Verse 27

Proverbs 31:27 "She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness." (NIV)

Well, I don't usually eat the bread of idleness, at least I don't think I do. I homeschool four children, ranging in age from 6 to 16. I feed a hungry family (four of which are boys, and three of them are teens!) and that takes me TIME! I believe strongly in serving up home cooked meals from scratch as much as possible. Part of this is because it's cheaper to feed a family of seven that way. The other part is just because it's healthier for us all. Try reading the back of a box of cereal or worse yet, Hamburger Helper! I can't pronounce half of the chemicals that are added let alone try to digest them.

As an aside, did you know that MSG (monosodium glutamate) is often listed on labels as: natural flavor, citric acid, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, Hydrolyzed plant protein, autolyzed plant protein, calcium caseinate, textured protein, yeast extract, sodium caseinate, and even gelatin. There are a lot of other "hidden names" for MSG, but this gives you a good idea of what I'm talking about. MSG does not "enhance flavor" of food but rather enhances your TASTE BUDS. It is a chemical used to trick you into thinking the food tastes better than it does. That's why "store food" tastes so much better to some people than "from scratch food" does. Add this horrible chemical to your home cooked meals today to fool everyone into thinking it's better than it is. (KIDDING - don't try it.) I'll do a whole post on MSG later because I think it's too important to ignore.

Back to Proverbs 31:27. Watching over the affairs of my household means more to me than just cleaning house and cooking meals. It means I'm concerned for their physical well-being and, more importantly, their spiritual well-being. I pray for them daily. I teach my children the Bible. It's one of the reasons I homeschool (we're on our 14th year - ugh). I make sure that my husband is cared for as well as my children. I try my best to make our home comfortable for him when he gets home from a long day of work. His clothes are kept washed and dried. I'm TRYING very hard to tweak his diet to be less cholesterol and fat laden, but I'm fighting a losing battle I'm afraid. He acts as if he'll die without meat...the worst thing in the world for him right now. But I'm praying about that.

Well, this post has really been poorly written, but I think you get the gist of what Proverbs 31:27 conveys. Take care of your household. Be very active in your family's life and pray for them daily. Spend time with them and make sure they know they're loved.