Well Howdy you all, its Thursday and I have a Question for you today. Which state has a city called Truth or Consequences? Is it California; New Mexico; Alabama: Or New Jersey. I must admit this is a tough question, so be sure and make a guess. Hint: This city was called Hot Springs until 1950 the year I was born, so make your guess.

Thursday 6/8

Prov. 31:12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life."

This verse lays out the final benefits that the Noble, Virtuous wife brings to her marriage. She seeks to bring the best for her husband, which ultimately brings these same blessings to her family.

Notice the inference: Due to her continual desire to cooperate with her husband, she puts every effort into bringing blessings on everyone. In other words she is unselfish in all of her dealings regarding her husband. In these next verses we will see what she does as a result of this character quality of unselfishness.

If you note, her efforts to bring good to her husband, also result in bringing great benefit to her & her family.

My mother was the backbone of our family, looking back on the many challenges we faced, she was the one who regardless of the difficulty, she was there with the solution. Many times as children we failed to see this clearly, primarily because she purposed to make my dad look good, even if he blew it. Sometimes, he did, not intentionally, however, but none the less he blew it. My mom, however, turned things around in so many ways.

Thinking back we (my siblings) realized that, to be true, she was intelligent, and strong, & always made a way with herself to fill in the cracks. Mom was a militant leader in the home, many times out of necessity. My older sister, Nancy, took on the comforting, encouraging role, she was our second mom. But, Mom took lemons and made lemonade, and then jam. Growing up she was always loyal to dad. I'm sure some times she was irritated with him, but we never knew about it.

The results of these qualities? Our home was a happy place, children from around the neighborhood would always be at our house. When we were under discipline & so couldn't play with the neighbors, that was almost as hard on them as on us.

Mom altered clothes & sewed new clothes in order to pay for our piano lessons. She also became a pastry cook at the Women's Club to help with the costs of raising teenage children. Mom always had a saying, "You may not be able to have new clothes, but you should always have clean clothes, combed hair, and a clean body.

Growing up in a one room house until I went to school required many sponge baths, and even sometimes a trough bath. Regardless, mom worked hard to teach us to work, obey, love God, learn, and to face challenges head on.

I can remember as the oldest boy, we would (mom & I) set out the challenge & then we would organize how we could get to point B then C then D and then to completion. Her tireless efforts were a part of life I could count on. I remember gardening as a way to provide fresh produce for the family. This along with freezing, canning, all were a vital part of providing food for the family.

I remember one summer the washing machine broke down, so dad brought home grandmas old washing machine, which was the kind that consisted of two tubs, an agitator & wringer. When dad brought it home I made the mistake of saying that this doesn't look so hard, in fact it might be fun. Well mom said "Bennie if that looks like so much fun you can wash the clothes for the summer, or until we can afford to fix the wash machine."

What seemed like fun became a mountain of work, and after washing & wringing out the clothes it also involved hanging up the clothes on the line untill dry & then bringing them in the house & folding. Well, that duty became an entire day of fun. Ha! But I must say that this endeavor caused me to understand the regimen of changing out of our school clothes into play clothes, make total sense. Ha!

After returning the washing machine to operation at the end of the summer, brought about an understanding of the efforts of clean clothes. This verse brings back many thoughts of appreciation for my mothers daily efforts.

So Go With God for He makes our challenges to become a strengthening experience in our lives. No problem must overwhelm us, but, rather become a place to learn & grow.