The Name Says A lot.

Thank you for being here! I wanted to share the journey to how "My Proverbs 31 Hands" came to be called what it is. Actually, the first version was "Willing Hands". I had been praying for some months that God help me have skills. Skilled hands in order to be useful to my family in more ways than only homeschooling our boys and cleaning the house. Those things too I wanted to do with a servant's heart, but I often mourned not having useful skills that could potentially bring in some income.

Since a young girl there were many things I wanted to do and "be", wedding planner, opera singer, archeologist, baker; and yet I went to college and did not acquire any hard skills. I also did not grow up thinking of how it could be valuable to learn hard skills. So, for years I mourned this lack in me. But as my Creator continued to work in me over the years to help me be the woman, He created me to be (another long-time prayer of mine), one day I started trying to build those skills. It no longer felt unattainable, or that since I did not learn them years ago, I could no longer learn because I was too old, or I didn't have enough time.

I am still very much in that journey, but that is a simple explanation of the long developing, character process, God has me going through.

The Tree of Life Version bible says in Proverbs 31:13

"She selects wool and flax and her hands work willingly."

"Yes Lord. Please make my hands willing to work."

Well as it goes, when trying to make a website, I realized that this name was already taken. And so, I looked at Blueletterbible.com, a site I love going to when trying to understand the original Hebrew and Greek words used in the Bible. This is the word used for "willingly" חֵפֶץ.

I did a very quick search and decided that "Delighted Hands" would also be a good name.

Now, I was struggling with this name because even though my hands were now willing... were they delighted? Were my hands delighted when I washed the dishes for the second or third time that day? When I had to clean those bathrooms? Were they delighted as I made another attempt at that freshly milled flour bread, that again looked to be a failure? No. Not really. And "delight", this word did not really describe me. It was too... jolly. I consider myself more mellow. Some would say too serious, others would say simply lacking joy. But I more often than not have just been trying to be content in my life and that has not always looked joyful or delighted. But maybe it was time for this to change.

And so, I started asking God to help my hands be delighted as I did the work of a mother, and the work of a helpmate to my husband. For my hands to be delighted and not just willing, as I learned new skills. It was starting to grow on me... slowly, but it was.

At this point it had been a few more days and my husband encouraged me to start writing things in blog format. Now, I had tried this before, so I was a bit reluctant. I was never quite consistent. But things seemed different then. My heart posture was different. So, I started working again on the site and I realized that I had not searched deep enough. "Delighted Hands" was also taken already in some social media platforms.

Now what? I looked at Proverbs 31 again, admiring this woman I had read about for years. This woman that some apparently do not believe was a single woman, because who could do so much?! That is not what I believed. I do believe it was a single woman, and more so that it is a model for me to follow. I looked at my variety of projects and interests, the various skills I was trying to develop, and with my husband's encouragement the name changed once again. "My Proverbs 31 Hands". Because "Prov 31 Hands" sounded too manly for me, and "Proverbs 31 Hands" was also already taken.

In some ways the name seemed a bit too cliché and not creative enough for my taste. But... how better to describe my desire to serve my Creator, and the people He put around me; my family and others? How best to describe all the different ways I wanted to develop into the woman I truly believed God created me to be? It is simple, and clearly from the Bible, and so it fit.

That is why I continue to ask my God, "please allow my hands to be Proverbs 31 hands for Your glory King. Thank you!"

What skills are you working on developing? For what are you asking God to help your hands be Proverbs 31 Hands? I would love to read about you and pray for you too.

Thank you for stopping by and spending some time reading this story. May He fill you with His Shalom. I truly mean that.

-Frannia