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have their rights; decide cases fairly"
(verses 2·9).
Perhaps the most important point
to grasp here is the relationship be·
tween mother and son. (The same
would apply to mother and daughtec.)
This mother is talking to her teen-age
son, as indicated by the subjects she
is discussing. The boy, and later the
king, obviously holds his mother in
great esteem and honor.
This kind of relationship does not
spring up full-blown, from nothing.
It is built up, brick by brick from in–
fancy.
It
is a bridge built by respect
and mutual understanding. The sup·
porting beams come from reading to
children as they grow up and talking
to them about their moral and social
responsibilities to society, themselves,
and God. It entails helping them with
all their problems from tying a shoe–
lace to giving advice concerning the
special person in their lives.
It
is a
relationship of kindness and help
established in infancy and carried to
adulthood. That means taking children
shopping, to the zoo, to the barbee
shop, having them help with chores.
Since the first six to eight years of
a child's lifc are some of the most cru·
cía!, the mother's role is extremely
vital.
A housewife's relationship with her
children is of utmost importance. It
should be part of the fulfillment she
finds in her role as mother and wife.
But it is mercly onc aspect of a full
and dcmanding lifc. Proverbs
31
con–
tinues with othcr points of the house·
wife's role.
Verses
lO
and
11
read: "A rare find
is an able wife - she is worth far
more than rubíes
!
Her husband may
depend on her, and never lose by
that." Employers pay high salaries
to workers who think and act. They
depend on them to do what they are
told - but also to think for thcm·
selves.
So
ought a husband to
be able to depend on his wife.
Being a wife is more than just wash–
ing dishes and dusting. A wife must be
intelligent, energctic - capable of
running the family if sorne tragedy
PLA IN TRUTH
June
1972
were to strike her husband. She must
not try to wear the husband's pants
but must be capable of stepping into
his shoes if the situation arises.
The "vife described in Proverbs
"brings him
PROFIT
and no Ioss, from
first to last. She looks out wool and
Aax,
and works it up with a
WILL.
She
is like the merchant ships, fetching
food-stuffs from afar" (verses 12-14).
The
ABLE
wife is a
Ikillflll manager
of the home
- her first duty. In to–
day's parlance, fetching food from afar
might mean seeking out
REAL
bargains,
doing her share to help thc family's
tinancial situation. And the able wife
works hard: "She rises before dawn to
feed her household, handing her maids
their rations" (verse 15). Today's
household maids are often electrical
appliances.
An l ntelligent Partner
Proverbs also discusses thc wife's
ability in secondary areas. "She pur·
chases land prudently; with her earn·
ings she plants a vineyard" (verse 16).
In verse 24, the account reads, "She
makes linen yarn and sells it; she sup·
plies girdles to the traders." Here is
a woman with business acumen. She
can, if necessary, do quite well in the
business world. But she applies her
talent and ability to the home sphere
first!
There are many projects - depend–
ing on talents and time - that women
can work on at home to either stretch
or supplement the family income, all
based on the above principies. Hours
at home should be well spent. A wife
can save many dollars of the family
budget by wise mealtime planning,
selective shopping, sewing, mending,
gardening. Sorne might develop a
part-time job in the home to supple–
ment family income.
But any discussion of what the wife
can do to supplement the family in–
come should be tempered with the
A hairmt can be
ftm
-
eipecially when mother
ÍI
there
lo Lend moral s11pport.