A Good Woman

As I type, Eric is on his way home with Sammy's passport in hand.  YAY!  This is always an exciting time for us as our kids become "real" Americans.  He applied for Sammy's S.S. card while he was there as well.  The whole time before and during his trip my prayer has been that God would give him opportunities to witness.  He has told me about 3 men that he has talked with so far.  The first was a Turkish muslim.  Eric said it felt weird because while Eric was witnessing to him, the guy was also trying to convert Eric to muslim.  He kept telling Eric to just  read the Koran.  He told Eric that Jesus was going to come back and tell everyone that the muslim religion was the true way.  The second guy actually started talking to Eric first, calling him a sect.  Eric explained to him that we are not a sect and that we believe the Bible.  The guy was an orthodox and most claim to believe the Bible, but he quickly started to try to find fault with stories in the Bible and said that he did not believe the Bible.  He wasn't even willing to read the Bible to get his stories straight.  The third guy (the taxi driver who drove him to the embassy) was a little bit more receptive and took the tract that Eric offered him.  God is giving him opportunities to witness, even if he has been met with a lot of opposition.  The second guy reminds me a lot of Pasha, Eric's translator.  He is always looking online for faults with the Bible and brings it to Eric without even looking at the verse in context.  After he looks at the verse in context with Eric he always seems to agree with Eric.  He is traveling to Russia on a business trip right now and I've started praying that God would put a Christian in his path to witness to him.  How exciting it is to see God answer prayer! 

Well, since Eric is away, I was in charge of the family devotions tonight.  I almost decided to just pray and sing with them since Sammy was screaming, the girls were SO hyper, I was exhausted, achy and not feeling well...  Then I thought about Proverb 31 and the virtuous woman.  I thought, "It might be a little over their heads, but they're already learning what a bad woman is, they might as well start learning about a good woman."  Because Sammy was still screaming, I laid him in the other room while we did devotions.  We started going verse by verse, talking about each verse as we went.  Anna was so intent on it and even offered examples sometimes.  As we read, I was so convicted about how I have slacked in some areas of what God considers truly beautiful and what make up a good woman.  With that still heavy on my heart, I sang Jesus Loves Me to them and turned off the light.  Anna said, "Mama."  "Yes, Anna?"  I replied, thinking she was wanting a drink or something.  "You're a good woman."  WOW!  She gave me that title, even though my house is not always up to par, I'm sometimes lazy, don't always have meals ready on time, I could go through every verse and find something that I am doing wrong...oh, yes, I have my excuses, but in light of the Bible I know they are not really all that good.  Lord, help me to become that virtuous woman...that good woman!