HIS GIRL – The Proverbs 31 Woman and the Process of Blooming

Hello Illustrated Faith Sisters!

I have a difficult time with the Proverbs 31 woman.  The whole scripture pecks at my feelings of inadequacy and my performance oriented flesh.  For some crazy reason, I feel like my character should match up with every verse; and if I am falling short (which would be every day of my life), feelings of failure set in!  But you know what, truth is I am not a failure because I am HIS and so are you!   Any words of condemnation are from the enemy and not from God.  When I fall short, the Lord extends His hand, dusts me off, and picks me up with love and sends me back out on my journey.

Truth is — I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).  In my weaknesses are His strengths (2 Corinthians 12:9).   He adores me, and He adores you right where you are walking (Zephaniah 3:17).  We are princesses of the King of Kings, daughters of the Lord (Romans 18:16-17).  Royalty.  Yep, we are accepted and loved (Ephesians 1:6 KJV).  We are His girls.  We are clothed in the gown of belonging.

So if all of that is true, what is a girl to do with this Proverbs 31 woman?

Honestly, I am not completely sure but I know that I will never reach all that she is on my own.  I am also pretty confident that the Proverbs 31 woman wasn’t born with all 21 verses of character so maybe it’s a process of becoming.  Of letting the Master refine us into the likeness of Christ.   Of blooming with in His grace, mercy, and love.  Of resting and gathering the flowers of character He creates in us over time.

I can look back on my 18 some years of being His and I can see His hand upon my character.  There are some verses within this Proverbs 31 scripture that I can see Him working in me.  Places that He is quickening my heart to be more like Him and places that I can see bits of His character blooming.    Truth is I am clothed in strength and dignity simply because I am His.  And because I am His, He is always changing me, making me more like Jesus.    I am blooming in love, the ever patient and grace filled love of the Master and King, and so are you.   

Maybe the Proverbs 31 woman should be someone we look forward to becoming.  Maybe we should rejoice that God has hand selected special flowers to be added to our bouquet of character over time and rest knowing that we are His, beautiful, adored, and loved.

I think I am going to sit there.  No more cringing when I read this passage.  Just joy that the Lord is working in my soul and I am His girl.

Let’s journal truth —

This whole journey started with a catalogue.  Yep, a cover that stared at me and seemed to say, create.  The Lord was saying,  “have a message tucked inside, create, just begin.”    When I looked at the girl on the cover, I just thought of grace walking, Proverbs 31 woman.  So I began journaling.

I copied the cover and reduced the size so she would fit on the page.  I sketched the outline out.  I mostly wanted her posture and the position of her face as a beginning place for my Proverbs 31 woman.   I also added the words I wanted to focus on in my own handwriting.

Next comes….well if you follow my posts, you already know.  Watercolors.  I started simple with just a pale pink and golden yellow.

I added more depth with some pastel pencils and used my Illustrated Faith .35 Pen to go over my pencil lined lettering.  I fancied up my handwriting by adding an extra line on the downward strokes.  I will fill it in later with black.  This is a great trick to make calligraphy out of your own handwriting.  You can fill the spaces in with any color.  Is it perfect?  Is the spacing of the words perfect?  No.  But I wouldn’t want it to be perfect because I’m not perfect either!   This is one of the reasons I add scribbled lines around my art too.  To remind me He is ok with me right where I am.  I am a work in progress.

I continued to deepen my watercolors and pulled some Illustrated Faith She Blooms die cuts out to begin thinking about a tab.  When I added the she blooms washi tape to the top, He allowed me to think of collecting the blooms of His character over time and I added a bouquet to her left hand with watercolor pencils to symbolize that.  I love how God used both the die cuts and the blooms on the washi tape to speak this message to me.

Next up.  Assembling my layered tab. I used my all time favorite thin black washi; and again, He spoke, “it’s by my grace, Amy, that you become more like me, more like the Proverbs 31 woman”.  I cut the blooms die in half and added “His girl” in white letters.  The white of the letters stood out a bit too much for me so I colored over the letters with my ivory Faber Castell Pitt pen.  Did you know you could do that?

And there she is.  My Proverbs 31 girl.

Is she all of the verses, no, not yet!  She is in the process of blooming.  She is His girl.  She is loved and adored, daughter of the King of Kings, clothed in His strength and dignity.  She is walking in grace and collecting the flowers of His character along her journey.

Hugs, amy

ESV Leather Journaling Bible | Illustrated Faith Bella Blvd She Blooms Paper Pieces | Illustrated Faith Bella Blvd She Blooms Collection Washi Tape – Bloom |  Illustrated Faith Bella Blvd Washi Tape – By Grace | Bella Blvd White Tiny Text Letter Stickers | Illustrated Faith Bella Blvd Precision Pen – .35 and .65 | Dina Wakely Clear Gesso | Daniel Smith and Sennelier Watercolors | Faber Castell Pitt Pen – Ivory | Caran d’ache Pastel Pencils – 788-820 and 788-571 | Faber Castell Watercolor Pencils – 8200-127 Pink Carmine and 8200-113 Orange Glaze | Faber Castell Colored Pencil – 9201-167 Permanent Green