On The Catwalk

household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”

This is a woman who takes her family seriously. She is a woman who works at making sure her family is well taken care of. And it seems that she sets the tone of what takes place in the home.

You’ve heard that the man is the “head of the house” and that’s true. But this woman is the moral center of the family. She sets the example for her children in how to be busy and in how to be kind to others.
(vs 20) “She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.”

She sets the moral tone for her children.

ILLUS: According to research published in “Psychological Science” (October 2004 issue), children who have the good fortune to interact with their mothers a lot develop healthier consciences.
These researchers conducts a couple of experiments where they encouraged toddlers to imitate their mothers in such simple activities as playing tea party or playing with a stuffed animal. As the researchers monitored this interaction, they classified the children based on their readiness to imitate what they observed in their mothers and then graded them on a sliding scale.
Then, in subsequent sessions, they enticed those same young children with prizes for games that they could win only by cheating or breaking an object that had some value to them.
What they found was: Toddlers who eagerly imitated their mothers were more likely to follow the rules and more likely to exhibit a sense of guilt when they broke something.

Translation: the mothers who were most interactive with their children, built a moral standard into those children by their very presence.

A good mother sets the moral tone in her home.
But her focus on her family means more than her children.
It means she wants her husband to be successful

Not only does… “Her husband has full confidence in her...(vs. 11)
He has reason to have full confidence… because she makes him look good.
Right in the middle of this inventory of this woman’s qualities we read this:
“Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.” (vs 23)

What’s her husband doing at the city gate?
Well, back in that day, they didn’t have court houses and paid judges. The city relied upon the most respected men in the community to sit at the gate of the city and arbitrate differences between the citizens.
The man in Proverbs 31 is a judge… people come to him to get his opinions.
And why do they come to him?
Because his wife made him look good.

So God, parades this woman in front of us.
He shows her off and says – this is noble woman… and she’s rare.
She’s a great mom/ and a great wife.

But why does she do what she does?
Why is she this kind of mother/ wife?
Is it because she’s a nice lady?
Well, yeah, but it’s more than that.

Verse 29 says "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."
There’s a lot of nice ladies out there, but this woman surpasses them.
Why does she surpass all those other women?
Because (vs. 30) “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who FEARS THE LORD is to be praised.”

You see – this woman does what she does because she’s mindful of God.
She’s driven to take care of her family and she works at being a great mom/wife because she knows God’s paying attention.

ILLUS: This is extremely important because your kids