A Woman of Valor (Proverbs 31)

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband too, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.   Proverbs 31:25‭-‬30 NRSV

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Do you know a woman whose name enters your spirit immediately after reading Proverbs 31?  I do. 

• Exactly three years ago today I lost my mother, Jennette Silverthorne (1934 – 2019). Because of her relationship with God, her death was just – I firmly believe – the beginning of her eternal life.  Because of my relationship with the Lord, I sadly grieved, but wasn’t devastated. 

Ironically, what she instilled in me during her life -my faith- allowed me to better live my life after she died. At a time when I needed it most, my faith was a ‘parachute’ I never knew would work so well. While sad, on some special days, by my mother’s absence, I remember this: She was God’s child first! My Heavenly Father allowed me to ‘borrow’ her for 85 years. 

• Many women ‘have done excellently’, but I feel my late mother surpassed them all. 

The first song sung at her August 2019 funeral, by the Oak Ridge First Baptist Church Gospel Choir, was “Order My Steps”. It fit the Sunday afternoon celebration of her life quite well.

Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” Psalm 119:133 KJV

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To God be the glory.  

Greg Silverthorne, 66 Assurance Way, August 7, 2022