A Proverbs Wife?

Hello, and welcome back, my beautiful readers. I am so glad you chosen to spend a moment of your day with me.



I will publish this blog later, but right now, it is Wednesday, July 27th, 2016. I woke up with a headache, but I woke up. I hear thunder outside, and I thought that since I am home for the day, I would let the kids hang out with me. I have three Min Pins up against Papa's pillow, one Chihuahua at the foot of the bed, one Chihuahua on the rug by the bed, and I have no idea where the others are chillin'. They don't like the storms. I like their company when I am miserable, so I surround myself with them for their comfort.

We have a couple of young ladies staying with us for a couple of weeks while their parents go on vacation. A much needed break for them. As for me... it's gunna be a looong two weeks. I haven't had visitors for that long, but all is well, they are good kids and they know how to respect privacy and quiet time. Admittedly, I seek sanctuary in my room with the door open when the youngest visitor rapid-fires off a lot of questions. Mostly though, she enjoys the company of the critters. Her big sister takes care of her, but I try to take care of most of it so as to give her a much need break as well. I get the impressions from Papa that the older one bears quite the responsibility for her younger sister, which I am sure is of great help to their mom, as I know it is a great help for me.


The girls have their morning routine, as do I, which brings me to the point of this blog. After sweeping up the kennel room floor, starting a load of laundry, I make myself a cup o coffee, grab a banana, and settle in for a semi quiet morning of doing my morning routine of examining the daily text. What I found there was a cause from much pause and much self examination. Please, allow me to share it with you...

Wednesday, July 27

You guide me with your advice.—Ps. 73:24.

Whenever we need guidance, we can “take notice of” Jehovah by consulting his Word to find out his view of matters and by seeking to apply Bible principles. (Prov. 3:6) Sometimes, though, a trialsome situation lingers. You may have a grievous personality conflict with someone in the congregation. For instance, you may be hurt by a remark that you consider to be unkind. Yet, the brother who made the remark receives privileges in the congregation and seems to be well-thought-of by others. ‘How can this be?’ you wonder. ‘Does Jehovah not see? Will he not act?’ (Ps. 13:1, 2; Hab. 1:2, 3) While you may feel that the other party bears most of the blame, God may view things differently. From his standpoint, you may be more at fault than you realize. The comment that you considered to be so hurtful may, in fact, have been well-deserved counsel that you ought to give thought to. w14 4/15 5:10, 12-14

Council can come from anywhere,
aye, Chloe?

My Bible Study conductor, Mark A., once share these words with me that were a lesson for him, one that he never forgot and has sense passed on to his students for them to benefit from. "Council can come from anywhere." He said that because for himself, council did come from a source outside the congregation, from a contact through his business. Mark had made mention of a movie that he had watched on regular TV, the point being, it had been 'cleaned up' for regular TV, however, when he shared with these business contacts that he had watched a really good movie then mentioned the name of the movie, his contacts, knowing that he was one of Jehovah's Witnesses and knowing the 'real' content of the movie said "You watched that movie!!?" The question was asked as both a question and with shock. Mark realized then and there that he had received council by this person on what they felt was an inappropriate movie for someone of his religious character to be watching. Never mind that it had been 'cleaned up' for regular TV.

The point was taken by me, Council really can come from anywhere. We can receive council from doctors, police officers, friends, family, and so forth. But the most important council we will ever receive is from the Bible. Who delivers that council? Allow me to share with you the avenues in where I received council from Jehovah:

• Fellow believers in the congregation
• Sisters in the congregation
• Brothers in the congregation, and,
• Elders in the congregation

Fellow believers in the congregation have helped me to improve in my worship to Jehovah in their fine example of how they treat others: a kind word, a thoughtful gesture, a respect of someones wishes, not invading others' privacy with questions that could make others feel uncomfortable, to name just a few. Council really can come from anywhere.

Sisters in the congregation have helped me to improve in my worship to Jehovah in their fine examples of how they conduct themselves when having to talk to me. Oh yes, and she did it in a very loving, tactful way. For example, after a Tuesday night meeting, I was visiting with the friends when a wife of an elder approaches me. "I love you, you know that right?" she asks. I nodded my head. Then she shows me a picture on her phone. It was a picture of me, standing in the isle way, leaning up against a chair, and the slit in the side of my dress reveled more of my leg then is appropriate. I went home that night, threw the dress away. I felt bad, not because of the council I received, but that I had put my dear sister in a position where she needed to mention something to me. I can just imagine the turmoil she might have felt about how I would react to her council. I thanked her for the council, and to lighten the mood so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable, I said "Can you send me that picture before you delete it?" That was my way of keeping it light and fluffy and displaying a bit of vanity, because, hey, I thought I looked good, hee hee hee. Council really can come from anywhere.

Sisters in the congregation have helped me to improve in my worship to Jehovah in their fine examples of how they conduct themselves. For example, while visiting at the home of Mark A, another couple in the congregation stopped by for a visit and to offer sample patters for paint colors. During the example of colors, the wife made a comment in a way that I think her husband thought was that of 'correcting him' as if he didn't know the answer, (don't ask, I'm just trying to explain this the best I can remember) what I do remember was the husband, in a condescending tone to me and totally out of character from what I am used to seeing in the dear brother, says to her "I know that." Now, what happened next made quite the impression on me. She chose not to make a big deal of her husbands comments, and continued on with the examination of the color samples. 'Like it never happened, y'all!' I would have flipped my lid! But I learned much from the way the wife conducted herself. She chose not to 'make an issue of it' and the rest of the visit went without incident. Now they might have talked about it later, and I realized how important that is. Never 'air your dirty laundry in public.' It keeps harmony. Can you imagine if that wife would have had an outburst toward what she might have perceived as 'hurtful words' from her husband. We would have all felt it in the air, it would have made us all feel uncomfortable, and it would not have promoted christian love. Council really can come from anywhere.

Sisters in the congregation have helped me to improve in my worship to Jehovah in their fine examples of how they conduct themselves with advice about the role of a wife. One sister of an Elder made an impact on me early on that has stuck with me: "Taking care of your husband is part of your worship to Jehovah." That's all she said, but it was such a profound statement that I felt I really needed to examine what she said and to see how I was doing in that area. Sadly, I was not doing well at all. I was so excited to have recently become one of Jehovah's Witnesses that I devoted many many hours to the public ministry that I had let things go at home. The house wasn't clean, and I didn't seem to have time to do the 'home' stuff, and that is when I realize that I was not a 'Proverbs Wife' at all. I had to learn to be balanced. It broke my heart because I knew that if I was going to be a 'Proverbs Wife' I was going to have to balance my time, and that would mean less time in the ministry and more time at home taking care of the 'home' stuff.  Council really can come from anywhere.


Brothers in the congregation have helped me to improve in my worship to Jehovah in their kind words of how to best conduct myself, be it in public, or in the ministry. For example, I learned early on how to conduct myself when out in our door-to-door ministry. It could be a simple word of how we may be perceived as rude, or to be patient when waiting on a homeowner to come to the door, or how to be a good assistant when you and a fellow minister are talking with a homeowner. Council really can come from anywhere.

Elders in the congregation have helped me to improve in my worship to Jehovah in their kind words of how to best conduct myself. For example, while working for one of our customers of our business, I ended up working side by side with an Elder in our congregation. During one of our breaks to escape the heat and rest up a bit, a conversation ensued. It was not a work related conversation, it was a spiritual conversation. Odd considering the environment, so I extra tuned in. He says "You know, when the Elders are considering a brother for extra assignments, they don't just examine the conduct of the brother, they look also at his wife, his family. ("Pay attention Deb, this is for you" I thought.) Then he explained how the conduct of the brothers wife and family has a bearing on the decisions made. Consideration is made of the spirituality of the wife/family, do they dress in an appropriate way?, things like that. Well, that gave me plenty to think about. I examined myself, as a individual, to see how I was doing and if there was room for improvement (and there always is room for improvement) and I realized that there are things I can do.

I therefore asked myself some questions: does my dress and grooming show my respect for Jehovah and others, is my personally such that people would want to be around me? Do I have the reputation of being nice or unpleasant? And these are just a few of the things I asked myself. I know I have room to improve, and it is for the reason that I love Jehovah that I want to do my best to be a better 'Proverbs Wife.' I am pretty sure that one day, my husband will reach out for more responsibilities in the congregation, and I do not want to be the reason that he is held back. 'Jehovah, I'm gunna need yer help.'

Well, there it is. Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. I am thankful every day for the counsel I receive because it is a way for me to make corrections where needed and to improve my worship to Jehovah, and Jehovah is the most import reason I have to work on myself to be a better person, a better 'Proverbs Wife,' and better friend.