I just finished the book Pursuit of Proverbs 31 by Amy Bayliss. I used it for my morning Bible study the last couple months on the mornings I wasn’t doing the Sunday readings. This book had its ups and downs for me, but it was mostly good, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to another mom. It surprised me a bit in that it wasn’t so much about the actual scripture of Proverbs 31, as it was about the idea behind it – the drive to be a godly wife and mother. And to that end it was very good.
I did get a little annoyed at a couple of chapters in the middle when she goes into detail on organizing a home, but I do see why she included them. They are just a little bit of a distraction from the actual bible study parts of the book, which is what I wanted to focus on.
This book is not a fill-in-the-blank style bible study, which I liked. She covered a topic that is relevant to a wife and mother, sharing some of her own experiences, then she recommends a bible chapter or two to read and take notes on. When read in the context of the topic she is covering, it allowed me to see where my motivation really was, and how to pray and listen to God to move closer to Him. She lists verses for memory work, and has even written out a few prayers to help make that connection with taking our vocation to God in prayer. I used my Topical Bible Study Sheet to take notes on this book and keep my focus.
Some of my favorite highlights:
- On the outside we look like we have it all together. We roar while standing on top of a basket of freshly folded laundry when on the inside we are meowing and begging for someone to see us, to take notice.
- ask God what He would have you do and ask Him to provide what you need to accomplish it. God does provide. He does still bless.
- “I give up, God. If you want me to be like this woman then you will have to show me exactly how to do it.” In my spirit I heard Him giggle at me as if to say, “Finally”!
- A child cannot be disciplined by us until we first learn to discipline ourselves. They will follow after our example. When it comes to our children it is vital we follow through with punishments, admit to it and apologize when we are wrong, and show our children the proper way to live by living properly ourselves
- To accomplish these things we must put God first before everything else. Success for our family will also be different from success of others. Why? He did not call us all to do the same things.
This was written by a protestant lady, but as a Catholic I didn’t find anything to argue with. There were a few times when adding in the sacraments was the natural follow through, for example: “No matter how many steps you take away from God, it only takes one step to come back. Ask God to purge your heart and begin restoring you.” and I would add – and get yourself to confession! There were a few others like that, but they weren’t problematic for me.