imperfect prose on thursdays: laughing at the days

(post and photo by suzannah paul)

When she said, “Where better to look than Proverbs 31?”
my heart sunk hard and I lifted tea to lips in lame disguise.

I am Suzannah’s complete lack of enthusiasm

In this sorority, we’re tested veterans,
survivors of grueling initiation.
Keepers of the homefront in sweltering season
where husbands serve God and other mama’s kids
from dawn ’til taps, repeat.

We labor, too, in ops covert.
Hidden in plain sight, your gaze bore through, unseeing.

Accustomed to solo kid-wrangling
(although not proficient by any stretch),
we manage baths and bedtimes,
quell meltdowns and pray against takedown
by fearsome torpedoes, devastating in beauty and will

Adult conversations are rare as rubies, or solitude;
it’s a shame this one’s so much about trying harder.
Being Better. Doing More.

That Proverbs 31 gal, she’s a first degree doer:
working vigorously
providing planting
making sewing trading
spinningspinningspinning
She does not eat the bread of idleness!

Her character praiseworthy,
her competence incomparable.
Her lamp does not go out at night
and she rises before the sun.
Her agenda leaves me dizzy and I wonder,
is there joy deep in the serving, in the honor of hard work?

Does she serve to please her King or prove her worth?

Does she know Whose she is when striving slows,
when illness strikes or the money runs out?
When drought presses heavy, can she
trust the Gardener who makes all thing grow?

Be still, dear one, and
Know. Abide.
Laugh at days to come, for

he gives to his beloved sleep
and rest to weary souls

~we love that you’re here. the goal of this online space is to create a broken church of sorts, a kind of community that celebrates each other’s stories. with this in mind, would you consider commenting on at least ONE OTHER PERSON’S post after linking up today? thank you so much. e.~

1. link up a post (old or new) that you feel is ‘broken’ or ‘imperfect’ or somehow redemptive
2. put the ‘imperfect prose’ button at the bottom of your post so others can find their way back here (see button code in right-hand column of my blog)
3. read other’s prose, and encourage them!
4. join us back here on friday when we’ll highlight some feature posts from this week’s link-up!