Dear Friends,

Have you been impacted by Proverbial Thought over the last couple of years? Do you have any words of praise?

We are looking for a few, short testimonials to put on the back of the book covers. 

Tentative Book Cover

Could you help? Like, SOON?

Leave a comment, below. (If you don’t feel comfortable posting your name, city, and what you do – like “pastor,” “engineer,” “housewife,” etc. – on this blog, then let me know; I will email you.)

Time is of the essence.

Thanks, everybody. God bless!

Proverbs 31:10, 13

“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. … She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.”

Mixed Memories

A long time ago my mother and grandmother (on my dad’s side) would go shopping for fabric. I will never forget those days, for they were some of the most miserable of my young life.

I was forced to endure the summer heat as they drove around town looking for sales in a ’71 Ford Maverick with no air and little ventilation. I walked beside my mom for what seemed like an eternity as they searched for patterns and fabric that would become my school clothes and their dresses. Women used to be proud to be called seamstresses, but not any more. But there are exceptions, and my wife is one of them.

A Hard Worker

I have never met a harder worker than my wife, Valerie; she works rings around everyone, including myself. Until she became ill, she was always the first one awake and the last one asleep. She is still the last one to sit down when visitors come to eat, the last one to finish cleaning after a church social, and the only one who can handle a phone call, fold laundry, do dishes, and complete an income tax return at the same time.

On many days my wife hurts so much that no pain medication will touch it. Sometimes one day’s ordinary activity will leave her bed-ridden half of the next. Yet, she never gives up. She enjoys the duties of running a home and only complains when she can’t complete them to her own satisfaction.

Scarred, but Beautiful

When I first read 31:13 I thought of my wife’s hands…of how she loves to sew…of how she always brags on how her grandmother was an excellent seamstress, and how she always dreamed of being like her. I think of how she sewed her own wedding dress, and then taught our girls to sew.  Now, because of her fibromyalgia , there are mornings I must rub her fingers before she can even move them, but it isn’t long before they “worketh willingly.”

20 years ago this June!

The hands of a virtuous woman are not the flawless hands of a supermodel; they are scarred. They are scarred from oven burns, needle pricks, tire swing ropes. They are dry from folding laundry, wrinkled from dishwater, and paper-cut from clipping coupons. They are even bruised and sore: bruised from spanking bottoms and applauding home-runs; sore from pushing a discouraged husband out the door and up the ladder.

When I think of the hands of a Proverb 31 woman I don’t think of perfect hands, but I do think of beautiful hands. I think of Valerie’s.

Yes, I found a virtuous wife, and I wouldn’t trade her for all the rubies in the world.

Greetings, friends!

To all of you who subscribe to Proverbial Thought, thank you for all you have done. “What have I done?” you ask. You have been an encouragement to all of us who contribute to this blog. Your comments and your “likes” let us know that what we do each day makes a difference.

So, let us be one of the first to wish you a very wonderful and happy new year! May 2014 be full of joy and blessing!

Be wise! and God bless!

Happy 2014!

Dear Friends,

We are getting closer and closer to the last proverb, believe it or not. It won’t be long until we finish the book of Proverbs with a final “thought” from 31:31 on the first day of March, 2014. I don’t know about you, but it will be both a sad and a happy day for me.

I am looking forward to completing this project, for it will have been two years in the making. I am also looking forward to having the posts compiled and published into one complete work (possibly multiple volumes) which can be easily accessed and used as a daily devotional, or simply a commentary like no other.

On the other hand, it will be sad that our writers will not be working together on this voluminous endevor. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since we first started Proverbial Thought, and I have been truly blessed to collaborate with such fine people. God has most definitely used our study to mutually encourage each other. But more specifically, the Holy Spirit has certainly guided each one of us, never leaving the selection of posts to chance. This study could be viewed as a journal of our spiritual journeys through two years of life.

Missing Something?

Now, if you are a regular reader, you may notice, from time to time, that we miss a day or two of posts. That is usually my fault, to be honest. I am not the busiest member of our group (I think David is), but I do get sidetracked by church, work, and family issues. I have, so to speak, too many irons in the fire.

Therefore, I hope you don’t mind that from time to time “thoughts” will be posted out of order. However, even when they are, it seems that what is posted late is still posted right on time. God knows what we need when we need it.

Talk to Us

Friends, I would love to hear how Proverbial Thought has impacted your life, or the life of someone you know. I would also love to hear how you may be using what has been written in your Bible study or devotions. Has there been a time when you opened up a post, read it, and knew in your heart that God had spoken to you? We would love to hear about it.

Let me tell you a little bit about what I have personally been doing. Even though I pastor a church, I also teach an adult Sunday School class. Each week we read through a chapter of Proverbs once a day, then on the next Sunday morning we gather together and discuss the chapter, focusing on what passages stood out the most to each of us. As a study help, each week I print off next week’s chapter from Proverbial Thought. Each person in class takes his/her copy home to read along with the chapter for the week. What do you think of that idea? The great thing is that they also help me edit as we go 😉

Seriously, we appreciate all of you. Thank you for taking time to read Proverbial Thought. You are a blessing!

Anthony Baker

Proverbs 26:5

Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation. (NLT)

Back in 1978 when I was second mate on a 100,000 ton bulk carrier we had a first-trip engineering cadet who quickly gained the nickname ‘village idiot’. The problem was that while everyone on the ship recognized that this lad wasn’t blessed with significant brainpower, he thought he that was. The other problem is that idiots are not easily tolerated on ships.

To be fair, most first trippers begin their careers as idiots. I did. There is so much to learn. The key is being willing to learn. A superiority complex never goes down well on a ship, but a first trip cadet with a superiority complex is quite intolerable. Inevitably life becomes intolerable for the intolerable one as he or she is brought down to size. It would be foolish to allow a foolish seafarer to become wise in his own eyes, but also potentially dangerous given the working environment on board ship.

Solomon was spot on with his advice. It is important to let a fool know that he is a fool. Fail to do so and the fool will believe that he knows better than everyone else. Lack of experience combined with lack of wisdom might then have disastrous effects. Challenging as it may seem this proverb speaks to everyone. It is important to know and understand our limitations and focus our energies on what we do best. This is particularly important in church where sometimes we place or find the wrong people in ministries where they simply do not belong. The out-of-tune choir member might make an excellent Sunday School teacher, but someone needs to identify this and gently guide the croaky crooner to the place where God can really use him. And that does call for wisdom.