Smile at the Future

I'm a slacker. 

I don't try to be.  It just happens sometimes.  I find that I can get distracted from a task by the smallest change to my routine.  I have good intentions, but poor follow-through in some of the most important aspects of my life.

In 2004, I took a class while my husband was attending seminary.  One thing I picked up from this was to make it a habit of reading through Psalms and Proverbs monthly.  For the book of Proverbs, it is simple to keep track of what needs to be read each day.  There are 31 chapters and 30-31 days in a month.  One chapter a day should be easy enough. 

In theory.

By now, I should have read through the book approximately 71 times.  (You see how effortlessly it is to distract me.  I won't point out how much time I spent calculating that figure)  I must shamefully admit I haven't accomplished even half that.  Distractions can let the simple task of reading one chapter get away from me.    

For the month of July, though, I did make it all the way through the book.  As I opened my Bible on Sunday to finish the last chapter, I felt a small sense of accomplishment.  I was able to stick with it through the month, and I could do it again.  Then I read the last chapter of Proverbs.  I should've seen it coming.  My toes  were stepped on, and my accomplishment gave way to defeat.

The Proverbs 31 woman.  What a role model!  It's a chapter I find both inspiring and painful.  This woman is the epitome of who I should strive to be as a wife and mother.  On this occasion as I read each verse, I tried to identify areas where I need some work.  There were areas I think I've done okay with.  I enjoy working with my hands and creating things (verse 13).  Rising while it's still night to give food to my household (verse 15)?  I've got that one covered.  I'm a mother of four, so there have been many nights I rose in the dark of night to feed my children:  11 pm, 1 am, 3 am... 

This chapter also showed me what I need to focus more energy on.  Compassion and preparation (verses 20-21) are areas I struggle with.  God blessed me with dramatic children who love their tears, but the compassionate spirit I need to handle those tears has gone AWOL with all those hours of lost sleep.  While I know my children love me, I'm sure there are days they would be hard-pressed to rise up and call me blessed (verse 28).

The point that stuck with me the most, though, I found in verse 25.  Even though I had it underlined in my Bible, it resonated with me in a new way.  "...And she smiles at the future."  The NIV version puts it this way:  "...she can laugh at the days to come." 

I relish that statement.  I can bemoan my downfalls, but instead I can choose to celebrate my future.  I can learn to recognize distractions for what they are, and pick myself back up when I falter. 

What steps can you take to smile at the future?