The Heart of It All

It's February so you know what that means - time to start working on taxes!  Not what you were thinking, right?  I'm the accountant of our family, I'm good at it and don't mind, but I still dread tax time.  I'm always a little concerned that I'm going to mess up.  We've been audited more than once due to charitable contributions (hello, IRS, ever heard of Malachi chapter 3?)  I use TurboTax and the first thing I do is enter income.  Then I see a GIANT "taxes due" number and start praying!  By the time I get all our deductions entered, we're back to a refund and I can breathe again!

I finished my first take yesterday.  Les was working, but when he had a free moment I told him what it looked like we would get back.  He said, "Okay," and went back to work.  Not much of a response, but this little phrase popped into my mind:

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her...

I've read many blogs about trying to be the Proverbs 31 Woman.  Women who think they can never measure up to her example of virtue.  But yesterday afternoon I came to the conclusion that I AM that virtuous woman because the heart of my husband trusts me!  Do you know how good that made me feel?

Those verses go on: "he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life."  The rest of the verses are wonderful, but this is the heart of the virtuous woman.  Gourmet meals, fine clothing, a spotless house, all of that is meaningless if our husbands can't trust us.

There is nobody harder on a woman than herself.  I know all my shortcomings and you know all yours.  But the next time you're feeling defeated by the dust bunny army or the mound of laundry, just ask yourself, "does my husband trust me?"  If the answer is yes, rest assured that everything else pales.  You ARE a virtuous woman!