The Proverbs 31 Woman: Hope for a Fallen World

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." (Mahatma Gandhi)

Last week during lunch break at work, it seemed like there was no good news left to share - only one depressing story after another: Young Hollywood "too much-too soon" sad stories in Britney Spears and her 16-year old sister, Jamie Lynn. Global warming - and the seriously disturbing ads about it, all over San Francisco. Darfur, which I didn't even know about until the haunting billboards greeted me one morning at the Montgomery Street BART/Muni Station. And then there was the recent assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, an alarming signal of what horror awaits the world in the hands of terrorists.

Is there hope left for such a fallen world?

Fear. Panic. Desperation.

There was only one way to overcome the terrible feelings that suddenly overwhelmed me: PRAYER.

So I then retreated into one of my favorite prayers of all time:

God, grant me
Serenity to accept things that I cannot change
Courage to change the things that I can and
Wisdom to know the difference.

I also remembered one quote that had blessed me last year: "We cannot do everything, but we can do something."

In my October 2007 blog, God's Work in Progress, I gave out the encouragement to look into an area in your life that needs improvement. For the year-long journey of the eve of my 30th Birthday, I decided to work on my spiritual growth: how spirituality and my relationship with God should be the unshakable core that every other aspect of my life revolves around. I thought about my blog, the medium that I've been using to chronicle my spiritual journey through motherhood. I thought about how it might have been a blessing to you at one point. I prayed about you, strong women (and men) who have been my inspiration.

And then I got it! A flicker of hope!

They say that a candle loses nothing when it lights another candle. That is the change that I wish to see in the world. If we could all be sources of inspiration, light, and joy to one another, then we could all hold hands and face the fallen world with a little bit of courage and hope.

As mothers, we have the most noble calling of creating a home enviroment that is a fountain of joy for our husband and children. The world may be dark in sin, but if we can create a haven where our family can come home to - for refuge, for security, for love - we might just be able to save that part of the world that matters the most: our home, our family - the basic unit of society.

So I thank the Lord for coming across Elizabeth George's Beautiful in God's Eyes: The Treasures of the Proverbs 31 Woman. His timing couldn't be perfect. I've always wanted to weave into my blog this "Wife of Noble Character," whom I got acquainted with during one of my devotional readings. May she be an inspiration to us all:

The Wife of Noble Character
(Proverbs 31:10-12; 25-30)

A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
And lacks nothing in value.
She brings him good, not harm,
All the days of her life.

She is clothed with strength and dignity;
She can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
And faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of the household
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her.
"Many women do noble things,
But you surpass them all."
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

I pray for all of us, wives and mothers, who are beautiful in God's eyes. I pray that our husbands may see us through His eyes. I pray that we may all continue to inspire one another and brave the world together. I pray that "we may leave the world a little bit better than when we came - for the sake of our children... and our children's children."

Dear Lord, Thank You for surrounding me with women who are truly beautiful in Your eyes... women from whom I will definitely draw inspiration, as I go on my journey to becoming closer to the wife of noble character that you've always intended every woman to be. It seems like an impossible feat, but I've long since learned that nothing is impossible in You.