Can you guess, Why dolphins sleep with one eye open? Check out why tomorrow.
Why is baseball like an art museum? The both have pitchers (pictures). Ho, ho
Thursday 6/15
Prov. 31:19 "Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber."
This is speaking of an ancient practice of making thread bu hand, placing a weight at the end of the woolen thread mixing in the flax stock to give rigidity to the thread & at the same time providing the cooling effect of this tread. They would wrap the twisted thread around what we today would call a spool, in preparation of weaving the thread into solid material to form cloth.
This common, simple process could be accomplished with simple means. As a child I would take a bowl of wool when my uncle was shearing the sheep, he would do this on the smooth, clean, concrete barn floor, by placing a rope around the sheep's one leg & then holding down the sheep on it's side. This was done by putting your legs on both sides of the sheep's legs while on his side.
Usually a few weeks before shearing normally in the rainy season of May he would bring the sheep into the barn, hands feed the sheep to build trust, then in the morning begin the process while the sheep were docile from sleeping. He used a sheer which looked like a large pair of scissors. Then we would put the wool in a large fiber bag, then we would wash the wool by hanging the bags from the stall fence & allow it to dry, usually with a floor fan blowing on the wool.
Believe if or not with a small bowl of wool, you could easily make it into thread as it is very fiberous. We would wrap it around a stick, as we were spinning this onto a long stick we would then holding the end of the thread weave the thread into a small square of what would become a baby blanket. We would lay this out on a table in the barn then stretch the cloth out while it was drying. This was a long process that required a great amount of patience, I can't imagine weaving a large bolt of wool, for these little baby blankets would take a long time to weave, clean & dry.
By the way most sheep have to be sheared at least once a year or if not their wool will get matted, & they will become overheated in the summer. Also it is important after shearing that the sheep be kept in the warmth of the barn for a few days, for them to adjust to the coolness that they feel. Kind of like taking off a heavy jacket.
When reading this verse it simplifies the process of spinning & weaving wool, believe me this is a tiring difficult process requiring many steps to become cloth. Of course the next step is dying the material to the color that you desire. We never go that far so I can't shed any light on this process, but I know that it is a messy process.
So stretching, spinning, weaving wool into material is a long drawn out process, which requires great patience for the virtuous woman.
This verse is reminding us of the necessity for caution, preparation, building of trust of the sheep, the careful gathering of wool, the many continuing steps to bring it to material that could be fashioned & then worn.
In the same way we must learn to trust our Good shepherd, this shearing process describes the necessary trials that we may face, but their intended end.
So Go With God for only He knows the best, most painless process needed for us to be fashioned into a beautiful master piece. Though we don't fully understand the WHY of these struggles, we do know the WHAT of His works in our lives. He desires to fashion us into a person of glory for His glorious court of life. Rest in Him my dear one for those topsy turvey times in our lives have as their end a glorious outcome.