She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. — Proverbs 31:27

I hate doing housework. I would rather do just about anything than housework. I can deal with doing laundry but I will do just about anything to get out of cleaning the bathroom. Dishes stress my lower back and I keep wishing for a parsonage with a dishwasher. The problem: entropy — things go from a state of order to disorder and in order to keep the nice CPS people out of the house, cleaning needs to happen from time to time.

In today’s verse, our virtuous woman is described as “watch[ing] over the affairs of her household” and “not eat[ing] the bread of idleness”. She was on top of everything that went on in her house so the beds had fresh linens, the food was procured and prepared, sashes were made to sell to the merchants, and all was where it needed to be. If she hadn’t been so aware of the state of her household, the family could possibly go hungry, there would be no light from lamps and candles after dusk, and her servants would fare worse than the family.

For me, being aware of the affairs of my household means that I keep track of the bills that need to be paid and I make sure that we have everything we need to function. This might not be everything we *want* in life but our needs are met. Not eating the bread of idleness means keeping up on the freelance editing work, the laundry so I have clean underwear and Daniel has clean clothes, and keeping the dishes under control so that I’m not drinking instant breakfast out of a measuring cup.