Introduction to a Proverbs 31 Challenge for Life

Many women find benefit in trying to model themselves after the words of Proverbs 31, especially verses 11-31. Fascinating Womanhood principles can align with the Proverbs 31 advice as long as a woman has enough energy, time, and resources to look after her family wonderfully well while also being very involved in the larger community.

Have you ever tried to follow the standard of the Proverbs 31 woman? Have you ever fallen short?

It can be a lifelong goal to reach this standard, not a quick commitment and task list. A cycle of revisiting and studying topics that pertain to a lifelong goal can be helpful. Mrs. Wayne Hunter, authorized Fascinating Womanhood teacher, mentioned advice that was given her: to read one chapter of Proverbs each day of the month - Proverbs 1 on the 1st of the month, Proverbs 2 on the 2nd of the month, and so on.

Blogs and websites often pose helpful challenges that inspire people to strive for a particular goal. They can be short-lived, however, once the hype wears off and the fatigue of following a new plan sets in.

Fascinating Ways will host a Proverbs 31 Challenge for Life for anyone who would like to join in. It will differ from other online challenges in targeting very long-term goals rather than trying to check off one goal per day or per week. Let's take one applicable verse per year as a long-term goal, because the journey toward each aspect of a Proverbs 31 woman could easily take a year or more.

The Rules:

1. Comment below this post to show that you are also committing to this challenge.

2. Once a month, in response to a prompt here on the Fascinating Ways blog, make a new monthly goal that relates to the verse-for-the-year.

Post a comment about the new goal, keeping it as general as necessary to feel comfortable sharing it. (For example: "I am going to bake one loaf of bread each week this month and do one other difficult task that I have decided on.")

3. The last week of each month, in response to another prompt here, post your progress toward the goal in the comments section. This can be reported in very general terms to protect the privacy of all involved.

Progress can be posted in these terms if you like: Completed; Postponed; Still Working; Canceled; or Not Helpful.

4. If enough people let me know that they would like to chat about them in more detail in a smaller, more secure setting, we can start an email group for the purpose.

5. Resources, links, or tips that pertain to the topic will be posted once a month. Please chime in with the same if you find something that fits.

6. Join in anytime! I will post my own responses either in the post or in the comments section, and whether you do it publicly or privately, feel free to use this the way it works for you (if at all).

There are three cautions to be raised here:

1.) The attitude, or spirit, in which things are done makes all the difference between genuine change and a temporary facade. To check off items on a Proverbs 31 checklist does not guarantee that a person has internalized and lived the meaning of the verses. Verses in the Bible, especially taken singly, can also be misinterpreted.

2.) Fascinating Womanhood is not religion-specific. A woman does not have to follow any specific Christian teachings in order to become a fascinating woman. The Proverbs 31 Challenge for Life should be taken at its value for each reader, which will vary for different people.

3.) I have no training in biblical studies but will look up some of the different interpretations of the verses as I post about them; for example, at bible.cc. Other opinions and thoughts are very welcome! As for every other topic, I ask that comments be courteous and relevant.