She is clothed with dignity.

Georgia’s 2nd image.

Today I was thinking about the name of my blog: it is based on a Bible verse in Proverbs 31, which says, ‘She is more valuable than rubies’. Further on in this chapter it says that ‘she is clothed with dignity and strength and she laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks her words are wise and she gives instructions with kindness’. It seemed perfect for this drawing of Cinderella by Georgia.

The verse strikes me for a few reasons.

The first is Georgia herself. I find the verse is so suitable for her, prophetic about her future, for the strength that she shows every day.

Secondly, the phrase ‘gives instructions with kindness ’ made me chuckle with soft irony. I’m a school teacher. I find I give instruction 90% of my working day. But, actually, are they always given with kindness, or sometimes frustration and exasperation? Should I find a pathway through my job that enables me to show even more kindness, more patience, more love? Can I try to be softer in challenging situations?

And lastly, ‘she laughs without fear of the future’. This is so not me. At the moment I am wresting with inner turmoil. Our future is changing….. the time when we move 400 miles for Hubby to begin his Methodist ministry is rapidly approaching. The house went on the market this weekend, which has made our future scarily real, as his his 2nd visit to our new home this past weekend. At the moment I am most definitely not at the stage of laughing without fear of the future, but think perhaps that I ought to be able to. All the way through this process we have trusted God and have tried to submit to His will. If I trust that process, trust Him, shouldn’t I be able to laugh, knowing that my future is assured?

In today’s sermon, the preacher said that joy, true joy, wasn’t happiness, but the realisation of the abundance ahead of us, an over-spilling joy of belief in the truth, poured out to us by the Holy Spirit. So much joy, the earth bends and sings. The mountains rejoice. Hallelujah!

So why am I suddenly finding so much pain in the journey? Why am I not clothed with dignity and strength? How can I possibly complete this new role with dignity? Will I be strong enough to support my husband?

Oh Lord, help me….