I dug around in the basement to find this old commentary on the Proverbs 31 Woman, before I left on my  trip to California. This week, I’m with three of my grandchildren, while my daughter and son-in-law are away. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to run “Wishing I Was Wonder Woman” again. I wrote it in May, 1990. Happy Mother’s Day!

Wishing I Was Wonder Woman

It’s Mother’s Day again. I’m dreading the annual sermon on “A wife of a noble character” found in Proverbs 31.

When I was a young mom, the life of this Wonder Woman captivated me. I wanted to be her. Her children thought she was terrific and her husband praised her. She was said to be full of wisdom and dignity, had a great sense of humor, and was more precious than jewels. After hearing more than a few sermons about this total woman, I’m beginning to resent her.

Left to right: Jenny, Joy, Julie-ann & Jackie. Photo taken about the time I wrote “Wishing I Was Wonder Woman.”

Where did Wonder Woman find the time to run several businesses (she was an entrepreneur), be the perfect wife and mother, AND care for the poor? Keeping up with my kids, my husband, and our house is more than a full-time job. Yes like Wonder Woman, I get up to make breakfast for my kids, before they go off to school. But, the wonderful wife of a noble character was up while it was STILL DARK (verse 18). The same verse mentions her lamp doesn’t go out at night! When does this woman sleep? I’m lucky if I can make it to the end of the nightly news on TV. By nine o’clock I’m close to comatose.

Proverbs Wonder Woman (verse 24) made clothing for her family. So did I, that is until 1974, the year of the prairie dress. For a reason I can’t seem to recall, I thought our girls should have matching dresses. I must have been blinded by the cuteness of it all. At that time we had three girls ages 1, 4 and 5 (Joy was born two years later).

I wound up making three long prairie dresses, three long pinafores to wear over the prairie dresses, and three matching bonnets. By the time I finished, I vowed I’d never sew again. That was the end of my “making of garments.”

Had to show off the prairie dresses and pinafores. The bonnets are not pictured. Girls left to right: Julie-ann, Jenny and Jackie. Joy was born two years after this picture was taken. I’m all of 26. (Was I ever that young?)

The wife of a noble character considered a field, bought it, planted it, and set about her work vigorously (verses 16-17). In 1977, we moved to the country. It was time for me to plant a garden. We already had the field (our backyard); all I had to do is plant it. For three years, I dug, fertilized, pulled weeds, and kept the dogs, birds, and kids out of my little garden. We ate zucchini casserole, zucchini bread, zucchini and tomatoes, and zucchini salad. My husband even claims I made zucchini ice cream, but it’s not true. Proverbs didn’t comment on yield of the field, maybe Wonder Woman grew zucchini, too.

“Her children arise and call her blessed” (verse 28). I didn’t have a problem with this verse until my children hit the teen years. All of a sudden, I didn’t know anything. I was embarrassing to be around. They had a mother, how juvenile! I can’t remember one of them uttering an intelligible word first thing in the morning. To make matters worse, my teens never called me “blessed.”

I’m wishing I was Wonder Woman, but I’m an ordinary mom and don’t measure up. How can I listen to another discourse on the Proverbs 31 Wonder Woman? Oh, oh, oh, perhaps this ancient woman was NOT Wonder Woman, but just an ordinary woman. Perhaps the events recorded in Proverbs accumulated over a lifetime. Perhaps the lifestyle of this godly woman might be attainable, even today. Perhaps an ordinary woman (like me) with God’s grace is able to achieve many things—not all at once, but one at a time.

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