An Invitation to Her Table

She changed my life. She captured my heart and my attention from the beginning. I met a woman in my early years of walking with the Lord who I was taken by and sought to be mentored by from the start. She demonstrated Jesus so beautifully and with such grace that as a young mom and wife, I dearly wanted to drink coffee from her table daily.

I learned early on though that many didn’t like her. She was controversial, to say the least. She was discounted and explained away. Many said she really didn’t exist and was just an illustration of many women combined. But the more I got to know her and the One she emulated, the more I realized that was fear and ignorance that caused the naysayers to come to that conclusion.

We often don’t like that which sheds light on our lack, so we discount it, even in the Word of God.

Her name is not revealed in Scripture, yet I affectionately call her Mrs. P. A glimpse into her life is found at the end of the book of Proverbs.

She became my mentor as I sought to know how to put feet to the Christian life. How do I live out my faith and my love for Jesus in my marriage, in my home, in my community? She patiently answered every question with the grace and character of Jesus.

So many fear her and attempt to explain away her life. She is doubted and viewed as an unattainable example. Yet the reality of 2 Timothy 3:16 whispers through every word of Scripture that it is fully God breathed and He means what He says.

God does not offer unattainable examples for us. He does not hold out a goal over our heads and let us jump for it, like the bully who keeps the toy just slightly out of reach. God’s character is grace and He invites us to know Him by knowing His Word, His Son and gives us beautiful examples of men and women with a passion for Him.

He shows us what it looks like to love Him and follow Him in daily life, while shopping, while cooking, while moving through busy, complicated lives. Mrs. P is one of these beautiful examples of a woman who loves the Lord intimately and purposefully. She masterfully weaves the ribbon of her relationship with Him into her daily life.

Proverbs 31:10-31 is a woman that the king’s mother hopes her son will find to marry. She is a woman who just like you and I. She is busy. She has responsibilities.

This stunning masterpiece of her day is not an example to us to learn to use a distaff and spindle but rather the harder call to extend our hands to serve, even if it costs us something.

It is not a challenge to us to stay up all night and rise before dawn but rather the greater challenge to look like Jesus and live with an open home of hospitality and diligence.

Before we discount this praise-worthy woman, let’s allow the Lord to challenge our hearts with her character. You already are working, buying, dressing, making, shopping, cooking, laughing, speaking…but are you and I willingly going the extra mile to serve our family, pausing long enough to consider our steps with wisdom, letting the Word of God inform the edges of our day, waiting to speak with what is wise and kind?

She is beautiful not because of what she does but because of who she is. And that, dear reader, is no different than you and I when we are in Christ. Let’s believe that God means what He says in His Word and let her example inform and sharpen our own hearts as we seek to celebrate mother’s this weekend.

Happy Mother’s Day.

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