Preparing For Someday, Part 8: Proverbs 18:22

[Sorry this is SO late! I had to go to the doctor this morning, sinus infection, and then didn't get this finished til a little while ago. But here it is!]

Friends, we have reached the last post in our series on Preparing for Someday. (Sniff, sniff) I've thoroughly enjoyed writing it and hope you've been encouraged and challenged through something I've said. 

 Today we get to talk about being a good wife. Ready, set, go!

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." (Proverbs 18:22)

I mentioned this verse at the end of yesterday's post. I like this verse a lot. There's another one a lot like it in Proverbs 19 that says this:

"House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord." (19:14)

Will you be a good thing for your future husband? 

I can hear you now saying that you can't really know if you will be until you are a wife, but trust me, you can know now. 

Let me ask you this, are you a good daughter? Are you a good sister? 

Being a daughter and sister is a training ground for marriage and wifehood. (Is wifehood a word??)The way you treat your dad and brothers is how you will eventually treat your husband.

If you don't have older brothers, you're missing out. Big brothers are, in my opinion, the best training ground for marriage. If you can live with your older brothers and you all come out of it alive, you're doing okay. And if you come out of it and you all love and worship each other then you're definitely on the right track.

You may be wondering exactly how my brothers have helped prepare me for marriage. Well here's a few examples.

I've learned that I have to be the one to serve. Even though I tend to want other people to serve me, Michael has taught me that I need to be the one volunteering to give something of myself to others. I'm the one who needs to stand up and clear the table, I'm the one who needs to take his glass and fill it with sweet tea, I'm the one who needs to serve.

But...Michael has also taught me that it's okay to let a guy serve me. I don't always have to be the one to serve. If a guy wants to do something for you, let him!

Thomas has taught me that I need to be the one to apologize first. Whenever Thomas and I ever got in a fight, he would always be the first to apologize. Always, every single time. Even if the fight was my fault, he would be the one to apologize. You know why? Because I was proud, and would never say I was sorry. Thomas wasn't. I'm working on that right now. Letting go of your pride isn't easy, that's for sure.

Dad has taught me that serving is great, but it's only great if you do it with a happy heart. And I'm given plenty of opportunities to serve! I tease Daddy and ask him what he's gonna do when I move out! :) But you don't just have to serve your dad and brothers, serve other guys, too.

"An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels.

The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.

Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all." (Proverbs 31: 10-12, 28-29)

When I get married, I want those verses to be true of me. I want my husband to trust me; I want to do him good and not evil, all the days of my life which means RIGHT NOW.

Girls, if you want to be a good wife to your husband when you get married, you have to start right now. In order to do that, work on the things that I talked about in this post.

  

You can do your man good right now!  Why wait until you're married?

Being a good wife is not easy. I'm not saying that it's all peaches and cream. But think about it, if you work hard on it now, won't it be easier when you really are one? Isn't it easier if you  study and prepare for a test? Aren't you more likely to pass if you do study and prepare??

So start preparing for the test. Work on your homemaking skills. Love God and desire Him more than anyone or anything else. Build relationships with your family and surround yourself with people that you love and trust to help you on your journey. "Get wisdom! Get understanding!" (Proverbs 4:5) Guard your heart. Keep your standards high.

If you do those things, then you'll be on the path to becoming an excellent wife. That is a high calling, and one that I hope to reach someday. Will you join me?