and healthiest ingredients for your family? Do you work hard at your shopping? Are you more into convenience foods that are fast or are you willing to cook from scratch? Do you take special care to get a good price on your goods or do you stop at the nearest corner store and just get something quick?


Let me say for the record - shopping is hard work (especially with little ones in tow). I know how much planning, time and energy goes into it. If we are going to be like the Proverbs 31 woman we are going to have to be willing to turn mundane shopping into a creative expression of love for our families.


The questions I asked above are questions I am asking myself. I shop at Aldi bi-weekly to save money, I shop the ads and shop clearance racks first when I'm looking for clothes. But I am not the best at couponing - that takes some extra organization. I cook nearly every meal in the home but rarely completely from scratch. Most of my Tasty Tuesday recipes are simple. I have a couple close friends who cook from scratch - from homemade bread to homemade sauces, salad dressings, and desserts. I admire their willingness to work hard in the kitchen.

Feeding our family fulfills a basic need. It's necessary. Are we doing it to the glory of God? Or are we too tired to cook the family a good meal? If we are - our priorities are not in order. This is a basic need our family has. Strive to excel in it! And shop to the glory of God!


Walk with the King!

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12 Comments:

Blogger lori said...

Courtney....
What a blessing this post is! I hope that many of the WfW women will read it...thank you for sharing such wise words with us today...
It's something that we all need to look inward and evaluate....Are we shopping to the Glory of God?

Wonderful!
peace,
lori

February 10, 2010 at 8:31 AM  
Blogger Sherry @ Lamp Unto My Feet said...

I have been purposely trying to make most of our foods from scratch and not buy many convenience foods. I also love shopping at Aldi! :D

February 10, 2010 at 9:35 AM  
Blogger born2worship said...

Courtney...
I feel like crying as I sit and read this post. I crave your Wednesday posts because they always change me for the better. I am an avid coupon shopper. My main shopping is at Publix. My total before coupons runs about $200.00. But I only pay $5.00-$15.00 out of pocket. HOWEVER, my heart has been heavy this week because I spent $200.00 in towels and "stuff" to finish my guest bath. When I look in there I like what I see but I definitely don't see $200.00! I feel like I've failed in my frugal shopping which I do to benefit my family and to be a good steward of God's blessings. And then this post comes up today. Even though it makes me more aware of my materialistic blunder, I have a renewed strength to pick up, go on, and learn from the mistake.

Any words of wisdom?

Thank you so much for encouraging my walk with Christ.

February 10, 2010 at 10:49 AM  
Blogger Lisa said...

I love this post! I think you hit at the core of what most women struggle with. Great food for thought and great scripture choice! :)

February 10, 2010 at 11:03 AM  
Anonymous Deb-Ohio said...

Thank you again for affirming my thoughts and actions! I decided about six months ago to start being a more organized shopper and planning meals more and making more of what we eat instead of eating out or getting prepared foods. It started out of my feeling that our seemingly rampant outbreak of cancer has to have something to do with the way we live...different than our ancestors. So far I am cooking almost everything we eat..including the sweets and so on. It feels wonderful and I think we feel healthier for it!! You're a wonderful person. Keep up the great work :)

February 10, 2010 at 11:05 AM  
Blogger Courtney (Women Living Well) said...

born2worship - wow!!! You are an amazing couponer!

Do not beat yourself up over your towels. Towels last a very long time and even when they are done being used in the bathrooms they are useful for other things like cleaning!

We will see later in Proverbs 31 that she clothed herself in fine linen and her family and coverings in scarlet. These were not cheap purchases at the market. She did buy quality products for her family which would have been expensive.

Buying quality items does not mean to go into debt or be a burden to your husband who is trying to provide. But it does mean you will splurge now and then.

If you went into debt for your towels - return them - or do some babysitting to pay them off quickly. If you could pay for them outright - ENJOY THEM GUILT FREE - I know your family will!

Much Love,
Courtney

February 10, 2010 at 1:21 PM  
Blogger Deborah said...

What great and needed words....she was willing to go the distance because of her love and care for her husband and children.

February 10, 2010 at 2:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Or are we too tired to cook the family a good meal? If we are - our priorities are not in order."

I would respectfully disagree with this statement. I believe my priorities are in order; however, because I am an extremely low energy person, have chronic insomnia & must take meds that can make me drowsy, I find that at least once or twice a week, I am so exhausted that my husband either has to fix dinner or pick something up on the way home. It's not ideal. But that's my reality.

As far as coupons go, I know people who can save a lot on their grocery bills with this (they usually download coupons, etc.) I use coupons but don't save as much $$ as I could. Again, it's the energy thing. Also, if I spend all of my all-too-little energy trying to save money, I have very little left over for my husband and kids. I can either do the all the good "wife & mom" stuff or I can be there for them. Not to be mean or snarky about it; I applaud women that CAN cook from scratch, etc. I just can't be one of them at this point in my life.

February 10, 2010 at 2:45 PM  
Blogger Morgan said...

I decided to sign up for a coupon website. Out of over a hundred coupons on there, there were only 3 that were kind of usable for our family.

Most of the things we use do not have coupons. However, one thing we have made good use of is the grocery ads. If you have a Wal-Mart super store, they will match prices to items you find on sale in competitors ads. What I didn't find out until a couple months ago is that they will also match store-brand labeled items too! I.e., let's say your local grocer has bananas and their store brand of cream cheese for a fantastic price. Wal-mart will match the price of their store-brand items by giving you the Wal-mart off brand for the same price! It's saved us some time and money as we can do more shopping in one place.

February 10, 2010 at 3:31 PM  
Blogger Cathy said...

A great WFW ~
But right now I am disgusted with the high prices of produce and the wasted food that is being thrown away. Blessings ~

February 10, 2010 at 6:42 PM  
Blogger Courtney (Women Living Well) said...

Lauradroege - you know your limits better than anyone else - your case may be an exception with your meds. But honestly - when you said you make all but 2 meals a week - I think that is excellent.

We eat Sunday dinner out at a restaurant and usually we eat out McD's on Tuesdays after Bible study - so I eat out at least 2 meals a week also. So I'm in your boat.

I think the Proverbs 31 woman pushes us to better ourselves. To consider what we are doing in the kitchen and why? It's always good to evaluate how we can do better. You have evaluated yourself and know that you are doing your absolute best - and I believe that is all God asks for.

Much Love,
Courtney

February 10, 2010 at 10:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Courtney,
Thanks. Sometimes I feel like a horrible mom and wife because my energy levels are so low, so I get discouraged when other women talk about saving lots of money, etc. Appreciate your response.

February 11, 2010 at 2:53 PM  

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